Isn’t this, at least partly, a design issue? Game designers create their games without concern about the economical side of the problem. They create astounding little bits and pieces to make the game desirable but a lot of this could be simplified without sacrificing the mechanics. The dice are a prime example…
It’s a lot like what happened in the video games and the rift that appeared between AAA games and indie developers.
A lot of the games I possess are beautiful but have a ludicrous amount of accessory stuff. Eventually it gets lost and replaced by coins and painted pieces of wood without making them worse.
I suspect that until now all these tidbits were a great way to justify the high price of the games.
No, and they should be designing their game to be exactly the way they want, with no consideration for psycho governments whatsoever.
There are many people for whom the nice bits and pieces enhance their enjoyment of the game. I’m certainly one of them. I know others who take it a step further and will buy games just because they’re pretty / cute / whatever. It’s not a design issue, it’s appealing to a larger market.
If you’re “appealing to a larger market” by making the game so expensive that only a few can afford it, are you really getting a larger market? Or are you just deciding you want to cater to rich folk?
I’m with @drolex here. I think it may be time for board/card/whatever game designers to return to basics: making games that people play, not the board game equivalent of a coffee table book.
‘So expensive that only a few can afford it’ is pretty hyperbole. Boardgaming is one of the cheapest hobbies you can have, especially on a cost per time basis. I would much rather pay an extra few bucks for nicer pieces for a game that I’m going to enjoy for years and years.
I happen to run a boardgame club, and I can attest that pretty much everybody I’ve talked to about this topic feels the same way. Given the choice between a classic game with cardboard chits or a newer game with the same mechanics and prettier pieces, we’re playing the new one every time.
Haha yes, I play all of these boardgames more than once!
Our club copy of Bloodlines has gotten about 20 plays since we got it 2 weeks back 😂. Granted, that’s something of an outlier.
How much did the deluxe version of Ogre cost again?
No idea, had honestly never heard of that game before now.
$150 for a game consisting entirely of cardboard, essentially.
I’m not sure what your point is? According to bgg, it released in 1987 at a RRP of $17. I’m hoping the message is that my collection will pay for my early retirement.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameversion/141924/english-deluxe-fourth-edition
*tarify
(Sorry, couldn’t resist)
Terrified of being tariffied.
That stinks…
Scyte is 90€ but if I printed it all at home (printer+3d printer) it would probably be 20€. A rough version of it, sure, but 20€.
Make it serial in a factory.
Quite a few publishers have written about their costs and how the tariffs impact them. The actual cost of a $90 game is something like $15, and the rest is labor, distribution costs, and profit. I personally think the distribution costs are way too high and could stand to drop a lot, but I don’t know the details well enough to comment. Regardless, there’s no reasonable way to drop the manufacturing costs significantly.
You’re only considering material cost, not time cost of employing someone to operate the machines. Also your system is not really scalable - it would take a long time per unit, making the labour cost even more significant per unit. There’s also R&D, distribution, marketing, etc. all before any profit is made. Also, as you mention, the quality of 3D printed pieces would be much poorer.
I find board games simply overpriced, they’re mostly paper and plastic, and r&d is now much reduced, since 90% of new games simply a mix of already published games with nicer drawings.
Well yeah, 90% of the market is overpriced crap - that’s not unique to boardgames, although like you say it’s understandble how when the material cost can be low. But there are some game makers that do really make the effort, and in particular when I looked up what Scythe is and all the pieces it comes with I feel it’s probably not too unreasonable to ask a higher retail price (although I saw them available for much less also).
