After a bunch of early testing builds, the developer of the free and open source tabletop sim Tabletop Club has announced the first stable release. While this is the first "official" release, it's only the beginning for the project. It's already quite playable, and easy for you and friends to jump into thanks to it not requiring an account, just a hosted room code you can send to friends.
Some of what's already planned for future updates:
- Improved behaviour for in-game objects like boards and containers.
- More intuitive asset pack creation and management within the game itself.
- An online asset pack database for creators to upload content, and for players to automatically download from.
- A Lua scripting API for custom behaviour.
- Migration to Godot 4.0, which should bring better performance and improved graphical fidelity.
- Expansion to more platforms, including the web and mobile devices.
In the release announcement, the developer explained why it was created:
First of all, I want to thank everyone, from my friends who helped shape and test the game, to those who have contributed code, assets and translations, and to whose who have played it even for a little bit - this genuinely would not have been possible without your support. For context, I started this project knee-deep in the middle of the COVID pandemic since I was not able to play board games face-to-face at the time. At the same time, the various lockdowns were taking a huge toll on my mental health, which I did not realise until it was too late; the effects of which I am still feeling to this day. For me personally, not only is this a project that allows me to play board games with my friends, but it is also proof. Proof that no matter how bad it gets, no matter how low your self-esteem gets, you're still worth it. You can still make a difference in the world. Even if by modern standards most would call me a "failure" or a "wreck", it's all relative. This is something I've made, and I'm damn proud of it.
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