The VASSAL Engine is a game engine for building and playing online adaptations of board games, tabletop games and card games. It allows users to play in real time over a live Internet connection, and also by email (PbeM). It runs on all platforms, and is free, open-source software. For example, there is a Star Wars Miniatures

Star Wars Miniatures

Star Wars Miniatures was a 34mm scale collectible miniatures tabletop game based on the Star Wars fictional universe that was produced by Wizards of the Coast. The game was originally released in September 2004 and continued production until May 2010...

 module, where players can play with up to three others in a digital replica of the table-top game.

It is written in Java

Java (programming language)

Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...

 and is available from SourceForge

SourceForge

SourceForge Enterprise Edition is a collaborative revision control and software development management system. It provides a front-end to a range of software development lifecycle services and integrates with a number of free software / open source software applications .While originally itself...

 under the LGPL open source

Open source

The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...

 license.

History

VASSAL began as VASL (Virtual Advanced Squad Leader), an application for playing Advanced Squad Leader

Advanced Squad Leader

Advanced Squad Leader is a tactical-level board wargame, originally marketed by Avalon Hill Games, that simulates actions of approximately company or battalion size in World War II. It is a detailed game system for two or more players . Components include the ASL Rulebook and various games called...

.

Interview to Rodney Kinney, designer of the VASSAL Engine.

Available modules

VASSAL modules exist for over 800 games, some examples of which are listed here. Most, but not all, modules can be found at the VASSAL module site list.

Tabletops

• V40k, a Warhammer 40,000
  Warhammer 40,000
  Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop, set in a dystopian science fantasy universe. Warhammer 40,000 was created by Rick Priestley in 1987 as the futuristic companion to Warhammer Fantasy Battle, sharing many game mechanics...
  
   module. Perhaps the most played module now. In September, 2008 Games Workshop issued a cease-and-desist order to Tim Davis, which was the team leader by that point. The module is still played.
• Battlefleet Gothic
  Battlefleet Gothic
  -External links:* - An unofficial, community-driven fan wiki dedicated to providing Official & Un-official content and linking the Battlefleet Gothic community....
  
  
• Mordheim
  Mordheim
  Mordheim is a tabletop game produced by Games Workshop. It is a skirmish variant of the company's popular Warhammer Fantasy game set on a smaller scale with players fielding 15-20 models each, rather than the 150-200 models allowed in Warhammer Fantasy....
  
  
• Star Wars Tactics
• Warmachine / Hordes

Boardgames

• Diplomacy
  Diplomacy (game)
  Diplomacy is a strategic board game created by Allan B. Calhamer in 1954 and released commercially in 1959. Its main distinctions from most board wargames are its negotiation phases and the absence of dice or other game elements that produce random effects...
  
  
• HeroQuest
• Pandemic
  Pandemic (board game)
  Pandemic is a cooperative board game designed by Matt Leacock and published by Z-Man Games in 2008.Pandemic is based on the premise that four diseases have broken out in the world, each threatening to wipe out a region. The game accommodates 2 to 4 players, each playing one of five possible...
  
  
• Space Hulk
  Space Hulk
  Space Hulk is a board game by Games Workshop, first released in 1989 and re-released in 2009. The game is set in their Warhammer 40,000 universe and draws a certain degree of inspiration from the Alien movies....
  
   (Also recived a cease-and-desist order from Games Workshop, the creators of the game)
• Shadows over Camelot
  Shadows Over Camelot
  Shadows Over Camelot is an Arthurian-themed board game designed by Serge Laget and Bruno Cathala. The game was also published in French as Les Chevaliers de la Table Ronde and in German as Schatten über Camelot. Players take on the roles of Knights of the Round Table and play the game by...
  
  
• Memoir 44

External links

• Official VASSAL website
• SourceForge page for the engine