Friday, February 8, 2019

Repeating: wow, there’s a lot of games getting published

Man, I’m so old that I remember was Bohnanza was Uwe Rosenburg’s big creation. (Still an awesome game, by the way) 

And I’m cool with that. I’m not so old that I remember when Avalon Hill was the center of the universe but I have been playing board games in a dedicated way long enough to have some perspective and to have younger gamers scorn me.

My gaming focus for the past couple years has been Print and Play so when I look at Best of 2018 lists, I’m not surprised I haven’t played any of the games on them and generally really only know them by title and nothing else.

But I got to admit that not only do I not feel jealous of the folks making these lists, I feel exhausted looking at them. 

I don’t know if it’s the whole getting older thing or if the board game industry is just pumping out that many more games but being a part of the cult of the new seems like a full time job, a huge investment of time and money.

Back when I was at my most fanatical, I spent too much money on games and I was sometimes out gaming three nights a week. Which, looking back, wasn’t healthy btw. But if I somehow could get a TARDIS and use it to bring that past me to now, I think they’d still be overwhelmed. 

(You know, before going to Gallifrey or Woodstock. You know, between Skaro and Metabelis Three and Telos and such, there’s no ‘nice’ iconic Doctor Who planets)

I don’t think I’m just being a grumpy old gamer, saying ‘Hey kids, get off my lawn! I’m freezing it to turn it into a curling court!’ I think that the environment really has changed that much in the last decade or so. I also think there are some really amazing games being developed and gaming ideas being refined. It’s not that the golden age is behind us. It’s just that being buried under that much gold will collapse your rib cage and sternum.

I think the current market and environment is downright amazing. But I don’t think you can embrace it all and survive.

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