3 ms·
Yea, the analysis that Kickstarter is driving it is pretty poor, but if you think about why board games are booming, it's a dozens of small things multiplying.
by panglott 11y ago
Yea, the analysis that Kickstarter is driving it is pretty poor, but if you think about why board games are booming, it's a dozens of small things multiplying.
GenCon has been growing attendance every year recently, BoardGameGeek has been around for many years, the Dice Tower has been going for years, TableTop is finishing season 3... There are lots of independent publishers, and crowdfunding models have worked their way into small publishers' business models...compare GMT Games' P500 model, for example.
Personally there's some disillusion with the state of D&D, and it's also true that board gaming is simply better now than it was 10 or 20 years ago. There are better games, different types of games, and people have more points of entry.
- jlees 11y agoI think there's also a spot for board games as a social outlet that requires less commitment than D&D and is more accessible than videogaming; several years ago I used to get together with friends and bring videogame consoles, more recently it's board games (and they're super easy to play with new acquaintances too). I hate to say it but games like Cards against Humanity are, in a way, the Minecraft of board games; it starts with "party" games and before you know it you're playing BSG :)
- tsotha 11y agoThe last time I went to a major game convention, board gaming was almost nonexistent. There were entire convention halls stuffed with people shuffling Magic: The Gathering cards, but if you wanted to play an old Avalon Hill war game you were SOL.