Vassal Engine
Developer(s)The Vassal Team.
Initial release2002 (2002)
Stable release
3.7.7 / January 11, 2024 (2024-01-11)
Repository
Written inJava
Operating systemAny
PlatformCross-platform
Available inMultilingual (English and 6 other languages)
TypeGame engine
LicenseGNU LGPLv2+
Websitevassalengine.org

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.[1][2] For example, there is a Star Wars Miniatures module, where players can play with up to three others in a digital replica of the table-top game.

It is written in Java and the source code is available from GitHub under the LGPL open source license.[3]

History

Vassal began as VASL (Virtual Advanced Squad Leader), an application for playing Advanced Squad Leader.[4]

Available modules

Vassal modules exist for over 1000 games.[5]

In September 2008, Games Workshop issued a cease-and-desist order regarding V40k to Tim Davis, the V40k module maintainer at that time.[6] The module is still played.

Games Workshop has also issued a cease-and-desist order regarding Space Hulk.

Similar projects

Similar engines for making board games include ZunTzu[7] and Boardgame.io.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Geryk, Bruce (August 2007). Green, Jeff (ed.). "Line of Attack: Your monthly guide to hard-core wargaming" (Print Magazine). Games for Windows. Ziff Davis Media (9): 92. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  2. ↑ Ardwulf's Lair (7 October 2015). Exploring the Vassal Engine for Online Boardgaming and Wargaming. Retrieved 22 Jul 2021.
  3. ↑ "Official Vassal Website". Archived from the original on 2021-07-22. Retrieved 2006-08-18.
  4. ↑ R.Flaibani (14 December 2010). "The Master and His Vassal". Archived from the original on 31 March 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  5. ↑ "Category:Modules - Vassal". vassalengine.org. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  6. ↑ "GW V40k Legal Action". Archived from the original on 2021-04-01. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
  7. ↑ "ZunTzu - the Online Boardgaming Platform". Archived from the original on 2019-01-26. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
  8. ↑ "Boardgame.io - Open-Source Game Engine for Turn-Based Games". Archived from the original on 2021-02-14. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
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