5 Board Game Collecting Tips I Don't Follow (But Should!!) - A Board Gamer's Guide 

Basically this video is stand up comedy for gamers ...great work

Wife tells me to not get expansions until I’ve played the game lol. Yesterday I was looking at my collection and I realized I haven’t tried about 80% of the expansions I own. Most of the time I just play the core game

I break #1, #4, and #5 the most. #5 is much easier said than done because of how often some expansions go OOP, causing a skyrocketing aftermarket price

Love how honest your video is and a lot I recognize myself being the same ;). Enjoyed this video much, thanks!

This video and the emotions are amazing you describing how every board gamer feels, this is the life of a collector. There is just to much coming out for us to play all... I love your collection and keep playing and collecting!

I really enjoyed your advices, great content. Also breaking those rules sometimes

Best video you've done yet and I think you could delve deeper into each of these topics

Rule 4 works so well with books, movies, music, video-games and so much more! It should be a golden general rule.

TM solo is so different than multiplayer that it feels like a rather different game. Glad you enjoy it! I've found many hours of enjoyment from that solo.

Great video Alex, good rules - I have been trying to dial things back myself recently. Your value proposition rule convinced me to back out of the recent Kickstarter for "Ausonia" after watching one of your videos...then your next video you mentioned buying into it regardless. I had a bit of a chuckle.

Omg. Great video for capturing everything I love and loathe about myself and my growing collection! This made me laugh and despair in equal parts although, I am definitely improving. Example...I would love to back Monumental but the KS pricing including shipping to RoW when I only want the core box is crazy. Great video. I think we should all watch this once per month as a gentle reminder!

You nailed it. You said exactly what i think about board games. Nothing better then living the experience of this 5 tips to understand the problem and pass the message.

You are grinding out amazing content

One important key I try follow is distinguishing between really wanting to play something Vs needing to own it.

This video is great! Subbed.

#1 is one I can’t ignore anymore. After a couple kickstarters, I had to get real of who I play with and what complexity level we are at.

Very original topic for a video and well done. Keep it up!

I really needed to see this video. Thanks!

Btw LOVE the video segmenting. So useful!!!

Another great video. It may not be your intention, but your videos are like game counselling 🙏

Rules 1. Keep collection under 💯 (expansions not included) 2. Make sure game fills a niche (either player count, mechanic or theme) 3. Only back x amount of KS games a year (this number has been dropping) I do break the rule for Dungeon Crawls but I have so many now that it would have to be a IP I love or new mechanics to bother.

Damn dude, brother from another mother! We even have a similar collection. I have all the same issues , and barely rationalize my purchases ever....

I love how you tag the segments of your video

Rodney Smith said in a video something like "there'll always be another game" regarding FOMO. So true. And usually it's a better game.

Great video Alex. I like all your rules. I break them all.

I feel like I'm listening to an addict for addiction advice XD. 8 unplayed for me. Half of those are 6+ player count games.

I feel like we should apply this theory to clothing, food & "wants" in general as well.

Great video. Thanks.

Great video! Really hit close to home, as I feel that I have the same, or very similar rules, and I follow them about as strictly as you do. Especially 'Rule 5', as there are games where I really enjoy, and I just want to "have it all". This is specifically true with KS games, with a proven track record, and either exclusive expansions or an all-in one storage option only available through KS. The other is miniatures based skirmish/tactical combat games (co-op or competitive) as they tend top be some of my favorite games, and the ones that can often most benefit from the variety of just having more (they also tend to be easier to drop in additional content). That said, even in skirmish games, it's possible to have too much. i'm looking at you Joan of Ark!!!! lol. I didn't back it but I came close, and the shear amount of content is all that scared me off, because i couldn't justify all of it, but didn't know what expansions were the best options.

Expansions. Man, they're evil. I played Eldritch Horror, loved it, bought all the expansions and only later realised that the only ones really worth owning are Forsaken Lore and Cities in Ruin :-/ Meanwhile, I'm sitting here look at my Conan order on GameOnTabletop trying to decide whether to add the expansion reprints...

Thank you Alex for the tips. After crossing the 400 games threshold, I have become more cautious about my purchasing choices. I think your first tip is the most important as I learned (the hard$ way) that you have to put the taste of your gaming group above your own. As you, I am fond of expansions and have to get all in for the games I love.

Yep - I am an expansion fiend too. If Zi like a game I want the potential to play everything so will pick up the expansions ASAP. To be fair I often play with all the expansions mixed in though. Keep these videos coming - always interesting 👍

when you mentioned Near And Far，While it is one of my most proud to played and purchased game, I am glad I haven't jumped in for its expansion after 4 games. The game is great but I have not finished, most stuck or need to start over with new players. I am motivated after watching this and start playing it by myself start from tomorrow. So thank you.

OMG Alex, this video made me literally laugh out loud! Why? Because it is SO true! (And I think you were on a sugar high! 🙂) Thank you for this. It will help slap me back into reality when I make future purchase decisions.

Yup I hear you on #5. I own 66 board games, many provided by BGC and I thank you for that; I also have 37 expansions for 23 of these 66 games. And I recently purchased the expansion 'New Leaders and Wonders' for 'Through the Ages - A New Story'. I'm always looking for expansions for the games I like. I'm thankful I don't do Kickstarters, I could see myself getting all too caught up in that.

Great vid. Nobody else creating content like this.

Once again, fantastic video. I spent some time defending your justification of rationalizing KSers etc. and I think you're, once again, spot on. Keep up the great work, sir. Also: Thanks (I think?) for your reviewing Cthulhu: DMD vs Zombicide. I love Zombicide and so I've had to buy DMD+ S2. (thus violating your 5th rule and then some!). It looks fantastic and I'm assuming if I love Zombicide, I'll love DMD, too. Anywho. Take care!

FYI...you can easily play Captain Sonar with 6. You combine two roles to make an actual harder role to play. I suck at it but my only plays have been with people that are really good at it and even getting killed : it's a wonderful game experience.

Your 7 Wonders comment is hilarious. I wanted that game for a long time. Then I got a great deal on it with nearly all the expansions, most in shrink. I ended up having to buy Armada just to have them all. But someone obviously got rid of their copy for whatever reason and I benefited by paying way less for all of it than had I bought it earlier. Still haven’t played it because of COVID but it was slated for the table. As soon as we can get together again it’ll be played. As to unplayed games I did buy whatever I thought I might like or whatever was racing up the BGG charts. And to my chagrin that sucked as a metric. Now, I watch play throughs. And within 30 minutes I can usually see if it’s for me. Thus Near and Far will be leaving my collection. I’ll be doing that for a slew of games I have. I know my tastes and those of my game groups. So I should be able to pare down the collection quickly. Pity I hadn’t thought of watching play throughs sooner. Thanks again for an informative and entertaining video. Take care!

What's funny with the first thing, my problem is the opposite, once I get a epic campaign game I start it right away with my game group, and leave it up until its is done. Then the problem I have is I never play any of the smaller games I have. Like I just got Gloomhaven a couple of months back and I am still playing it. Before that I had finished Descent First Edition's final expansion. The Runebounds tend to never see any love though, which is a shame.

Haha! I just backed Lockdown at the final hour.

Liked seeing Enchanters. I enjoy that game.

Great tips, like how much you care for us :-)

Hey great video. I’ll start by saying that those are definitely the same rules I constantly break when skimming through KS campaigns and BGG lists 🤣 I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m more of a collector than a gamer, so that would explain most of my inability to be rational enough when it comes to buying games. I’d like to elaborate more on the breaking of rule 5. It happened to me a few times now that by the time I came into knowledge of an “old” game (released 4-5 years ago or more), the thing was nowhere to be found: not on BGG market, not on eBay or at least not at a reasonable price or in decent conditions. This sometimes makes me go all-in on a game, fearing that by the time I decide I’d like to get some expansions, they’d be hard to come by. Another reason is that I prefer buying games in my native language (of course), which is Italian. And unfortunately there are not that many games that get translated into Italian. And when they do, it usually happens a 2 to 3 years later the core game has been released. For example, we’re looking at a Q4 release for Spirit Island, core game only. By the time it’s out, Jagged Earth will be on the market. This has led to some frustration, like for example Warhammer Invasion LCG having stopped Italian releases just before the Apocalypse Deluxe expansion. What I hate the most is being forced to have a mixed language game because translations have stretched out too much in time that the later ones are no longer worth translating. This leads me to get the game and all expansions as soon as I can, which usually means in English language, which in turn means my playing group will be less interested in playing the game. Fortunately many games that I like are language independent since they only use symbols and numbers on cards and boards; but most complex games like Spirit Island and 7th Continent, for example, require a good amount of reading.

45 games on my shelf of shame. It’s nice to know I’m not alone.

I'm in the middle of a (long-overdue) cull of 80 or so titles, and this is a good motivator for me, so thanks. That "what if it goes OOP on me?" feeling is real. I blame a previous life collecting Magic. Also, the TMB backlog is real.

Compared to you I would say I have a serious problem. I have taken rule five to the nth degree. I have bought expansions for a game we didn't even own at the time. But I knew I was going to enjoy Firefly: The Game that we started collecting the expansions for when we could get a copy of the game. I'm surprised our collection isn't double the size, we own 280 games and expansions. We have bought expansions for games we haven't played yet, went all out attempting to buy EVERYTHING for a game, Arcadia Quest and Rum & Bones for example. And I almost came a cropper on Shadows of Brimstone, but common sense prevailed. Even so, we still have way too much stuff, more than we will ever play with. Great video.

know the struggle lol.i usually try to watch videos related to the game for like a year..if it still looks fun after a year and it meets my player count criteria, then ill buy it.that way i know its going to get to the table, and the buildup makes the release amazing lol

Those are wonderful and accurate points that you are talking about, BUT - those are a lot of "Why"s while the answer is usually: "I watch a video that makes me feel like i'm going to love the game and I would like to have it in my collection. Therefor, even if I'm not going to play it in the next year. I will play it... eventually... someday... So - 1. When I'll have the opportunity, I'll probably buy this game. 2. If I won't play it - I'll sell it...

3:15 because they go out of print just as you decide to try them out! That might just be me.

This is so funny and so true and we all have the same disease!

Two words: consumerism. Collecting. I also see myself making those mistakes over and over again. For a few years now, I have decided not to buy a new game from the market again. Minimum, that the test of the passage of time passes one year. If it's ten years old and the game is still popular and I like it, then I'm more interested in it and put it on my list. With the expansions I try to see all the opinions that I can and at most only buy the one that contributes the most to the base game. It's clear that sometimes it's impossible to escape.

Totally agree with the expansions rule. But a lot of KS projects make you take the expansions whether you want them or not. Space Race was a good example of this. When you buy the deluxe you automatically sign up for two expansions before even trying the base game.

Haha omg I love this Hobby. I am totally the same. I almost always keep rules 1 through 4. But I am a huge sucker for expansions lol. Even if I play a game once and love it I immediately want the expansion even if I dont play it again for months lol. I played Western Legends once and I immediately bought the expansions for the extra content.

Jop, my shelf says I am breaking number 5 constantely. And most of the times I simply buy expansions because of the fear they are out of print after playing the core enough and wanting them. Happened to me in the past with the lord of the rings lcg and got burned by it. But now I have a ton of expansions that will most likely never see enough play to justify the initial cost. Too Many Bones, Zombicide Green Horde Expansions and a plethora of Descent 2e Expansions are just a few on my list of shame. Nowadays my games are mostly kickstarter games so I can at least justify to myself that I am going all-in with severe fomo but this doesn't make it any better, I think. Expansion bloat is a real problem for me and one of the reasons why I limited my spending quite a bit in recent months. If I really like a game I will try to get everything but besides that I am happily skipping a game alltogheter (if it has a ton of expansions already on the market) instead of falling in the same trap again.

"Never let shiny and pretty get in the way of getting rid of a game" But but but... it's Kingdom Death Monster....and the minis are just so pretty....

I knew the expansions will be mentioned at some point. I give in too easily when it comes to good looking games and tend to get the expansions together with the base game, before playing it. I burnt my pockets a couple of times because of this.

captain sonar is a convention game. I only play it at conventions.

One additional rule I made up: Check with my group. One of my biggest mis-buys was Mythic Battles: Pantheon. Dont get me wrong, I love this game, our group plays it at least twice a week. But the problem is from our 7-8 people from our group (we usually get 4-5 up for a game), 4 bought the game, all in. And we play almost everytime with the same version (the one from the guy who can actually really good paint the miniatures ;-) - which means 3 are collecting dust in the shelves. Since then we synchronize, so not everybody in our group backs the same game (which happened very often, as we all have a similar taste). This alone drastically reduced the number of games I/we backed (of course sometimes there are games so good, and we still have other/different gaming groups that there is the desire/need that more than one back a game, which is still ok, but is now more the exception than the rule).

"Never got expansions for game until you feel you need them" Welp you're not the only one Just bought scyhte w/ invader from afar, wind gambit & rise of fenris at the same month lol

Great video. I also will be very picky and serious about the rational logical part of a board game purchase... up until I fall in love with a game, then I am fine with paying whatever to get everything. XD I guess I'm just lucky? in that my tastes in gaming are a little more specific than yours. Your collection is HUGE! :)

Oof. That Enchanters hate :p Dont regret my back and got every expansion since haha. Love that game

I see the title, I see Joan of Arc right beside you, I enjoy the humour.

As to rule 5 , many expansions for board games are not “variety” or “extended content “ but actual variations on the game. Those variants can make the game objectively better and more fun to play than the “base” game. In terms of computer games, some expansions are patches , not DLC. These are sometimes referred to as “essential expansions “ the prelude expansion to terraforming mars is a well recognized one but others do exist. Now buying the extra campaigns before deciding the game is good...is what kept me from going in on trudvang

10:00 In my country we have a saying "kun sai niin halvalla", which translates to something like "because I got it for so cheap". There's been a couple of games that I've bought because they were on sale, knowing full well that's they're not going to get played for at least half a year, if not more. But I wanted them and they were cheap. There's also been a couple games that I've bought just because I was worried I might not be able to get them later. But I know I will get them played eventually and I'm not too fussed about letting them sit there for a bit.

I have this bad habit of really enjoying smart inserts, smart organizers, and specifically broken token (which are pricey in and of themselves)...and buying all exapansions because of that. I don't do it TOO often, especially as most boxes don't allow for that. But I just did with 7 Wonders. I played it, enjoyed it, got all the expansions and Broken Token inset because I love it when I can fit everything together. Now, I have played a few of those expansions now, and really enjoyed them, but that's even worse sometimes since it reinforces bad habits. I also love the insert for Hostage Negotiator: Crime wave, in how it fits EVERYTHING, and the deck dividers help keep everything organized. I won the all in pledge for career in a charity auction and enjoy it a lot, and I will give myself a pat on the back for helping charity, but I always feel gross when I do this "Buy everything because it fits nice".

I usually have a wishlist 70+ games. I know that I will never get them all, but I'm adding to that list all the time. For the most part, I am logical about buying games. There are a few games, 4 or 5, in that list I will jump on if I see them on sale. I currently have 18 unplayed games and that is a lot for me. I don't buy a lot of expansions. Usually when I do, that's when I can no longer get the games to the table. The rules I go by are usually pretty simple. I can have no more than 1 unplayed VItal Lacerda game in my collection, or really heavy game in general. I try not to buy games that I'm fairly certain won't get played, and I'm usually pretty good at that. I don't back projects on Kickstarter, anymore, although I have been tempted recently by the It's a Wonderful World heritage box.

The only constraint on the last rule is accessibility to the expansions. Too Many Bones we can only get from kickstarter, or the publisher's website which for once offers hubs, except the European hub (in my case) is often out of copies, so your only option is getting it from the USA hub with crazy shipping and import taxes, usually almost doubling the cost. So... I mostly agree with the rule. ;) Oh, and I break it most of the time too, of course.

I learned of a game called King's Road, a simple area control game, that I was consdering. Through some online research, I dicovered that it was a kickstarter-exclusive game, with a company that would later go bankrupt, that was hard to find online. Luckily, there was someone selling the game on Facebook marketplace. But I wasn't sure if I would like the game, or if someone ele was going to buy it before me. After a year, I checked back and the person was still trying to sell the game. Just bought it last week, have already played it twice, and was glad I waited that long to decide it was a game for me :)

Do as I say and not as I do! :) I break rule # 4 a lot, especially with games that I know will go out of print (forbidden stars, many GMT games). Ok I laughed out loud at #5...totally break that always!

I'm better with the kickstarter thing than I was a few years ago. However, I have a theory on why kickstarter have that effect. When I buy I game in my FLGS, I spend money NOW, expecting a product NOW, and I'll play it this week probably. The distance between the spending of money and the review of the quality of that spending is extremely close. If I buy something I don't like that much, it will be extremely frustrating. However, if I buy on kickstarter, I am not expecting anything before a year or more. When the product arrive it's almost as if it's free (I mean the credit card bill has been paid for a long time). The distance is larger and thus it's a lot harder to link a possible deception with the spending of money. It somehow limit the critical effort I make before spending said money.

I definitely break some of my own rules (some of which are the same as yours) because of potential OOP FOMO, as I've had to pay a huge amount extra to get them after the fact. This probably affects me most during Kickstarters with exclusive content or which will not likely see a retail printing. I won't speculate on a game that I don't think I will like (for example, I skipped both of the huge Batman KS), but if it looks like a game I'll like, then I do get tripped up on it. Another thing that causes me to break rules are extremely good sales (or yard sale/thift store finds), which will result in me buying games that I won't play any time soon.

Ah! Those people on internet suggesting things! >:D Now. Need check that City of Kings.

A little tip on the Titel of the video: I’d rather Name the Video: „[...] I should follow (but don’t)“ for the ppl using the search Funktion and the RU-vid algorithm. Otherwise great video as always :)!

I’m having a hard time giving up Res Arcana. The one time I played it with 3 people didn’t go so well. Everyone included you says it’s great with two, but honestly i don’t really like two player games. Is it good with more than two players?

Admittedly I've got a couple which are unplayed at this point in time for various reasons but one which I definitely need to part with would be X-Com with the expansion. The group I would normally play it with has since disbanded and it's unlikely to come out of the box any time soon.

So far I only have two unplayed, bjt my collection is still small. One of them is "Alone" I backed the KS and shoudlnt have. Need to sell it. The other one is Spirit Island, but thats becouse I bought it at the same time as Terraforming Mars and were still playing that. Need to read SI rules and then start teachibg it to my sis sometime in july haha

Also for Monumental, I am pledging for the expansion because...it's an expansion! Gotta have it. And now I am thinking I should probably play Monumental and see if I even like the game before dropping over $100 (dang Euro exchange rate) on an expansion.

#5 is my worst too. I have few unplayed games, but a ton of unplayed expansions. Only 3 of my 59 unplayed is games. The rest? Expansions. I don't regret the 17 Arkham LCG mythos packs (although I definitely could've waited to buy them), but the expansions for games I've only played once are definitely a mistake. I'll work on implementing tip 5... sounds like it'll save me a lot of money and free those funds up for games.

Rule 5 made me laugh, I’m very all-or-nothing, but in my mind it isn’t FOMO but the fact that Im a completionist :)

One of the games i really want to keep in my collection is Bargain Quest because the art is so charming and while the gameplay is solid, i just feel in my head that it's not good enough when compared to paper tales, it's a wonderful world or some of my other drafting games in my collection. But everytime i think of selling it, i feel like i'm selling my child or something XD Oh and a rule that i'd like to add (though like you i don't always follow) is reading/watching the rules of the game you're actually backing and watching at least 1 gameplay video of it so you know what it's about! I admit it's time consuming but still! Actually, i did this for monumental and while i was excited that i could back it. Ffter reading the rules and watching almost a full playthrough of jon gets games I'm thinking of not getting it because it seems a little bit...like it's 2 different games VS being one cohesive game. I am interested on what changes they will make for me to make the decision if i'm going to fully back this or not.

I break all of these but not after trying to talk to myself out or it for a few days first.

I got Dice-throne for about 2 days, before I sold that thing off. Like you mentioned, it looks fantastic, but its just fiddly rolling dice game that almost all my play group just "meeh", sold it while people still thinks it was hot and actually made a few bucks... but yeah, I think player value looks way too much much recently years

Have I missed you talking about the new Terraforming Mars KS? Kenn to glean your thoughts :-)

Weirdly, my tendency to buy a lot of expansions actually ended up saving me a lot of money in the case of Too Many Bones. I saw a few reviews of the base game and thought it looked cool and was mulling over getting it, but hesitated because most of the expansions were out of stock with no real indication of when they would be available again, which I knew would annoy me with my completionist tendencies. Anyway, I finally got a chance to play the base game, and realised that I pretty much hate it. I can definitely see why some people love it, but I bounced off it hard.

I bought Deception a year ago and still haven’t got it to the table( never enough players available)

Man I was so excited about the monumental review, and now the base game is $250 shipped With a mandatory expansion, oof.

My rule is don't buy a game I have not played, with a one per year exception for my gaming holiday. I do not consider myself a collector though I hardly ever get rid of games, it's certainly a valid reason to buy games though. I also used to buy games that were interesting treatments of historical topics - mostly wargames - or that were mechanically interesting in some way that I could borrow from - so I give that as a reason to break your rules 1 and 4. Otherwise I am pretty good especially with respect to expansions, except Terraforming Mars. My TM experience exactly matches yours even down to playing it solo!

Hey there, I do not know if you backed Middara, but I would really like to have your opinion on the price value about their last update where they intend to release the whole first act for free on TTS :)

I actually sold my copy of 7 Wonders (1sr Ed.) with four expansion due to feeling that I have too much content. Instead, I'll get the second edition with only the two expansions I do play with.

Really like what you’re doing. Fresh, non redundant and entertaining. Keep up God’s work. Edit: for spelling

Great video. Would you be willing to review or take a look at Dinosaur 1944? I respect your opinions and will take your advice on it.

Kickstarter: Making Games You Wouldn't Buy Sexy Since 2009

My tips: 1. Spam your friends with pictures of the games you want to play / back but actually want THEM to buy so that you don't have to waste shelf space on them. 2. Deluxify the crap out of the games you do play to encourage you to play them MOAR 3. Convince friends to play your deluxified games while telling them about said standalone expansion kickstarter for the game you told them to buy with #1 that is still unplayed 4. Swap your games with your friends to loan in/out and make sure you get the game you suggested at #1 with all the deluxified components and expansions you suggested they buy My personal thing I try to do "usually": classify games into situations where I would play them, if a game I want is "better" than that game in that situation then maybe get it, or maybe get rid of the game I already own. If it's not "better" don't get it. I'm totally going to fail all my rules on that Terraforming Mars box.... :(

I think a big reason for this is the scarcity and FOMO (perceived or otherwise) you see in boardgaming. I first got into the hobby about a year ago, and especially having come from a more video game background, it was weird seeing so many highly recommended games be unavailable for one reason or another. Maybe it was just bad timing, but when I first started seeking out games based on recommendations, games like TI4, Sheriff of Nottingham, and Cosmic Encounter where out of stock. I'm one of those people who has over 1k steam games (mostly due to humble) and over the past year or so I've been able to stop myself from buying video games, as I know they will always be there when/if I actually want to play them. With boardgames though, some part of my brain thinks that if I don't pull the trigger now, I might miss out on a game forever. Same thing with expansions. When I buy a game with an "essential" expansion, I find myself worrying that the expansion won't be in print by the time I'd be ready for it. I know this is just me being crazy, but still.

I violate most of these rules regularly. When I get a game, I have to get all the expansions immediately, they might go out of print next month. At least I'm trying to solve rule #2: I actively avoid Kickstarter! I always buy way too much there. 'I don't need this game, but look, all those expansions and add-ons, it's so tempting, I just have to have it all!'

Can you do a play this not that video using Coffee Roasters and a similar game?

Oof. I frequently get the base game AND the expansions all at once... BEFORE I have even played the game 😕. Someone told me to get The big box version of Istanbul... what can I say? It’s got resell value if I decide I don’t like it 🤷‍♂️

Great! Just as you say! That's why I don't have Arkham Horror and now I ask the same for Newdale. Also that's why I don't backed Terraforming Mars, I would love to back but i would not buy it at a local store at that price, because it would be all or nothing. Someone said in a video something like "If I want a good story I read a book ..." (You know who?), sounds perfect so I didn't back Hell: Last Saga ... but I backed Euthia! And after backed Frosthaven I promised my self to stop... and failed! Because of pandemic lockdown, I've played a lot of V-Commandos and Mage Knight solos, that's why I backed Frosthaven Game Play All In Bundle. Hope to be another Gloomhaven lover and do not regret the expansive price. What a crazy rules: a gamer or a colector?! :D It's so great play a game but also feels great have them!

im hoarding boardgames either because i love their concept OR fear they will go OOP