Play board games online with anyone with the Vorpal Board campaign relaunch

Vorpal Industries has recently relaunched its Vorpal Board Kickstarter campaign, which has nearly reached its funding goal of $20,000 in the first day. The campaign will allow tabletop gamers to stream real-time game sessions to friends and family online through its proprietary card scanning technology as well as a couple integrated apps.

Vorpal Board is the platform that enables you to play your favorite tabletop games with friends online using the actual pieces. Whether you live halfway around the world or two doors over, we know how hard it can be to get your gaming group together. With Vorpal Board never let life or distance get in the way of playing the games you love.

Game hosts use our smartphone app and mounting arm to stream anything on the table in high resolution.  The card scanning box is used to privately scan cards or tiles for remote players. The Vorpal Board web application includes integrated video chat and a shared virtual tabletop so everyone feels like they are sitting at the same table.

In addition to a subscription-based phone app, Vorpal Industries also utilizes a custom phone mount as well as a unique card scanning box:

As part of developing the Vorpal Board platform, we tried every phone mounting arm we could find on the market and none met the requirements that we had to enable a simple and flexible board streaming setup.  Our mounting arm attaches securely with a padded clamp to protect your table.  It can stretch to a maximum length of 43 inches allowing it to be positioned to stream even the largest game layouts. The phone cradle supports 360 degrees of rotation and tilt enabling unlimited view angles.  Fine adjustments to the phone position can be easily made to ensure optimal board alignment.

Our card scanning box is made from laser cut, aircraft grade walnut and birch plywood.  Each unit is hinged with leather and rivets to fold down for easy storage.  Together with the Vorpal Board app, the scanning box uses computer vision to enable game hosts to scan cards for remote players face down to maintain secrecy.  No game assets need to be pre-built; everything is scanned in real time.

Other than the physical components, there are multiple aspects that are handled through the companion web application, which also include things like game search, board game zooming, as well as some neat streaming options. Lead Tabletop Editor and Executive Producer Mike Dunn recently interviewed co-founder James Lang, and you can check out that interview and demo of Vorpal Board above. The Vorpal Board campaign will run through February 20. Stay tuned for more news here on Gaming Trend.

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