Abstract
The article focuses on the Italian game culture risen around Vassal and OCTGN – i.e., free online engines through which thousands of gamers play every day physical boardgames and wargames like Carcassone, Warhammer and The settlers of Catan. Specifically, the analysis addresses how the relation between this specific digital play and its material origin is articulated in terms of game system/practice and social environment. Accordingly, a framework that takes into account suggestions from Semiotics, Game Studies and Sociology was applied to empirically assess the concrete environments generated by these tools. Observation of related online forums (n: 4) was conducted and participant involvement in several matches (n: 43) was staged; finally, a survey was distributed among expert gamers (n: 58). Results show that Vassal/OCTGN culture is a soft articulation of the boardgame/wargame one: albeit the glaring differences in the media experience per se, subjects stated that these programs entail an articulation of their physical ludic hobby rather than a new and autonomous passion.
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