I’ve shared this information with the local meetup group I organize and a few other folks, but it probably is the sort of thing I should try to share more widely. So for my fellow board gamers in need of a fix during this time of social distancing and self-quarantines, you may want to check out some of the great free boardgaming websites I’ve found over the years.
My username on all of these sites is mitcharf. Send me a message with your username if you are looking for a game. (Or add me as a friend or start a game with me)
I think all of these sites are geared toward turn-based play (with time limits for each turn that can range from hours to days) except for Boardgamearena, which has both turn-based and real-time options..
- https://boardgamearena.com – Has a big selection of games including: Terra Mystica, Through The Ages, Race For The Galaxy, Tzolk’in, Puerto Rico, Russian Railroads, Troyes, Keyflower, In The Year Of The Dragon, Caylus, & Madeira. The site is free but some games are “premium games” which you can only play if you’re a premium member or a premium member invites you to a game. Premium membership costs a few dollars a month. I’m a premium member and am happy to start a premium game with you, if it’s one I like.
- http://www.boiteajeux.net – A free site (there is premium membership that gives you some perks but you can play everything without it) with a lot of games including: Ginkgopolis, Castles of Burgundy, Dungeon Lords, Dungeon Petz, Trajan, Concordia, Agricola, & Tzolk’in.
- https://yucata.de – A free site which can be a little confusing to navigate at first, but has a good selection of games including: Terra Mystica, Glen More, Castles of Burgundy, At The Gates Of Loyang, Carson City, El Grande, Egizia, Macao, Luna, Navegador, Pax Porfiriana, Russian Railroads, Saint Petersburg, Oracle of Delphi, & Voyages of Marco Polo.
- https://terra.snellman.net – The original online implementation of Terra Mystica. It isn’t flashy and the interface takes getting used to. That said, I think it does a better job of concisely conveying the game state than any other digital implementation I’ve seen. It is completely free.
- http://play.boardgamecore.net/main.jsp – Totally free and dedicated to only 4 games: Antiquity, Food Chain Magnate, The Great Zimbabwe, and Wir Sind Das Volk.
- https://www.slothninja.com/ – A free site which has a small selection of games: Indonesia, Tammany Hall, After The Flood, Confucius, and Guild of Thieves.
And here are a couple others that I’ve only just started to use, so I cannot yet endorse them as confidently as I can the ones above:
- https://pente.org/ – As you perhaps guessed from the name, you can play Pente here.
- https://triqqy.com/ – Free site which has a number of games, including Shipyard and a lot of Reiner Knizia titles (Lost Cities, Ra, Tigris & Euphrates, Samurai, and Through The Desert).
If you know of any other good places to play, please share them in the comments.
Stay home, stay safe, and stay gaming!
March 22, 2020 at 1:41 pm
Hello Mitch! Thanks for sharing this information! I am new to these types of games, but eager to learn more. Thank you so much!
March 22, 2020 at 2:09 pm
Spielbyweb has Bus, Wallenstein, Hoity Toity, Reef Encounter, more… lo-fi, turn based.