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Playing Board Games Locally: Zero Electronics Required

You need zero electronic equipment to play board/card games with family in the same room. The game is the equipment.

What's in the Box = What You Need

Board, cards, dice, meeples, tokens, rulebook, scorepad, pencils.
That's it. People have played this way for 5,000 years.

Optional Digital Enhancements (Not Required)

Tool	Use Case	App/Device
Dice Roller	Lost dice, math-heavy rolls (4d6k3), accessibility	Dice by PCalc, Mach Dice, Google "roll d20"
Timer	Turn limits, sand timer replacement	Phone clock, Board Game Timer app

Score Calculator: Complex scoring (Wingspan, Scythe). Spreadsheet or ScorePal app.
Rule Reference: PDF rulebook on tablet (searchable). Dized app has interactive tutorials for 100+ games.
Ambience: Playlist (Spotify/YouTube: "Board Game Music," "Tavern Ambience"). Smart speaker.
Companion Apps (Game-Specific): Mansions of Madness, Journeys in Middle-earth, Alchemists, XCOM, Unlock!, Chronicles of Crime — require app. Check box.

When You Do Need Tech

Remote players: Discord/Zoom + VTT (Roll20, Owlbear) or camera on board.
Legacy / Campaign games with app: Gloomhaven (helper), Frosthaven, Sleeping Gods, Destinies — app manages world state.
Accessibility: Text-to-speech rules, high-contrast dice, voice-controlled rollers.

Pro Tip: The "Phone Stack" Rule

All phones face-down in center. First to touch buys snacks / does dishes. Preserves the magic circle — the shared attention that makes tabletop special.

Open the box. Read rules aloud. Play. That's the equipment list.

Online Games