I normally don’t put up a title that I would consider click bait, but this one definitely fits into that category. Because, well, that is a lie. I am still extremely excited about board games and I love to sit down and play a board game. But this was something that came up on Monday’s stream. Mainly it is the idea that the more you know your tastes and the more you are into the hobby, the less excited you can become about a new board game.

For example, when I first got into board games and figured out that I loved deck building games, for example, I would get really excited about every new one that came out. Or the same thing with campaign games on Kickstarter, when I started on Kickstarter, I wanted to back all of them. Now, I try and be more discerning.

What Changed?

When you first get into the board game hobby, everything looks exciting and new. And this is generally the case for any hobby. But you buy a game, whether it’s Cards Against Humanity or Gloomhaven. You fall in love with the game. Then, any game that comes out that says it’s like that favorite game, you buy.

And then, over time, you look at your collection. You realize that you have six campaign games. You play two of them, and the other four are just sitting there. And you know on Kickstarter that you already have another four coming. When will you get to them?

Then, you play more games. You find more that you like, and you realize that even though a game compares itself to Cards Against Humanity or Gloomhaven, it isn’t as fun. This is the change that happens. You start to realize that you don’t need every game of a given genre.

Is This A Bad Thing?

For your wallet and for you, the answer is no. You don’t need every game that is like Gloomhaven. No one has the time for that. Even if you are a content creator who just does campaign games, and that is your full time job, it’ll take ages to get through all the games.

I look at the campaign game that I’ve played, between the four I’ve gotten through, not counting legacy games like Pandemic Legacy Season 1 (twice) and 2, Charterstone, Seafall, Aeon’s End, and Risk Legacy. But between Tainted Grail, Gloomhaven, and Sword & Sorcery, I probably have 300-350 hours into campaign games. Which is a ton of time. So being pickier with a campaign game is not a bad thing.

But Does That Hurt My Excitement for Board Games?

Yes, it does hurt it. But not in a bad way. A worse way to hurt ones excitement for board games would be to end up with such a daunting pile of games that you no longer want to play them. That it becomes too intimidating to pull anything off of the shelf. Or that it feels like work trying to keep up with everything new and exciting that is coming out.

I’m in a unique spot that I want to get in more new games to cover for Nerdologists.com and Malts and Meeples. But if I were just a normal person playing games, not doing this coverage, I don’t need to do that. And even for myself, I want to take more of a “just in time” approach with new games.

Doesn’t always work, sometimes I order something like Massive Darkness 2 with no plans for when I’ll play it. But generally I am trying to order games or buy them, right before I’ll play them. Crowdfunding is a clear exception to this. Generally you can’t get those right before you want it. But for retail games, I think to help stop burnout or even to help with being pickier, buying on demand can be the best plan.

Final Thoughts Excitement with Board Games

I think it’s easy to get burned out in a bad way. Especially if you are reading this. Why, because often times it means that you are following a lot of content. I know I watch The Dice Tower, Foster the Meeple, Tablenauts, BoardGameCo, Quackalope, GloryHoundd, and others. And I don’t watch all their stuff. But it can be a lot to keep up on and so many new games that you can learn about.

So, play more games. Have fun playing games, because that is the key. If it feels like there are too many, start becoming more selective on what you buy. Buy just in time. And limit how much content you consume. I recommend mine, obviously, but don’t just watch everything. Especially when it comes to previews. Maybe that’ll be a topic for the future, reviews versus previews.

But do you ever find yourself losing excitement over all of the new games coming out?

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