Don't buy that game

A reminder that only our reviews are 3 and bit minutes long.

3 minute board games theme Music by Vic Granell

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1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."

[MBG]

Ok, i need to spell this out really clearly, because i know some folks are gonna jump the gun. If you have a big collection of games, you are playing them, and you can manage that. This video isn't about you or for you. I really don't need to hear you defensively tell me how you actually play your 300 game collection and how dare i suggest that buying all the games all the time might not be the way to go. If you are having fun with that, all good. This isn't a video for you.

[johnelstad]

Over a year ago my wife asked me to not buy any more games. As a result, I wound up playing the games I do have more, which led me to enjoying them more than if I had just continued to acquire, play once or twice, and move on. So, I guess the lesson is, less can be more.

[PaddyBrophy]

In January my collection was over 100 games, with 13 outstanding Kickstarters.

Now, my collection is 49 games, and all outstanding Kickstarters have been cancelled.

I've not been perfect, I have bought 3 games this year and plan to buy 1 more. But I'm in a much happier and healthier head space when it comes to my collection.

Thanks for this video, it is needed.

[TheAmazingYeti]

The industry absolutely needs this video. As someone who owns 300+ games myself, I have clearly fallen in the trap of FOMO and watching too many YouTube content creators that push these kind of games. I have recently had to stop following certain channels that only push out bubbly content. Very few critical channels seem to exist anymore.. there is just channel after channel that are trying to push games that they clearly got for free. Yourself, Broken Meeple, No Pun Included and even Dice Tower and Shut Up & Sit Down all will release videos that are critical and are not afraid to essentially put a game down. I am done with games that have 500lbs of plastic.. it is not needed for so many reasons. I am at the point where I will only back a game if I can get rid of another. Very excellent points and again.. this is exactly what this hobby needs to hear right now.

[jakegardner]

You're a real one for this video. Boardgaming is a human experience that should be valued by the memories it gives and not by the stuff that comes with it. I think this video is going to help a lot of people. 10/10

[abruwer]

Thanks. The hobby needs to hear this more!
A related discussion is that I wish the hobby would focus more on is community building. I've been struggling to start a group in my town (though it is kinda a unique case of a disfunctional community).
But it would be nice if one had access to ways of organising a group and create safe spaces where everyone is welcome. Because having a games collection and no one to play with is where a lot of my anxiety comes from thesedays.

[justinwebb]

Our family goal is every game we own has to be played at least 3 times in a year. If we are having a game that we are dreading to pull out or simply choosing not to reach that 3 game goal we can almost definitively decide to cull it. My wife and I each have 2 veto's though for games we love and can choose to keep regardless of play amount. the 3 play rule definitely kept the collection slim, but also highlighted games we truly like as opposed to games we fell for the hype in our start of the hobby.

[caldrenfitzpatrick]

BoardGameArena is such a gift, I get to test games out, and play games with other people my group doesn't necessarily want to play. Borrowing games is also great, as we've been able to play a game a couple times, then we're done. We played Scythe 3 or so times, and we don't really want to play it again, so we just gave it back to who we borrowed it from.

[ashloveday]

I think solo play can be a massive factor to consider when buying games. How many times can you replay it and it still feel fresh?

[catspresident]

when someone shows a big collection
Q: what am i missing?
A: restraint

[johnstrine]

I've definitely reached this point in my collection. What helped me similarly to your formula was getting a board game stat tracker (BG Stats) so I can see exactly how much I'm actually playing my collection and set myself challenges like the 10x10 to get more longevity and enjoyment out of the games I have. Thanks for being this voice in board game media.

[Grunklowe]

In uni we were all broke so only had catan with one or two expansions between us then later 7 wonders. That held us for 3 years and its the best gaming ive done. After that life took over, my collection grew but the time alloted to playing shrunk. Those catan days were probably the best gaming ive done and it was the same game wirh little variations twice a week

[Pcefulman]

Excellent video, one of your best. "Acquiring pretty boxes that you put on the shelf and do nothing with is not the way to happiness" - might apply to more than board games, sir! As a newcomer to the hobby, primarily for solo and over the past couple of years, I can totally relate to a rapidly growing collection and looking at the shelf and wondering when am I actually going to play this one again! I do think there is an element of curiosity that has motivated a purchase, sometimes with an interesting theme (This War of Mine) or a small publisher (Leaving Earth), but I've only played each of them once in a year :-( Excellent advice, keep up the great work.

[Semicolon]

The 10x10 challenge is a great one for finding more appreciation for the games you already have and love. (play 10 games 10 times each). More challenging than I first thought, and I have had to be more deliberate to get the plays going.

[Looc]

I'd love to add to this because this is the first time I've experienced an overwhelming shelf of shame this year.
I joined the Air Force and in doing so was completely out of the loop on TONS of games.
When I got out, I got about 10 games for Christmas, adding to my roughly 60 game collection, a good chunk of which had been played nearly 70%.

I now own 160 games. All from this year. I went to a convention, bought during big online sales, listened to board game media and bought away, and backed dozens of games on Kickstarter and Gamefound.

The best thing about it is that I don't regret it one bit. It never put me in debt or in a situation where I needed to sell some to make ends meet.
Eventually I hit a wall and said to myself, I think I'm good for now. And I haven't bought more than maybe a game a month in the past 3 months.
My girlfriend and I, having two kids, get away with playing roughly 3-4 games per week with Friday being our game night with friends and then we can sneak a couple games in throughout the week if we're feeling up to it.

We NEVER force it either. We want the games to be fun, not just checking a box to say that we only have X amount of games left to play.

We've played about 80 games this year, with our goal being 100 but it has never felt like a job.

On top of that, Of the 80 games we played MAYBE 5 of them we didn't like enough to warrant trading or selling them away.

My recommendation would be one of two things:
1. Set a realistic monthly budget of what you want to spend on games and NEVER breach it. $150-200 to start with and go down from there. That's plenty of wiggle room to get second hand stuff. DONT buy Kickstarters unless they're never coming to retail. Realistically all the extra goodies you get that are KS exclusive, unless you love the game, you won't play with them more than likely.
2. Save save save, then go to a convention where vending is the main draw, and spend away. Go to the trade/flea market at that convention and acquire everything you've ever wanted. Let's say you walk away with 30 games, you basically have your own little shop so instead of going online looking for a good deal on something new, you have 30, new to you, unplayed games.

Don't feel pressured to play everything you have multiple times. It's like having a large movie collection. Some days you'll want to watch Joe Dirt, and other days you'll want to show someone The Prestige for the twists and turns in it.

Happy buying and playing everyone!
Great and very much needed video.

[gm-cddman]

I used a similar formula about 5 years ago when I realized my collection was getting too many games. At that point, I decided I wanted to be able to play every game in my collection at least once every 3 years as my worst case scenario. At that time, I had a weekly game night (which I still do), leaving me in the approximately 50 games a year. I then set a limit of 150 games in my collection. The reality is, I usually play more than once a week so my actual time to play all the games is closer to 2 years but after cleaning out my collection I kept that number limit anyway. This also made me more stringent in my selection of new games as I knew I would have to get rid of something to add something else. Currently, I have 147. Thanks for the video.

[JohnDoe-snpz]

This was the first year I've had a solid disposable income. It feels so easy to slip into a "what's next" loop...

I've tried to balance it out by selling any games that aren't hitting the table. Some games have managed to sneak past this process (looking at you, Oath).

Trying to build a "sharp" collection is challenging, but fun. Your content has been incredibly helpful.

Thank you!

[tigerpjm]

I'm in the process of culling down a 250+ game collection because it just takes up more space than is justified by the time I get out of them.

I reckon I'll cut it down by about 50% which is still... A lot of games!

Glad someone made this video.

[Razorgirl]

When I started my collection I tried to be strategic with which games I purchased.
• Not buying games my friends already own
• 2-3 games that can cater to each combo of players (2-6), and that each option has very different mechanics
• Only play games I’ve played and enjoyed.

Mostly, this comes from being at game sessions where we realised we had lots of games that catered to 5 but not 6, or that all our options for 4 players all had the same mechanic (which one of the group didn’t like).

So now, before I purchase a game, I try to check if I already have other games that cover that number of players and mechanics.

As a result, my friends tell me my collection is super weird and doesn’t have any of the “classics”.

[LaurensNerdyFunStuff]

Ugh yes, I still need to work on this. Before, I would pick up too many games with a 3+ player count, even though I almost never have a big enough group to play those games with. Thankfully I've slowed down a lot on picking up new games, but I still have more unplayed games than I would like.