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Your Turn: So Many Games, So Little Time

Posted by Andrew L {Avid Gamer} | 1-Nov-13 | 46 comments

Your Turn - A BoardGaming.com Discussion

Hey there, I’m Andrew; game industry professional, reviewer, gamer, fellow Boardgaming.com member and the host of BoardGaming.com’s new discussion series called “Your Turn.”

This is your chance to let us know what YOU think about a variety of topics related to hobby gaming. I’ll start the conversation and then it’s “your turn” to chime in and add to the discussion. Each Your Turn discussion will have a new topic, and we may even have some special guests make a surprise visit down the road. In the meantime…

So Many Games, So Little Time.

Many in the hobby game industry have described the past few years as “the golden age of board gaming.” And I would have to agree that the game industry has taken a huge leap when it comes to the sheer number and different types of games that are being offered. So many in fact that we now have new vocabularies to describe different types of games: (LCG, CCG, DBG, CO-OP, EURO…) and game mechanics: (Worker Placement, Simultaneous Action Selection, and the dreaded “Roll and Move”).

We have podcasts, video reviews, how-to-play tutorials and websites. We have game designer forums and conventions that have grown in attendance beyond anyone’s expectations. Add to this the apparent growth of the appeal of “geek” culture in the mainstream. Shows like Tabletop and games featured on The Big Bang Theory are breaking down many barriers and letting more and more people in on “designer games.” You can now find games like Arkham Horror and Wrath of Ashardalon sitting near Monopoly at Barnes and Noble. Then throw in Kickstarter. Many good and (not so good) games are giving small publishers their start and also fueling established companies’ abilities to produce. More and more games are streaming into our little corner of the world. It has become a new way (in America at least) to spend time with the family.

Okay, what can I say – I see it and I want to play it! I look at each game as an artistic creation – the brainchild of some eccentric mad scientist-like designer who spent years creating not just a board game, but an “experience” just for me. Even if it’s a themeless mechanic machine… someone thought of it. They want me to play it, dissect it and conquer it! I want to honor them all. Mr. Gygax, I salute you! Hats off Mr. Weisman for Battletech and Heroclix. Thanks Mr. Bauza for your 7 Wonders and the trip down the Tokaido road. Great idea Mr. Vaccarino! And Mr. Garfield? We have to talk.

Overflowing-game-shelf

You can see the obvious problem here. There is absolutely no way I can play all the games I want to play, review all the games that should be reviewed or have a complete collection of the games I want to collect. I can’t experience all that the hobby wants me to experience. The sad thing is I can’t even come close. If hobby games provide an express train to all the experiences life, history, science fiction and fantasy have to offer, how can you not want to buy a ticket and hitch a ride. It’s an exciting time for the hobby giving lots of folks jobs and income. Yet, as exciting as it is, it’s also a bit discouraging.

This is a hobby right? A hobby is the thing you do in your “spare” time. Sometimes I listen to podcasts and they talk about the number of games they played in the past two weeks and I think: “Yikes! I didn’t have time to do the laundry!”

Question: Is this game explosion a good thing? Or are there just too many games? How do you choose what games to play and buy in this crowded market?
So many games so little time…

Your turn…

Comments (46)

Gamer Avatar
7
Football Fan
MERCS fan
Canada
The Gold Heart

I’m the opposite of Diogenes, I love lots of new games, learning the new mechanics and developing on the fly is where I excel. Also the flooding of new games usually gets sorted through and the exceptional pieces of work usually find themselves on top while the **** is quickly forgotten. I love new games as soon as they are out but if you wait and play a couple months behind the “cult of the new” then you’ll be fine. The tricky part is making sure you don’t over buy and still be selective. For those reasons I avoid CCG’s and LCG’s or anything else that is going to be costing me more each month.

Gamer Avatar
7
Treasure Chest
Smash Up Fan
Platinum Supporter

Are there too many games? That depends on how many you think is too many. I agree that there are too many for me to ever play all of the ones that interest me (unless I could quit my job and become a professional play tester, a choice which I’m sure my wife will frown upon).

It’s a shame that I don’t have enough time to sit down and give every game an equal amount of attention and investigation before purchasing. I did find that the most recent PAX in Seattle rekindled my love of board and card games. Events like PAX, as I presume GenCon and others would be, are great places to give games some hands on TLC – especially for games that either haven’t been released or that you just haven’t had the time to sit down and learn how to play. It’s an investment of time and money to go to an event like those. But if it’s your passion, you’ll meet a lot of great like-minded people who will have recommendations and experiences with a truck load of fantastic games. Please, if you go to a convention, shower daily. Pretty please.

Another place to think about is your local game store. Most of the ones I have haunted recently have a section of “store copy” games that can be loaned out to play in the store. The local Uncle’s Games in my area have a wall of games available to play as well as tables and times of the week to play them. The first open weekend day I get, Arkham Horror and I are going to finally set down and become acquainted.


Bob Ball
Voice actor at BobBallVO.com,
host of quiz show “PopQuizzical” on iTunes,
mental giant on game show “Word Rango” on iTunes

Gamer Avatar

I think it’s great! I have a lot of different friend groups who are into different kinds of games. Additionally, I can go a long time without seeing them. It’s nice to have a “best of the new stuff” game night when we do get the chance to meet up. I like that the diversity means you can get almost any one to sit down at the table; and while I certainly have games on my shelf that don’t get played often it’s totally worth keeping them around when I finally find someone who loves that game, too.

I love that being a “geek” is becoming “cool” and while I was never shy about how I spend my free time, it’s great how much more often I can talk about my weekend without getting blank stares back. It’s great that there are new people coming to the hobby everyday! I love that it’s accessible and that people are starting to see it as a great way to spend family night!

My husband and I work in the industry (well, he does works and I get recruited for large events) and it’s amazing to see so many passionate people! I think this “golden age” is going to be around for a lot longer, and I am totally stoked for it. 🙂

Gamer Avatar
9
Rated 100 Games
Stone of the Sun
Advanced Reviewer
Novice Advisor

@Andrew L

It helps my purse is not that big. So a game might look nice, but it needs to be really good for me to buy it. Actually the last game I bought was Europa Universalis. That’s not a new game at all and I played it just once (and only one turn) until my friends almost had nervous breakdowns. My taste in games is for long, strategic ones and I don’t see many of that sort made anymore.

I do enjoy the occasional new game, but mostly because my friends keep buying games (I do like Arkham Horror, by the way, but the myriad of expansions keeps me from buying it – can’t a game just be finished in one go these days?).

Gamer Avatar
6
The Gold Heart
Plaid Hat Games fan
Sentinels of the Multiverse fan
Bronze Supporter

@ Diogenes

Wow, you have some real will power! How can I ignore the cool little X-wing figures? Or the next big trend like DBGs or that cool T’zolkin gear mechanic! But I hear ya. I always go right back to some of my favorites and the new games do seem to get a single or double play, then get set aside. On one hand, game companies employ a lot of folks and they have to make a lot of games to stay in business and keep their company competitive. Even Mayfair has released many Settlers expansions. What’s the last “new” game you purchased?

Gamer Avatar
9
Rated 100 Games
Stone of the Sun
Advanced Reviewer
Novice Advisor

Personally I must say I’ve mostly ignored all the new games. There just too many of them. Most gaming has reverted to ‘T-shirt of the week’ by playing a new game for a while and then discarding it forever. I rather play some true and tried titles (like Diplomacy or 1830 or even Settlers of Catan) instead of constantly hopping from game to game. So yes, I think there are too many games. But these days there is too much of everything, so it’s no surprise it has reached the boardgaming world as well.

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