If you’re a person who enjoys the social side of online gaming, this product launch is not for you. Board was designed by entrepreneur Brynn Putnam, alongside former World of Warcraft exec Seth Sivac, as a way to make the idea of "screen time" a more immersive in-person experience. "Families want to connect, but they’re competing with incredibly powerful technologies," Putnam told USA Today. "Board is about flipping that dynamic — using tech to support real human connection instead of replacing it."
The product acts like a typical tabletop game that you lay out flat, just like the cardboard play space for Monopoly or Settlers of Catan, but it offers additional digital interactions on the digital screen. The 12 games included are original to Board, each with unique piece sets.
Putnam has past experience creating tech that blends the physical and the digital. Her previous project, Mirror, was a workout screen for delivering live fitness classes at home. The company later got bought up by lululemon for a cool $500 million. Putnam is billing Board as "the first ever face-to-face gaming console" and at $499, its price tag nearly matches what you'd expect for current console hardware. And that’s the limited time offer; the website says Board will normally retail for $699. The sales pitch leans hard on the idea of connecting families without their phones, but for that cost, you could also buy more than a dozen different board and card games to eliminate the screens altogether. And screens don’t have to be the enemy. There are plenty of amazing couch co-op video games out there, including kid-friendly ones, not to mention the fact that even single-player games can be multiplayer experiences if you have the right mindset.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/board-is-a-500-board-game-console-with-12-original-titles-223313978.html?src=rss