SpilBar 63: Cardboard <-> Code — Connecting Board Games and Digital Games
Board games are one of the world’s earliest forms of communication. Through their mechanics, narratives, and components, they have always been a medium for storytelling in countless forms. But how do the worlds of analog and digital board games connect? And what happens when you adapt a physical game into digital form — or bring a digital game to the tabletop?
Join us for SpilBar 63, where we’ll dive into the evolving relationship between physical and digital board games, and explore the role they’ve played — and continue to play — in human culture for thousands of years.
Open Call for game showcase – registrer here, if you want to showcase your game at SpilBar 63
https://forms.gle/49RJKUqkmtfB87dF8
Programme
16:00
Doors open
16:30
Welcome w. Thomas Vigild
16:35
Pick a Card
Tim Clare – writer, journalist and podcaster
How did the beheading of St Denis lead to the creation of Mario Kart World? Author Tim Clare dives into the history of games to show how key moments of cultural exchange have rippled through the centuries, using playing cards as a case study, explaining how they fuelled crime waves, sparked revolutions, and spawned numerous modern games, both analogue and digital.
17:20
Coffee Break
17:35
From computers to cardboard: Transforming video games into board games
Ole Steiness – game designer, freelance.
Ole will talk about the experience and challenges of converting video game experiences like Deep Rock Galactic, Valheim and Hitman into board games, and his work with some popular Scandinavian game companies in that process.
18:00
Crafting a miniature world in Wartile and Successor
Michael Rud Jakobsen – Playwood Project
A talk about how we brought miniature worlds to life in our games Wartile and Successor: inspired by board games and Dungeons & Dragons, we combined diorama landscapes and figurines with accessible yet tactical gameplay. Our mission was to capture the magic of tabletop play and expand it into a living digital universe.
18:25
News, announcements and info
18:35
Mingling + Game Showcases
Sign up here, if you are up for showcasing your game: https://forms.gle/49RJKUqkmtfB87dF8
20:00
Goodbye
Tim Clare
Tim Clare is a writer, journalist and podcaster. He is the author of six books, including his latest, The Game Changers, a book about how tabletop games changed the world, and can change us, too. He lives in Norwich, UK.
Ole Steiness
Ole is a former computer game designer, now avid board game designer. His work over the past 10 years include Champions of Midgard, Altay and Battle of Gods, but also many board game adaptations of video games, such as Deep Rock Galactic, Valheim and the upcoming official Hitman board game. Ole works full time doing board games, focusing on medium-weight thematic games with lots of action and adventure.
Michael Rud Jakobsen
Michael is the Creative Director at Playwood Project, the studio behind Wartile (2018) and Successor (2025). Before founding the studio, he worked as a designer on Hitman and Kane & Lynch at IO Interactive. He is passionate about creating miniature-inspired worlds that mix tactical depth with playful storytelling.
