Top 5 boardgame conversions for mobile

You might argue that of all the things to try and cram into a mobile phone, boardgames are the stupidest.

The whole point of boardgames is to get you together in small groups, interacting and devising Machiavellian strategies to outwit your opponents. There’s also the considerable charm of manipulating physical playing pieces.

Very little of this is possible to replicate on a small screen, and yet plenty try. What’s more, plenty succeed.

There’s a lot to be said for having a whole elaborate boardgame, with all its rules and distinctive motifs, in the palm of your hands. We all love Monopoly, but have you ever tried to whip it out for a quick game on the Tube?

The best boardgame conversions manage to distil the look and feel of their subject matter into a condensed, convenient mobile experience.

Here are five of the best.

Of all the games on this list, Jenga has the least right to work. The tabletop game, after all, is wholly reliant on physical interaction. And yet this mobile conversion works very well indeed.

It’s a simple case of selecting which block from a stacked tower you wish to remove, then giving it a prod to see if it’ll go. Once you’ve decided, you have a crack at removing it from the pile.

While it’ll never match up to the original physical version, Jenga Mobile is a surprisingly absorbing way to while away the hours.

The addition of special blocks, meanwhile, adds a unique twist that could only occur in a digital interpretation such as this.

Monopoly is clearly the king of boardgames. If you’re the sort that complains about it going on forever or being too complicated then you’re clearly not fit to pass Go, and should go straight to jail.

EA’s mobile conversion is brilliantly faithful to the source material, presenting an attractive isometric board and lovingly animated playing pieces.

All the rules are here, and it’s possible to tweak them in order to change the length and toughness of the game.

It could be argued that this conversion is a little too respectful of the original boardgame, and could do with some power-ups or some other concession to the video game format. Monopoly needs no such meddling though. It’s rich enough as it is.

Scrabble is another boardgame that needs little enhancement, such is the range of tactical possibilities inherent in the ostensibly simple ruleset.

The challenge posed with a mobile conversion is how to get a clear view of the board and how to make laying down letters a seamless experience.

Mr Goodliving pulls this off brilliantly, squeezing in the entire board yet somehow managing to retain perfect clarity. Control, too, is an absolute joy, with no sense of ambiguity as you flit around the board.

What lifts the game above many other boardgame conversions, though, is the implementation of several alternative modes that serve to make the game brilliantly playable for solo players.

Separately, Battleship and Connect 4 might be looked down on by boardgame aficionados for being overly simplistic. There are no complex rules, little variation in play, and much of the appeal lies with the flashy physical setup of each game.

EA recognised this, so hit upon the genius idea of packaging them together in one mobile conversion. It pays off handsomely, with both titles being given a healthy lick of paint.

The developer hasn’t stopped there, though, with both games enjoying enhanced versions in addition to the traditional ones. Battleship benefits from some tasty super weapons, while Connect 4’s power-ups provide a similarly incendiary boost to the traditional gameplay.

Settlers of Catan may not hold the same sense of familiarity as the other boardgames on this list. We can’t imagine many people pulling it out during a rainy family holiday, that’s for sure.

Yet it’s known among boardgame fanatics as one of the deepest, most absorbing examples of the form.

This sympathetic mobile conversion proves that to be the case, as it’s one of the deepest and most absorbing mobile games around.

While it possesses classic boardgame elements such as dice rolling, racing to the finish line and the partial reliance on luck, Catan takes things further. Stirred into this already rich mix are resource gathering, trading, and empire building.

This mobile version is the perfect starting point for anyone remotely interested in getting into the boardgame, thanks to its intuitive controls and helpful tutorials.

In short, Catan boasts many of the features found in complex strategy video games, while managing to retain the charm and immediacy of its boardgame roots.