I found this paper on the web:
www.cs.chalmers.se/~lundsus/ lundgren_bjork_game_mechanics.pdf
Sorry, you'll have to copy the URL.
It is fairly academic, but the section on "Identified Mechanics" is pretty interesting where the author presents some ideas on the use of computerized technology with board games. One idea in particular is have a computerized board game where a game can be played continuously even though you may be sleeping or doing other things (I presume you can put in some parameters or a set thing to do).
I think there was some discussion on this issue recently. I think this just adds some further ideas.
--DarkDream
