I have been playing board games for over 50 years. Yep got my first one in the 1960s. There were new and exciting things back then, and there are still new and exciting things today. I have seen all the major big things in gaming over the years, and I still get excited with some of the games that come out. I am selective, look for gems no matter how old, and know what makes a good game (for me). My extended family of kids and grandkids, all play boardgames, and the excitement has not diminished.
My Nan always had time for a game, we would play old maid, marbles, monopoly, chess you name it!! Now, for context she was born in 1919, so modern board games wasn't quite there when she was sharing her time with me. She is still with us, but your comment has highlighted just how much fun it was to play with her and has brought back some rather nice memories.
Board games are no different from any other entertainment medium, like movies, video games, music, etc. There's a handful of concepts/mechanics/situations/beats mixed up in different combinations to create the product. What carries this limited amount of options is theme and the way in which they are presented. Nothing is truly original anymore(or very rarely so). The trick is to not become jaded and enjoy the "thing" for what it is in a way that appeals to you. Board games aren't getting old, no more than film and music.
There is a lot about this post which I agree and disagree with at the same time. I think board games are still in a state where something genunuely new can be made, that it doesn't have to be influenced by past design or be a remixed or refinement. Innovation is difficult, though, because board games have some soft constraints about what works and what doesn't by its very nature, both in terms of what can be enjoyed as a game by a table and what is practical to manufacture. The trick is to not become jaded, you say, and it is so true. But also... being jaded is the very heart of the problem, for those that it applies to.
I just want to stop by and say this was the most professional comment and reply I’ve seen where someone agrees and disagrees. Words matter, and you both covered both sides well. 🙏🏼💯
Frankly, I could have worded it better (but such is life in the realm of youtube comments). Thank you for stopping by. Compliments on the internet are rare and much appreciated.
@@stenolebrretzen675 Perfectly valid counterpoint to my comment, and I don't disagree with you. My comment was more a blanket statement than anything. There's still plenty of new ground to cover, and I think that the integration of apps is making that more-so now than ever before. For me personally, I don't care if a game isn't innovative with its mechanics, provided it does those mechanics solidly. It's the theme for me that will carry it :)
I am a sucker for innovation and novelty. Primarily because I love the learning process. The weirder the game is, the more learning content there is. Admittedly, not all experimental designs are a success. And not all successes are experimental designs.
Brandon Sanderson in one of his lectures mentioned that creativity isn’t necessarily about coming up with something new. The thing is, everything has been done before. Even things that are “new” are built on ideas you found elsewhere. Even so, Sanderson says that the essence of creativity is about combining and spinning those ideas in new ways. That process can be transformative and can truly create something new. For example he came up with Mistborn because he likes heists and hard magic fantasy. Those had been done before but by combining them he managed to create something truly incredible and novel.
The only troubling trend I see are the number of KS "bells and whistles" games; huge boxes with huge piles of things. I don't the need to spend another $100+ for more minis, too many decks of cards and a huge play area. And it's less about what these games are doing with design and story and more about the compounding fatigue these massive up-front investments place on those in the hobby. In regards to repeating ideas in board games, I highly recommend you watch the Kirby Ferguson documentary Everything Is a Remix (available on his YT channel). It's not specifically about any one thing but about creativity in general, as applied to all manner of media. Relevant and worth the 30 min watch.
I so wish many of these bellwhistle (okay, let's be honest: plastic mini flood) games were standee based. So much shelf space could be saved, and they'd be way cheaper, both in general cost and in shipping. Primal looks great, sure, but the same game with standees would be so much easier to store, mail, and generally handle.
This is why I'm a narrative/theme gamer -- board games as a medium can't get old to me because I'm in search of board games that have something to *say*, and as long as human beings keep having ideas there will always be new things to say. This coming year, ISS Vanguard is new for all of us, and Pax Pamir 2e which I just bought is new to me. Both will make me think and feel new things I haven't experienced before, ideas about life and purpose and power and exploration and control and humanity, the same way a novel or a book would, not just the vague idea of "hmm, that was/wasn't a fun puzzle" -- or at least that's my hope. I just tried Inhuman Conditions for the first time -- my own personal Voight-Kampff test! Board games will get old to me only if and when I stop seeking out the people using the medium to produce new human experiences.
I tend to go there too. I'm from the batch of the pandemic new boardgamers and it becomes so repetitives from games to games. Now I'm like: Give me something to disturb me. A story, something deeper than place a worker here if you have that and when you have 3 workers there you have this. Thanks.
To me they sound and look very repetitive, the bulk of them at least. Way too much horror, ugly creatures, dungeon crawls. Glad newer games art is refreshing older games or creating new ones with more brilliant palette, not your old 80's school book type of art, and also adding diversity to the characters. I do dislike that many games only cater to those with tons of cash though. Way too many $150 + $50 shipping (to Canada at least) games that won't make retail just because they are deluxe. Still, like you said, plenty coming out but finding a really good one takes time :)
There are more video games than just the triple A titles. Here's just a tiny list of examples of great games that are *not* doing the same thing again and again: Return of the Obra Dinn, Pathologic 2, The Witness, Outer Wilds, Zachtronics games, Baba Is You, Rain World, Invisible Inc. If you're a fan of a medium don't just look at the biggest titles with the biggest budgets and marketing. The way you described video games sounded depressing. I believe that there's a very long road ahead for video games to explore new things never explored before. It's a young medium. Video games are not really stories or at least plot is not the thing they're the best at. Interacting with complex systems is what makes video games special. They're miniature universes.
You lost me when you started going through the individual games. Being dismissive of iterations and developments as not being revolutionary is problematic. There are likely less successful games that introduce unique aspects. It's like criticizing Marvel movies for not providing an original concept. I understand the point you're trying to make, but you're just not going to see revolutionary changes often in the main stream titles this industry (or most entertainment industries). If you're interested in that, you'll likely need to dig deep into more obscure markets.
My last few game purchases: Torres (1999), Concordia (2013), Calimala (2017), The King is Dead (Originally 2007) and Lorenzo il Magnifico (2016) Old games are just better games. I haven't seen a game come out in the last 2-3 years that interests me at all
Point of the board games was simply social activity that didn’t care about your nationality, race, religion etc but just get together with people and enjoy the activity while actually socializing too. But because of few reasons, socialization took back seat so it lost its major thing 1- Covid, after covid it literally took out the best reason to play games. 2- people more worried about board then meeting each other. Rules that focuses more on playing games and stopping socializing is also hindering its growth 3- online board gaming becoming bigger thing. Covid s another hit I think because in last 2 years ppl play much less with direct human made the board gaming less interesting. There is no excitement meeting new ppl, teaching new games. Getting together for special events etc.
The short, board games are renewable resources. Add in that there will always be a new generation that has never played Checkers and Spades or Viticulture and Gloomhaven, then, factor in the human ingenuity...we haven't reached the pinnacle just yet :D And for your brother, Alex, perhaps he needs to focus more on the social experience and not just what the game is trying to conjure up.
I have been pretty tuned out the last few months. I feel like I've just been getting bombarded with all these games that are the same thing with a different spin. Half of them are unfinished. The last 4 months or so I've only been playing marvel champions and that's barely a board game. Mostly just feel guilty I'm not playing these kickstarters I've bought
As you say there is no difference to the other media - we're in the glut phase: board games are getting popular enough that a lot of people are getting on board. For the indies that means there is a good opportunity, but they are likely to get lost in the flood. Innovation is their key - they need to stand out in some way, but they do need some iteration so that customers understand what is being offered easier. The big guys are making money off iteration, so try to avoid much innovation and thus minimise the risk of a flop. And the ones in the middle try to float between both, but a single flop can spell disaster for them. Any company with shares is also less-likely to innovate: a flop can be a problem for any company, but if it hits the bottom line it can trigger a sell-off by shareholders, which hurts the bottom line even more. As such companies that have floated on the stock market are even less likely to innovate.
I’d say for me board games aren’t getting old because they offer something other things cannot a great social experience in person, i am also fairly new to board games though and most of my group is kinda of just enjoying going through all the old games and finding the ones we like and maybe better more streamlined versions. So unless I somehow manage to go through thousands of board games there will always be a level of novelty to them
Great talk, Alex. You touched on a lot of points that I’m passionate about as a designer and a recent enthusiast in the board game space. We humans have an inherent desire to create and are innately novelty seeking - such a great basis for consumer culture, no? I love the variation in board games, especially the way that games are becoming both better designed (aesthetically) but also more varied in their look and feel. While mechanisms may not change as much, it is great to see the increasing sophistication and variety of themes and designs. The same game could easily be implemented in dozens of combinations of themes and aesthetics to appeal to a variety of people. There is an obscure concept in archaeology that I like, it’s called Pattern Exhaustion. It’s the idea that cultures die off when they are no longer creating new patterns in the objects they create and instead are just rehashing the same thing. So, cheers to new patterns and variations!
Great perspective! I love these thought videos. It reminds me of my days as a Religion and Philosophy major in my undergrad days sitting around in the dorm talking about random things.
My students keep them new, never thought the constant influx of new students picking games, watching you and others talk and play the games and them actually wanting to get their homework completed to get a game in keeps them fresh and fun for me. Ark nova set up ready to go for tomorrow, big jump for some coming from cascadia to this.
Maybe the next thing will be something like table sized tablets. Allowing the players to use... (Sorry stopped in mid edit.) Some components that interact or no components going completely digital. This will lower costs, eliminate a lot of setup, & the largest expense will be the tablet table. Some are already headed this way with BGA.
The short answer? No! tbh I dont think there are too many of " the same games" being released that is getting old but, really i think the answer is layered if were speaking from my prospective and not objectively its more so the way gaming and board gaming is being presented that is tiring than the actual games(im a gen zer if that helps) the way gaming is presented now is lowkey kinda out of touch with what the average gamer(in this case board gamer is like) based off a very limited group of gamers(extremely advanced and very lux push that annoys me) I love gaming but im very bad at it (lol) pretty much im a flop gamer lol and super super complex games do not appeal to me at all and in my personal home the games my family gets too the table most are (sushi go,payday,jumaji,golden ticket game) they also happen to be cheaper games(but, i do come from a family that has a very tight budget... That said slightly from a more open viewpoint some of the worlds biggest and bestselling board games literally have 5011 different versions that fan of those games eat up(monopoly,clue,settlers,ticket to ride etc... to me i want games to be fun and simple enough for more advanced players though I cant speak on that and why they would consider gaming starting to get old(in feeling) which i guess would be why my answer could be a little more diff than some other comments (to add I also dont like how more and more board games released dont have traditional boards anymore but a more advanced player may think think a traditional board is well boring (lol) a few factors play into this and questions are we talking the average gamer or the onliner gamer community, are we talking folks who like simple or more old school games or newer more complex and so on?
There's definitely stagnation in the hobby, I've noticed it for a while now; too many games feel like the same thing with a new coat of paint. I've been trying to focus on the games I already know I like and focus on keeping up with them (expansions, promos and such), and watching out for games that stand out to me for one reason or another. This has saved me a ton of money and KS anticipation headache, as I see a plethora of games that look at least somewhat interesting, but between storage space, price point, and waiting a year+ to get it, I've been backing less and less KS games and doing the same for games published the traditional way. Edit: The video game market is even worse. So many 'phone it in' games vs. the early days of passion for games, especially in the 'AAA" industry. The indie scene is giving us better and more fun games than the manufactured blandness that the big companies keep churning out, and they're cheaper to boot! Edit again: I plead the 5th on Steam sales and my library of games!
It's the experience from the game that makes a game great! The art, the story, the presentation, the challenge, the struggle, the puzzle, the people we play with, the mechanics, etc all contribute to the final experience :)
Games are like dishes. Some dishes bring new ingredients to the table. But most amazing dishes are just perfected combinations of well known ingredients/processes. The most accomplished chefs are not necessarily trying to bring new ingredients, reinventing a classic is as daunting a task as creating novelty.
Variety is the spice of life right? All that is new was old at some point and that's ok. Better art, better graphic design, better understanding of game mechanics, each year of games builds on years past and that's a good thing. I restrict my library to 45 games. My hope is to find my perfect 45 and then never buy another one. But I'll never complete it, because the new variations on my old favorites always get me, and that's so enjoyable to see designers take what I love and give me a new variation, a new way to love the same old mechanics that speak to me.
Being original is quite a tough challenge. Of all the millions of books, movies etc, there are 'reported' only 7 original type of stories. Overcoming the Monster Rags to Riches The Quest Voyage and Return Rebirth Comedy Tragedy It's just about being entertained. And board games do entertain us.
Theme, can make a big difference. Still waiting for you to play War of the ring: Long...yes, but gives you a overwhelmingly epic feeling like when the main character of a movie dies and the rising tension of I might just be able to pull it off. I would love to see you play this with Roy Cannaday. Maybe one day, fingers crossed.
Ok. So I've been feeling a little disenchanted with the hobby lately. Not with actually playing the games. Just with getting excited for new releases. That being said, new innovative ideas are being concocted all of the time. There are more designers bringing more ideas to the table than ever before. Is the market getting oversaturated? I think so. But obviously I'm wrong because there still seems to be enough dollars/interest to support all of these new projects. But for a jaded vet like me (apparently) it is harder for me to get excited than it used to be.
@@BoardGameCo I have three games releasing this year that I'm excited about. The rest are all expansions to things I already own and love. But that's good for my budget.
The games that are the most refined/optimized board games will end up being the best e.g. like bloodrage I am looking forward to a new area control game that dethrones bloodrage
People burn out on hobbies and/or lose interest. You take a break and see if you get called back in after a while. This is true of all hobbies not just board games.
Some concepts are repeated in board games, but that doesn't mean that it's the same. Different twists, combinations, themes and so on make it different. Also, everybody can and should decide for themselves which games they choose. There is also some enjoyment in searching and filtering through the existing board games in search for the 'perfect' one or rather the few good ones for oneself. Will innovation in board games hit a ceiling some day? I don't know, probably. I would not call board games a medium. Fact is that the board game market is overflowing for years. That's not healthy. Not sure how publishers of bad games can hold it up. And it is a big problem that most big crowdfunding games are just overpriced cash-grabs to rip money off rich people.
This is why we made Beyond Humanity: Colonies. We wanted to make our own dream game, something that no game designer could create. And that’s what the other side to the solution is. As you mentioned, one side to “originality” is remixing with new passion and interest/direction/theme. The other aspect of originality is outsiders; those that enter the arena with vastly different skill sets and abilities. The same has been seen in film/television for decades, with acclaimed directors coming from seemingly nowhere. Thankfully there is always something to be said for finding a rehash that sparks your interest due to art, theming, or some other feature that connects with a niche appreciation inside you. No person will play every game or read every book, or watch every film. But they were never supposed to. You just need to find what appeals to you. Brilliant video yet again! And great outside references; the two music exploration videos mentioned are excellent thought pieces we’ve seen many times.
99% of everything is shit. Clearly there will be more gems in the entire length of history than there are in the last year due to such a wide range of time. Admittedly 1% of 5000 games is still 50 games, but that's not even the point. The point is that the cream of the crop will be worthwhile and remember that the most popular properties, initially, will be those that are more familiar. Also sometimes the genius of a game is taking an existing mechanic and executing it better. I generally prefer to check out games that have passed the test of time but if there were not rabid gamers buying all these new samey games, the gems would never gain a foothold.
I would argue that games don't have to be completely new to be amazing. You can take concepts that already exist and present them in a new way that reaches a new audience. In other words, games are more than the individual mechanisms. So you truly can create an infinite number of worker placement games and have them continue to be relevant. Toss in the social experience that is specific to a given set of people and you're good to go. (FYI, Netflix has been around since 1997, so it has been around for decades ;) )
Also, I think you are presenting a very limited definition of "new". You've restricted yourself to only considering low-level mechanisms in your definition. By that way of thinking, you could probably claim that none of these games are new because they are all based on cardboard.
OK Alex. Tell me something each film is bringing that is new. I think you're setting expectations on board games as a medium to be always bringing something new. Nah. Films don't. Audiences choose what themes and ideas of films they like - folk see what films they like. Why should board games be any different. Why are you expecting that? For example. You mention Terraforming Mars & Ark Nova. That Ark Nova does nothing new. Now, that's debatable, but even so, the themselves are very different. Personally I've sold Terraforming Mars because I'd rather have those mechanics in better art (subjective I know), and a theme that appeals to me. I think you need to step back and accept that the hobby is expanding and games will come out bringing slight differences to each other. That means there's more likely to be a game that appeals to more people.
As a longtime fan of video games, who only just got into board games last year, there were so many things I hadn't experienced before. While many of you have probably played Seven Wonders, Splendor, Azul, Everdell and Terraforming Mars and games similar to them several times, I'm just getting into these experiences and not only are the games fun to play, but there's an aspect of ownership with board games that I sadly find increasingly lacking in video games. On the video games side of things, I mostly agree as far as mainstream games go, but while I don't play those FPS games mentioned as an example, I keep going back to Fire Emblem for the cast of characters, how they interact and figuring out which of them I'll use in my party. And I still find old games I haven't played yet, as well as indie and niche games.
I don't think board games are getting old. I think copy/paste multiplayer solitaire euro efficiency puzzles are getting old. That is the dominant trend in the hobby right now: Ark Nova is just the current poster child.
Aren't there 7 basic plots? If you accept that you could watch 7 movies, read 7 books and play 7 games and be does for life. Yikes! Ain't gonna happen.
I don't think games are getting better. Probably platuea has been reached in last few years on what is capable now that 1000s of games a year are coming out. I change though, my favourite game is different every year. My top 10 refreshes every few years. I need more new games. FEED ME GAMES.
You will get less new and more same old if you immediately sort "has two reviews" into "garbage", even if you correct yourself immediately after. We see similar in the videogame space, in that the big - many reviews - are not necessarily the new, daring and original. Videogames have a LOT of stuff that goes way beyond what you see in the AAA space, but if you apply filters and focus on the big and pretty, yeah, you'll never see it. Perhaps the filters are part of the problem and not the solution. No, of course you have to filter to some extent - but you need to be aware that you are actually filtering for "Appeals to the existing tastes of the current community as its knows its tastes" and not for "garbage vs good". Or to put it another way, it's very easy to miss an Obra Dinn, a Pony Island or many other excellent indie titles that do wacky new things if one focuses too much on metrics like reviews.
It only gets old when people stop doing the basics well to the point old is actually better then new. There's always new ideas, philosophies, themes, art, and combinations to learn and remind yourself of and just the act of having fun with something new. It exercise of the mind because alternative to exercise is death. You could very well have the same argument describing civilization or life itself instead of board games 😈. I want to have more good options then I can exhaust because I want the illusion of choice! I know it's fate but creating an illusion makes me happy 😈
I see the problem as follows: There is too much rush to get the money. Games tend to have some good aspects and then from few to many not so great aspects (mostly mechanics). I have been very weary to get new games from the store/crowd funding as they tend to be more on the mediocre "kinda fun but not quite there" offerings. Many games being published would actually benefit alot from just more time on designing. Other thing that bores me (and boring is a big no no) is the theming choises (generic fantasy should go away for few years). There does not seem to be interest in taking risks and as result most games tend to be flavourless, colourless and shapeless -> boring. What i mean is i want a game (sometimes) to be like "This war of mine". Something that has identity.
I've been feeling this a lot lately. The cult of the new is turning into mental exhaustion. And after 10s to 100s of different games played, it is truly rare for one to wow me. I know the ones I already love and I really just want to play them more. I wish everyone else would do the same. For anyone entering the hobby that would like to avoid the burnout, I would say the following: Theme matters. Production matters. Pick a few games that are known to be rated well, produced well, and that cover themes that you and your friends are most interested in. And then stop buying games. Play those games to death. It's far better than the alternative, trust me.
If you are in to a certain thing, you just want more of it, even if it is not truly different from what you already have,that’s the unfortunate reality of human kind. So although you are correct, it will never change. On a different note, I’d love to see a video for noobs, with your favorite games on different mechanics, taking into account price/performance. Those choices would probably favor older games and be great for people like me trying to build out their collection while trying to figure what they truly enjoy in the hobby.
Aeon's End. I recently discovered that game and it is so different yet amazing. Of course now that has been copied by Astro knights. Which, to credit, is made by the same creators.
Board games are maturing as a medium. You have a point if you state that you will have the triple-A blockbusters and some indie stuff, where the anonymous middle gets forgotten pretty quickly. I can’t count the number of games that I’ve sold in recent years after a single play because it didn’t stand out enough compared to the rest of my collection. The trick is to identify that new game that will either be an added value to your collection or will replace something else. But for someone who’s new to the hobby, they just start with what is hot now and what I see as an average remake of a classic I own, can be regarded as exciting by a new gamer and become a classic for them.
I tend to buy different games with different mechanism and 4-5 games per year.I own around 20 board games til now.i dont want to buy things i wont play.
I haven't been less interested in playing Board Games, but I have become less interested following board game news. There are just so many games coming out that I would get information overload if I try to follow the news about board games. The content creators covering the releases of board games still tries to cover everything, my hope is that someone will make som more selected board games news - that would something I would be interested in.
I do think there has to be some limit. The people in the hobby are going to run out of shelf space, and have too many games filling the same niche. For me, I don’t really need any more heavy euros, miniature skirmish games, campaign narrative games. Hell even a mid weight euro needs to be something special.
I can’t say that there’s any indicator that boardgame production would or could slow down. I think more what we will see slowing down is massive game collections.
The best way to combat the overconsumption is to "Out of sight, Out of mind" the subject. Its not good for the people trying to prosper in the business but its the only way to stop buying the "same" products.
One thing Wingspan brought that I don’t really see in many ( if any) other games is the diminishing action cubes as they’re used for score markers between rounds.
Its like vid games, for the most part everything is going to be some variant of another type of game. However their are many hidden gems inside all that clutter, and for the most part people find those hidden gems. I still play many vid games despite most of them being similar to other games. Ive encountered newer games better then all those I have played before that are similar, Ive also encounter crap ones, and ones that are in the middle were they have fixed problems, but also put new ones in their game.
There are only so many game mechanics that you can pull from. So of course you are just going to keep getting overlap. The difference is how those mechanics are used together and the theme of the game.
There are a lot of games nowadays that are samey so I can't agree with you more. I just think we should pick the main mechanics or theme we love and stick to that, no need to keep checking for sameness over and over again
To me it boils down to this. Am I having fun? I don't care if Ark Nova is old/new, I'm having a ton of fun. I don't spend time comparing to other card driven games. Same with Arnak. It's fun. We live in the golden age of board games, board games are not getting old, the mechanics and ides might get old but they don't make these new games less fun.
Very interesting topic of video. Big thumb up for You Alex :). Imo there is still to discovery and explore in board games maybe not in showing new mechanics but in combining them into something fresh, new look on old mechanics or in thematic side. I think there is at least one game that won't be repeated not in terms of gameplay, mechanics but in thematic feeling and making board game piece of art, more experience than playing for fun. That board game is This War of Mine. I don't think that in near or further future someone will try to go this way. There is something uniqe in this game even not everyone has good opinion about TWoM ;). So still there is a room for a new in boardgames industry, maybe not revolution but evolution. And yes, the best example are hybrid boardgames, boardgames with app even I am still on opposed side I can understand and accept this kind of evolution :). P.S I've backed Mythic Mischief too and can't wait for it to play, game looks great and unique, even has nothing new mechanics . Even my girlfriend would dislike it I like solo mode of this game, very good exercise for brain 😁.
I agree to an extent, the problem is the same can be said for party games, dungeon crawlers, area control... They all share certain notes that make most of them feel similar
If you own more than 100 games... your just collecting games at that point. You don’t get to play and properly enjoy them. Growing up we probably owned 10- 20 games but they were all classics and got played often. At this point in my life I can’t get people to play games unless it’s a holiday or we’re on a vacation. I stopped buying games because they were just collecting dust.
Casting shadows will be a fun time. Love dice rolling fighters like King of Tokyo and Dice Throne. Love skirmish games like unmatched and summoner wars. And I LOVE the Exceed mechanic in... Well... Exceed. I'm stoked for one game with all these rolled together.
I think that while there is rarely a new mechanic there are still new themes combined with those mechanics with new art. And new more refined gameplay and setup that still allows me to feel a sense of discovery but even if that aspect of the hobby was gone for me I would still enjoy it.
Of all the videos you publish, this is my favorite the “Fireside Chat with Alex” is always interesting, and your perspective is almost always insightful - except when they don't line up with mine. 😉 Keep it up. I hope that videos like this do well enough to keep you making them.
I've been buying and playing board games since the 1960s. As young as I can remember, I've had board games and been fascinated by board games. Please don't take this as an offense or an insult, but to hear folks who've only been into board games within the last 10 years saying "oh we've seen it all now" is just beyond amusing. Sure, board games and interest in board games rises and falls like any other hobbies, but no, as someone who has been playing board games for 50+ years now, they aren't getting old. Not even close. Never will.
Burncycle is pretty different/new... honestly everything Chip Theory does is pretty new/unique. But I don't get a bunch of new stuff in part because of this, actually. Once I have games that I love that scratch an itch, I have much less incentive to buy new ones. Story games being a bit of a different beast. That's more due to not having time to play all the story games I already have I will say that in many games small tweaks to mechanics do make a huge difference. Gaia Project vs Tera Mystica. 1830 vs 1882 vs 18Chesapeake vs 1889. But that's generally only the case for the super tight designs where small tweaks have huge ramifications.
That's why I only buy retail, and apply filters what theme i want. Example, I have the "Redwall" set, which is Root, Everdell, Mouse Guard Rpg, Here to slay. Boardgames I want because of theme : Mythic Battles (Ragnarok/ Pantheon/ Egypt), tainted grail kings of ruin, Nemesis, Scythe, Lords of the chords. But is the combination of theme and mechanics what makes want to have the game.
Interesting thought. Many of us end up becoming more picky about what games we get. I know I have cooled on kickstarters lately. Even with top notch publishers. Wayfarers of the South Tigris is my first Shem Game that I'm skipping in a long time.
I once worked with a Hollywood producer on an educational economics video series (name withheld for privacy). He said there are only two stories in the world: (1) Boy/girl comes to town/arrives at destination/gets married/gets something/returns from a journey and what happens next, and boy/girl leaves town/loses something/goes on a journey, and what happens next. For example, you can call Exodus/Pesach a leaves Egypt twist, perhaps combined with a "goes on journey", and Har Sinai as a gets something/arrives at destination story.
Original stories for movies are rare these days. Just look at the top 100 movies over the past 5 years. How many of those are either: 1) Remake/reboot 2) Sequels 3) Adaptations from other media (novel, comic, game) and 4) Spin-offs. There's also a similar trend in board games.
Growing up we were way into buying/collecting music than we are now... since well now we have a subscription service and access to 20-30 million titles but that said I recall comparing my pop vs Jazz/Classical selection experience and I realized that classical music was all about various recordings and interpretations of the same music where as pop music was original but generally not covers of other's work due to royalties and so forth. Essentially the number of any particular classic work seemed nearly unlimited compared to a single album choice for a pop artist. Not sure how I can relate this to board games but I guess I would compare the choice of the standard card deck to Classical Music in that we can buy this "game system" aka 52 cards with different back art for next to nothing or we can buy these new game system titles. To some degree the same happened to Monopoly, Chess, (not so much checkers) in the various versions. Axis and Allies hit the version explosion after a relatively stable hot period. Squad Leader also hit the moon in terms of expansions. It is still relatively shocking just how many copies of Squad Leader were sold back in its day. We see a "hot" kickstarter/gamefound and 10-25k backers yet Avalon Hill games that were popular sold millions. Back then though there were VERY few board games to purchase so now we are absolutely overwhelmed with new choices. Also I think what we saw to computer games from the early 8 to 16 bit years to the modern multi-million productions on Xbox or PS systems that may well have run into 30+ million to produce. Perhaps vast improvements in the "Metaverse" will actually finally start carving more into the physical board game market. A picture is worth a thousand words, a movie is worth a thousand pictures and a board game is worth a thousand movies - due to the interactive/agency of participation?
How many ways? Infinite. I didn't watch the vsauce video but if he said there is a finite number of songs possible (I'm sure he didnt') then he would be wrong. Even with the exact same notes, you can simply vary the timing. You can take an exact copy of any song and inject a single note in the middle and it would be different. You can do this infinitely. This goes for all the other mediums mentioned. The problem comes when your perception of two different things is that they are "too similar". If you are not interested in the difference, it will seem boring and too samey. But still, it is only a perception. The same game with different theme IS a different game. Whether it is different enough for you could certainly be a problem, but it is a matter of personal perception.
I agree with you mostly, particularly on the idea of perception. He goes into that as well. I disagree on the finite versus infinite, just by the very nature of what a musical note is, at the same time it isn't very very very high finite
The vsauce video only addresses finiteness based on how much data a CD can hold. Of course an analog recording device or larger storage device can hold more nuance than a CD. In terms of analog devices, because there are an infinite number of variations between notes, of course there are an infinite number of melodies that can be performed. The problem would come back to perception - how much nuance is needed for us to recognize it as "different". This is not to mention the issue with melodies lasting over an hour, or a day.
There's something about games that bring familiar mechanics, they feel cozy, easier to play (and if you slap an IP on it then it somehow makes them even more desirable!). Innovative games are also only innovative for awhile anyways. So the key is to bring small innovations that make you feel at ease with your games, not overwhelmed. I am amazed at the subtle innovations on many new games I play. Even Gloomhaven JOTL, you mentioned the book with the maps, yes Stuffed Fables did it before, but JOTL added the 3rd page that you slide next to the book to grow the map, brilliant! Anno1800 has this fascinating trading aspect, for me it's really what makes the game stand out because it brings such an interesting dynamic to an otherwise straightforward card/tile building game. Entirely new mechanics are rare (Azul with its tile selection system comes to my mind because it's so elegant).
Interesting conversation, I will say on the subject of buying new games, as I have moved further along in my time in the hobby I find that I purchase fewer and fewer games each year. 10 years in the hobby and I have acquired around 300 board games. I have only sold or traded maybe 15-20 games in that time period I tend to keep a game once I buy it. Within that first year or two my collection quickly jumped to nearly 100 games but as time passes the number of new games each year dwindled. At this point I buy less then 10 new games a year, which for some might still be a lot but for me its a huge reduction and I have feeling that number may continue to decline. I have noticed that I am less impulsive with purchases now. I tend to research and play games before buying them and often will purchased a game 1-2 years after its release. You mentioned Ark Nova a game I have played a couple times now and will most likely add to my collection at some point but in the pass might have just purchased it based on the hype alone. Its also worth pointing out that I don't have a shelf of shame, I am pretty big on playing all the games i purchase as they come in. I currently only have a single unplayed game, but its a narrative campign and will be starting it the next couple weeks as soon as we wind down the current game we are playing.
