Steam's latest sale celebrates the world of board games. As a professional tabletop games fan, many of the titles on sale are already in my games library. But, because board games are a vast, colorful hobby, there are still loads of digital board games I'm itching to grab. For any other window shoppers, here are the ones that look most exciting:
Ark Nova
There are two major pros to playing board games digitally. The first is the production value: a digital version often adds a lovely soundtrack and smooth animations to enhance the visual experience. Second, there's the ease of play. Time saved on fiddly setup is time you can spend properly learning to play.
Both of these pros are present for Ark Nova, a complex strategy game about running a zoo. It's considered one of the best board games of recent years, but its size, seriousness, and, honestly, its ugly visual design have kept me from learning to play so far. That 25% discount might be enough to push me into finally giving it a go.
Everdell
Everdell is considered a must-play among worker placement games. It's a gorgeous, cutesy fantasy game where you'll play as forest critters constructing a new woodland city. From one winter to the next, you must play cards and place workers to develop a more wondrous, points-scoring civilization than your fuzzy opponents.
While I do think a certain amount of charm is lost by playing on PC (and not on the adorable 3D tree board of the physical game), Dire Wolf has done an excellent job translating the tabletop mechanics for the screen. Plus, a 40% discount is nothing to sniff at.
Dune Imperium
I'm not much of a Dune fan, but I am a fan of great board games. Combining worker placement and deck-building with hidden information mechanics, Dune Imperium is one of the best strategy board games of the decade. I've had a chance to test it once in-person, and a digital copy would help me dive deep into its rich gameplay.
Everyone starts with the same deck in Dune Imperium, but their unique leader cards, plus the cards they pick up during play, carve out a strategic niche for them.
Using your unique leader card, you'll gradually build your basic deck into a strategic niche. Most of this game is politics and resource management, with agents sent out to perform actions and acquire cards on your behalf. It's mid-level complexity, fairly approachable but with an excellent puzzle to suss out. And it's 30% off!
Set a Watch
Another game that I've played but not nearly enough is Set A Watch, a thematic game that I consider a bit of an underrated gem. This is a co-op game where your adventurers must fight off a band of monsters trying to assault your camp. Each character comes with unique abilities, but you can't fight all the time! The team must juggle resting and fighting characters in order to hold off the waves of enemies - all while keeping the campfire burning.
Set a Watch only recently got a digital edition, so this is one that most gamers probably won't have picked up on PC yet. That does mean that I can give less of a guarantee of the adaptation's quality. With a 25% discount, now seems like an opportune time to find out.
If you're looking for more deals, here are the digital board games I already own, and are very much worth investing in:
- Nemesis Lockdown (70% off)
- Root (60% off)
- Scythe (80%)
- Wingspan (50% off)
- Gloomhaven (72% off)
And for even more bargains, keep an eye on the deals channel in the official Wargamer Discord. We regularly send word out when the best board games and tabletop products are on sale.