Lately I have been playing more turn based table top games with friends, but sometimes they are not available to play. I did find ways to play many of the board games I enjoy online though.
Perhaps some of you would be interested in playing.
BrettspielWelt is one place to play. The name translates to `German board game world` as far as I know.
There is a client to download, and registration is optional.
BSW has about 40 different games to play, and each game has an online guide to help people with rules and the interfaces. Personally, I prefer to find the rules that come with the games on PDF file as they are not condensed, and the rules are generally better written. I find the interfaces are intuitive.
I like to go to BSW to play games I know, learn about some of the finer points, and introduce myself to new games that I have not had the opportunity to play yet. It has a lot of the popular Eurogames that emphasize planning, strategy and resource management over randomness. If I find a game that I like, I will usually order a copy to introduce to friends, or if I am lucky, one of the game stores in town has a copy for sale.
I think there are a few language versions available, including English.
Here is a link to the site:
http://www.brettspielwelt.de/
It has the client, FAQ, command lists, rules, etc.
The game designers and publishers grant permission, or sometimes pay BSW to program and host the game (I think) so people can check it out. Some of the designers play as well.
Some games that I like to play on it: Caylus, Yinsh, Finsture Flure(Fearsome Floors), Funkenschlag (Power Grid), Go, Dvonn, Lost Cities, San Juan, Settlers of Catan. There are still more that I am interested in trying. My user name is JoshtheGamer so if you get curious and log on, you can find me if I am on by using /tell JoshtheGamer <message> or /ghook JoshtheGamer (joins game room I am in).
Users may not speak English, but most do. People on BSW are generally quite good (you may type /info username [caps sensitive] to see the number of games played and win percent). Many are friendly and are happy to help new players.
I am also learning how to play Go. Does anyone else play? (I think Bisqwit likes Go if I remember right.) I am registered on IGS, one of the seemingly more popular Go servers, if anyone is interested. Username: JoshuaGo
http://www.pandanet.co.jp/English/