Playing board games with friends all over the world while feeling like you're in the same room as them is about to get a whole lot easier: Tabletop Simulator now supports the HTC Vive. Although currently in beta, the new trailer shows it working exceedingly well.

This isn't the first look we've had at virtual reality tabeltop experiences of course. AltSpace VR offers a D&D table for a VR version of pen and paper roleplaying games, Lost Cities has board game-like gameplay and Skyworld promises a tabletop game built with VR in mind from the get go, but Tabletop Simulator has oh so much more.

Released in June 2015 after a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2014, Tabletop Simulator lets you play any game in virtual reality. It has no rules, nothing to stop other players flipping the table or throwing pieces around – that's why public play isn't likely to ever be a big draw – but that's the fun of it. You can knock your friend's pieces over if you want, or stack them all together – it's up to you. [yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuUhWPUDpGo']

That means playing games at your pace, but it also means knowing the rules. It's as close to playing real-life board games as you can get on a PC and with VR support, that will be even more so.

In the new trailer we see players juggling pieces with one another, walking around the table for a different perspective and even changing their scale, so they can walk through the tabletop dungeon they created, with monsters towering over them as they go.

Currently in beta, the Tabletop Simulator VR support is good to go for Vive users. The Oculus Rift may be added in the future once Touch is released.

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KitGuru Says: I have a lot of hours in Tabletop Simulator already playing workshop games that I own in real life, like Arkham Horror, Settlers of Catan, War of the Ring and more. VR is just going to make them all the more fun.

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