Video game consoles are slowly becoming a common item in every home in America. Many of them can now be purchased for relatively cheap and, seeing as they are popular not only for children but the entire family, one can find some type of video game console nearly everywhere. The games that can be played on these consoles range from strategy games, where someone takes the form of one of the characters of the game, trying to accomplish a list of goals in the most effective way possible, to full out war games, where players are given any number of different weapons and are told to defeat all of the enemies presented.
There is a growing trend, however, for some board games to take on features of games that the public already knows and loves, namely board games. There are a few video games existing which, at their heart, are board games which the players will all play together. Within the game, the players will race around a track, landing on certain spaces which will either benefit them, or set them back to a degree. One of the most popular video games which takes this board game format is the incredibly popular Mario Party series.
The Mario Party series is a set of games which has, to date, eight editions available on a few different platforms. These games are fundamentally designed for multiple players and can usually be played on a series of different boards. At the core of the Mario Party games, players race around the board to collect the highest number of stars within a set amount of rounds. Each of the possible boards which are playable, though, come with their own unique set of rules and conditions for obtaining those stars, as well as a layout which can aid or hurt players depending on their position on that board.
Players can choose to be any number of characters from the Mario universe, playing as that character for the duration of the game. Additionally, players will all compete in mini-games against the others, looking to gain a number of coins which will help them all on their quests to gain stars. Mario Party is a great opportunity for players to play a simply designed game that gives not only the appearance, but the mechanics of a board game.
Another video game which plays much like a board game is Mary Kate and Ashley’s Sweet Sixteen game. This game allows up to four players to play as either Mary Kate, Ashley, or one of their two friends who are racing around a track, driving in their brand new cars. The goal is to be the player who can invite the most boys to the party that night, picking them up in the car and driving around the town with them. At the end of a set number of laps around the course, whichever player has picked up the greatest number of boys in their car is declared the winner of the game.
Monopoly Here & Now is the video version of everyone’s favorite board game. The gameplay is still turn-based by rolling the dice. Just as in the board game, players have to purchase plots of land and build structures on them, and pay rent to, or receive rent from other players. However, the digital version of the game has 10 boards and extra mini-games within the main game, which are played at various points within the game. There is also option to unlock more boards as you play and keep winning. There are also many different modes of playing the game so that one will never get bored playing this game.