My Stupidest Board Game Purchases & My Biggest Money-Saving Tip
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- čas přidán 20. 07. 2024
- Listen, I can't make good decisions ALL the time. In fact, pretty much every time I buy a bunch of board games, it seems like a handful of those purchases are doomed to fail.
Let's talk about some of my biggest buying fails, what I've learned, and what I haven't!
Chapters:
Intro: 0:00
January 2018: 1:24
July 2018: 5:14
August 2021: 11:42
May 2022: 13:16
June 2023: 19:15
July 2023: 23:33
Lessons: 25:48
Mythic Battles Pantheon: 29:41
Closing Thoughts: 31:30
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Board and Savior Music by Hussain Hamoudi @huspainmusic
Background Music by Karl Casey @WhiteBatAudio - Hry
A very relevant video, I perhaps would consider one other aspect to include. When you purchase a game knowing that you have no-one to play your game with you.
Good point! There are a lot of games that look like great fun and then you realize… “wait a second, this is 5-player only. When the heck am I gonna play this?!”
Great introspection and insights. Glad you were somehow able to record this video during your apparent power outage.
I got a collection of 500 games and this video made me feel really called out! 🤣
But videos like these are needed. We get bombarderad with new titles and reviewers give praise to them.
However we need to step back and take it a bit easy. You don't need to own and/or play every game. It would be a herculean task honestly or just simply impossible.
I try as much as I can do plenty of research. I also tend to watch how to play or playthroughs rather than reviews before buying it myself.
Thanks for the wonderful video! You got a new sub!
Thanks so much for taking the time to write that- I really appreciate it! It’s a constant cycle… acquisitions and culls, til the end of time.
And I think that’s good, and it’s part of the fun! We (as a community) just have to be conscious that that’s what’s happening and get more efficient with it, as best as we can.
Very happy to have you along for the ride!
Just came upon your channel today, and I really love your insight into the hobby as a whole, as well as your take on games. We recently had to start setting budgets for ourselves because our major hobbies at the moment, board games and Warhammer, had us spending outrageous amounts over the last couple months without thinking twice about it. We are only a couple years into our board game hobby, and the want to get all the best games and get a large variety has been a tough compulsion to quell. Here's to us all thinking our purchases through, even just a liiitle bit more!
Setting budgets is a great idea, and even better if you can actually stick to those budgets (unlike me).
Really happy to have you along!
Great video, hits close to home as I'm going through my collection finding games to cull. Few of them are still in shrink after x number years....
Hey, at least it makes them easier to sell!
6 years on the shelf of shame!? Shame indeed. I only have a game on 3 years. 😂
Great video topic. Well said! Us hobby board gamers all have experienced some version of “looks neat, buy it, have too many other games to learn/play so it sits on the shelf for years”.
I’d like to go back and look at my game purchases over the years and analyze them the same way you do here. Very interesting what I might discover.
I am a game collector as much as a game collector. My wife was recently laid off though, and so I have not bought a single game in 3 months. It's a bit liberating. I've learned and played over half the games on my, "Shelf of Shame." There's that.
I’m planning on moving in about 7 months, so I’ve also placed a little mandatory buying hiatus so the move isn’t any more strenuous than it needs to be… it’s a good trial by fire and it feels pretty great so far!
This is my first video I’ve ever seen of yours. But you seem like such a cool dude. Great video
Thanks so much! If you like stupid jokes and reviews of board games no one’s talking about anymore, I feel like you’ll have a grand old time on this channel!
Appreciate the deep dive.
Ha! I have many of the same “Why did you buy that,” games in my collection.
Excellent video! To reel in my board game acquisition hobby, I created an Excel file with my entire collection and noted which games and expansions were unplayed. On a separate sheet, I track what games I play and how many times they hit the table. This allowed me to figure out what was speaking to me and what to cull.
That’s brilliant and just the kind of intense, data-focused thing I’d do… maybe I need to jump on that train
Word of warning, you'll find out how many games you ACTUALLY have in your collection. ;) When I started my excel file of my collection I guessed I had at most 100 games. Was almost double... xD (including expansions, I use them as an excuse) :P @@boardandsaviorgames
@@boardandsaviorgames I wrote the games on my Shelf of Opportunity on a separate piece of paper that I have on the side of my fridge. It helps inspire me to read rulebooks, watch how to play videos and teach games to my friends. I have gotten 4 unplayed games to the table so far this year. These tricks help me make get things done for both gaming and work purposes.
@@blueseqperl I love that!!
I also do that. I record the acquisition date and track how many total plays each game in my collection has, plus tabs for how often each board game is played per year. I track how much I've spent on a game including expansions and divide that by the number of plays to determine if a game is worth keeping in my collection. I try to keep my games to 50-60 and when i do a major buy, i evaluate and do a major cull.
For example, I've spent $960 on Marvel United since 2021, but played 40 times for an average cost per play of $24. On the other hand, I got Massive Darkness 2 for $270 but only played twice in 2 years for an average of $135 per play for a worse overall value.
Great video, have subscribed. It's tough man, such a balance of being good and a bit naughty. For me im pretty sure its addiction. Struggling with alcoholism in the past, and now being sober, its not a coincidence that now i sort of am addicted to buying games. If it's not one thing it's another. I mainly play solo games as i don't really have many people to play with other than wife (will be branching out and trying to find groups). But yet i find myself buying games for my imaginary get togethers with other gamers. I also buy games when on sale which means i get games i might be interested in, but perhaps wouldn't LOVE. I need to focus on the games i think i'll LOVE. As i've learned in my life so far, habits are hard to change and you really need to work at it and be completely mindful and present each and every time you pull out your credit card. Addictions are tough to squash. Thanks for the video, made me more mindful of my addiction 👍
Congratulations on your sobriety, and good luck to both of us! Very happy to have you along for the ride!
this is just an addiction to buy new board games and the moment i realised and voiced it out - i stopped. not coz i stopped loving the hobby, but just trully understood that the experiences are not worth it and most of the games i wont even play more than once😅
the saddest purchase was lotr: journey in the middle earth. love the theme, hate the campaign kind of games as it turned out. from that very moment the only rule of buying bgames that works for me: try it a couple of times, to be sure it’s your kind of thing. and a siderule: don’t listen to game advertisers on youtube, as most probably they got funded for “selling” it :)
thanks for making this vid, it resonates alot with me! much love from ukraine ❤
Sending love right back to you!
I absolutely love learning new games lol.
That’s incredible! I wish I was there with you… I think stuff like Twitter and TikTok have actually messed up my ability to focus on rulebooks for an extended period. As soon as a rulebook crosses over like 15 pages, I become a little jelly boy
Haha understandable. I am the one in my group that learns and teaches everyone else! Just too many fun games to try and so little time
@@boardandsaviorgames
@@NoxieNation Same here! My wife thinks it's super weird (in a friendly way) that "I'm the kind of person who reads board game rulebooks... for FUN!?!?" Then, after reading the rulebook I'll go and watch a 2-3 hours full playthrough on CZcams, and then run through a 2-handed solo play just to nail down the mechanics. That's a lot of effort, obviously, but the payoff of being able to teach my friends at the local club and play great games every week is worth it to me.
I wholeheartedly agree! I don't usually watch a playthrough but I definitely do the two handed playthrough haha@@JonnyTenebrous
Would love to see more content from you about monumental. It looks fun but I haven't seen any recent content being shared about it
It’s on my video-making schedule! Not for a little bit, but I do plan to talk about it-I have STRONG feelings in a few different directions
Looking forward to it@@boardandsaviorgames. I heard great things and some bad things about last player advantage.
Thanks again for the content. Cheers!
Base Champions of Midgard is a fun, super-tight experience. Sure the expansions open it up more and give you something for losing troops, but the base game is perfectly fine.
Oath and Frosthaven are my two buys that I suspect fall into this category. Bought both in a more-is-more time of my life, but my circumstances have changed enough that the effort it takes to table them and remind myself/my group of the rules often feels like it outweighs the joy of playing. Holding onto them for now in the hope that changes someday, lol.
Oath happens to be one of the few games I’ve been able to hold off on, despite how incredible it looks. I hope you get it played sooner or later!
I was very lucky in that I had a friend who had a very large collection, so I was able to learn what I like prior to starting my own collection. I did have a few misses (Fearsome Wilderness was too repetitive despite my interest in folklore), but as a whole I don't regret much. I am annoyed at Darkest Dungeon, which I honestly bought for the minis, but the whole Mythic Games nonsense really killed any desire I have to actually PLAY the game. It's just taking up so much space on my shelf. I really should try to get it played at least once so I can decide if I should just recycle all of the "game" and just keep the minis to paint.
I went a bit nuts with my purchases over the pandemic, and A LOT delivered starting this last fall, so I'm focused on playing my sudden backlog rather than buying new board games ... For the most part.
Oh man, all that Mythic Games stuff has been RIDICULOUS! Very glad I got Mythic Battles secondhand so I could keep their nasty hands off my dollar bills
@@boardandsaviorgames Absolutely. Darkest Dungeon was my first board game kickstarter too. 😆 I've done pretty good otherwise, as everything else has delivered, or will be delivering from all signs so far.
When my collection started causing space issues (I live in a small apartment), that's when I started being much more selective about what I buy, especially considering I've probably only played 50% of my games. So I started culling my collection of played games and games that I knew would never make it to the table. Do I still buy some games prospectively or jump into Kickstarters out of excitement? Yes, but it happens a lot less, especially now that my time for gaming has shrunk significantly. Fortunately, having nowhere to put new games really forces the issue well.
That makes a lot of sense! I have a kind of long-term dream to move to Los Angeles, and I’m already worried about the inevitable board game cull I’ll need to do to transition from the nice, spacious apartments I’m used to (but I bet it’ll make me a lot more thoughtful with my purchases)!
Champions of midgard is a perfect name
Great topic. I have more than 350 games and I haven't played more than 50 games of my collection (and probably I won't play them in the future). I think that the ego is trying to have energy with this addiction: it's not too different than having a alchol problem or a drug problem. It's the life that we live that is unsatisfying maybe, and with all those purchases we think to lift up our lives, or having more time to spend playing games with our friends. In reality, that won't happen and we'll end buying more things... Movie to see: 'Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009)'😂
I’ll check that one out! And yeah, definitely a lot of similarities with more serious addictions. The good news is, the strategies to deal with those are super well-documented and they work here, too!
Same feelings for Photosynthesis. sold it after first play
Strange juxtaposition between beautiful, lively components and cold, hard mechanisms!
I used to have similar purchasing habits. Something I consider now before purchasing that has helped me greatly is not owning games “that take up the same lane”. For instance, I have played and enjoyed Blood Rage. But I won’t buy it because I already own and love Rising Sun. Not buying games that are mechanically similar than ones I already own has curbed my spending a great deal. If I do really want the one I don’t own, I get rid of the one I do own. Works for me.
That’s a great strategy! I’ve grappled with hitting a wall of “I already own games that hit the spot I’m looking for” and “but does this new game do that thing better?” I have a lot of trouble getting rid of something I like for something I love, definitely something I’m working on.
Ben what have you done?! Champions of midgard is a Hidden Gem, its amazing! And i make it even harder for you, you also Need the Mountains Expansion. The Game is a Easy teach and a Game my group always prefer over all the other „ Boardgame Standards“ Like viticulture or brass! Its that good! You have to give it your love, you will Not regret it, i Promise!
Haha ANOTHER expansion??? I’ll definitely give it a try, thank you!
No expansion is also ok - love Champions. I have added valhalla over time, but don't let it stop you from trying it atleast. @@boardandsaviorgames
@@moneybee517noted!
Last year marked my return to the board gaming hobby after a 10-years hiatus. Wow, has this hobby developed in that time. I've been loving it, but I did amass a pretty sizeable collection quickly and am now having to learn a lot of the lessons discussed in this video. For instance, I tend to love heavy brain-burning games, and I've got a long attention span, so I acquired a number of games along those specs. Well, those are quite clearly impractical for play on average club nights, and with people who might understandably be a bit tired after a full day in the office. Games with a BGG weight rating of around 3.5 seem to be my sweet spot for club nights. Anything past a 4.0 is almost guaranteed to be rarely or never played, except in special circumstances. While I'm quite happy to play a game for 8 hours straight, I find 3 to 3.5 hours gameplay w/ up to 1/2 hour teach to be the practical maximum for hosting a game in most situations. I have to filter most of my purchase decisions through these criteria now. I also agree with you on the importance of theme. I've been slowly introducing my wife to gaming through a very carefully-curated selection and with her, I know that - no matter the brilliance of the mechanics - a game is dead on arrival if she's not instantly hooked by the theme.
The good news for both of us is that board gaming is so ridiculously expansive now. If you can think of an interesting theme, there’s probably a game for it (and probably multiple games at different weights). It can make it tough to keep collections in check, but at least there’s never gonna be a shortage of fun times!
Roll Player + expansion (because everyone says you need the expansion!) is my most annoying high price purchase. Just an overpriced, dull, themeless, solitary, dice manipulation puzzle.
And in general, I’ve bought too many high player count games. Also too many games I’ve been vaguely interested in because they were on sale and/or to get up to a free shipping threshold - being a little bit cheaper has always meant that they were still money wasted. When will I learn!
Adding to your points, I believe the size of a boardgame collection should be directly propotional with the number of opportunities to play you have (e.g.: if you play twice a week you should have more game in your collection than if you only play twice per month). Considering this I've set my limit to 50 games. So if I find myself close to this limit, first I sell some old games (or new ones) that I no longer want to play.
Also, if my friends have a game , I don't buy it (except Brass Birmingham, which is a must in any collection 😅 )
That note about the “no duplicates among friends” is a great one! There was a long time where I was the sole “board game” friend, so if I wanted to play a game, I needed to buy the game. Now, some of my buddies are buying games themselves and it definitely feels like a little weight has lifted! It’s a lot easier to have a big collection shared among a few people than needing to do it all yourself!
It took me a while (and many misguided purchases) to learn that I mostly play at 1-3 players, and that it's rare I'll have more than a 2-hour block to play a game with that group. So games which are better at higher player counts and take more than 2 hours to play are unlikely to stick around in my collection. But there are exceptions to that (particularly, small box / party games like High Society). Also I've sold off more than half of my Kickstarters - the hype during the crowdfunding phase is usually long-gone by the time the game arrives. But there are exceptions to that too (e.g. Oathsworn).
Oathsworn is such a standout. A rare combination between a clear labor of love and a gorgeous result.
What happened to the theme song?!?! That was the best part! :)
I’m really glad you like it! I’m working on a shorter version of the intro, I was noticing a lot of newcomers to the channel closing the video because they didn’t want to wait through it or skip past. I like it, too! Want to try and make sure it’s not gone or forgotten, just more brief
Whew... that I don't really need it comment but backed anyway hits really close to home. I've been eyeing Dante: Inferno for the last 24 hours and that's pretty much exactly what I said. I don't think I need it or want it. Thankfully I still haven't backed, and your video kind of reinforced that is probably the best decision.
I just looked it up and JEEZ that all-in box looks huge. And, hate to say it, that fact alone made me go... "maybe?"
But I will stay strong!
@@boardandsaviorgames The all-in box is honestly the most appealing thing about it. Then I see the price for a nine chapter campaign. That math isn’t adding up for me. (I also own Oathsworn and Aeon Trespass so that skews the content comparison.)
@@jalsbrook Aeon Trespass scares me, but it also intrigues me SO MUCH.
@@boardandsaviorgames It's a lot. To be honest, it requires more bandwidth than I can give it with two kids at the moment. So it will sit until I can create enough time and focus.
@@jalsbrook whenever you play it, good luck with that guy made of fists! He looks like a scary dude!
My City was fun - it’s easy to learn and play and then you can sell it.
I like the sound of that!
I've just found myself buying a few games, just because they were discounted. But then again, that happened well some time ago, they're not even close to the top of games I wanna introduce my folks to. We gotta understand that stuff is discounted for a reason. This reason may be nobody wants to buy them... Gotta ask ourselfs what is the chance we are in the niche of actually liking the game...
Good point! Every once in a while, you might find a diamond in the rough, but you're much more likely to wind up with a bunch of mediocre freds.
Great video. I have a few caveats when im now buying games these days. If its not Horror or sci fi dont buy it. If it has miniatures, dont buy it. (Im just not a miniatures game kind of guy). If its over $50 or a nightmare international shipping kickstarter dont buy it. If its not a solo game its not even on the shortlist.
Love that!
Mythic Battles is awesome, I pledged for Ragnarok ks, played it and it is super great. But overall, yes fomo, stuff touching, etc, its a sickness 😅
I haven't played Mythic Battles just yet but I do open the box pretty frequently to touch stuff lol
Muahahaha misfortune to you and your cow!
Lol yeah we had the same experience with you with some Kickstarter games. It happens
Great content...but you should give Champions of Midgard a couple plays before writing it off
It’s not written off! 100% on the list of “to-play”
I think you should skip the solo of My City. The tension of the game does come from a few races within the game. I think at least 2 players. It's not too heavy and you can get through it fairly quickly.
Ooh, very good to know! Thank you!
Oh man... I too am a sucker for a great bargain... and then it just sits there... on my shelf... forever and ever 🤦🏼♀️
Only like 1/3 of my collection...
Glad to know I'm not the only one 😂 Just had my first cull ever because I found it difficult to get rid of games. Sold 16 and it honestly felt kind of liberating 😅
@@Geeky_Anja All that new shelf space! Perfect for new board games... Wait, no! There I go, falling into the same old traps!
Frost punk has been my, all in and not played. Got to table twice, after set up and review of rules I am distracted and don't get it played. Also have TI4, not played only bbg top 20 I haven't, really hard to get group that committed
Can’t speak personally to Frostpunk, but if you can find a group for TI4, you won’t regret it. I haven’t played it a ton, but every single session of that game is so incredibly memorable. It’s really one of the best!
Grooming the next generation through game club at our school. Currently taking them through a d and d campaign. Exposed them to terraforming mars, wingspan, Catan etc. We have a four day week so they come in on fridays
@@bryonsturm3753 that’s amazing! Generation Alpha will thank you for creating a few more gamers!
*sweats while watching this video with two unopened TTM & Miniature Market shipment boxes on my front porch*
This is a very safe space. If you don't mind me asking, what'd ya get??
@@boardandsaviorgames Roll Player Adventures, a Chronicles of Crime expansion, and the rest of the Tainted Grail expansions my wife & I haven’t gotten around to picking up yet. Because nothing says “necessary” quite like buying expansions to games you haven’t finished yet, right?
@@Drizsle Ooh, very good taste on the Chronicles of Crime-LOVE that game! You may also have good taste on the others, I just haven't tried 'em.
And yeah, there's nothing more relatable than buying expansions WAY before you "need" to.
@@boardandsaviorgames The better question is: where do you live? And do these boxes still sit on your front porch? ;-)
Champions of Midgard is one of my favorite games of all time!!! Yes it is better with Valhalla!
I gotta play!!
I bought a game reviewers still say is a great game. No one in my group liked it so I tried to sell it and haven't been able to sell it. I have even dropped the price by 1/3 almost 1/2 and still not even one person asking about it. How is it "so good" but no one wants to buy it for dirt cheap.
Way too relatable. I’ve definitely bought into fomo thinking “well if I don’t like it I’ll at least be able to recoup my money” and then it flops HARD
this is the main reason why i now prefer to buy family game, light to medium game, and party games
the best games are the games that are hitting the table
But… giant miniatures make my brain feel good…
You’re 100% correct, of course!
@@boardandsaviorgames nahh no right or wrong.. what matters is what makes you happy
I’ve been afflicted by this condition since the 70s. There is no cure. You are doomed.
That's what I feared.
Sounds like you have quite the inventory for a nice BGG Math trade! Join us!
I've been around the block before makin' BGG trades! It's pretty great!
Only purchasing one game at a time helps a lot, otherwise it’s like what happens to young kids at Christmas time.
Young kids and me
heros of land air and sea and expantion. i knew it was lesser and might not be good because i hated the mini box games from the designers . I got both 1/2 off .... which is why i got it. REGRET
Half off is so tempting though! I get it!
And her i am not knowing you and thinking you wastet 1000$ on one game. Like you backed Dark Souls and are one of the hunreds of people try to sell the all-in of for years now xD. I backed Marvel Zombies for around 250$ with 100$ shiping on top of owning an all in for the 2nd Edition and Zombicide being to lioght for me, i own the entry Detective and Chronicles of Crimes and only played 2-3 Games ... I thinked i cooled down on purchasing and for most backing. But her come Steam Power (Martin Walace) and Galatic Cruise. Then the German Version of Battle for Arrakis is already a must buy for me, i do not own War of the Rings.
War for Arrakis and Chronicles of Crime are (in my opinion) very good! I definitely think if you play those more, you’ll have a good time!
You need more light
Fantastic username!
Valhalla expansion is overrated. The valhalla actions are too important and overshadow the rest of the game. Also, maybe you should stop listening to what reviewers like. I know pretty well what I like so if a game is not interesting to me, no amount of positive reviews can sway me otherwise. Or if a game is interesting to me, I don't care how much it's panned by reviewers. For example, I love Epic card game (just drafted it last night!). It's at least 9/10 for me but reviewers gave it negative to middling reviews.
Interesting on the Valhalla expansion! That’s a side of the story I haven’t heard before, so good to know!