Unpacking “Boardgames with Apps”: The Hybrid Digital Boardgame Model

TLDR

Modern boardgames increasingly use digital apps and tools to deliver content in novel ways, yet no detailed classification of their roles exists. This paper proposes a model to understand hybrid boardgame play as a set of discrete functions. Using mixed‑methods—including critical play sessions, a survey of 237 players, and interviews with 18 designers—affinity mapping identified eight core function categories, refined by a second survey of 44 participants. The resulting model defines and classifies the diverse functions of digital tools in hybrid games, illustrating their range and potential use for researchers and designers.

Abstract

Increasingly, modern boardgames incorporate digital apps and tools to deliver content in novel ways. Despite disparate approaches to incorporating digital tools in otherwise non-digital boardgames, there has to date been no detailed classification of the different roles that these tools play in supporting gameplay. In this paper, we present a model for understanding hybrid boardgame play as performing a set of discrete functions. Through a mixed-methods approach incorporating critical play sessions, a survey of 237 boardgame players, and interviews with 18 boardgame designers and publishers, we identified the key functions performed by the digital tools in these games. Using affinity mapping, we grouped these functions into eight core categories, which were tested and refined using a survey of 44 boardgame players and designers. This model defines and classifies the diverse functions that digital tools perform in hybrid digital boardgames, demonstrating their range and potential application for researchers and game designers.