Your board game, on every screen.
We make digital versions of board games, tile and card games and tabletop RPGs: every rule in code, computer opponents worth beating, online play with a room code, pass-and-play on one device, and a tutorial that teaches the game in a few minutes. It plays in the browser and exports to Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS.
The Royal Game of Ur, about 4,500 years old, with the four pyramid dice thrown on the table.
Five games we built to show it.
Four classics nobody owns and one tabletop RPG on an open licence, so we could show the whole job without borrowing anyone's game.
Hnefatafl
The Viking game of the king's escape, on the 11x11 board with a quick 7x7 Brandubh mode. Uneven sides, so the tutorial earns its keep.
The Royal Game of Ur
Irving Finkel's reconstruction of the race game from the Royal Cemetery of Ur, with the dice thrown for real and rosettes that roll again.
Mahjong Party!
Hong Kong rules, or American rules with jokers, the Charleston and the game's own card of hands, against chatty regulars with an optional coach.
Domino Cubano Online
Double-nine partner dominoes for four in a Havana park, with capicúa, tranque and the first team to 100.
Ashbarrow
A grim dungeon crawl on the fifth edition rules from SRD 5.2, with an old-school edge: torches burn out, monsters flee, and the dead stay dead.
All the rules, including the awkward ones.
The rules are the product. A digital version that gets an edge case wrong loses the people who know the game best, and they are the ones who will review it.
So every rule goes into code, the odd ones included: a king captured against the empty throne, the Charleston before a hand of American mahjong, a blocked game of dominoes settled by counting pips. If your rulebook settles a disagreement in a footnote, the game follows the footnote. If it doesn't, we ask you rather than guess.
The same rules engine runs the tutorial, the hints, the computer players and online games, so nothing plays by a different version of the rules.
Opponents that actually play.
Most people play a board game app alone at first, so the computer players matter more than anything else on the box. Ours search ahead instead of picking a legal move at random, and games with dice weigh every roll that could come up next.
Easy makes the mistakes a new player makes. Hard tracks what has been played, reads what you are short of and plays for points, and should beat a casual player more often than not. They are strong club players, not grandmasters.
Online with friends, or round one phone.
Online play works the way it does at a table: one person makes a room, sends the code or an invite link, and the others join from their own browser or the installed game. Quick play finds strangers for an open seat, and a seat nobody takes goes to a computer player, so a four-player game can start with two people.
Pass-and-play keeps one device going round the table, with a screen between turns so nobody sees the next player's hand.
One game, any look.
Each game draws its board, pieces, table and interface from a single theme, so a new look is a new theme rather than a new game. Hnefatafl and the Royal Game of Ur ship with two each: one true to the game's history and one clean modern set.
That's how a publisher gets a deluxe edition, a holiday skin or a version in a partner's colours without touching the rules. A brand that wants a classic game in its own colours can have that too, on our branded games side.
LonghouseModern
One position in Hnefatafl, drawn with each of its two themes.
Tabletop RPGs, with the dice showing.
A video game usually hides its maths. A TTRPG adaptation shouldn't, because the rules are why people bought the book. Ashbarrow rolls a real d20 for every attack, with the modifier, proficiency and advantage written out, and saves, conditions and spell slots work the way the rules say.
It's built on SRD 5.2, the fifth edition rules Wizards of the Coast released under Creative Commons, with an original setting and the attribution on the credits and title screens. If you publish your own system, it's the same job with your rulebook, your setting and your art.
From the table to the store.
What comes with every adaptation.
A tutorial in the game
Short guided steps on a real board, then a rules screen to look things up, so nobody needs the PDF open.
Every platform
Built on Godot or GANDER, vbgnt's own engine: a link that plays in any browser, plus Windows, Linux and Android builds and macOS and iOS ones finished on a Mac.
Store pages
Steam capsules, App Store and Google Play screenshots, listing copy and a trailer from the finished game. Shipping to Steam
A project you keep
The whole game's source and art come with it, so you can carry it on with us, your own team or someone else.
Whose game it is.
Game rules can't be copyrighted, but names, art and rulebook text can, so this is where we start every project.
Your own game
If you designed or publish it, we build from your rulebook and your art, under your name and your trademarks.
A game you license
We work to the licence you hold, so tell us early whether it covers digital versions and which platforms.
Classics and open licences
Traditional games like these four belong to everyone. Open licences such as SRD 5.2's Creative Commons licence or Paizo's ORC licence work too, with the attribution they ask for.
Not someone else's game
We don't make unlicensed versions of games other people own, even with the names changed. If it's not yours or open, the owner has to say yes first.
What it does not do.
Worth knowing before you plan a release around it.
No grandmaster opponents
The computer players are tuned to be fun and beatable at the top level too. Deep games like chess or Go would need a dedicated engine, and that's a separate conversation.
One rule set unless you ask
Games with many house rules ship with the ones you name. Mahjong Party! plays two; Riichi or Taiwanese would each be their own scoring and their own testing.
No console builds
Only developers Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft have approved can build for their consoles.
The legal check is yours
We will tell you what we know about a licence, but we're not lawyers. For anything going on sale, have yours read the rights first.
Tell us about your game.
Every adaptation starts with the rulebook and who owns it. A few sentences is enough, and we reply within two working days. Rather email? Write to sales@vbgnt.com.
Frequently asked questions.
Can you turn my board game into an app?
Yes. Send us the rulebook and we build the digital version: every rule in code, computer opponents, online play with friends, pass-and-play on one device and a tutorial. It plays in the browser from a link and exports to Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS, so the same game can go on Steam, the App Store and Google Play.
Do I need to own the rights to my game?
You need to own it, license it for digital versions, or pick a game that is public domain or under an open licence. Game rules themselves can't be copyrighted, but names, artwork and rulebook text can, so we don't make versions of games other people own without their permission, even renamed.
Can you make a video game from a tabletop RPG?
Yes, either from your own system or from rules under an open licence. Our demo, Ashbarrow, is built on SRD 5.2, the fifth edition rules Wizards of the Coast released under Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0, with an original setting and the required attribution. Paizo's ORC licence works the same way. Official settings, logos and product names are never part of those licences.
How good are the computer opponents?
Good enough that hard should beat a casual player more often than not. They search ahead, and in games with dice they weigh every roll that could come next. Each game has three difficulties. They are not built to rival dedicated engines in games like chess or Go.
Can people play online against each other?
Yes. One player makes a room and shares the code, and the others join from a browser or the installed game. Games can also offer quick play with strangers, and any empty seat goes to a computer player. Pass-and-play hides each hand between turns.
Can you use our box art and components?
Yes, if they are yours to use. We build the board, pieces and cards from your art files, and each game takes its look from a theme, so a deluxe edition or a seasonal skin is a new theme rather than a new game.
Do we get the source code?
Yes. The whole project, code and art, comes with it, so you can carry it on with us, your own team or another studio.
How much does an adaptation cost?
There is no public price list, because a two-player abstract game and a four-player game with hidden information and a scoring table are very different jobs. Tell us about your game with the form on this page and we will reply within two working days with questions and then a fixed quote.
Your game, off the table.
Send us the rulebook and tell us who owns it. We'll come back with questions, then a plan.