AI-made board games

A board game is a tabletop game in which small objects, called game pieces, are placed and moved in particular ways on a patterned game board. Most add a rules system, a turn order and often dice or cards for chance. The core loop is to take your turn, move or place pieces under the rules, and respond to the other players until someone wins. Chess, Go, Monopoly and Catan are well-known examples.

A digital board game has to do what players do at the table: enforce the rules, track whose turn it is, roll dice or shuffle cards, and detect a win. Playing against the computer also needs an opponent AI. Virtual tabletop tools such as Tabletop Simulator work differently, leaving rule enforcement to the players.

In a browser, an opponent AI that searches many moves ahead can run in a Web Worker so the board stays responsive, and online play needs a server connection such as a WebSocket.