Some games tend to go the opposite way - first there is a video game and then they make a board game based on it (World of Warcraft, Doom 3, Civilization) but I think we are going to see more of "board game-turned-computer game" games soon.
Elder Sign: Omens
I'll start right with the most recent one. As I've blogged about Elder Sign not so long ago, the memory of it is still quite fresh. The game comes on tablets (and phones too I imagine) and offers pretty much the same experience as the table variant. The setting is the same - weird things are happening in the local museum and a group of investigators decides to put an end to it. The selection of the playable characters is about the same as the original but only four can make a group and if one of them dies or goes insane, they are not replaced. Also the selection of the Great Old Ones is much smaller, the base game offers 3 (Yig, Tsathoggua and Azathoth) with Cthulhu and Ithaqua having their own tweaked scenarios purchasable as DLC. But the core of the game is the same - you "roll dice" (here you get random set of symbols), try to match them with required symbols and pass/fail an adventure.The game itself is streamlined for shorter play and more enjoyable playing solo. Of course it can be played with a friend or friends (in which case they just control one of the characters) but having fun playing on your own is supported by moody music, beautiful illustrations and incredibly polished interface. Some things were changed from the table version - there are no ally cards and midnight usually brings more doom and monsters to the game.
Still, Elder Sign: Omens brings an almost complete tabletop game experience to tablets and does it so phenomenally. Small changes make the game more fast paced and DLCs bring unique twists to the basic museum story alongside new monsters. Upon completing the game (winning or losing), the player is awarded a score based on the number of turns taken, monsters killed, character lost, etc. and that can be compared to those of friends'.Highly recommended to any Lovecraft fan for long bus or train rides with or without friends.
link to the Google Play Store
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Carcassonne
The boardgame is one of my favourites, however its translation to an Android game is one of the less successful ones.I was fortunate to play the iOS version one day. We were having a rather slow day at the office and a friend of mine got the app on his iPhone. We spent the afternoon passing the phone to each other, laying down tiles, closing cities and roads just like in the base game.
I really liked how well the transition to the mobile device went. Everything moves smoothly, the game automatically shows possible placements of the current tile, you can drag&drop the tiles and rotate them simply by tapping on them and even placing the figures on the tile is done elegantly - by tapping the appropriate dot on the tile's thumbnail in the upper right corner.
The game has tiles and rules of the base game only and as far as I know only River and Inns & Cathedrals expansions have been released as in-game DLCs. Furthermore, the game supports not only a multiplayer option but also a kind of singleplayer option with AI players.
link to the iTunes store
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Ticket to Ride
This game is quite popular amongst the casual board game players. It has a simple concept, colourful presentation and works well in medium to larger groups. Players each get several destination tickets that show two cities that the player needs to connect with railway. Each turn the players may draw more destination tickets or build railways between two cities. Players cannot use the railway of their opponents, so hilarity ensues as people try to get as many cities connected before other players block the shortest routes.There's more to the rules of the game but that's not really my point right now. Ticket to Ride has recently appeared in the Steam Store. One of its features is an online multiplayer mode that lets you play with people at practically any moment you want. There's also a single player mode but that's probably not its selling point.
When I looked at the pictures, I couldn't help but be disappointed. The game completely misses its opportunity to use the visual capabilities of computers. Instead, the main part takes place in an overview of the board with colourful blocks connecting cities. Yes, the illustrations around and in the menus are quite nice... but this is no longer an age of menus, information show on HUDs and games cannot just pull off the same tricks on the desktop computer as they do on tablets - simple graphics and drag and drop (tap and tap) mechanics are too simple for big powerful machines.A "redeeming" fact is that the game was first released on iPads, then on PCs so I assume that this is just a port made to cash in on the game's popularity. However, if you are interested in getting the game on Steam to play with your friends or random challengers from the internet, this is the link to the game on Steam
If you are interested in getting the game for your iPad, which in my opinion makes more sense as a platform for a virtual board game, then check out its page in iTunes.
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