Carcassonne is a classic board game by any measure. Designed by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede, it was published in 2000 and helped to propel the board game industry into the renaissance it is currently enjoying. There’s no mystery behind the popularity: the tile-laying mechanics are easy to learn, and a game rarely lasts longer than half an hour, making it an ideal choice for family game night. To date, there are dozens of versions and expansions of Carcassonne in print, ensuring that there’s a way to play suited to every taste.

Last month, Asmodee Digital launched Carcassonne for the Nintendo Switch. It’s not the first time the game has appeared on a video game platform. In fact, the first digital version released in 2007 on the Xbox Live Arcade. Carcassonne has also appeared on PC, iOS, and Android. What makes the Switch version special is that it represents a larger trend of board games making their way to the handheld/home console hybrid.

“We see Nintendo Switch games as a great companion to the tabletop experience,” says Philippe Dao, CMO of Asmodee Digital. “The Switch console has the ability to facilitate social interactions between players, which is the foundation of most board games. That, coupled with the Switch’s mobile capabilities, makes it the natural new home for a majority of our board games.”

Back in September, Asmodee Digital announced that it was bringing five beloved board games to the Switch, starting with Carcassonne. We can also look forward to seeing Catan, Pandemic, Munchkin, and Lord of the Rings: The Living Card Game.

According to Dao, Carcassonne and Catan are a natural first choice for Asmodee Digital’s foray to the Switch: “Carcassonne and Catan are classic board games: they are easy to learn, you can play them with your family, they are quick to play, and moreover, you can develop many tactical strategies for them. All of this make these titles great jumping off points for Switch owners to play Asmodee Digital Games.”

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Asmodee Digital isn’t the only one bringing its board games to the Switch. In September, League of Geeks brought its digital-only board game Armello to the platform.

“Armello was initially conceived as a game for iPad,” says League of Geeks director Trent Kusters. “A game you could play on the couch at home, on the go or at a friend's place, all of you huddled around your devices making fleeting alliances through gritted teeth. The Switch is perfect for that. In fact, in the early days we'd even spoken about supporting Apple's Airplay so you could stream the game to your TV - which is of course, the major selling point of the Switch.”

Despite Armello appearing on nearly every platform imaginable, Kusters says that there were initially no plans to bring it to the Switch. With several versions of the game already released, he felt that the team had its hands full. Adding yet another version would be overkill. However, an intervention from a team member convinced Kusters that it was worth pursuing.

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“Our gameplay programmer and resident Nintendo fanboy Matthew Rowland dragged the three company directors into a room and gave a half hour presentation that sold us on doing the port,” he says. “In retrospect, it actually just makes total sense and I wish we'd pulled the trigger sooner. I'll never forget the moment Matt showed me Armello running on the Switch, it felt like it was just always meant to be on there.”

Between Asmodee Digital and League of Geeks, the Switch is fast becoming a destination platform for board games. The ability to approximate the experience of an actual board game via mobility and touch controls makes it an ideal way to play. It’s also appropriate that a Nintendo console, the home of Mario Party, is one of the best ways to play digital board games.

Dao says that developing a board game for the Switch presents many challenges, such as designing the UI, gauging the potential market, and how well the central gameplay mechanics would translate to a controller. These are the elements Asmodee Digital must consider when choosing what games to bring to the digital realm.

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Of course, nothing could fully replicate a true board game experience. Instead, Dao imagines digital versions as a sort of way to attract players to the physical games. “Nothing will ever replace gathering with your friends to play a board game,” he says. “Expanding our roadmap of digital board games on Nintendo Switch is a great opportunity to reach a broader audience and expose our games to new categories of players.”

What that roadmap looks like beyond the five games already announced is a mystery, but Dao promises that fans of Asmodee’s games have a lot to look forward to. It’s a good time to be a Switch owner, and a board game fan.