The best board game companion apps for iPhone and iPad

The advent of mobile devices has pushed board games into new realms, with companion iPhone and iPad apps adding an added nuance to tabletop games. Apps can help maintain a score, guide you through your journey, and even allow you to play single-player vs. AI, creating a mediocre experience that wasn’t possible until the last decade.

Whether you’re looking for something to play with family during holiday gatherings or games to spend time at quarantine, these are the best game-and-app combinations.

Mansions of Madness, Second Edition

The second edition of the board game strategy replaced the human guard with Mansions of Madness with this companion app of the same name. In this Lovecraft-inspired title, two to five players explore a spooky space, playing as explorers trying to unravel the mysteries of the mansion. The companion app serves as your guide and narrator as you present your gameplay with mirror animations of your game board.

The Mansions of Madness app works with both iPhone and iPad. It’s free on the App Store with in-app purchases.

D&D Beyond

D&D Beyond is the official digital guest of the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons, serving as a reader for D&D compendium content. Meanwhile, D&D Beyond Player Tools is a unique character management app.

To play, you need to either buy digital copies of the necessary instructions such as in-app purchases or have a friend who shares them with you. There are also optional subscriptions to add bonuses as unlimited characters and access to public home brew content.

Clank!

In an adventure somewhat similar The Hobbit, Clank! do you enter a prison dominated by a powerful dragon. Pillage finance and manage risk vs reward as you build your deck.

The Renegade Games companion app, which supports a number of other games, allows you to play a single-player campaign, useful for quarantine fun.

Release!

This creative escape room game challenges you to use logical reasoning to find your way off Professor Nodside’s slick island. The puzzles focus on numbers, combining numerical cards representing objects to see if you have solved another set of mysteries.

The companion app notifies you and lets you enter codes and see if they help you escape.

Star Wars: Imperial Assault

This Star Wars title is borrowed from the Mansions of Madness game. The board game usually calls for one player to become an Empire while everyone else plays as the Rebel Alliance. However, with the companion app Legends of the Alliance, all players can fight together as the Rebellion while the app serves as the master of the game and plays as Imperial forces.

The Legends of the Alliance companion app for iPhone and iPad is free on the App Store. You can buy the Star Wars: Imperial Assault album game for $ 124.99 on Amazon.

Detective: Modern Crime

A crime solving epic, each game of Detective: Modern Crime gives you five cases to solve, with one comprehensive meta-plot that connects them all. Although the game doesn’t have a native companion app in the App Store, you can still use your iOS or Mac device to login to a website to help with searches.

LOTR: Tours in the Middle Earth

Build your own Circle Alliance in this adventure set in the fantasy world of JRR Tolkien. You can choose from familiar characters like Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and Bilbo as you and your friends play collaboratively to unite against dark forces.

The companion app establishes character interactions, monitors your party record and skills, and determines the results of fights. The game supports one to five players.

The Journey in Middle Earth companion app is free in the App Store and works with iPhone, iPad, and M1 Macs. You can buy the corporate board game for $ 79.96 on Amazon.

Board Game Stats

This multi-purpose device stands as a second digital screen for any board game you and your friends play. While it doesn’t fit any specific title, it allows you to track matches, attempts and scores while entering stats and graphs.

Board Game Stats cost $ 3.99 on the App Store.