Smallworld, Neuroshima Hex, The Settlers of Catan: For several months, fans of board games can be found on the touch pads - mainly on the Apple iPad - paperless versions of their favorite games. Key benefits of the support: the games are portable, require no installation or storage of parts, and they are cheaper: as a few dollars for a tablet version, against forty generally equivalent to paper.
Result: the digital equivalent of board games sell well. The editor of the famous game The Settlers of Catan has sold in 2010, 200,000 copies of its game based on IOS, the operating system of the iPhone and Apple iPad. "If we compare the figures, we sell more games on iPhone than on shelf, in absolute terms, but in detail, we see that the owners of bars are more likely to buy board games" Thorsten Suckow analysis, responsible for Untied Soft Media, a division of the German publisher Kosmos dedicated to porting board games.
THE ISSUE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
However, games are finally fitted on shelf few. Only a tiny fraction of 13,000 games listed by TricTrac.net, the leading French-language site on the subject, have been carrying on a shelf, and applications are published in dribs and drabs. "When the iPad was released, it seemed a natural support for board games, says Phal, the head of TricTrac.net. But it is very difficult to create artificial intelligence for a competitive board game, where the player has numerous options every time. In chess, the number of pieces and thus blows possible to calculate, is important but limited, in a board game, that handle hundreds of pieces, the machine is not powerful enough to perform all calculations. "
The result for the more complex games, the level of artificial intelligence is often too low. "It gives an interesting use for those who do not know the game, but the player finds himself frustrated fast: soon, he understands how to beat the machine every time, and the game loses its interest," Mr. Phal analysis . Balancing artificial intelligence is one of the main challenges for the games used on the move for a quick solo in transport, for example. "We must succeed in creating a challenge for the player, while ensuring that the game remains accessible to the greatest number, which takes time and careful handling," explains Thorsten Suckow.
LEARNING TOOL ... AND PROMOTION
Corollary of this dual challenge, the interface is also crucial to a successful port. "All the games are not suited to the format tablet or smartphone, says Thorsten Suckow. Many popular strategy games using too many counters or coins to operate on a small screen without using menus and submenus complex. This is something we are working on constantly. " Difficult, indeed, to adapt some of the classic strategy game like Twilight Imperium, designed for the game with six players around a large table with many rooms, not to mention the huge war games like World in Flames to "replay" the entire Second World War. The shelves are well suited to two-player game, but for parties of four or more, the screen is too small, except for the simplest games.
Therefore, the tablet does not replace the cardboard really: lack of suitable artificial intelligences, and screens large enough, the tablets are suitable especially in two-player game or online. Smallworld, for example, is limited to two players in its shelf. What makes a game very cheap, but more limited than the equivalent card, "a bit like paying a demonstration," Mr. Phal fun. And in the end, says the head of TricTrac.net, perhaps therein lies the main advantage of shelves: offer lighter versions but very studied, that serve as tutorials to introduce attractive new players. "When you play for the first time in a board game, we have to read the rule, or to be initiated by someone who already knows the game, and on shelf, we can make tutorials like the Raiders rail, which is a marvel. In this, the tablet is a great promotional tool aimed at new players. " Until, perhaps, the type of game development platform, but designed specifically for tablets, taking into account the limitations and advantages of the format.
