Shameless plug - but give https://screentop.gg a try! Studios and kickstarters are already using it to develop and play deck building games.
101 karma · joined May 6, 2010
Another major difference is that this is 2D, which should work for most tabletop games but not all.
For now try it out by clicking the Play button on one of the games such as: https://screentop.gg/@BrotherMingGames/code-geass
Also just posted a few screenshots on the product hunt page which may help clarify: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/screentop-gg
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*
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.
I want scripting to allow specific mechanics that would be more tedious to perform manually. For example: Draw N cards based on the value of a dice roll. Or to potentially move a turn token around from one player to the next after an action is performed. Haven't though too deeply about implementation yet though.
Focusing on adding more features and growing the site at the moment. Hope to license official games eventually.
2) It doesn't currently enforce game mechanics like player turn.
Hopefully one day publishers will put some of those games up on Screentop!
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 Email: david@screentop.gg