Upgrade Your Shelf: The Best Tabletop Games for the World of Pluribus
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
Following a standout moment in Apple TV's Pluribus, we look at why protagonist Carol's board game collection needs an upgrade and suggest modern tabletop alternatives like SETI, Ticket to Ride, and Forgotten Waters that fit her personality.
Television isolation plots always find a way to make us inspect the background details, and Apple TV's Pluribus delivered a prime moment for tabletop fans in its eighth episode. When protagonist Carol Sturka finally reconnects with her chaperone Zosia after days of intense solitude, the awkward icebreaker turns to a look inside Carol's board game cabinet. As Sam Nelson points out over at Polygon, Carol's stash of party games and titles like Monopoly make very little sense for a lone curmudgeon who lacks local friends. If a global hivemind is going to sit down for game night, the collection definitely needs a serious overhaul.
For a character whose journey kicks off with alien RNA sequences, Tomáš Holek’s SETI serves as an ideal thematic match. Recently crowned the best board game at SPIEL Essen, this heavy strategy game features a stellar solo mode that lets players scan the stars for extraterrestrial life, giving Carol plenty of ways to study the cosmos without relying on a full group. If she wants something a bit more aligned with her secret soft spot for trains and lonely rail horns, Ticket to Ride offers an accessible entry point into modern Eurogames that plays brilliantly at two player counts.
Tabletop designers have spent the last decade building incredible experiences that fit specific narrative niches, and Carol's creative background opens up even more strong contenders. Love Letter taps into her day job writing romance-adjacent fiction while adding a layer of social deduction to test Zosia's poker face. Meanwhile, the app-assisted pirate adventure Forgotten Waters matches her fantasy roots with cooperative chaos. Whether you are gaming solo or hanging out with a co-op partner on stream, upgrading from mass-market classics to modern tabletop design changes the entire room dynamic.
Tags: Board Games, Tabletop, Streaming, Culture, Pluribus
Original article: Polygon