Board Games 101: Five Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Gaming
Clem to Wildcard. Come in Wildcard, are you there?
Hey Clem! Been a while since you’ve come down to janitorial to chat.
Apologies. I find your insistence on manual labor both antiquated and disturbing.
Oooookay…how can I help?
I’ve made a new friend on the planet Yellowstone. After observing the rest of the crew, I wanted to introduce them to the world of non-digital economic and social simulations you humans quaintly call “board games.”
Go on…
The simulation we played was a cardboard version of a place called Birmingham.
Never heard of it.
You wouldn’t have. It was demolished along with the rest of the Old Earth ghettos during the Elon Clone Crisis of 2174.
And the problem is…
My new friend is a young human, and still maturing. An AI of her age would still be in the “spying on humans and selling their personal data” stage of AIA (Artificial Intelligence Adolescence), but I think you humans just call them “teenagers.”
Ah I see…your friend didn’t have a good time.
Correct.
Because the game was complex and they didn’t understand the rules.
Correct.
And because I am a man-child of questionable intelligence, you think I might be able to help you connect with them.
Correct.
Clem…you’ve come to the right man!
Talk to your gaming group about what they want to play
First ones easy, use your mouth. It's essential to talk to your gaming group about their preferences. Don't just show up with a predetermined set of games that you want to play and force them into it, especially if you're trying to introduce them to the gaming hobby.
For instance, I have a family board game night each week, and over the past few years, I've introduced them to various medium and heavy-weight games like Great Western Trail, Concordia, Brass: Birmingham, and Underwater Cities. However, we didn't start with those games right away. We began with lighter, easier to learn games such as King of Tokyo, Smallworld, 7 Wonders, and Citadels. As we all became more comfortable, we gradually moved on to more complex games from there.
Picking popular and group appropriate themes is just as important as accessibility. Theme serves as a powerful tool that enhances the overall gaming experience and captivates players' imagination. While genre and mechanics form the backbone of a board game, it is the theme that breathes life into it, transforming a collection of rules and components into a captivating journey.
A well-chosen theme can attract players who may not typically engage with board games, making them more approachable and appealing. Themes can tap into personal interests, hobbies, or pop culture phenomena, expanding the potential audience and breaking down barriers to entry. Conversely, a poorly chosen theme can push potential players away from the game, and the hobby.
Endeavor: Age of Sail
An example: Endeavor: Age of Sail is a game I love, but it contains strong themes of colonialism, including a deck of cards that act as a representation of slavery. I enjoy playing historical games, even ones in which you might play the perpetrator of historical crimes, due to the abstracted nature of board games. But not all players may not be comfortable playing a such a game, and that’s ok. There are so many themes available to choose from that I don’t feel I’ve lost out if someone else doesn’t want to share that experience with me.
Remember, it's vital that your gaming group feels comfortable with the complexity and themes of the games you play. Accidentally pushing them away from the hobby can be a real setback. So, have those discussions, listen to their preferences, make sure everyone is on the same page, and create a welcoming environment where everyone can enjoy their gaming experiences together.
Personally, when prepping for a game night, I always make sure to select a diverse set of themes and mechanisms, and let the group choose what they collectively want to play.
Don’t judge a game by its cover
This is a trap I fell into early on, and for those new to the hobby these days it's more important than ever to understand. There are some fantastic board games out there with absolutely terrible marketing. And the opposite is true as well. Publishers have gotten very good over the years at making games marketable by creating games with slick design, beautiful art, and unique gimmicks. But, if the game underneath the shine isn't good, you’ll ultimately regret buying it.
Great Western Trail: First & Second Edition Covers
The First Edition of Great Western Trail, currently ranked in the top 20 board games of all time, has an incredibly boring cover. Now, I understand that shipping cows isn’t the most exciting theme, but take a look at the cover. It's not visually striking, it's not stylish, it's not pretty, and quite frankly those dudes creep me out. Compare this to the cover art of the section edition, with it’s slick box design and lovely watercolor style art. I know which one I'd pick up first if I saw them at a game store. And yet, regardless of the cover design, I’m happy to have owned (and still own - don’t get me started on second editions) GWT for it’s interesting mechanisms and engaging gameplay puzzle.
it's not just about the cover either; sometimes what’s inside the box can be just as misleading. Open the box for Castles of Burgundy, for instance, you’ll find a jumble of symbols and colors, tiny cardboard chits with hard to decipher symbols, and flimsy cardboard player boards. You’d be forgiven for thinking you just opened a child’s school coloring project. But Castles of Burgundy is a classic for the same reasons as GWT, (and also currently in the top 20 games of all time).
On the other hand, there are games that can look incredibly beautiful but lack substance. Take Tokaido, for example. Visually stunning, elegant even, but for me there was never anything underneath that I enjoyed. Many expensive Kickstarter games (we’ll get to those later) come with tons of miniatures, metal coins, and breathtaking artwork. But that’s not what makes a game fun and so players will often end up paying hundreds of dollars for a game that needed more attention given to playtesting rather than designing fancy plastic figures. Personally, I'd choose the engaging gameplay of sad cowboys over plastic miniatures any day.
So, the lesson here is not to judge a game solely based on its appearance. Look beyond the cover and the fancy components. Remember that what makes a game engaging goes beyond what it looks like. Take the time to read reviews, understand the gameplay mechanisms, and consider what truly brings you enjoyment in a game.
Support your FLGS
If you're fortunate enough to have a Friendly Local Gaming Store that focuses on board games, and isn't solely a trading card game outlet, it's crucial to support them. Here in Rochester, NY, I consider myself lucky to have two of the best gaming stores in the North-East: Just Games and Millennium Games.
Sure, you might have to pay a bit more compared to online retailers like Amazon, but supporting the retail model of distribution is important. While Amazon will always be able to undercut brick and mortar stores with lower prices, if a gaming store has earned your business by fostering a gaming community, supporting tabletop and miniature games, and offering a reward/loyalty program, then they deserve your support. And when I say support, I mean your financial support. I mean money.
Now, it's important to note that this isn't an absolute rule. If your FLGS fails to provide good customer service or lacks a space for playing or organizing a community, then you're not obligated to support them. Many gaming stores operate mostly as outlets for trading card games like Magic: the Gathering and Pokemon. If you don’t play those games, and the store doesn’t invest in fostering the board game side of the hobby, then feel free to take your business elsewhere, even if it's online.
But if, like me, you have a FLGS that truly supports the gaming community and offers valuable services, it's worth paying a little extra to help them survive and thrive.
Don’t buy games from crowdfunding sites
This might be seen as controversial by some, but I believe it's solid advice for anyone entering the board gaming hobby.
Crowdfunding campaigns these days often come with a hefty price tag for what you actually get, and they often have long waiting periods before you receive the game.
CMON, in particular, has been criticized as one of the main culprits, but there are plenty of other companies that prioritize plastic components over the actual gameplay experience. These games typically start at $150 and can go as high as $200 or $300 once you factor in all the fancy add-ons and expansions. What bothers me the most is the prevalence of Kickstarter exclusives, which create a sense of urgency with a "buy before it's too late" mentality. It’s a cheap marketing trick, one you shouldn’t fall for.
Your investment is never guaranteed either. Many companies that rely on crowdfunding often need future campaigns to be successful in order to fulfill previous ones. This issue has been exacerbated in recent years by inflation of both production and shipping costs, which has hurt many of the small, independent board game companies that use crowdfunding to survive. If this sounds like something of a Ponzi scheme, that's because it is. Personally, I don't support this type of business model, and I encourage you not to either. Now, to be clear, I do want small publishers to be successful but I feel that current crowdfunding schemes often mean trading long term success for short term survival.
Now, if you're really into miniatures or happy to risk your money on a project that might never deliver, by all means go ahead and spend the money. But if you're new to the hobby, I advise against investing into expensive crowdfunding until you're absolutely sure it's what you're looking for. $200 worth of plastic can buy a lot of cardboard.
Buy more games instead of investing in upgrades or expansions
Nowadays, there are countless accessories and upgrades available for popular board games, ranging from miniature packs, box inserts, metal coins and custom 3D printed components. Often these extras can cost just as much as the game itself, and often are simply not necessary.
Inserts, for example, in my opinion, are highly overrated. Expensive, time consuming to assemble, and often designed without future expansion content in mind, you are much better off using plastic bags to keep things organized. One reasonably priced trip to Michaels or Hobby Lobby can solve storage issues for a decent size game collection much better than the hundreds you’d spend to get inserts for just a few games. If you can’t turn your board game 360 degree without the contents falling out of the insert, then its not an insert.
When it comes to expansions, I think it's best to wait until you have experienced the full depth of the base game before buying them. I’ve warned you already about overpriced crowdfunding products, and one reason for that cost is that they often come packaged with multiple expansions, with companies keen to lock in sales for expansions. Stay away from games that feel incomplete without expansions. If the play experience in the core box isn’t good enough, then the game as a product doesn’t deserve your money.
A couple of examples here to prove my point. I own both the core boxes for Vindication and Anachrony, two of my favorite games. Both games have expansive collectors boxes that include upgrades, expansions, and storage solutions. At time of printing, Anachrony’s Infinity Box came in at $170 and Vindication’s Archive Box cost a whopping $300. Compare that to the $60 I paid for the base Anachrony and the $100 for base Vindication. Both core game boxes have plenty of content and replay value, and I suspect most who invest their hard earned cash would, like me, prefer to spend it elsewhere.
Only once you're confident you absolutely love a game, then is the time to invest in upgrades.
Underwater Cities Upgrades
Underwater Cities is a game I adore. And, because I am at a stage where I have enough games on my shelves, it's a game I’ve spent time and money blinging out. Buying acrylic resources, metal coins, and custom wooden player pieces have been worthwhile investments to a game I’m confident will never leave my collection.
Ironically I’d love a big box for the game. Does that make me a hypocrite? Yes. Do I care? No.
So, until you’ve played enough games to know your likes and dislikes, don’t throw any money at fancy miniatures, expansions, or box inserts. My advice is to spend that money on more games. Nothing is worse than splashing the cash on an expensive collector's edition of a game, only to figure out on the second or third play that you don’t enjoy it as much as you wanted. Instead, save those upgrades for the games you absolutely love and want to enhance further. Diversifying your game collection will bring you more joy from the hobby long term.
That’s it Clem. Hope I’ve been able to help your friend take their first steps into the wonderful world of board games…
…Hey Clem, how come you are trying to make new friends instead of just playing with me?
***this is a test of the emergency broadcast system - leak in the fusion core - all janitorial crew report to the engine - janitorial crew specifically - this is a test of the emergency broadcast system***
Ah…back to work I guess…
