Console blends digital video games with traditional board games

France-based Wazama is demonstrating its board game console at Las Vegas gadget show CES.

It's designed to be a perfect blend between digital video games and social board games.

Damien Botta and Didier Guillemot from Wizama are playing a game of Cosmo Squabble on the Square One board game console.

Everything is connected to the device, including the cards, dice and pawns.

Botta says their CEO had the inspiration for the device when he and his daughter couldn't decide what to play with - a tablet computer or a board game. So, they merged the two.

Due to the digital nature of the games, they can be recorded and played back on the screen afterwards. There's also music from the device's built-in speakers.

"She wanted to play tablet and he wanted to play boardgame, then how to merge?" says Botta.

"Something social stuff. Then, he imagined a board game console where there is video games, with colour, with animation on the board game, where we are together."

The aim is to preserve the social element of board games while still offering a digital-style video game experience.

"We don't look at the TV in front, we are a horizontal console, everything happens around the table," says Botta.

"Everybody know what is happening. I can see Didier, if he's bluffing, I can collaborate with him or no. We can see it, it's social stuff and we have some objects. Every physical object is the most important thing in a social environment."

CES 2019, the world's largest tech conference, runs till Friday 11th January.

Over 180,00 visitors are expected to attend the huge annual consumer electronics show in Las Vegas.