3 ms·

I love board games. I started playing board games in 1995, have a little over 600 now, and have run all kinds of events over the years. We are not in a golden

I love board games. I started playing board games in 1995, have a little over 600 now, and have run all kinds of events over the years. We are not in a golden age. Back in 2013 I was invited to a dinner with the Asmodee brass during Toy Fair. They laid out their plans for the company and industry. It all came to pass very quickly. By Gen Con 2016 you could feel that the wheels were coming off. The opening moments of Gen Con 2016 were hectic. This was the first year where you could pay $10 to get into the show floor a little early and the people who didn’t know were furious. Seafall, Cry Havoc, and Scythe were getting their pre-releases and when the gates opened it was the usual stampede but what was different were the lines. People were pretty rude, it was rough. I watched a YouTuber walk perpendicular into the Scythe line, which was blocking the walkway, shout at the people in the line, and then start physically moving people apart when they didn’t get out of the way fast enough.. And here’s the thing. None of those games were very good. We can argue the point on Scythe, but Seafall is considered a massive failure and Cry Havoc was rethemed to the point of illegibility before release. A gaggle of people being rude over terrible games they were told they “needed” to buy was the end of the “Golden Age” for me. Every year since has felt worse. Asmodee gobbled up some of the best companies and now it’s changed hands multiple times. The studios are just logos on a box now, they’re shells of what they were. I’ve played dozens of games over the past two years and they aren’t like they used to be. If they’re not outright dull or poorly designed, they usually feel like copies of imitations of better games. I’ve had a subscription to Game Trade Magazine forever. Each month I tear out the blurbs of the games I want to buy. For the past two years I’ve been tearing out fewer and fewer ads. I tore out one page in the December 2022 issue. The game didn’t even look that good. I’ve basically stopped buying new games. The ideas just aren’t there. Board games aren’t going away, but this isn’t 2000-2015 either. But also, who cares? The excitement is draining from board games and RPGs but other things like Warhammer and GMT/historical war games are getting more interesting. RPGs and board games are just overexposed and need to rest for a bit.

morelisp 4y ago
The historical game space is the most interesting and vital it's been since the 70s, but you wouldn't know it from any of the "golden age" articles largely hyping the latest low-interaction euro or unbalanced area control minis game. RPGs... we'll see. Streaming has completely changed that market and I'm not sure its carrying capacity is in any meaningful sense tied to the number of players anymore.
- miiiiiike 4y ago
  When you talk to RPG fans now you’re find a lot of people who like the idea of RPGs and Kickstarter superbackers who’ve never played a game. Feels like you’re talking to the audience at an improv show. Some would call my comment gatekeepy. I’m just wondering why everyone is choosing to sit outside of an open gate? The people who started playing with 5th ed. are about to go through their first “Edition War”. Their true journey is about to begin.
  - morelisp 4y ago
    I'm torn in replying because I think you're basically right, but also a little bit gatekeep-y, but also agree that "gatekeep" is regularly leveraged by people with financial interest against those trying to encourage a healthier attitude towards "the hobby" than capitalism would otherwise want us to have... Buying books you don't play is nothing new. When I was a kid, maybe you owned 10, knew 5, really played 2; if you were hardcore and had the cash, more like 50/20/5. The number of kids today buying but with zero played doesn't sit right with me; but this is also a definitional issue of what "in the community" means as much as it's some capitalist land grab. It is cool that you don't need to play to appreciate it now. It is also not cool how much kids today are pushed to perform anything they do for fun, and while part of me is like "just log off", I also don't pretend to understand the entire social milieu pressuring them to not do that. If I take anything from my youth spent on games, it's that being a kid is rough and adults really don't understand. Regarding "edition wars" - nah, I think this is generational projection, and I say that as a veteran of a couple. Whatever drives wedges into the communities today will be just as arbitrary and silly-looking to anyone outside it as THAC0 vs. DC. (And that's fine.) Also, with simulationism on the outs, it's hard to imagine anyone under 25 caring too much. What's going to split them will rather probably be some issue in worldbuilding or narratology I'm too old to understand. (And that's fine too.)
    - miiiiiike 4y ago
      I mean, what you've written is basically the subtext of my comment. I want them in, hence the open gate. You find more 5th edition "audience members" than DMs, players, or even readers/collectors.. Which is notable because it's a new class of D&D nerd that didn't, couldn't, really exist before 4th. Not everyone at the improv show needs to get up on stage, but there's also nothing stopping them from trying but fear and some prep work. All edition wars are dumb.
gratitoad 4y ago
Off-topic question for you: of those 600 games, what’s your short-list of favorites? I’ve only recently started playing board games and there’s an overwhelming number to choose from.
- miiiiiike 4y ago
  Sure. 0) Neuroshima Hex! - It's an OS for battles. The armies are little programs and battles are when you let two programs execute simultaneously. 1) 51st State - Same universe/publisher as Neuroshima Hex! You carve out turf in a post-apocalyptic America. Cards in the game can be played in 1 of three ways. a) Incorporate. Bring it into your state. b) Make a deal. Establish an ongoing trading relationship. c) Conqueror. Smash it for parts. A school would give you a worker/turn + victory point if you incorporate it, a worker/turn if you make a deal, and three workers at once if you conqueror it. Some factions are better at offense, some are better at trading, etc. It's great with 5. 2) Ticket to Ride. It's simple. Got it when it first came out, still play it. 3) Cuba Libre/Falling Sky/GMT COIN games in general. It models insurgencies across history. Caesar in Rome, The American Revolution, etc. Great ways to get people interested in history. 4) 4X Space Games. Space Empires 4X & Twilight Imperium especially. 5) Codenames. It's the best way to get to know new people. Like really get to know how they think. I made a massive multiplayer version of it a few years ago. 6) Bios Megafauna. The rulebook for this one is not the product of an ordered mind. The rules are in seemingly random order, some rules or exceptions only appear in the glossary, and the footnotes are full of scientific/pseudo-scientific ramblings.. And it's a lot of fun. 7) Starship Troopers. The 1970's Avalon Hill game. It's a neat hex-and-counter skirmish game. 8) Railways of the World. Started off as Railroad Tycoon: The Board Game. Play it with as many people around the table as possible. For RPGs: 0) Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play 4th edition. Incredible. I had absolutely no interest in Warhammer before picking it up.. Now I'm painting a few Warbands for Warcry, have 6th-8th edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battles, and Blood Bowl is setup on my table. WFRP's a really solid game that blends the best of D&D and Call of Cuthulu. And, I really like The Old World as a setting. 1) Conan: Adventures in an age undreamed of. It's a 2d20 game (the Star Trek version is great too) that's equal parts RPG and dissertation on the works of Robert E. Howard. 2) DCC RPG. If you like D&D, play DCC. It's a heavily modified 3rd edition with a bonkers spell system and level-0 meat grinder dungeons. Some games try to be weird through art and tone.. DCC is weird through mechanism. It works. Everyone generates 4+ characters, runs them through a meat grinder, whoever survives to the end is your 1st level character, backstory included. <--THIS IS THE ONE if you want to create your own setting or run a hex crawl. Overwhelming number of games: I don't read reviews or watch videos. I still do what I've always done: Walk into game stores/conventions and buy what looks interesting. You get a lot of junk but also find great games that you might have missed because the internet decided that they are bad. If a game is popular you're not going to miss it. Just look around to see what people are playing at 12:00 AM at game store/con.

morelisp 4y ago

The historical game space is the most interesting and vital it's been since the 70s, but you wouldn't know it from any of the "golden age" articles largely hyping the latest low-interaction euro or unbalanced area control minis game. RPGs... we'll see. Streaming has completely changed that market and I'm not sure its carrying capacity is in any meaningful sense tied to the number of players anymore.

miiiiiike 4y ago
When you talk to RPG fans now you’re find a lot of people who like the idea of RPGs and Kickstarter superbackers who’ve never played a game. Feels like you’re talking to the audience at an improv show. Some would call my comment gatekeepy. I’m just wondering why everyone is choosing to sit outside of an open gate? The people who started playing with 5th ed. are about to go through their first “Edition War”. Their true journey is about to begin.
- morelisp 4y ago
  I'm torn in replying because I think you're basically right, but also a little bit gatekeep-y, but also agree that "gatekeep" is regularly leveraged by people with financial interest against those trying to encourage a healthier attitude towards "the hobby" than capitalism would otherwise want us to have... Buying books you don't play is nothing new. When I was a kid, maybe you owned 10, knew 5, really played 2; if you were hardcore and had the cash, more like 50/20/5. The number of kids today buying but with zero played doesn't sit right with me; but this is also a definitional issue of what "in the community" means as much as it's some capitalist land grab. It is cool that you don't need to play to appreciate it now. It is also not cool how much kids today are pushed to perform anything they do for fun, and while part of me is like "just log off", I also don't pretend to understand the entire social milieu pressuring them to not do that. If I take anything from my youth spent on games, it's that being a kid is rough and adults really don't understand. Regarding "edition wars" - nah, I think this is generational projection, and I say that as a veteran of a couple. Whatever drives wedges into the communities today will be just as arbitrary and silly-looking to anyone outside it as THAC0 vs. DC. (And that's fine.) Also, with simulationism on the outs, it's hard to imagine anyone under 25 caring too much. What's going to split them will rather probably be some issue in worldbuilding or narratology I'm too old to understand. (And that's fine too.)
  - miiiiiike 4y ago
    I mean, what you've written is basically the subtext of my comment. I want them in, hence the open gate. You find more 5th edition "audience members" than DMs, players, or even readers/collectors.. Which is notable because it's a new class of D&D nerd that didn't, couldn't, really exist before 4th. Not everyone at the improv show needs to get up on stage, but there's also nothing stopping them from trying but fear and some prep work. All edition wars are dumb.

gratitoad 4y ago

Off-topic question for you: of those 600 games, what’s your short-list of favorites? I’ve only recently started playing board games and there’s an overwhelming number to choose from.

miiiiiike 4y ago
Sure. 0) Neuroshima Hex! - It's an OS for battles. The armies are little programs and battles are when you let two programs execute simultaneously. 1) 51st State - Same universe/publisher as Neuroshima Hex! You carve out turf in a post-apocalyptic America. Cards in the game can be played in 1 of three ways. a) Incorporate. Bring it into your state. b) Make a deal. Establish an ongoing trading relationship. c) Conqueror. Smash it for parts. A school would give you a worker/turn + victory point if you incorporate it, a worker/turn if you make a deal, and three workers at once if you conqueror it. Some factions are better at offense, some are better at trading, etc. It's great with 5. 2) Ticket to Ride. It's simple. Got it when it first came out, still play it. 3) Cuba Libre/Falling Sky/GMT COIN games in general. It models insurgencies across history. Caesar in Rome, The American Revolution, etc. Great ways to get people interested in history. 4) 4X Space Games. Space Empires 4X & Twilight Imperium especially. 5) Codenames. It's the best way to get to know new people. Like really get to know how they think. I made a massive multiplayer version of it a few years ago. 6) Bios Megafauna. The rulebook for this one is not the product of an ordered mind. The rules are in seemingly random order, some rules or exceptions only appear in the glossary, and the footnotes are full of scientific/pseudo-scientific ramblings.. And it's a lot of fun. 7) Starship Troopers. The 1970's Avalon Hill game. It's a neat hex-and-counter skirmish game. 8) Railways of the World. Started off as Railroad Tycoon: The Board Game. Play it with as many people around the table as possible. For RPGs: 0) Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play 4th edition. Incredible. I had absolutely no interest in Warhammer before picking it up.. Now I'm painting a few Warbands for Warcry, have 6th-8th edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battles, and Blood Bowl is setup on my table. WFRP's a really solid game that blends the best of D&D and Call of Cuthulu. And, I really like The Old World as a setting. 1) Conan: Adventures in an age undreamed of. It's a 2d20 game (the Star Trek version is great too) that's equal parts RPG and dissertation on the works of Robert E. Howard. 2) DCC RPG. If you like D&D, play DCC. It's a heavily modified 3rd edition with a bonkers spell system and level-0 meat grinder dungeons. Some games try to be weird through art and tone.. DCC is weird through mechanism. It works. Everyone generates 4+ characters, runs them through a meat grinder, whoever survives to the end is your 1st level character, backstory included. <--THIS IS THE ONE if you want to create your own setting or run a hex crawl. Overwhelming number of games: I don't read reviews or watch videos. I still do what I've always done: Walk into game stores/conventions and buy what looks interesting. You get a lot of junk but also find great games that you might have missed because the internet decided that they are bad. If a game is popular you're not going to miss it. Just look around to see what people are playing at 12:00 AM at game store/con.