VASSAL Engine 3.3.2

The board gaming hobby has lost its fringe status for some years. However, even if Monopoly is starting to gather dust, most people have only experienced the lighter side of gaming. Let's be honest here. Cards Against Humanity* is not a board game. It can barely be called a game at all, and when your group doesn't seem to grow tired of it, you have a real problem on your hands.

Getting players to try something new or heavier is a reasonably tricky endeavor when they're hooked on 'that' game alone, or they're just not up to thinking today (and every day for that matter). It's true that there are many digitized board games already that also have online multiplayer support, but that doesn't cover it most of the time. Let's face it, the only way you're going to play 1807: The Eagles Turn East is by loading up the VASSAL module.

VASSAL Engine is the most advanced customizable digital platform for playing board games. If you have found willing players in any part of the world, and you know what you're doing, you can virtually start playing in minutes. As a player, you just need to install VASSAL Engine and then go and download the modules that contain the games you want to play.

The interface of VASSAL Engine is difficult to describe. That's because every game module uses it in different ways. One common characteristic though is the chat and server control panels. Other than that, the main game board is usually a central feature, while additional boards or zones are displayed in separate windows. It all depends on the game and how the module designer decided it was best to implement it.

The VASSAL Engine lets you drag and drop tokens, rotate, flip and change layers on different game objects, all depending on what is allowed by the module, which is game specific, of course. Some windows and tokens can only be seen by specific players, which simulates closed hands of cards, stuff behind a shielding screen, or face down tokens.

Interacting with other players is done through VASSAL's servers. Each active module connects to a room where players can join and play either in real time or by e-mail. Playing offline is theoretically possible, yet I could not manage to create an offline game where I could play in a hot-seat fashion.

Finally, although there are hundreds of game modules to pick up, you should probably arrange the plays and not wait for players to enter the chat room, as that might never happen in some instances. You can also check the Server Status on the VASSAL Engine website, and see which modules have active players.

Features

• Custom board game modules
• Drag and Drop interface over multiple windows
• A wide array of actions linked to right click menus on game objects
• Snap to grid
• Online play
• Play by e-mail
• Live Server status on vassalengine.org

Final Thoughts

VASSAL Engine is no way an adequate substitute for the real experience of playing any board game, but as luck would have it, it is there to at least cover the player availability aspect of board gaming. The interface has been well implemented, although much of it depends on how a module is using it. The server status page is much appreciated.

*I've chosen Cards Against Humanity as the all-time representative for something I loathe while others enjoy.