Is the board game app really an alternative to the original?

It really depends on the game - some apps recreate the rules one-to-one and work great, while others oversimplify things or have annoying loading times. The big advantage is that you can play whenever you want and there's no cleanup afterwards, but you lose that social element of sitting around the table together. If you want to play solo or online with friends, the app can definitely be enough, but for a family game night at home I'd go with the original.

But what often annoys me about apps is games where the social aspect matters a lot - with the original, you sit together, chat, maybe suspect each other of stuff, and that creates a completely different vibe. In the app you're often just grinding against some dumb AI or getting matched with strangers, and that feeling is just gone. Plus, some board game apps need an internet connection even though the actual board game runs completely offline - if you don't have good wifi at home or want to play on the go, that can be pretty frustrating.

I'd say the question's a bit too narrow - it's less about whether you should go with the app or the original, and more about what you actually need it for. If you want to get a quick game in without setting everything up, the app is obviously convenient, but here's the real hack: use the app to learn the rules before you play with actual people. That saves you and your friends a ton of time the first time around, and then you can sit down together with the original without constantly having to look stuff up.