About The Digital Tabletop
Board games have been an entertainment and education medium for centuries. Without the distraction of high-end graphics, new user interfaces and 3D audio, board games must rely to rely on solid game mechanics, storytelling, and the players’ imaginations in order to create an enjoyable, compelling, and immersive experience. The purpose of this blog is to serve as an extension to the Tabletop Game Studies Working Group, a collaborative project being undertaken by faculty and students at Georgia Institute of Technology and Michigan State University. The blog is intended to serve as a venue for discussing the game mechanics used in designer board games & other tabletop games, their relationship or possible influence on digital games, and a meta-level discussion about the intersection of non-digital games and digital games within the context of academic game studies.
Contributing to The Digital Tabletop
We are always looking for new voices and perspectives to contribute to The Digital Tabletop. While we prefer contributors who have published scholarship relevant to non-digital games, students with a strong academic interest in non-digital games, or professionals currently engaged in the design of non-digital games, we will consider all interested individuals. For more information on contributing to The Digital Tabletop, please contact Ethan Watrall or Brian Magerko.
Supporters
A number of companies have generously provided games and feeback for our research. Included are:
Fantasy Flight Games
http://fantasyflightgames.com
Fantasy Flight, Inc. is a leading hobby-market publisher of board games, card games, roleplaying games, and other tabletop games. The company’s diverse products include best-selling board and card games based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, StarCraft, Kingdom Hearts, World of Warcraft, and George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, as well as original titles such as Twilight Imperium, Descent: Journeys in the Dark, and Midnight.
FRED Distribution
http://www.freddistribution.com
Fred Distribution FRED Distribution is the source for an excellent variety of board games, including Alan Moon and Bruno Faidutti’s Incan Gold and Kory Heath’s Uptown. FRED Distribution also includes exclusive Eagle Games, such as Through the Age, Rails of Europe, Conquest of the Empire, and Railroad Tycoon: The Board Game in their catalog. Ultimately, the goal of FRED Distribution is to encourage people to visit game stores, play games, and purchase games. The FRED Team believes that the game store is the cornerstone of the industry and by creating a network that encourages in-store patronage, the board game industry will continue to thrive.
GMT Games
http://www.gmtgames.com/
Located in Hanford, California, GMT Games has been in business since 1980. GMT Game’s primary goal is to produce conflict simulation (war) board games for those who have a love of military history. While their core business remains detailed military history simulations, they have recently Recently, broadened their line to include war games that play more quickly and are more family oriented, but our core business remains detailed military history simulations.
Privateer Press
http://privateerpress.com/
Privateer Press was founded in December 2000 by Brian Snoddy, Matt Staroscik and Matt Wilson. All three company founders are game industry veterans; Matt Staroscik & Matt Wilson were two of the creative minds behind the Legend of the Five Rings card game, and Brian Snoddy’s artwork has been a fan favorite for years. Matt Wilson is a well-loved fantasy & sci-fi illustrator as well.
From the beginning, the company’s goal was simple — to produce the best fantasy gaming material available. To accomplish this, the decision was made to develop a new fantasy game world, the Iron Kingdoms. The first product set in the Iron Kingdoms were the Witchfire Trilogy of adventures for the D20 System. The Monsternomicon was released in August 2002, and the award winning miniatures game WARMACHINE® continues to increase globally in sales. Future products will continue to support the d20 line and WARMACHINE.
Rio Grande Games
http://www.riograndegames.com/
Rio Grande Games is dedicated to providing the best in family entertainment. Rio Grande publishes games for younger children to play with their older siblings and parents, games for their older siblings to play with their friends, and games for teens and parents to play with each other or when they get together for social occasions. Rio Grande publishes a large variety of their own games, but also imports many multi-lingual designer games (in English, French, and, occasionally, other languages), primarily from Ravensburger and Queen in Germany.
Synelix Games
http://www.synelix.com/
Winning Moves Games
http://www.winning-moves.com/
http://www.immortaleyesgames.com
Founded in 1995 by Tom Kremer, Phil E. Orbanes, Mike Meyers, Alex Randolph, Winning Moves is a leading publisher of classic card and board games, world renown puzzles, action games and popular adult party games. They have forged a close relationship with the world’s largest game company, Hasbro, Inc., owner of Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley games. In addition to classic board games, Winning Moves publishes designer board games for discerning gamers who are interested in a rich gaming experience under the Immortal Eyes brand.
Wizards of the Coast
http://www.wizards.com
Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., is the pacesetter in the trading card game and tabletop roleplaying game categories, and the leading developer and publisher of game-based entertainment products. Wizards of the Coast is considered the global leader in hobby gaming, developing and publishing game based and other entertainment products celebrated the world over.