Figuring out how to build in a new digital board game platform can be an uphill battle. Fortunately, we’ve found several resources to help lighten the load when building in Screentop.gg, PlayingCards.io, Tabletop Playground (TTP), and Tabletopia. Whether you’d like to learn how to build games yourself or find someone to build them for you, we’ve got plenty of options to recommend!
If you are someone who would like to help others with one of the below listed platforms, contact us to get added to this page.
Learn to build your own games
Screentop.gg
The Screentop.gg users are collaborating to build the Screentop Community Wiki, including a Recommended New User Journey.
Xoe Allred did a Screentop.gg co-building session with David Masnato as a livestream for the Protospiel Online Twitch channel. You can view the replay on YouTube or use the video player below.
In the below video, Greg Pool of Haole Boy Games shares his process for using a mass editing tool to make rapid updates to a prototype built in Screentop.gg. He’s using Multideck for Mac in this example. If you aren’t a Mac user, nanDECK is a mass editor that works on Windows, and Component.Studio is a browser based option that works on both operating systems. Adobe InDesign and Affinity Publisher each have a data merge process that works in a similar way.
The below Screentop.gg workshop lead by Xoe Allred and attended by the developer for Screentop.gg covers all the basics of setting up a game in Screentop.gg.
PlayingCards.io
PlayingCards.io (PCIO) is free to use for players and has a free plan for game builders. It uses a digital tabletop with a fixed-sized surface, which makes it work well for card games or others that have few components.
PCIO has comprehensive documentation on their website to help you get started building your first game and familiarizing yourself with the differences between their free and paid accounts for game builders.
Tabletop Playground
David Masnato simulcasted to our Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook Live channels to show a demo of all the steps involved in building a game with a wide variety of parts in TTP. You can watch the YouTube replay here.
The demo replay includes chapter breaks to help you find a specific topic you might be looking for:
- Creating a Package
- Boards and Snap Points
- Tiles
- Tokens
- Customizing Card Holders
- Containers
- Creating 3D Objects from an Image
- Card Decks with a Single Back
- Card Decks with Unique Backs
- Table State Setup
- Multi-state objects
- Uploading a package to Mod.io
David also created this quick tutorial on using the TTS Importer Tool to move game objects from TTS into Tabletop Playground:
You may also find this Break My Game YouTube replay from their live workshop with Tabletop Playground’s lead developer helpful. He covers both player controls and options for customizing different kinds of objects. There are a few objects he covers in more detail than are shown in David’s demo. He also answers some questions only someone with inside knowledge of future plans for the tool can address and shares an invitation to join the TTP Discord server, where you can request new features and get any follow up questions answered.
Tabletopia
To learn at your own pace, watch through the 3 tutorial videos on this Tabletopia help page or the video playlist below from Anthony Baker of ApalloRa Games.
If you’re left with questions after these tutorial videos, reach out to one of our community members who have volunteered to help others figure out how best to build their games in Tabletopia:
Jeff Johnston, one of our active community members, has offered to tutor anyone who needs help figuring out how to set their prototype up in Tabletopia. Email him at jeff (dot) johnston (at) pairofjacksgames (dot) com to set up a time to talk through creating a Tabletopia version of your game.
Fernando Cunha, long-time Tabletopia user has offered to support anyone looking to get their game built on Tabletopia. You can reach him at Fernando Cunha#2526 on Discord, @ofedasunha on Twitter, and/or @fedasunha on Facebook and Instagram.
Hire someone to build games for you
Digital Board Game Labs builds TTP mods “as close to the real things as possible” using 3D rendering.
Katzenspiel Solutions offers done-for-you prototype builds in Tabletop Playground and Tabletopia.