All on Board! [Meta Quest 3] | REVIEW

All on Board brings the magic of tabletop gaming into virtual reality, letting players move pieces, manage rules, and play just like they would in real life – only now, the board is digital. With both classic and licensed games on offer, immersive environments to play in, and even a mixed reality mode for Meta Quest 3 players, it offers a fresh and unique take on tabletop gaming that has the potential to be something special.

Check out some screenshots down below:

All on Board is essentially a tabletop game simulator, with players playing solo or joining friends in immersive virtual reality environments where the game’s board and pieces are all laid out in front of them. They’re then able to play each game, all whilst moving pieces across the board, collecting tokens and cards, and playing out each in-game scenario in real-time as if they were playing a real, physical tabletop game in their own living room. Players can either play solo, join friends in online private games, or try to make new friends in online public games. And don’t worry, you’re able to save mid-game, so if you’re in the middle of a particularly lengthy tabletop showdown, you can always spread it across multiple sessions.

One thing that’s worth noting from the get-go is that All on Board gives players a platform to play these tabletop games in, but it’s up to the player to learn the rules and actually PLAY each game. It’s not like similar tabletop game adaptations that move your pieces around for you or simulate scenarios, with it instead leaning for authenticity by having each player perform all actions. Don’t get me wrong, it simplifies some actions such as performing the initial setup, collecting markers and cards, or tracking player details across certain titles, but for the most part, it’s all on you.

And you know what? It makes for a really fun experience. I’ve had a good time playing through each of the included games with friends, whilst I’ve even found myself getting completely hooked into the solo experience of some of the titles (I’m looking at you, Escape the Dark Castle). There are handy video tutorials integrated into each game that’ll teach players the ins-and-outs of the rules, whilst the environments you play in across each game make the experience more immersive by playing into the appropriate theme. The controls are intuitively implemented to make each game accessible to play, whilst features such as Smart Glance allow players to learn more about the pieces in place across each game in an effective and newbie-friendly manner. Oh, and if you’re playing on the Meta Quest 3, you’ll be able to utilise mixed reality to bring the game into your own living space, which is a really cool feature (albeit one I haven’t used a whole lot because I liked the in-game environments so much).

“All on Board successfully captures the spirit of tabletop gaming in virtual reality, offering a fun and engaging experience for both solo players and groups of friends.”

By purchasing the base game of All on Board, players get access to four titles: Go, Parchisi, Chess, and Checkers. Most players should be familiar with at least one of these titles, so it’s a good starting point if you want to play something simple – I know I’ve spent a lot longer with Checkers than I expected so far, but there really is something for everyone.

However, the real jewel of All on Board’s crown comes with the licenced games, each of which has to be purchased separately. At launch, this includes Escape the Dark Castle, Rallyman GT, The Binding of Isaac: Four Souls, The Hunger, Istanbul, and Terraforming Mars. It’s worth noting from the get-go that each game is reasonably priced (starting at £5.99 and the most expensive being £9.99), but more importantly, only one player needs to own the game to have others join you in multiplayer action. It makes the purchases stand out as good value for money, especially when playing with friends where it’s easy enough to split the cost between you.

Escape the Dark Castle has stood out as the perfect starting point, with its simple rules and quick playtime making it the ideal game for newcomers. I’ve had a lot of fun with it so far (both solo and with friends) whilst it’s something we’ve found ourselves coming back to for quick playthroughs here and there. Rallyman GT is similar in that it’s fairly accessible in design (and can be enjoyed solo), though it does have some additional mechanics that add to the complexity of the experience. It’s all cleverly implemented and easy to pick up though, whilst it also demonstrates just how effective All on Board can be when dealing with bigger areas of play. Finally, we’ve put a LOT of time into The Binding of Isaac: Four Souls, with its loot-collecting and monster-battling gameplay loop making for a very addictive experience. This is the only licenced game that I’ve actually played in real-life, so I’m happy to report that All on Board does a REALLY good job of authentically re-creating it. It’s a whole lot of fun, so much so that we’ve gotten completely hooked into it and it’s stopped us from fully checking out all of the other licenced games on offer.

Whilst I’ve taken quick looks at The Hunger, Istanbul, and Terraforming Mars, I haven’t played them through to completion – I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen though, with each adding to the variety of All on Board. It’s left me very excited to see what will come next, and if All on Board can continue to introduce new titles at a decent pace, I can easily see it becoming my go-to multiplayer virtual reality fix for a long, long time.

Check out some screenshots down below:

Whilst All on Board works really well, there are a couple of areas in which it can fall a little short. The most obvious is the fact that you’re not actually handling physical objects, and believe me, it can feel a little weird not holding cards or moving pieces when playing each game. Now I wouldn’t necessarily call this an issue at all because it’s the nature of the experience, but it took a few games for me to get over that lack of physical presence when playing.

I also think it would REALLY benefit from including some form of written instructions for each game that’s included. Whilst the tutorial videos do a good job of going over the basics of the rules, there were plenty of occasions when playing where the other players and I just needed a quick re-cap of specific rules or to learn how certain situations would play out. Having to re-visit the video was a little tedious, whilst there were also a couple of occasions where they didn’t answer the question we had, meaning a player had to quickly Google the rulebook instead. It was arguably the main flaw of the experience, whilst the information overload of the video tutorials might be overwhelming to some players. Hopefully, it’s something that The Game Kitchen can rectify in future updates.

Finally, the jagged edges on some of the objects in-game could make the text a little difficult to read without seeing it up-close, which might be a little off-putting to some players. It’s not a big issue by any means – you can DEFINITELY read everything – but it could break immersion at times. One very effective solution I’ve found was to use the Quest Game Optimizer to bump up the resolution, but this won’t be an option for everyone.

Developer: The Game Kitchen
Publisher: The Game Kitchen
Platform(s): Meta Quest 3 (Reviewed), Meta Quest 2, PC VR
Website: https://thegamekitchen.com/all-on-board-vr/