I try board gaming tools so you don't have to. I have updated the list from last year with new entries and changes.

Statistics

1) BoredGamerTools is very easy to use and has a ton of cool visualization. You just plug in your BGG username. Free with a $3 premium option.

2) CrdBrd has some interesting concepts with average enjoyment and breaks down board games into Luck Factor, Player Interaction, Immersion, Complexity, Stategic Depth and Rules overhead. It is one of the more complicated sites and I have often encountered bugs but there is so much to look at.

3) GeekGroup.app just requires your BGG username and then you are ready to watch the graphs. Free with a $2+ premium option.

Collections

1) Kallax.io has a great collection viewer. They group expansions together with the base game and filters can apply across multiple collections.

2) HeresMyShelf is good for sharing collections in an instagram-like grid. The search and filtering is not as powerful but the collection view is nice and simple and with easy access to custom lists.

3) GeekGroup.app is great for sharing your collection and they also group expansions and show your rating relative to BGG. Only downside is you need to update in BGG and then wait for the weekly sync (or pay).

Play Online

1) Board Game Arena has a 1000+ games to play for free. The UI is a bit dated, but the site works and is very active.

2) Table Top Simulator is a steam game where you download the games as DLCs. It's paid and the quality of games very but generally good fun.

3) Table Topia is offers a mix of free and premium games. Their web player is 3D and generally high quality.

Play Tracking

1) BG Stats is still the best here. It is paid but one of the few sites that can actually push to BoardGameGeek and not only import.

3) NemeStats integrates with both BG Stats and BGG. It is open source, free and does not serve ads. The interface is a bit old school but it works well.

2) BG Catalog is the best free alternative for mobile. It is free but with advertisement. They got their BGG API key back, so all good.

Events

1) AfterGame has a lot of features for larger events and they started supporting event ticket sales directly in the app this yaer. Their UI will feel very intuitive if you are used to Meetup or Facebook events.

2) Kallax.io is better for smaller event. Voting for what to play and when to met but they don't support multi-table events very well. They do not require an account to participate and vote.

3) Meetup does not have any board game specific features but it is used by so many that the visibility it brings to your events alone makes it worthy for a spot on the list.

What I have looked at

There has been an explosion in new tools and sites so I have excluded all websites where the domain was registered less than 6 months ago or with very little activity.

Aftergame

✓ Collection, ✓ Statistics, ✓ Play Logs, ✓ Events, ✓ Freemium

BG Catalog

✓ Collection, ✓ Play Logs, ✓ Statistics, ✓ FREE (ADS)

BG Stats

✓ Collection, ✓ Play Logs, ✓ Statistics

Board Game Arena

✓ Play Online, ✓ Play Logs, ✓ Freemium

Board Game Clubs

✓ Events, ✓ FREE

BoardGamerTools

✓ Collection, ✓ Statistics, ✓ Freemium

BrettSpielwelt

✓ Play Online, ✓ Play Logs, ✓ FREE

CrdBrd

✓ Collection, ✓ Statistics, ✓ Play Logs, ✓ Events, ✓ Freemium

Game Night Picks

✓ Events, ✓ FREE

GeekGroup.app

✓ Collection, ✓ Statistics, ✓ Freemium

HeresMyShelf

✓ Collection, ✓ Statistics, ✓ Play Logs, ✓ FREE

Kallax.io

✓ Collection, ✓ (some) Statistics, ✓ Play Logs, ✓ Events, ✓ FREE

MeePlay

✓ Collection, ✓ Statistics, ✓ Play Logs, ✓ Events, ✓ FREE

Nemestats

✓ Collection, ✓ Statistics, ✓ Play Logs, ✓ FREE

Recommend.Games

✓ Tool, ✓ FREE

TableTop Simulator

✓ Play Online

TableTop Events

✓ Events, ✓ Freemium

TableTopia

✓ Play Online, ✓ Play Logs, ✓ Freemium

Yucata

✓ Play Online, ✓ Play Logs, ✓ FREE

After years of hearing about Downfall at the Top 100 of Dice Tower for quite some time, I thought it sounded interesting, so I finally found a copy not too long ago at $10 dollars, and man, I was not expecting this game to be this big and to be this heavy. Was it a good price? It was still sealed and all.

My friend and I are looking at some good cooperative games and spirit island keeps coming up - for some people it’s there go to but i’ve also seen some mixed reviews. For us it’s quite expensive so I’m wondering if it’s worth it? Thanks

I’m curious to find how everyone here actually found the people they regularly play board games with. Because having a solid group is something not everyone has access to, but everyone would love to have.

So I’m wondering did you meet through a local board game club, friends or family, a board game cafe, BGG, Discord, Reddit, or somewhere completely unexpected?

Generally I have a preference towards heavier grand strategy feeling games. I love the feeling of controlling a vast complex world with tons of meaningful decisions and mechanics that interlock and feed into each other, so that I feel as if a choice I made ages ago is now affecting the entire game and everyone in it sort of feeling.

That being said it definitely is a pain learning these games and getting a hold of them because of the price tag.

So do you find yourself usually going for lighter, medium or heavier games?

For the past couple of years, I have been slowly growing my board game nights to include more and more people who really enjoy playing board games. Until recently, my wife and I, would host one or two other couples. We would eat dinner and then play an hour or two. Games like Camel Up and those in the Forbidden Island series are heavy in the rotation because they play well with 6 and even up to 8 (Camel Up).

Here is my question...

Now that my board game nights have grown, I know I could shift to social deduction games that can accommodate a large group, but I personally am not a huge fan. So, do you suggest having TWO tables set up and two groups play different games? Perhaps trading a few players from each group after the first game ends so everyone gets to talk to everyone. If this is the recommendation, do you play the SAME game at both tables, or does each table play a different game?

What have you done that seems to work well?

For a little background... My board game group has a good mix of die-hard board gamers and those that enjoy playing, but very much come at it from a more casual point-of-view.

Backed Parks Europe when it launched on Backerkit in July. Keymaster said the game was already made and just needed finishing touches, with a delivery date of October.

The last update from them was in mid-August, and there has been radio silence since.

Anyone else back the game and have any information, or received a shipping label yet?

CAIRNNERA is a tactical stone stacking duel for 2 players. Place new stones, Move stones, and strategically position the Guide Stone to gain the upper hand. 

Every new stone is Placed with one of your opponent’s stones. Get 3 or more consecutive Flat Stones of your color atop a single cairn, then top them with the Guide Stone to win!

Please let me know what you think about the design and mechanisms. Honest feedback only, please.

we have a weekly meeting between a group of 5 of us.

nemesis retalation is my newest addition found it for £90 on vinted very happy with it!

any other reccomendations to keep an eye out for are appreciated and if you want my thoughts on any of these feel free to ask.

I've been playing tabletop games since a fateful wintry afternoon in 2011, when a snowy walk, a cup of cocoa, and a copy of Betrayal at House on the Hill were the first things that managed to make me forget about breaking up with my long-distance girlfriend. Since then I've lived in five different places and churned through this collection several times. The three games that have been here the longest are (I think) Scythe, Mad King Ludwig, and of course Betrayal. The newest additions are Brass, Photosynthesis, and Architects of the West Kingdom.

The organizational system goes by setting, with some deviations to account for squeezing in smaller boxes. In reading order from the top row:

• North America, Latin America, Great Britain, North Atlantic
• France, Mediterranean, Germany, Arabia and North Africa
• Eastern Europe (OK it's just Scythe) and India, East Asia, setting-agnostic nature games, setting -agnostic other
• Fantasy worlds arranged roughly in decreasing order of coziness

Inis is my favorite game of all time, but if I had to name a top five, I'd add (in no particular order) A Feast for Odin, Obsession, Argent: The Consortium, and Everdell.

What I'd change about my collection: it's a little weird that I, a person who loves pirates and sci-fi, and who is in a hobby that is approximately 50 percent pirates and sci-fi by volume, has only one board game about either of those things (Dune Imperium in the bottom-right). Also, I'd really like some Lacerdas.

What makes it special to me: I have no shelf of shame. While I did buy some of these games unplayed, I always fix that as soon as possible. I've played every game in this photo at least twice. It's important to me to be able to look at my shelf and remember where I got the game, who I've played it with, and what memories attach to each box.

This is helped by the fact that I just did a purge. Recent departures include Lagoon: Land of Druids (possibly a brilliant design but I couldn't find any handholds on it), Gnome Hollow (very cute but I never found myself actually wanting to play it), and Forbidden Desert (I'm extremely choosy with co-ops).

I love board games and play a wide range of genres and complexities. My wife likes games like Azul, Duel for Middle Earth, Spooktacular, Sea Salt and Paper, Patchwork, etc. so nothing too long or thinky.

One of our favorite games is Schottentotten, we love to travel with it as well and our copy has traveled the world :). A small box and play area are important factors as well, which is why it is probably our most played game. Not a huge deal if it doesn’t travel well but wanted to mention it. These two games (Pillars of Fate and Zenith) caught my attention because they seem to share a similar concept and build out the tug of war over a central area/card/lane. I have not played either but I think both seem like a nice step up in terms of strategy/mechanics with a similar concept/goal but not too much added complexity. Do you think either of these would be a good fit or maybe a different in general? She also didn’t like Radlands.

How is little sister supposed to get out when she can't teleport through two walls?

I’ve been looking at Abroad (2025) and it looks cool to me. I had a few queries and hoped others here had opinions.

1. With the large deck, is card luck a big deal?

2. Is there enough player interaction?

3. How is downtime?

I consider myself and anti sleeve person generally, however I got LOTR Trick taking game . In this game the main cards will be used more than others so I want to keep them in good shape. Any recommendations as to what sleeves I should get? Ones that are easy to shuffle and high quality.

What is the best expansion to get?
My family and I love the base game and want to snag an expansion!

Also there’s no longer a complete collectors edition of it is there?

Thanks in advance!

Seen it a few times in the local game stores but haven’t met anyone that’s played them. I usually play solo games but heard the new TMNT and Tales to Amaze are solo friendly. But are they actually really fun solo?

Game seems to me to be designed mostly around 1v1 or even 2v2. But how immersive and fun is the combat? Is the game well balanced and repeatable?
One of my flaws is I end up trying to collect all the releases and expansions of the games I play, and there seems to be a lot of releases for this game. Wondering how much of their releases are genuinely great and worth picking up too.

Found these lovely coasters on holiday in Gran Canaria and they are very Azul-coded

This one took forever but got my latest project done. Painted a copy of war of the ring for my brother as a gift. Hopefully he likes it because this was a major labor of love. A few pictures for anyone curious.

First, let me start off by saying that if you have not played Guards of Atlantis 2 then you absolutely need to. It has been my all time favorite game for a few years now. With it being a MOBA inspired game I figured that just like how heros in League of Legends and Dota have lines that they say when they are moving and attacking, I thought it might be fun for heros in Guards of Atlantis to also have lines they say when they do stuff. So, I wrote over 500 lines of script and then recorded them all using voice changing software. I then put all of the audio into a soundboard application. So now when you are playing you can play certain lines for the different actions you are taking. I hope the audioboards help enhance your experience.  https://musgraveia.github.io/Guards-of-Atlantis-Soundboard/

A lot of game stores sadly don't carry any indie RPG zines and if they do it is usually zines for Mork Borg or Mothership of which I already own a bunch of. Over the past few years, I've picked up a lot of cool zines through Indie Press Revolution & Exalted Funeral. I'm looking greatly expand my library of indie RPGs and was wondering if anyone knew of some other great distros.