Article | Open Access
| Ahead of Print | Last Modified: 19 November 2025
Modern Board Games: Can They Be Geogames?
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Abstract: This article addresses the evolving concept of geogames, traditionally focused on digital and location‐based experiences, and explores the potential of modern board games as an analogue form of geogame. While geogames have been defined by their use of real‐world spatial information, often through GIS technology, there is a recognized need to include more abstract and imaginative representations of space, particularly in analogue formats. This study investigates how modern commercial entertainment board games, characterized by innovative game mechanics and spatial representation, connect with the concept of geogames. It employs a bibliometric analysis of geogame literature and a descriptive analysis of modern board games from the BoardGameGeek database. Key findings indicate a lack of research on analogue games within geogame specific literature, while revealing that modern board games effectively utilize spatial units, territory representation, and game mechanics to create virtual spatial worlds. The study concludes that modern board games align with the definition of geogame, advocating for their inclusion in the geogame research agenda.
Keywords: analogue games; bibliometric analysis; game design; geo‐information; location‐based games; serious games
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Ahead of Print
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Vol 11 (2026): Geogames: The Future’s Language of Urban and Regional Planning (In Progress)
© Micael Sousa, Ítalo Sousa de Sena, Chiara Cocco, Gabriel Mota, Grace Houser. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction of the work without further permission provided the original author(s) and source are credited.