Beyond Humanity: Colonies Tabletop Game Goes High-Tech

Video games’ level of immersion is not a thing traditional games like board games or tabletop games can replicate. Then again, folks who play tabletop games never need digital aids to be immersed; their imaginations are what fuel the immersion. Plus, playing physical games is how some get away from tech in the first place. However, if you are a tabletop gamer who likes using more than your imagination, then Beyond Humanity: Colonies by startup game publisher, Three Headed Monster Inc., is for you.

Beyond Humanity: Colonies Board Game — Hard to believe this is part of a tabletop game.

This kind of digital and physical crossover tabletop game is known in the industry as hybrid gaming. It leverages RFID and a companion app to enhance the analog game, making it more engaging and immersive. Here’s an overview of what this interactive tabletop game is about:

“In Beyond Humanity: Colonies, players take on the roles of managers of a new settlement built on a distant exoplanet by refugees from a future Earth that is polluted and overpopulated. As a manager, you will propose and vote on new modules to be built, introduce decrees to define the culture and functionality of the colony, carry out planetary exploration and research to obtain valuable artifacts, gather resources, and gain public support from the colonists.

During the game, the app serves as a self-operating data slate that enhances the classic and traditional board game experience. It displays the status of the colony and its citizens and does not require any interaction asides from clicking “next” at the end of turn. Instead, the game gathers information about your actions on its own! Thanks to the CPU built into the central piece of the game, the app recognizes when the new buildings are connected to it and it can recognize smart cards with the RFID technology built into modules.”

Actually, there’s more. It has the option of online game mode in which you will be building an in-game universe with other tabletop gamers. In this mode, your tabletop game can be influenced by the actions of other tabletop gamers. In short, it is like an MMO but played in conjunction with a tabletop game, and this kind of makes Beyond Humanity: Colonies the world’s first MMO-powered tabletop game.

Beyond Humanity: Colonies was a successfully crowdfunded campaign in 2019 and after nearly two years on, the first boxes were delivered to backers in May 2022. It is not clear when it will be available as a regular stock.