What better way to get together with friends and have a good old competitive time than by playing board games? André Nordstrand certainly thinks so, anyway! The board game connoisseur owns over 300 games, and for him, they’re the greatest source of fun. He had always been a fan of board games such as Settlers of Catan and Munchkin, but it wasn’t until 2009 when he got his first “real” game called Vikings that he really took it on as a hobby.

“For me, board games have replaced computer games almost 100%,” André says. “I never play online games anymore as a result because board games bring people together for a physical presence and great interaction. I try to advocate the hobby to more people, especially Norwegians, who still seem stuck on ‘Chutes and Ladders’ and ‘Monopoly.’”

André took his hobby to the next level by joining Pulpit Gamers, a group of game-lovers who feed their hobby by destroying each other in every board game imaginable. Eventually, André started creating video reviews and animations of the games he liked to share with the public. To shake things up a bit, he started using iStopMotion to help with the visuals.

“’The Adventurers – Temple of Chac’ is heavily inspired by Indiana Jones, and when playing, you always have a feeling of urgency with walls closing in, a boulder chasing you, lava with dangerous tiles and a rickety bridge,” André says. “A small animation to present this just felt like a natural thing to do. The game is a lot of fun with great uncertainty on what’s going to happen next.”

For the animation, he used his iPhone 5S as a camera, and he mounted it on a small GorillaPod and connected it to his iPad using the remote camera feature. He said that using iStopMotion was practical to use with instant visual feedback.

With iStopMotion, André also created another “The Adventurers” video of a shorter nature using a different setting of the game. In his “Eclipse” video, he used iStopMotion at the 4:40 mark to animate how the game plays out in the background.

“I’m sure I’ll use iStopMotion in the future,” he says. “It’s a simple interface with a neat remote camera feature. It also provides a bit of control to the user, which I really like. I’m trying to teach my son, age 4, to use it as well using an iPad Mini and his LEGO pieces. It’s a slow progress, but it’s far more than I expected already. So it’ll be interesting to see what he comes up with, and if he can give me ideas of my own!”

Want André’s recommendation on a board game? Visit his website for more friendly (okay, highly competitive) fun!