
Show HN: Screentop.gg – a platform for tabletop games - davidye
https://screentop.gg
======
davidye
Author here.

Screentop is a tabletop sandbox that supports cards, dice, boards, counters,
and hidden player state. In the future I'd like to add scripting support so
that more complex game mechanics and rules can be implemented.

Client stack: Typescript, React, Apollo, and a custom react-reconciler
renderer that targets canvas

Server stack: Elixir, Phoenix, Absinthe

Happy to answer any questions and would love your feedback! Also I have two
asks for HN:

1) Content - if you know any designers or publishers that would be interested
in creating digital versions of their games please direct them my way!

2) Individual(s) to team up with - this is a solo side project right now but
I'm interested in working with others, technical or non-technical, to see
where this goes.

Discord:
[https://discordapp.com/invite/wva8ebh](https://discordapp.com/invite/wva8ebh)
Email: david@screentop.gg

~~~
IIAOPSW
I really need a word for when I'm pissed someone beat me to an idea but
delighted that it exists because of them.

I'd really like to know more on how to specify a game for your platform. A
scripting language is a good idea, but I'd like to see it limited in scope.
You don't want your board games to just become video games. I never could
figure out where exactly those limits should be.

~~~
mathgladiator
I'm planning a startup around a programming language just for board games.

~~~
elviejo
Do you have a design document or wishlist or blog post for such a language?

I think you are on to something here.

~~~
mathgladiator
I have several documents, but nothing coherent yet. On the bright side, I'm
about to finish implementing hearts in my own language, so that's exciting.

------
reificator
I would also like to see a screenshot/video gallery to get a feel for this
platform, but I think you've probably gotten the message by now. Instead I'll
throw a couple more questions your way:

Are you prepared for the incoming wave of DMCA takedown requests if this
proves to be popular?

If someone spends the time to create content for this platform, how can they
be sure that it won't shut down next week?

Can players create private content, such as for a D&D campaign?

If a player starts using content created by someone else, and it gets taken
down for either copyright or because the author removed it, can that player
continue to use that content?

In fact, can an author remove content at all?

Is there a system in place where the legitimate owner of an IP can create
content for this platform and monetize it in some way? Tabletop Simulator may
be a den of piracy[0] but there are some games for sale there as well:
[https://www.tabletopsimulator.com/games](https://www.tabletopsimulator.com/games)

[0]: Ignoring that some number of users own the physical game and are merely
playing with friends who are not in the area. Legally it might be piracy
(IANAL), but ethically there's some discussion to be had there.

~~~
davidye
Thanks for the questions!

 _Are you prepared for the incoming wave of DMCA takedown requests if this
proves to be popular?_

I don't expect this to actually happen but if it does, I would comply.

 _If someone spends the time to create content for this platform, how can they
be sure that it won 't shut down next week?_

This currently runs on just one server and even with the incoming HN traffic,
the server utilization is pretty low. This won't cost much to keep running.

 _Can players create private content, such as for a D &D campaign?_

Authors can create private games. This means only they are allowed to create a
room. Rooms themselves are only semi private (the 4 digit code is guessable)
and will expire after a period of inactivity. Not sure if the current setup
would work for private D&D sessions but would love to support that use case.

 _If a player starts using content created by someone else, and it gets taken
down for either copyright or because the author removed it, can that player
continue to use that content?_

If the game itself is deleted, all rooms of it are also deleted.

 _In fact, can an author remove content at all?_

Yes, authors can delete their own games.

 _Is there a system in place where the legitimate owner of an IP can create
content for this platform and monetize it in some way? Tabletop Simulator may
be a den of piracy[0] but there are some games for sale there as
well:[https://www.tabletopsimulator.com/games*](https://www.tabletopsimulator.com/games*)

At this stage I expect most games to be from hobbyists who want others to
playtest their games or kickstarter creators who want to offer a digital game
copy to backers. Would be open to creating opportunities for monetization if
this gets more traction.

------
fenwick67
You didn't ask but, consider making a "highlight reel" or screenshots and
showcasing them on your page, otherwise I don't really understand what this is
or what it looks like. Is it like Tabletop Simulator?

~~~
davidye
Yes this is like a 2D web based Tabletop Simulator that you can play with
friends without having everyone purchase and install a copy of TTS.

------
Evanbenn
I couldn't tell if this was different to
[https://boardgamearena.com/](https://boardgamearena.com/). But that site does
license the games it uses.

~~~
davidye
The idea is similar but I wanted to build something a bit more modern than
boardgamearea.

Focusing on adding more features and growing the site at the moment. Hope to
license official games eventually.

~~~
graydsl
I tried to build a game once with their stack, but it's just too old school
and custom for my taste. I really appreciate your platform and hope it will
attract some people.

The licensing thing is a big thing though. But I think the publishers don't
mind as long as the games are well presented and don't have a digital version
yet.

------
sailfast
I'll have to dig deeper into the creation mechanic but this would fill a need
that I've got to recreate table-top games but for distributed groups of
friends that haven't been able to devote the same amount of time as before to
gaming.

We've been trying to work through Risk: Legacy, Pandemic, or other, longer-run
games (I would think Axis & Allies and other longer-run strategy games as good
candidates for this thing) in-person for years and it's hard to find the time.

It'd be awesome to be able to continue things on a platform like this, but
would obviously necessitate creating a version of the game on the platform
first. I like the concept!

~~~
davidye
Yeah I built this because it's painful to coordinate playing tabletop games
online - with Tabletop Simulator or individual apps it's time consuming to get
everyone to purchase/install/setup a copy just to get started.

Hopefully one day publishers will put some of those games up on Screentop!

------
somesortofsystm
I wish there were an open source, well defined DSL for how to describe board
games. I suppose there is for things like chess, and custom games... Anyone
know of such a language which aims to describe _any_ such game?

------
Nalta
I found this platform really easy to play around with when building a game. I
put together a version of Hanabi, and the system was flexible enough to let me
make player hands that are visible to everyone _except_ the player.
Reconstructing this relatively simple game from scratch only took ~3h, and
that is everything from finding royalty-free assets to writing the manual.

------
miohtama
Here is also a tutorial app for board games - Dizie tries to make board games
more approachable by giving them similar tutorials as in video games.

[https://dized.com/](https://dized.com/)

------
miohtama
Another well know platform: [https://yucata.de/en](https://yucata.de/en)

Also you can shop digital version of board games like Terraforming Mars in
Steam.

------
jessaustin
At least one of these games is using copyright of uncertain provenance... have
you really purchased the rights to "Code Geass"?

~~~
davidye
I don't own the rights to any of the content. The Code Geass game is a fan
created board game by my friend from:
[https://brotherminggames.com](https://brotherminggames.com)

------
mathgladiator
This is really cool, and I like this space. I'm currently looking at starting
a company around implementing board games online.

------
lightedman
Question: What's the difference between this and Tabletop Simulator?

~~~
davidye
This is web based and free to use. No need for everyone to purchase and
install a copy - just send a link and start playing.

Another major difference is that this is 2D, which should work for most
tabletop games but not all.

