Video games have been an entertainment staple for nearly four decades now, with everyone from children to adults spending hours building worlds and killing baddies. But before video games were the norm, tabletop games were the kings of entertainment, with family games nights being a staple.

Ironically, the two different styles of game are now becoming more alike than ever, with both borrowing characters and worlds from each other to make new, fantastic versions of themselves. There have been numerous tabletop games that have recreated popular video games, and some great video games are basically digitized versions of famous board games. This trend doesn’t appear to be ending anytime soon, either. Here’s a brief guide to crossovers games.

A Quick History

Board games, like chess and backgammon, have been available to play as video games from the early days of the internet. Once video game designers saw the potential, they began to create other games based on board games, like the famous Dungeons & Dragons games or classics like Monopoly and Life.

Today, you can find almost any classic board game you want available as a video game. And with the ever-increasing mobile technology that’s available, there’s no reason to think this trend will be slowing down anytime soon.

Why Are Crossovers Popular?

Crossover games have the distinct advantage of taking an already-established game, either a video game or a tabletop game, and porting it to the other so people can enjoy the games in different settings.

This becomes obvious when you want to play a game with friends while you’re traveling. You can’t exactly set up a Monopoly board on an airplane or a train, so having the ability to pass around a tablet makes a video game version of the popular game a no-brainer. There are tons of different tabletop games that have been made into video games specifically for that reason: you can play them anywhere you want without the messy setup. It’s a win-win for both the makers of the game and the people who enjoy them.

From Video to Tabletop

While it’s easy to see why tabletop games are ported to video games, understanding why the opposite is true is a little tougher. It can be rough, but when a game gets it right, it’s a lot of fun.

Video game adaptations have a built-in audience that loves the worlds and characters that they will be playing as. But the best part is that you get to play the game with other people, in person rather than over an internet connection. It brings back the nostalgia of game night, but with established games that people already love, so they can have fun with their friends while playing one of their favorite games, live and in person. There are plenty of different games now available, so finding one should be easy.

Video games and tabletop games will always be different entities, but it’s cool to see the two sharing ideas.