For the past few months, the sales of Tabletop Simulator on Steam have been increased by over 300% due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the culture climate of self socialization. Many board gamers have been using various tools such as Zoom, Jackbox, Tabletopia, and Tabletop Simulator to keep their love of the hobby kicking in during these unpredictable.

As someone who has been using Tabletop Simulator, it’s great to see the population grow and for new people to discover this amazing product. This also means discovering how awkward the interface can be and it doesn’t work with complicated games.

Fortunately there are a few games that work quite well with Tabletop Simulator and some of them are scripted. What is scripted? It means the creator of the tabletop simulator mod programmed a script to automate parts of the game. Usually in a typical Tabletop simulator game, everything is done manually like an actual tabletop game which can be challenging with the game’s interface. We are going to look eight amazing ones and I will link you to them.

+ The Resistance CS +

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=833700913

We’ll start with the best. This is the complete Resistance experience in one package. It contains every single module out there including the oddball ones like the Trapper and Sergeant. It even has the grossly underrated Hunter module.

This one is the best because it automates everything. You don’t actually need to close your eyes or use the tabletop sim’s “blind curtains” function. If you are the spy, the game will also shows you who the spies are using both their seat color and name at all times. It automates everything from the team selection, the voting, to the results of the mission. This feels like a borderline official app for the game and went beyond what it needed to do. The only problem with it is the interface does not work in VR mode.

Cryptid (Scripted Edition)

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1830497234

Cryptid is a no luck deduction game where the players are trying find the Cryptid on a map. The setup in its physical form is a bit annoying since you have give everyone their own clue sheet and you have to create the map each time.

This tabletop sim mod automates the setup for you. All you need is to have the players take a seat and the click the start button. It will automatically generate the map for you and give everyone a clue. The clue is text you can easily see on the table and is hidden from everyone else. To make this even better than the physical, it also comes with it’s personal checklist you can use instead writing notes. You still have to take care of your turns though.

Mage Knight Plus (Highly Scripted)

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1721301081

Mage Knight has a bit of a reputation of being an unwieldy and complicated. That hasn’t changed at all here but this script manages to make the experience far less intimidating.

The script was designed to handle all of the bookkeeping and the numerous setup scenarios that come in the Mage Knight Ultimate Edition. This also includes Solo Player and the dummy mage player.

When it comes to the turns themselves, it’s a hand offs approach so you still need to the know the rules inside and out. I’m sure for Mage Knight fans, this isn’t an issue and solo players should be able to enjoy their favorite solo game without the mess.

Carcassone (Scripted, All Expansions)

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=779900330

We’re going old school on this one. This module is automated that contains all of the expansions. Not all of the expansions are scripted but you can see the list of supported expansions in the link above.

The script itself will handle the automatic scoring, rules enforcement, and the setup. It also includes AI to play against, which is a huge deal in a tabletop simulator module.

I would also highly recommend this since remote play is important in today’s environment. Due to the nature of Carcassone’s mechanics (e.g. no hidden hands or information), this can be played via “hot seat” method so it can be played locally or remote with your friends and family.

Settlers of Catan + Expansions (Scripted)

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=694025908

We are continuing this trend with the best version of Settlers of Catan. Not only will this do the typical setup that one expects from a scripted module, but it will handle the automatic features such as distribution of resources, dealing, score keeping, and clean up.

To make this module even sweeter, it contains all three major expansions and the mini expansions as well. Again, all of it is scripted. Perfect way to play with your family without the miles of cardboard to worry about.

Complete Mysterium (Scripted)

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1423775519

I was hesitant to add this one because they are a few issues with the scripting, but then I realized it’s only scripted Mysterium mod out there. Mysterium is one of the better games to use with Tabletop Simulator’s interface.

The script itself will handle the usual setup that is the standard of these modules. Owners of the physical Mysterium knows how annoying the setup can be. Besides the automatic setup, it also includes both expansions and gives the players to the choice between the US rules or the Russian rules. It also has a “reminder checklist” when you give clues to the players and another script for the final round.

A very nice addition is the option to add Dixit and Imaginarium cards to the ghost deck.

Just a fair bit of warning that this mod does demand the host (the “ghost” player) to have some knowledge of Tabletop Simulator’s interface since some of the features requiring tinkering such as the two minute clock and turn limit. The clairvoyance track is also not used and the alternative for this is a simple counter on each player’s seat. Also, don’t use the rewind function because that breaks the script

Air, Land & Sea [Scripted]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2036508096

Another simple game that works well with Tabletop Simulator’s interface. Honestly, it’s hard to talk in detail about this one since the game is so simple.

The scripting comes in with the usual setup and it will handle with the shuffling from round to round. It also auto-calculate the VP score by reading the VP tokens dumped into the “scoring area” on the table. The game play itself between the two players is completely manual so you still need to track which theaters you are winning or losing in as well as any effects that come into play.

Undaunted: Normandy (Scripted Setup)

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2041298889

Keeping up with the war theme, this scripted module focuses strictly on setup portion. Much like Air, Land, & Sea, the gameplay is completely manual.

The game play itself isn’t scripted so you are still responsible for understanding the rules and the enforcement of them. I am recommending this since scenario-based games tend to be a hassle to setup and having it automated for you is a nice touch.