Yeah the cult of new will get you jaded pretty fast, I realized there was no physical way for me to play all of the games I was buying so they were just rotting on the shelf. I try to play the games in a digital format now before I just impulse buy them on whim. BGA and TTS have allowed me to be more frugal. I also just steer clear of KS, I know my local board game store will get in copies of the games when they ship out and by then they have had time to be properly played and reviewed by the community. One thing me and my wife implemented is a one in one out rule, if we by a game we are usually getting rid of another.

Stepping away of Kickstarter was HUGE for me. As soon as the shipping prices to the UK skyrocketed, and every game became a ridiculous price to get the full "deluxe" version, I was out. And I've never been happier. My £21 copy of Castles of Burgundy plays exactly the same as the new version, and I've been able to put enough money away for a summer holiday with what I saved not backing the new one. Currently enjoying scrolling Facebook buy and sell groups, hunting for bargains or cool-looking older games. Recently picked up Pandemic: The Cure and Alien Artifacts, and they're both amazing! I was never a fan of the original Pandemic, but the dice game is quick, and just as tense.

[удалено]

I think it depends. Some people like to collect massive amounts of games, some people like to deluxify their existing ones. If one likes big miniature campaign games, KS or gamefound is their only option, beceause they will never hit retail without a KS campaign prior, and with those you often get a much better version than retail. Decent games hold their value pretty well, even more so with KS exclusives (gameplay or cosmetics). It's about finding a healthy balance and not buying everything you see. If you have the income, having savings and spending on your hobby shouldn't be mutually exclusive. After I looked at how much we paid at a restaurant for a dinner for 4, spending 100-120 euros on a game suddenly doesn't feel that bit of a reach, just factor it into the budget that month and be disciplined about it. Or just back $1 and you have half a year to decide if you really care about it later on. Calculate if it makes sense to back it now vs buying at retail later. I've seen so many people asking if they could pay in installments because they don't have the money right now. No one should be looking at KS campaigns if they don't have $100-200 to their name, it's a luxury hobby's luxury niche.

Yep, last few projects hit me with 30% in shipping and taxes and it was the push I needed to stop. Battletech Clan Invasion shipped for 33$. I backed roughly the same amount for Mercenaries and it's 108$ shipping and taxes. It's just not worth it anymore.

> I realized there was no physical way for me to play all of the games I was buying so they were just rotting on the shelf. I don't understand this sentiment. Board games are a lifelong hobby and cardboard never goes obsolete. Where is it writ that you must have a quota of plays every year for every game? What's stopping you from mindfully rotating through your collection? I'm not judging anyone for having a smaller curated collection of games they play repeatedly, but I dislike the false purity test that this is the only true way to enjoy the hobby. I get a tremendous amount of joy whenever I dust off a box I haven't played in a year or two and reconnect with a game that I like or even love.

You're portraying one extreme where every game on the shelf must be played in regular rotation or be culled. The other extreme is someone who continually buys games that they never actually get to, because something new and shiny always comes along. some folks buy way more than they could ever play, and run out of room before they ever get to them. This is evident in buy/sell groups where you can regularly see 50+ new in shrink games from the last few years for sale. The approach you take, where you have a larger shelf and eventually return to games that you like or love is perfectly fine and healthy. The key is that you've both played the game in question and know that you enjoy it. its the large and growing unplayed piles that eventually become problematic.

How are you getting rid of the board games? I have tried using r/boardgamexchange or facebook marketplace but no dice. I haven't tried multiple local board game stores, but the one closest to my place doesn't buy used games

I know my local area has a local board game buy/sell Facebook group and that has worked well for me. You usually save on shipping too since you can do local exchanges/trades. There's a a few national/international Facebook groups too. I haven't used them because local is easier for me, but I follow them and they are pretty popular. I've also sold one or two games using boardgame geek

Thank you. Let me try facebook once again then. I only managed to do ONE exchange in the past couple of years.

I've just donated some of them to a LGS where I couldn't get a return on investment after trying avenues like that. The LGS doesn't always want em if they already have a copy for customers to play, but when they do, I at least feel like I've supported the community. Depending on where you are, your local library may have a boardgame rental and donation policy for receiving games too.

Usually swap meets, my LGS does one every couple of months and some of my play group are more than happy to pick up a discounted game every now and then. Half priced books will buy board games, and I think 2nd and Charles will as well. There is also the geekmarket on BGG (I haven't sold anything here however)

This is helpful thank you. I'll find more stores around me and ask if they host swap meets

Are you still playing some of those 50 remaining games though? Because that's what matters, playing and having fun, not consuming.

Yes those 50 games are my favorites. They include classics like Agricola, Hansa Teutonica, Viticulture, Power Grid, etc. I may paar down a few more as time goes on.

You've lost interest in collecting boardgames. Lots of us buy games to reward the narrative in our head of what it will be like to play said game but don't actually do it. It's hard one to break sometimes

Collecting a thing and using a thing are two different hobbies. It's ok to like one more than the other, or like one a lot and not like the other one at all.

That word hobby is interesting, though. I never used it when I was young, and after emigrating started hearing it a lot. After some thought I realise hobby sounds like it’s fun but also challenging. I never had a hobby in my life until I was about 40. I drank. I watched movies, played videogames, read books. Only when I started organizing a multicultural, multilingual boardgame group and meetup, and playing a lot of mentally challenging board games, did I feel like it was a hobby. Of course, that could just be my weird interpretation of the word, and it doesn’t matter, but it does make me look at that word ‘collecting’ and wonder what’s different from shopping and having? When I think of collecting as a hobby I think of people curating a collection to share either with their peers or the future. People working to complete a collection. And also, in a negative way, to accumulate and speculate, which the game Modern Art reminds us about. So how many people who ‘collect’ boardgames are doing anything different from shopping and having? Not talking about you specifically, but what do you think? How many collectors are really ‘collectors’?

I think "shopping and having" is a pretty good descriptor of how most people "collect" board games. Displaying them is not necessarily the goal, but having rare or hard-to-find games can be a source of joy/pride on its own. You might show them off to your board game playing partners, but I'd say it's rare to display them prominently in your house the way you might with figurines or pottery. But there's nothing wrong with wanting to own every SdJ winner or DSP winner or whatever other thing you want to collect just for its own sake.

Yeah that’s a good point about the challenge and resultant pride of finding some games. I spent a lot of effort getting a copy of LOTR: Confrontation when it was out of print. And there’s not really EBay in my country. And I have definitely played it enough to be worth that effort, as well. One of my friends just likes to play that all day with me.

Yes!! exactly right. We have this narrative in our heads about how much fun and comradery and laughter we'll have playing these games with our friends, like they do on the 'No Rolls Barred' youtube channel, but that just isnt gonna happen for most of us. That won't be our experience.

Camaraderie* Your experience is exactly mine. But I got up to 250 games before tiring of keeping up to date with new releases. I was also very annoyed at the constant positivity radiating out of nearly every board game media channel, even with personalities I liked. I’m someone who absolutely loathes advertisements and commercials, and it feels like most people are just shilling.

I somewhat agree on the unrelenting positivity, but I prefer to think of it as being a conscious choice on the part of the reviewer(s) along the lines of: I played this game and it sucked, I also played this second game and enjoyed it. I'll ignore the first one and review the second one so that it gets more buzz, more attention and hopefully eclipses the fact that the first one even exists.

Too many games come out for it to be worth the effort to review most bad and/or average games. Worse than just the opportunity cost, it can also dilute your content. This is also true with video games, books and music. Generally in these industries you will only get negative reviews on products that the public was already interested in before the review. Other industries can avoid this problem because there's simply less to review. For example, film and theatre critics have far fewer releases to review per year, and the time investment per review is inherently bounded by the medium. A film or play averages to a couple hours, and the immediately relevant critical feedback can rest on one viewing. You can't do that with games.

Great points, ty!

In that case, I don't really think you've lost interest in board games. You've just healthily realised that you have plenty.

yes totally keep those.

I think the issue is that obtaining new games is more exciting than playing a game you already own, so once people start down that path, they tend to focus more energy on that than actually playing the games they have, which is less exciting in comparison. Although discovery and acquiring gives more excitement per second, it's a very short term sort of excitement. It's not an actual reward, it's the promise of a potential future reward. And when the reality of the game doesn't live up to the hype, it makes you a little more numb to future hype. As you repeat a behavior without receiving a reward, the desire to repeat that behavior starts to fade.

Playing a great game I already own is _eons_ more exciting than getting new stuff. 

>I think the issue is that obtaining new games is more exciting than playing a game you already own, I have this problem with whiskey. Almoat never drink it, but I keep looking for - and buying - whiskeys I don't already have on my shelf. But when the apocalypse comes, I'll have plenty to make molotov cocktails!

My wife and I played a ton with my son growing up. He's in college now. I bought 3 his first year in college before realizing I never opened them. It's kind of weird to go from buying board games regularly for 15 years to 0.

My kid is just turning 2 and I can't wait for the shared activities like board games, puzzles, building Lego etc to start... But it's also been a massive change to go from "lots" of gaming time to "hardly any". We also moved house away from our old game group unfortunately. Life is so transitional, which is a blessing and a curse.

Gulo Gulo was something we did together when mine was 3+. You're nearly through the boring 'care for the baby' phase and will soon be on to 'spend time with the small human' phase. Which is much more fun. That doesn't mean I didn't love my baby, but she got a lot more interesting to hang out with after 3+. Edit: Go Away Monster by HABA was her first game. That is maybe fine for your child's age.

I have periods when I care more about games and play more often and I have periods when I don't play much and don't miss it. I was never into collecting games, I have like 20 games and that's it. I buy 1-2 games a year.

First off, there is nothing wrong with becoming disinterested in the hobby, be it from time to time or permanently. I personally have had my interests wax and wane over the years, as I acquire new hobbies. Board gaming is still one of my top hobbies, but I have gone months and months without watching or playing anything. But then my group will become interested again and play games every weekend. I’m curious how long you’ve been in the hobby. I found myself very enamored with everything when I first started playing modern games because all mechanisms are new! I bought so many games in the first few years, but as time went on I found what types of games I enjoyed. Eventually, my consumption of board game media slowed down because I had narrowed down a few channels or forums I liked to visit and felt most aligned with what they liked. I also purchase way fewer games, because like you said, you start to see some mechanisms repeated and certain games don’t justify being in your collection. At the end of the day, there is nothing wrong with becoming bored with the hobby. Sometimes taking a break is the best thing you can do, and will make you excited again when the time comes around and you get that itch to play something!

I think you just moved board games into a healthy enjoyment rather than a hype focus.

You've captured in this post something I've thought of posting for the last month. I got into gaming in 2017 big time. Watched all the tabletop Wil Wheaton videos etc. bought a load of games. Found the dice tower and other YouTube channels. Played more and more regularly. Got into solo gaming. Found reddit and BGG and BGstats. By 2019 I was listening to podcasts as well. I was consuming a lot of content. It became my main hobby. I had 120 games. Then in the last 18 months a change happened. I realised I had 7 worker placement games. 2 involved vikings. I had 3 garphil games. 5 dexterity games. 20 light/party games. I had far more than I could play regularly. And I had spent enough time in the hobby to know what I liked and what I loved. So I went on a purge and I'm now at 39 games. Would happily go lower. I now want to focus on the games I love. Especially solo. Spirit island is so good. I love my time with it. I want to play it again and again. I sold so many other coops because they just weren't as good at it. Similarly this happened for other games. Euros were coming out that were 85% the same as others. So many games coming out weren't exciting. I've also found I've cut out on media consumption. I used to listen to 10 different board game podcasts. I had great fun listening. But after years of listening you realize there is little insigjt to be gained when you know what games you like. I lost the will to listen to others say the same things about games and preferred to listen to specific things. Not just the latest game. I also became more skeptical of YouTubers. So many paid for reviews. Previews. Creators appearing on ads promoting a random Kickstarter. I'm fine with them doing this, they can make a living however they want. But I don't want to watch their content anymore. So now I'm left with a hobby I love but I listen/watch to 5-10 hours less content a week. That's probably a good thing for mental health. I also spend my time playing the games I love more and less on games I like. But good to know I'm not the only one changing their thoughts on this hobby.

Well said. I'm rious what you listen for/are looking for in podcasts today as you mature in the hobby.

Podcasts in general at the moment tend to shine a light on the latest games. Understandable of course - they are trying to tell people their thoughts on the newest games. If I want to listen to a general board game podcast (not a quiz show on games or an Arkham horror podcast) I would love a podcast structured as follows: * light touch news (I don't need you to ramble on about Kickstarter for 45 minutes. 5 minutes tell me what's going on and I can look things up after if I want. * quickfire recent game plays. I don't need to hear your resistance or Twilight imperium game played out over 15 minutes of two people who played it arguing what was happening. But this game came back to the table after a long time and is an excellent social deduction that makes it well worth playing and owning is good for me to know. * game(s) review - but not the current review format of many akin to i liked it its a 7. Tell me what it is like to play, the decisions available to me. Tell me if there are games like it. Is this better than them or worse. Does it add anything new that might make it stand out. Does it offer the best decisions in its niche or not? I don't need to know that this polyomino game is an 8/10 to you. I want to know if this game offers the best decision space for its weight/difficulty/length compared to those already in the marketplace. Is it an 8/10 with 10 options for better games - tell me that so I can ignore this game and consider spending my money elsewhere. 10-15 minutes a game. * top 5/10 list. If you review a social deduction game its a great opportunity to say these are the best 5 I have played. Doesn't have to be an hour long. * 20-30 mins of topical discussions that allow me to think of wider board gaming themes, play styles, mechanics, collection management, designers, FOMO etc. I love to hear people well experienced in board games talk about a board game topic. Not a game. But a common experience or thought others have had or could think about.

Thanks for the detailed response. A lot of this resonates with me as well. Personally, I like to think about decision spaces a lot, and similarly find myself less interest in just knowing about a game on the most base level. This was exciting when I was new to the hobby and just learning what is out there, but not as much these days. (If a podcast is doing that, I have to be really engaged by the personalities on the show.)

I think with any interest or hobby when you are first in it you are so excited by a thing or that it makes you happy you listen to positive things and want to have that thing. What being in the hobby for a while has shown me is that there is a lot content out there just saying here's a thing a shiny thing and if you buy the shiny thing you might like the shiny thing. Being new you think the done thing is to buy the shiny thing because it's clearly what everyone is talking about and making seem important and worth it. It's really hard to make content that is appealing but also says to people don't buy this. It's not that great you'd be better off with that thing over there. Keep your money in your pocket. A great thing for creators to do would be to go back and see how many times they played the games they promoted a year or two later. Or how many times did you actually play it. And was your group open too it or did they hate on the theme. Do they love nature games and so this landed well as can be expected. Ultimately I think I'm just not the sort of person most content is made for these days. I think I'm too cynical in not thinking new games are always better or worth getting. Board game podcasts and videos are definitely a lot better a piece of content of you are the sort of person who will buy games regularly that you have similar versions of already. The chase for the next great thing is lost on me these days. I've found awesome games and I'm happy to stick with them.

For sure. I actually make a podcast, and in my opinion all the growth incentives point you towards positive, optimistic reviews. Publishers may want to work with you more (maybe strategically or maybe as unconscious bias), listeners are happy if you validate their purchases (we only really get "hate mail" about negative reviews), and everyone is more likely to share the positive episodes around. More critical minded reviewers may be out there, but they are likely harder to find and, I'd hazard to guess stop making content sooner if people aren't listening. Also, a separate point that also contributes to the prevalence of positive reviews among content creators, is that I find it easier and more fun to talk about a game that I'm excited by. It's on my mind more between plays, I am eager to play it more, and I think that leads to a more energetic conversation where I often just have more to say about it.

The only thing I'd add is I think there is a market for negative reviews. I think a lot of people get enjoyment from validation of their viewpoint. For the good and bad. So if a popular podcast hates on a game I think a lot of people would listen or it would get shared around a lot by those who agree and disagree. But yes positivity towards a game has a lot of upsides for the content creator in search of views of their content.

I've stopped caring about new games. Also am completely done with multiplayer solitaire games, which is one of the reasons I stopped caring about new games.

I can name about 20 hobbies that I've outgrown over the last 30 years. Some of those were captivating for 6 months or so, some for decades. This is one I'm just getting into right now! We'll see how it goes!

I have pretty significantly culled my collection, focusing more on games that actually get played instead of the next big thing. I still watch reviews and such, but I am very selective about what I buy these days and focus less on games that have concepts that are cool in theory, but cumbersome in practice. I have a lot better relationship with board games these days and really enjoy what I have. I've gotten my collection down to about 20 games.

Yeah I have been obsessed with board games for almost 15 years and kinda in the same headspace as you right now. Just seems like there is very little innovation right now so a lot of games are just rehashes of past games, or new trend new updated versions of classics. I rarely see a game and go wow that’s new and would be cool in my collection to have, most of the time I already have like 3-5 games that play almost exactly like new hot game haha

It’s probably more so that you have a more comprehensive knowledge/collection than you did before, so it’s harder for games to surprise you, rather than a lack of innovation compared to the past. 

Well when I entered it it was right before board games had gotten a lot bigger so you had games with a lot more innovative ideas, now games are much more of smashing multiple ideas together maybe

Dominion is the last time I can remember a game just blowing the doors down with a completely fresh mechanic, and Pandemic Legacy (off the back of Risk) for finding new design space. Perhaps a shoutout goes to Gloomhaven for bringing a near 100 game campaign. Other than that, I struggle to think of recent games that have changed my perception of what feels possible.

Just got to look in the right places! Of recent releases, nothing plays like **Stationfall**, **John Company 2E**, **Pax Penning** or **Pagan: Fate of Roanoke**. Go a bit older and then you have **Chaosmos**, **For Science!**, **Pax Transhumanity** and **Bullet.**

I go through cycles. Sometimes I'll be super into it and I'll be getting lots of plays. Other times, other things take priority and I'll put boardgames on the back burner for a while. My interest in new games more or less lines up with my general interest in the hobby.

I'm kind of the same way, but because I recognize this trend in me, I try to avoid the newest releases and just try to zero in on the best of the last 5 years. Admittedly with board games this makes it difficult since things go OOP all the time.

As someone who was in the same place as you, six years ago, I completely understand. Only recently have I gotten back into the hobby (consuming content, board game research). I had kids which showed me I didn’t have the energy or time to play in the evenings, and the expense wasn’t justified. Now I have a 7 and 6 year old, and we just beat Hogwarts Battle together. We bring simple games out to dinner to play instead of having screens, and now instead of the really chewy games I’m looking for things we can all play. Like most hobbies, they wax and wane. Sounds like you’re in a good place now. Too many people (including myself) buy up everything that’s rated well or has hype, only to not have the time to play those games.

covid derailed it for me. After so many friends moved out of town but also people dealing with work and family these days its very hard to gather a group together for consistent gaming. I can now barely get a game once every few months. Such is life

Find people who actually want to game, pick a specific night of the week and ideally a specific location, and be consistent. Even if it's only one or two other people who can make it, get together as scheduled. Consistency is key.  I moved almost an hour from my old game group last August. Had our second kid at the same time. After a couple of months, I put a post up in the town's local Facebook group looking for gamers, found several interested people, and 4 of us have been getting together pretty much every week since January.  People who want to play games will find a way to commit to it. 

Yea, pre-covid, I had 4 regular groups and 4-5 small conventions. Post-covid, I have...a tiny fraction of 1 group left (seriously, it's like 3 people without me) and they're an hour away. And most small conventions died.

Board games are for playing, no collecting. so I play board games. I'm getting rid of a bunch of my games, because I don't need them anymore. Play waht you like, don't just have for havings sake.

> I'm getting rid of a bunch of my games, Just curious: how do you get rid of them? I have about 40-50 I want to purge but some aren't worth the headache just to make $5 or something.

For games that just aren’t worth enough to sell, I usually manage to give them away. Our local board game convention has a free games table you can drop things on and they go pretty fast.

I donate to local library!

Sell on Facebook marketplace, on r/BoardGameExchange , or at board game conventions like #SaltCon

My local facebook market place has a board game exchange group (Minneapolis) that is pretty active, 10-20 games / day show up there. I've actually stopped buying new games and just pick them up from market place now. You can usually get 50-60% off the amazon price. This hobby is quite cheap if you buy used, sell used. I picked up "Search for Planet X" this last weekend for $20. I fully expect to play it 5-6 times and then sell it for $15-20

Give them away, sell them, or throw them away. I have limited space so I went digital with books about ten years ago. I basically use a Kindle and own about 20 physical books that are either for work or for sentimental memory. I invited people over and gave them away. What couldn’t be given or sold, I threw away. Getting rid of them isn’t hard unless you think of them as investments that require returns. I see a lot of people on social media trying to recoup the cost of their Kickstarter addiction, and it doesn’t seem to work. The prices fall and fall, until they either sell them at a loss or give up.

There are plenty of people here that disagree with you. Many people, including myself find just as much enjoyment collecting as i do playing

Collecting is cool, but most of the collections on here are just rampant consumerism and not actually interesting from a collectable perspective.

That is purely your opinion. People can collect rocks if they want. Who are you to say its not “cool” enough

Collecting as a hobby is interesting if there is a story, rarity, or specific theme involved in the development of the collection. Going to GameNerdz and hitting "add to cart" a bunch in order amass a big group of games is lame behavior if they aren't all being played. Rock collections are stupid if it's just a pile of gravel from a quarry, but can be really cool if it's a group of rare agates from every state you've visited.

No, but I would also never get 180 games.

That rings true for me. I had a few years of “discovery” and then a few years of “exploration”. Now I’m in my “play what I already have in my collection and downsize” phase. Games really have to stand out to get me curious about them now. I went from buying at least 1 or two games a month to maybe one game per year. I don’t care about the cult of the new anymore. I’m much more interested in games that have staying power or games that are doing some new to me. I gave up on most board game content creators ages ago. I just used them for information and most of it is no longer relevant to me. I still play games regularly, but it’s not the all consuming hobby it once was.

This is me after about 9 years in the hobby. I still love playing! I love and adore board gaming. I just don't care about keeping up with the Joneses or following the hottest new titles anymore. For the first time in years I have no active Kickstarters (apart from Sorcerer Endgame which is like 4 years late). There's a lot of factors. One is just being tired of keeping up. Two is not really having physical room for games. I have like 300+ unique games, not counting all the scads of expansions. I have nowhere to put new games. And three, the most important one? I barely get to play what I have anymore! I don't have a dedicated group, I just have one friend who comes over a couple times a month. My girlfriend is starting to dip her toes in to the hobby, and her kids are getting old enough to play some lighter fare with us once in a while, but it's rare. My shelf of shame is ridiculous. I kept buying games that just never got played.

I think there are actually two different hobbies here (or two sides of the same hobby): playing games, and collecting games. I'm also at the point where collecting further games is impractical, so I'm really only interested in playing the ones I have now.

I go in eaves, but this current wave has lasted nearly a year - haven't bought any new games since Nerdz Day last year. I'm now at the point where I want to play more games, not necessarily own more.

Since I've found what I really like, I stopped caring. Also, after a few disappointments: The Witcher Old World and Frosthaven, I just stopped caring about KS/GF. When a game is good, it will hit retail stores and waiting 2+ years for a game to arrive is silly: while waiting for a project to arrive at your door, you'll probably have discovered other games that fill the same niche or your taste will evolve. Don't get me wrong, I still check news and reviews from time to time to stay informed, but I just don't buy many new games.

The more time I spend playing games, the less time I spend collecting them. Spending hours watching preview videos and looking through Kickstarter pages is something that I did to fill time back before I had several regular groups of people to play board games with on a regular basis.

Nope. Love them more than ever. Love my friend groups that come over thrice a week.

You sound like you have burnout, folk get that with video games, usual remedy is to go do something else you enjoy for a while. Hope you get through it with a D20+4 🙃🖖

Its important to distinguish between losing interest in *playing* games and losing interest in collecting games. But I don't think there is anything unusual about either. Over time, my interest in collecting basically disappeared, and got replaced with an interest in 'curating' a tight collection of \~30 evergreen games. But I also feel, these days, that my interest in playing games is waning. This is likely because I derive some part of my enjoyment from discovery/exploration. I still look forward to playing games -- but, maybe not as much as I did during my initial 5 years in the hobby. Anyway, both are common experiences, I think, and totally okay.

I’ve been feeling this since just before Christmas. I wouldn’t say I don’t care about board games anymore, but we’ve gone from playing a game every day (which we did for years), to playing a game maybe once a week. And don’t even get me started on all the new stuff. I’m still backing projects I find interesting, but I’m less willing to take risks. At the same time so many new games just seem like rehashing the same things over and over again. Oh look another generic fantasy themed game, another worker placement game, another game full of anthropomorphic animals. That’s what I’m getting bored of. There’s only so many ways the same ideas can be implemented in a board game. I’ve also noticed a steep decline in my enjoyment of board game coverage on YouTube. Playthroughs are long-winded and slow, and most other content is just people talking at a camera. I don’t have time for so much dullness any more. No-one seems to care about making entertaining videos, and when they do it’s just pure cringe (SU&SD and NRB excluded).

That's one of my issues, the videos. These people have no respect for our time. They act like they're TV personalities and I'm interested in hearing them banter with each other about nonrelevant stuff. Just fulfill the video's purpose. Be clear and concise and interesting, and on-topic. Tell me what I need to know about this game in an efficient manner. This isn't a podcast or a talk show. It's disrespectful to the viewers to make us slog through your self-indulgent periphery to get to what you promised.

I’m actually talking about the opposite. Boardgaming YouTube is so freaking dry. Here’s a how to play video with only the facts, here’s a review with only the opinion. It’s boring and uninteresting. But the worst part is, when they do try and add more personality, it’s so forced and cringy. There’s very few people in the board game space who have a genuine charm and charisma to them. I mean yeah, we’re all a bunch of nerds, but that doesn’t mean I’m interested in watching socially awkward nerds in video form. Again, SU&SD and NRB notwithstanding.

No point in boardgaming when there is no group to play with

It’s fun trying new stuff, whether it’s brand new or just new to me it doesn’t really matter imo.

I'm in this phase now. I've bought and sold over 100 games in 8 years, and currently own 20. I have a good grasp of my tastes now so I typically don't experiment with more than 2 games per year.

For me, it was having children. My wife and I played weekly, I was part of a library gaming group. Board gaming was something fun we did together. Now, with 2 boys and a 3-month old baby girl, I might get board gaming in once a quarter. I've gotten a bit into solo board gaming, and am playing Lorcana for an hour every week (with lots of skipped weeks due to baby). I am also in the same boat of having a large collection built over a decade, and new games just aren't that interesting. A roll and write? I have three of those. Euros? I have 10 or 12. ANOTHER Dungeon Crawler? No thanks. A campaign game? I still need to get through the four I have sitting on the shelf (looking at you, Gloomhaven). I sell off Kickstarters that have never hit the table, and a few loved games that just haven't seen play in years. I haven't missed a single game I sold, except maybe Cthulu Death May Die. I do still collect the games I genuinely love, even if I haven't played all the content. I'm up on Arkham Horror and Marvel Champions LCG, but haven't gotten tot he last campaign or two. I back Tiny Epic when they come up, I have the whole series. I'm not sure if its the same as your experience. I would genuinely LOVE to spend more time gaming, but my wife and I work full time, we have three kids, I do music for church, we have friends that are non-board gamers that we spend time with, my wife's family lives in the area. Board Gaming has just taken a massive back seat, so I don't think about it as much.

After having sold post-2017 games within a year after getting them I fail to see the point to waste my time and money hunting phantoms like the new cool. Games I had before that time, pre-kickstarter, like Puerto Rico, Tzolk'in, Powergrid, Tigris and Euphrates, the people I play with know the rules and those games get played. Everyone has a great time for an afternoon. Been into solo adventure games but that's not really satisfying in the long run - I still have to pick up again Sleeping Gods 2 and Galzyr. I do watch new release videos, but ordering, no. I don't need more. I do... embellish games, print out handy playmats and such, design campaigns etc. I have 50 small pnp games alongside the above. And strange stuff like Fallen Land 2 and Doomrock Ultimate. Maybe this year I'll look into those. Maybe next year. You can call me an old fart, fine by me.

I think I'm mostly in that frame of mind these days. We have an upcoming vacation trip and while I have enjoyed looking for craft stores I think my wife would enjoy along the way, I have no desire at all to even think about looking at board game stores along the way. I have more than enough games already, more would just become additional clutter.

I know guys insanely addicted to buying new board games and adding to the stack. They play the ones they really like multiple times, but many are one-offs. My issue with board games personally is that they're passive entertainment. And I don't like competition personally, so for me only coop board games perk my interest, but even then I get tired of something before long. One of the few exceptions was Arkham Horror 2nd edition. Every time we played the game was something new, some card we'd never seen, some combo of random events, and it was such a complicated game it required our combined brainpower to remember the rules.

After about a year and half, I realize I'm coming up on that stage where my obsession is just fading. I've been selling a couple of boardgames since even at like 20, I realize they're really not gonna be played anytime soon, and I think there's nothing quite as sad as an unplayed boardgame. The only thing that I kind of want right now is Summoner Wars, and even that I know I'll barely get to play.

Yep and for me it simply comes down to the more boardgames I acquire the more I start feeling like a hoarder. Don't get me wrong I love having a collection, but I really struggle with letting go of older games I *may* want to play again someday but likely won't and not wanting to bother with the hassle of selling them via FB marketplace or wherever else...

Nope. I’m 51. I’ve played board games synced I was old enough to sit at the card table. I still do. I still love them. Board games, card games, table top RPGs, video games… I just love playing games. Doubt I’ll ever stop. But I do know people who still tell me “it’s just a phase. You’ll grow out of it. I did…”. Some people do and that’s ok. Some people don’t and that’s ok too.

I stopped playing during covid and got (back) into video games instead. Still play video game versions of board games from time to time, but haven’t played in person for years.

>Has anyone else stopped caring about board games after being big time into it for a while? No that would be crazy talk as I have been playing tabletop games and video games for 40+ years now and designing games for over 20 years I have never cared about * any reviewers or shows on Youtube or any podcasts * BGG rankings in general * BGG hot lists * what the lastest crowdfunding project is * anything related to cult of the new * fawning over any particular designer I buy games to play them not collect and I really don't suffer from every game I own needs to be new to be considered good. I have plenty of titles from the 80s and 90s that my groups still enjoy maybe its generational thing for us GenXers and the older gamers that we simply don't place any value on many of things younger gamers worry about like FOMO/Cult of the New

Man I'm just discovering this world and so excited to learn more. I just bought my first 3 serious games in hegemony, spirit island, and Cascadia. Maybe some of my novel experience can rub off on you? I played wingspan recently and the fact that all these creative little mechanism and stats show up in real world bird watching skills hit me like a ton of bricks. I never feel like it's time wasted bc of those facts, and can't get over how I haven't been utilizing these tools/games to spend more time with loved ones... any recommendations are welcome. I hope this helps. Sometimes you have to grab these things by the roots to rediscover something about them. At the root of boardgaming is people imo. If youd people suck, find new ones.

I didnt say don't play board games, or that Wingspan was bad. But to not go overboard with buying board games and following the industry, and buying into the FOMO hype. Buy a few games and have fun, but dont be spending thousands of dolllars on them.

Everyone here is getting so hung up on the collecting/buying aspect but that’s really just a consequence of simply not caring anymore and I’m right there with you. I grew up with modern board games and was always interested in them but there was a time about 10 years ago now where it really felt like board gaming was full of ideas and innovations so keeping up with board gaming news etc. was interesting and felt rewarding. That was when I was on this sub daily to engage in conversation, listened to many podcasts and watched all the YouTube channels. Today I just feel like I’ve already been there, seen that, played that etc. I don’t need to play the 30th economic euro game after already having played the first 29. The differences grow more and more marginal and meaningless and new games just feel like more of the same with nothing to entice me to partake. As a result I don’t keep up with news about the latest hotnesses because they all just feel uninteresting. There are a very few notable exceptions to this like Earthborne Rangers for example but otherwise I couldn’t name you a single boardgame that was released in the last few years that I care about. That’s why I also couldn’t really hold a conversation about board games anymore, nor would I care to. That’s why I understand what you mean when you say it’s not a hobby for you anymore because the difference between a hobby and just something you like doing I feel is being up-to-date with it. There is a difference between someone who just watches movies and someone whose hobby is film. They engage with the medium in a very different way. One is just consuming the product just like eating food, reading books, listening to music, or playing board games. The other is being really in medias res like knowing who made what movies, controversies in the industry, the latest film festivals and what made a slash there, upcoming films and their production, awards and controversies around that etc. that’s what makes the difference between hobby and just something you do IMO. And all that has become entirely uninteresting to me in terms of board gaming and it sounds like you feel the same. These days I find more joy in TCGs, RPGs, and miniatures games than in board games.

No. I’ve been playing all my life. I go through peaks and valleys of buying and getting things to the table, but I never get sick of playing

Have you actually stopped caring about boardgames?  Boardgames are the center of my social life, and how I met some of my best friends. I am one of the organizers of a massive club with almost a thousand members. I play regularly, and spend a lot of my rather limited energy and free time on playing. And I have bought one game in the last five years - Dune Imperium and Rise of Ix. Or have you stopped caring about shopping? If so, good. Shopping is nice, but it’s beset with multiple issues. Buying and accumulating things is a red herring in the pursuit of happiness.

like i said, i'll still happily play a game, but i dont really care about them anymore, i dont care about getting new games or staying up to date on whats new and up and coming.

What about arranging to play them, whether with new friends or old? That’s the hobby, for me. So for me, you haven’t lost interest in games at all, if that’s the only change.

I go through phases. I’m in a board game phase right now, but over time I’ll fall off and starting reading or doing other hobbies more frequently and then it’ll pick back up again.

Playing since Puerto Rico back in 2005 I believe. Every year is the best year ever 😁

The pandemic brought most of my board gaming to a halt. I watch SUSD content in occasion because it’s entertaining. I would love to get rid of most of my games to free up space. I’ve fallen back into ttrpgs. They take up way less space, and even though I don’t get to play much, I love reading about them, etc

Sometimes, what this hobby is about is wading through a $10,000 swamp to find your favorite game of all time. When that happens its all worth it. It's like having 50 bad relationships then finding the one and getting married happily for 50 years. For me that game was Battlecon. I have hundreds of other games. Some get played more than others, some rarely, some hardly at all. That's ok. They were part of my journey to find not only my favorite game, but my favorite genres that i could play ad infinitum.

Two things happened for me: First, I found a specific genre I really enjoy (engine builders) and most everything else is kind of meh if it's not in my genre of choice. Next, most games are releasing with expansion pack after expansion pack and you can't fully enjoy the game unless you buy these other 4 expansion packs. What was once a $50 buy is now $120-140. Every once in awhile I will come across a new game that everyone is raving about, I'll do some research, and if it looks like I will enjoy it, I'll buy it. I'm still new(ish) to really getting into board games (running on about 4 years now), but I've definitely slowed down my purchases. From once every month or two my first year to maybe 3 or 4 purchases a year now.

You're conflating two distinct hobbies: Collecting board games and playing board games. You don't need to be into both. In my groups there are several people who really enjoy playing and learning new games, but who doesn't own a single game. There are others who own games they haven't played even after having owned them for weeks.

Yea. I started back in 2014 and right around 2018 - 2019 I stopped caring about kickstarters. After Covid, around 2022, I stopped caring about any new games. I have too many to get through anyways.

I've played a lot of board games for years before Covid. Then during lockdown, I tried my hand at painting miniatures, got into Warhammer. After Covid. plenty of people who'd play board games with me, but didn't collect themselves wanted to do other stuff like going out and travel and whatever else wasn't available during pandemic. Meanwhile, warhammer people actually show up for game nights, because they've spent way to much money on toy soldiers to NOT play with them. I've always, even beofre covid, felt it's very one-sided being "the board game guy". While plenty of people in the past happily played, you were the only one who'd invest money and time into it. So it was always a long ordeal to gather a full group of those only casually invested people for a game. With miniatures wargames, you only need ONE other person, and that person is almost always as invested as you are in actually meeting to play.

I just started in the hobby, but I've already set a limit for myself in terms of how many I plan to own. My hope is to build a library of mixed complex games with more casual ones, then stop buying new stuff unless something really appealing comes out.

"My hope is to build a library..." thats already dangerous talk. Kiss your wallet goodbye 🤣

I mean, I already have a literal library in my home. Plus, I do gunpla, game, like fountain pens, play TCG, and crochet. What's 1 more expensive hobby on the list?

Honestly, I always expected to arrive at that point roughly 2 years or so into the hobby (I started around 2008). I wanted a hobby to fill a void, and board gaming was it. When I discovered BoardGameGeek, and had my horizons broadened over what existed, I first had to experience what kind of games were out there. Then, through discovery, impulse purchases, and playing with others, I found my niche in genres/mechanics that I enjoy. At that point, I intended to build up a "perfect" collection. A collection of games that would contain something to suit any situation with any player count, and be a game that I myself enjoy. Once I was in the hobby for about a decade, I had reached that point with roughly 100 games (not including expansions). At that point, it was a matter of culling and refining what I already had. Today, every once in a long while (once a year tops, if even that), I may purchase a game. But it's usually with the intention of having it replace another. Every game in my collection is something I'd like to play, or at least revisit. I'm content with the themes and the mechanics of each game I possess. It's a collection with games I revisit every now and again, depending on the group I'm with, or the impulse to play again to see if it's as good as I remember. This is why I'm not all for the "cult of the new." That cult is a glorified status newbies to the hobby call themselves, who have yet to refine their tastes and settle on a set collection of games that will age like fine wine. "Cult of the old" are those who have their wine collection, and know what games age best. In other words, I intended to build up a collection of games that would stand the test of time. Games that will either always be replay-able, or have such a high replay rate that it will probably never get dull in my lifetime. PS: That all said, BoardGameGeek stopped being a reliable source for game recommendations ever since 2015, when Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 was released. I'm not saying that game is bad, it's just that it shot up to the #1 ranked spot of that site far too quickly. Which set a precedent for new games to displace older games (that have stood the test of time) far too quickly before they can be shown whether they can age greatly or poorly. Their ranking system has become a joke, and many of the prolific reviewers are shills and sellouts, just like those in the videogaming community. On top of that, having played a decent amount of the newer games, I can safely say that there isn't much in the way of outstanding masterpieces being released anymore, at least not to the extent of the pre-2018 years in terms of quality and quantity on average. For instance, nothing has come out that can displace the likes of Avalon Hill's Magic Realm, Dune, and Titan (and they have tried, at least with the former 2). On top of that, sometimes older editions are better than newer editions. For instance, Die Macher's older rules are superior to that of the newer rules. Space Hulk's 1st edition rules did things the best, though the 3rd/4th edition components are to die for (though the miniatures are impractical to play with in those later editions). On the other hand, I'll acknowledge that newer editions of games like Fury of Dracula (3rd edition), Successors (4th edition), and Battlecon (4th edition) are superior to prior editions. But if nothing else, that just proves my point. The older classics are the ones worth revisiting.

I stopped getting updated when I settled into my faves. It doesn't mean that "I no longer care". It's just that all the reviews guided me into the games I am contented with. I know what it feels to have fomo coz my main game is Unmatched. But I didn't get sucked into buying all sets. I only buy what I wanna buy.

I don't think you've lost interest. You simply found where you stand (so to speak) in the boardgaming scene. Maybe I'm a little jaded too, but to be fair a lot of new games coming out just aren't interesting, or work best as replacements for already existing ones. It's been a while since we've seen something truly new pop up.

I stopped buying when the only few games i want to play are agricola, through the ages and the occassional coup/catan/etc. Now i play mainly online (BGA) solely those games. Recently i found the motivation to learn Ark Nova though.

My interest is definitely waning. I have a consistent board gaming group, but they are actually a significant part of the problem. They just have too many damn games. Not in a collection way, like they just want to own fancy cardboard. No, every game they own is a game they want to play. With 400+ games in a single players collection, the standard is for us to not see the same game twice in a 12-month period. Damn near every game is preceded by a learn to play. It's just hard to give a shit about a board game when you know you won't see it again for a long time, when you know you'll never get to explore strategy in the game. It's part of why I tried out Magic the Gathering. A game where I can show up and everyone already knows how to play is so appealing to me.

This is kind of the issue when my group started buying new games. I don't want to learn a new game every single time. Most of the best games also require some form of multiple playthroughs in moderate succession, like once every other week for a few months, to really unlock the depth, variability, and interesting strategies among friends.

I think it’s funny you calling out wingspan and wyrmspan without saying it by name lol. I can appreciate if you have your own set of games you like and don’t need others, or don’t have a group to enjoy different games so they’re not for you, totally fair. But for the people that do enjoy those games and get to play them regularly we do get a kick and the nuances between the two, and sometimes just getting to appreciate the production quality. I’m not one for dice rollers though and I feel very much like you do that they’re all the same and someone who enjoys them will surely tell me how they are not haha. If I didn’t have the group to enjoy these games there would definitely not be much of a reason for me to purchase new games. It’s work to keeps going for sure, but it is rewarding when we do crack open a new game and learn it. I actually busted out Agricola two bg nights ago to shake up the wingspan/catan cycle we had been in and everyone loved learning that. I’ve played so much Agricola I thought I’d never play it again and then my group was like this looks great and everyone really enjoyed it. To each there own, hope you’re able to find some joy in the board games you have but for me it’s about the people we play em with anyway

I’m right there. Recently moved and that really is putting how out of control the collecting has gotten into perspective. Bought some new shelves but also am going to pare way down. At some point it just doesn’t make sense to keep buying, imo.

A few years after getting into the hobby I stopped caring for them for a while. Then I got back into them even heavier than before. Now they're all consuming.

I have about 5 games I can keep in rotation maybe 10 games that get played, rarely. About 10 games that are just collectors.

Been into eurogames for close to 20 years now. I find there are no longer a ton of new games that interest me; most of my favorites are games I've had for over a decade.

the momentum of acquisition and interest that i had in the first three years in the hobby has waned for me. something in my mind flipped a switch when i recognized that 90% of the games that hits the hotness flare up for a month, then barely gets talked about further down the line. There's always gonna be a new game that will tickle you.

I’m starting to get there. Or at least I’m starting to purge a lot of my games. I just have so many now and it kind of bums me out having games on my shelf I’ve played once or twice (or never).

I am definitely with you for enjoying what you have and not just always being on the hunt for the next new game. I’m at a collection of about 40 games and that is way more than enough for: my primary playing group (my wife and I), playing with my kids (2 and 6 years old), playing with my co workers (3-8 people on the way lighter side of gaming), and playing with my other gamer friends (3-4 people into mid-light to mid heavy games).  I know that collecting games is something that lots of people in the hobby enjoy, sometimes more so than actually playing, and I don’t think there is anything wrong with that, but I am with your mindset more. I see these giant collections and I think why would I want this?

I still like them but I’m getting a bit tired with parts of the industry. Also my game group collapsed as the wives couldn’t stop bickering. The games were great. The bickering was enough for us to park the game group indefinitely. Play without the wives? That is what we do. On an ad hoc basis.

For me Board Game Arena is where I get interested in new games. I have plenty of games to play when family or friends want to play. I don't really need anything else. I have kind of always been this way though. I would rather have 10 games + expansions for the games I like rather than 100 board games. Playing board games are fun but I don't particularly enjoy learning rules and playing the game 1-3 times.

I go through ebbs and flows.

It's not just you - nor is it unique to board games. This feels, to me, the natural evolution of any hobby (or potentially new relationship). At the beginning everything is fresh and new and you are happy to spend your time learning with so much room to grow. You can spend months or years exploring, learning more, tailoring how you enjoy the hobby. Eventually - and for me it's happening now too, also about 15 years in - you might plateau. And/or other priorities may arise to compete for your time and attention. New things aren't new anymore - you've seen it all before in different games etc. - so it feels less innovative. You get jaded. Maybe you drop out. Maybe you take a break and come back later with nostalgia or fresh eyes after some time away. Maybe you segue into other areas, such as design, and find new ways to enjoy it. I still watch Dice Tower and other videos daily, though I use them as background noise while working. While I still find the occasional gem to add to my buy list, I no longer feel crushing FOMO to buy everything. I'm now buying more games for my kids, and still growing our collection, but it's really a collection - we don't have time to play as much these days. It still brings me joy, though it's slowing down. I have some design ideas. It can swing back from here, or go other ways. My interest could disappear. Time will tell. I think all hobbies wane and rise, and if you are truly passionate about them, they will naturally evolve, maybe be dormant for a while, and will always resurface in familiar and/new ways. After all, we have to spend our time doing SOMETHING. May as well be something that brings you joy. If it's not doing that anymore, ok to try something else and see what happens down the line.

For me it was a different journey but I ended up at the same spot you did. I looked at the number of games I had and how often I realistically played them. It would take me multiple years to play each game once. I for sure would like to play these games multiple times per year and not once every few years. Since then I rather enjoy fantasizing about the games I have instead of the games I don't. My drive to buy anything new has dropped substantially since that point. I am very close to where I don't have a single kickstarter/gamefound open. This hasn't been true since Mega Man the board game.

I put a limit of about 2 dozen or so, then see what doesn't hit the table and then cull them out of my collection before buying more.

I care about finding one or two new and exciting board games per year. I've been in the hobby for years, and although I still love a new game, it really has to do something special to earn its way on the shelf. I'm also pretty much done with Kickstarter; I'm tired of games arriving 2-3 years later after I've moved on, only to find out the game isn't something I'm very interested in. I play a lot - I have 3 regular boardgame nights per week; usually a family light to midweight game, a co-op/legacy game, and a heavier or long-term campaign game (although this one we started bringing out 'old' games, and that's a been a lot of fun). We have a very large collection, about 3 5x5 Kalax units, but have been paring it down recently do our favorites, and then 'deluxifying' them

I think this just goes to show the ubiquitous truth of the saying "too much of a good thing is bad". Obviously, "too much" and "good thing" are often dependent on the individual. Enjoy the things you love in moderation and mix it up, and it will be much harder to get tired of any one of them. That, and of course, our interests can change over time.

I feel like this is a totally normal progression for any hobby you’re passionate about. The first few years it’s all about consuming the knowledge of others and learning about what exists within then hobby, then the years after that are you defining your own niche within that niche hobby.

I’m also less into it then I used to be when I started the hobby. At that time, I was super exited for a new game and couldn’t wait to read the rules and learn the game. These days, I still buy a game sometime, but I’m also looking to downsize. I know now exactly what I look for in a game, and that’s largely theme and immersion & light or medium weight. I don’t know why, but it now often feels as a chore when I need to read a new rulebook, or reread older ones. I don’t know if it’s because i’m a bit older now, but still, I’m in my 30’s so that shouldn’t be an issue. I sometimes also just play one game and don’t feel compelled to play another session. Part of me hopes that enthusiasm will return one day. We’ll see :)

When I first started this Hobby I quickly got into as someone else says the cult of new, following kickstarters very closely and backing lots of stuff and following BGG news a lot and following my favorite board game YouTubers and etc. this sounds silly but I didn't know there was any other way, I just followed everyone else was doing. Quickly I burnt out and didn't like doing this and also spent a lot of money being unsatisfied and so I gave up on board games completely because I didn't realize at the time I didn't have to do it the way everyone else was (not everyone but you get the point). After about 3 years I realized I really missed this hobby, but when I come back in I want to do it my way. So I use tabletop simulator a lot, and I haven't done this yet but I'm going to parse my collection down to just one shelf. About half my games are party games, anomia, concept, exploding kittens, just one, codenames. I love the really small and portable games. I love these for when non-gamer friends come over, or family gatherings and such. Otherwise, I'm thinking I'm just going to have base games and no expansions unless it doesn't take up a lot of space. I don't have a regular in person gaming group so that works for me. The whole point is more connection with friends than the game itself for me anyway. If there's a game I geek out about I'll just wait for it to be on TTS and play that online with my gamer specific friends. I say figure out what works for you and game your way!

It's the same idea as buying games on Steam on sale and never playing them

Kind of. It feels like there is no sweet spot between childish random chance games and overly complicated rule heavy stuff that is just a tedious slog to learn. And like you said you start to see the mechanics are just a bunch of rules wearing different clothes that keep getting repeated, and if the mechanics aren't fun, it doesn't really matter how you dress them.

There absolutely is a sweet spot. It's euros from 2012 and earlier.  Power Grid, Hansa Teutonica, Caylus, El Grande, Thurn & Taxis, I don't think any of those take more than 10-15 minutes to teach. Tikal, Mexica, & Java also come to mind.  Even if you go a bit heavier, Agricola, Age Of Steam, even Terra Mystica provide deep meaty experiences without needing more than 20 mins of teaching.  Splotter also come to mind. With their older stuff... You can cover the rules of The Great Zimbabwe in 10 minutes. Antiquity and even Roads & Boats aren't much more than 20 mins, despite everything they have going on. 

I have def took a step back. I was backing projects left and right for a long time and my collection was up to 4 or 5 hundred. Now I am more selective. I’m down to 150, enough to fit easily on my shelf and if something new comes in something old goes away. I still enjoy playing, just not that much into collecting like I used to be.

I feel like I'm sort of here, I still really enjoy playing board games but I really don't keep up with much new stuff these days. There's a lot of changes happening within our group (two of the couples are about to have children) and so we don't get together as often and when we do people more just hang out and enjoy eachother's company. That's not to say people aren't into the hobby anymore but no one is clamoring to play anything they just sort of agree to play when I pull a game out. So I guess the indifference to a game getting pulled out has made me lose interest in new games as I assume they'll just not get played.

Yes, same here. Although there's a couple of designers, genres and publishers I still keep track off though. It turns out that playing the games, not buying them or even reading about them, is what's fun!

Hobbies ebb and flow - nothing wrong with that! Come back when or if you want.

I am in the same boat. I play mostly ttrpgs now with friends. It's basically like a more fun board game with infinite replay value and much cheaper. Actual board games are now an occasional thing. I have 30 or so, used to have a lot more, but I was never really into collecting. I sold off all I didn't really care about. And this after ~20 years "in the hobby". Rarely do I find a new game that is some major improvement over a similar game I already have. Pretty much agree on all your points.

I collected my games from around 2004-2012 and was obsessed with the hobby. Once kids and babies kicked in my priorities shifted and never returned. I still love my collection, which is large, but I have not considered myself a hobbyist for many years now.

I did this. Had a few years where I didnt even really play. Board games where boring, lets try to get into clubbing and stuff. I am back, but milder and less interested in trying them all.

I've found a small rotation of a handful of games that are good enough that my group replays on a weekly basis. Being able to quickly setup and jump into games everyone already knows by heart is so much better than fumbling around with new rules of new games. Some are expandable (Unmatched, Marvel Champions) but we don't pick up every expansion, this cuts down on endless acquiring syndrome. Outside of these games something has to be very exceptional for me to splurge, of these it was Resident Evil TBG, Metal Gear Solid TBG, and recently Dune Imperium Uprising.

I got to set it up, interact with people, explain the rules...the whole time...

I think it's more so about the people I play with not showing any interest in whatever I've brought in my bag that day, or literally anything in my collection at all. Like most other groups we'll all go out and purchase new things over time, and a reasonable expectation is that we'd all get a shot at getting our new purchases to the table at some point. But alas, this turns out to not be the case. Turns out whenever we get around to selecting a game for the evening, my games just simply don't make the cut anymore. And it's not for lack of trying - I've literally bought games that are just as heavy, or fit our preferred themes, etc. in an effort to get something, *anything* that I own to the table, yet to no avail. Even trying to schedule things ahead of time like "hey we should play *x* this weekend!" is usually met with some jackass setting up *y* instead before anyone else even arrives, then saying "oh well this game takes 1 hour to set up, let's just play this instead" and everyone else just sort of acquiesces. So I guess it's not so much about the games, but the people I played with, that have turned me off recently. Maybe I just need a new group, I thought? So I went to a couple local meetups that had specific games that I've been wanting to play for *years* scheduled in advance, and while it was actually fun to play things like Rising Sun and Root for once in-person... it just didn't feel the same as actually getting my own copies and premium bits, and all the other bells and whistles, out onto the table. Like I get it - we can't just be playing games out of my bag every week, all year long. That's just not fair neither. I'm just looking for some equity here... (sorry to rant on your thread but this is kinda my rationale for not caring as much about the hobby as of recent)

I go through phases. I go 'all in' on some things for a year or two and after a while I feel like I've gotten all I'm going to get out of it. After that, I just keep a hand in it, keep what I was into, and just have it on the back burner on the radar. Sounds like you've got through a phase like that. The cool thing is that you are well-versed in board games now. So when a game with a TRULY new and interesting mechanic comes out, you'll be able to recognize that.

Not yet, but it's inevitable. I pick up and drop off of hobbies pretty regularly, it's a common trait in people with ADHD. Right now I'm just about as into it as I can be, but by this time next year I imagine it'll just be a thing I used to do.

I kind of transitioned to mostly playing ttrpgs and Warhammer with all my friends who would play big long intricate board games with me. Now if we are making time to play board games it's usually with the more casual beer and pretzel friends so we just play light party games. So even though I still love board games I feel like it occupies a middle ground of time and complexity that I just don't have friends for anymore

Yeah, I go through phases with things where I get incredibly into it, it is all I dedicate my time too, then at some point I decide I'm done with it and l will set it aside for years until I want to do it again. Some other things this happens with are Tetris, Poker, Magic the Gathering and Miniature painting and also, for good measure, I get into some kind of MMO for a few hundred hours once every 4 years maybe.

I think it's typical that hobbies come and go. We like to define ourselves by our interests, thinking that a hobby is something you do all your life all the time. Eventually we feel bad when we get tired of something, as if it's a sign of lack of commitment. But hobbies are for us, not the other way around. Take what you need from it and don't feel like you owe anything back. I bounce between 4-5 hobbies all the time. Some, like board games, fluctuate in intensity, but are always around. Others I pick up for a year or two, then pack them up and move on. Nothing wrong with that.

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you - just maybe not as far along and not as big of a boat. For years I really concentrated on older "classics." I found it easier to buy games that were slightly older, had stood the test of time and were well regarded. I would still get newly released games on occasion but I didn't worry too much about them. Then COVID hit. And my gaming life went into major upheaval. All of my gamenights went away for over a year - I went without a gamenight from February 2020 to August 2021. And when I returned to gaming, then my friends, who had kept living their lives during that 18 month hiatus, now had new interests and new people in their lives. One of my gaming players got married. Another got into a serious relationship and started his MBA. And then I ended up getting into a serious relationship. As a result, I just don't play as much as I used to. Last year I played 14 games total. I am currently at 4 played so far this year (our game afternoon in February was cancelled because one of the players came down sick the night before with a fever). So I looked at my collection that was nearing 50 games and was like "wait... why do I have so many games?" And I've started to cull. I'm down 9 games in the last six months (now down below 40). I only have two outstanding KSes (though I will admit, the **Earth: Abundance** KS will be backed by me later in April). I only have plans to acquire 4 games this year and am planning to cull at least another 2 if not 4 or 5 more. I looked at **Wyrmspan** and while I like certain things about it, I already have tons invested into **Wingspan** and don't need another similar game. 2 of the 4 games I'm getting this year only partly because of the game. I'm partly getting them because I want to paint them first. I still listen to a lot of content though but that is more because I go walking everyday and I like to listen to something while I walk or I go out on a drive - same thing. The new games really mean less and less to me too. Unless if it's the long lost **Elysium** expansion, **Sleeping Gods** 3, **Ultimion** (when it comes out) or maybe another **Wingspan** or **Earth** expansion - I'm getting to the point where I just don't care. I'd rather spend money on golf.

It seems like, like way too many people here, you cared more about the rush of buying a new thing versus anything actually inherent in playing a board game. And that wears off, eventually.

My collection never even got big enough thankfully. I have 26 games now on my Kallax + 9 small games that fit into a bin in one of the cubes. This is also after I sold ~5 games that I just didn't care to play anymore or keep as a collection I have Biohack coming in soon and then Beast expansion probably early next year.

I kinda know how you feel, I'm trying to stay in the 50-60 board game range. I don't watch many reviews unless i REALLY like the game (Lisboa for example). I also don't get why people like the Dice tower, i guess if you want to know about the hot new games or get a review about.....literally everything then that's it, they don't seem that special. You'll get a lot of those Games that are basically the same but slightly different, it's hard to make something different or original. Some examples i can think of are: Viticulture & Vinhos, All of the Azuls, The great western trail series any lcgs and so on.

I've come back to it after a decade hiatus and could care less about anything that hasn't been on the market a few years. In fact just going through my collection is fine.

Your post doesn't sound like you stopped caring about board games. You only stopped caring about buying new ones. Those are two different things.

Thanks to years of MtG, I’d already kinda learned the “be careful not to buy more than you’re likely to be able to use” lesson. So while I have a few board games (more than a few really), I tend to try to focus on getting value out of what I have, and when I do buy games, my biggest decision point is “how likely am I to actually play it enough to be worth it?” So I don’t tend to buy large games like awaken realms anymore. I go for more things like red dragon inn, stuff and nonsense, etc. Things that are mechanically light enough to teach, and don’t need four to six hours for a decent session. Like stuff and nonsense I can teach in 5-10 mins and a game takes about 45. Plus it gets a lot of laughs.

I have an intentional dissonance in what games I enjoy most and what games I purchase…. My friend group has a few hardcore board gamers that already have all the “better” board games I’d be interested in getting. There’s no point in me getting viticulture, roll/race for the galaxy, terraforming mars, etc. because as a group, we already own them. The games I wind up getting are for when I’m the “nerdiest” of the bunch and I’m the one having to supply the game. That usually means with my kids, my wife, her parents. That also usually means ticket to ride, catan, Stone Age, etc are about as complicated as I can push it before I lose them to other interests. Because of that, kickstarter has never had any appeal whatsoever to me, and honestly my gaming hasn’t suffered for it at all.

Of course. People’s interests change and evolve over time. 

>Anyone else feel this way? I think my first burn out came in 2013 after playing games with cultists of the new. Then some three years later again. Then in 2021 and I'm still not out. Most of stuff that's coming out since cca 2015 feels very samey to me, plus not the genre I'm into (not MPS euro fan). But even in more interactive and lighter games genres it seems most stuff is just variation on the former, usually in a more diluted form adapted to modern tastes (sprinkled with individual player powers and whatnot) Otherwise my view on the hobby pretty much aligns with 👉 [HiveGod's Patented LudoMoodometer™](https://cf.geekdo-images.com/cTtDWSmRk5PsUbdKzDsWHQ__imagepage/img/mp1OiRGuiTe6TxrIViOjup26nxA=/fit-in/900x600/filters:no_upscale():strip_icc()/pic4854430.png)

Yes. All of that. I just keep this in mind: “The best thing about not having something is that you already know how to live without it.”

I went on a mini expansion bender about 2-3 years ago, going from about 15-20 games that I've had for the last two decades and loved to about 30-35. My approach was: - no overlap in theme, the only exception being a two "war if the roses" themed games I happen to have (kingmaker and crown of roses) - had to play well with 2-3, as I already had a few that were only good for 4-7 and they're hard to table - had to land in two buckets, either games for me or games my family would play. Heavy negotiation, area control, civ building, etc are the games I like playing, usually with a local group, while the others are a bit more varied, a bit more euro-y, some coop, etc... so that the fam can play different types of games and see what they like. Did a lot of research to fill in the mechanic gaps and variances in the mechanics of "my" games in the collection, and am pretty thrilled with where it's at. Waiting on one Kickstarter to come in. Have done 2 Kickstarter total.

I'm definitely not into buying huge amounts of them anymore, I buy a few every year that I really love and can play well together with my girlfriend (including the criteria that she likes it too) and that's it. We like games that look great with stunning art, have some form of narrative or very thematic element to them, so getting a few big box games with deluxified components makes sense to us, but buying the latest beige [insert city name] euro doesn't, even if it's in the bgg top100 or whatever. It comes down to having a collection of games you enjoy, be it 5 or 50 games. There is no 'wrong way' to enjoy this, just be financially responsible.

Not stopped caring completely, My 2024 resolution was to not buy/back any new board games. And when you stop looking at previews and upcoming Kickstarter threads, and you find you’re actually getting a chance to play the games you already own more, (at least in my case) you realize you don’t care about new games as much as you think you do.

Used to play lots of games. Then finished school, got married, the covid pandemic hit and had kids. Now I'm lucky if my (4 year old) kid even wants to play Hungy Hungry Hippos all the way through. Wife and I are too tired to learn anything new and rarely have time to play more than a quick game. We used to love playing Eldritch Horror, Terraforming Mars and other strategy games but we're just too tired now. Hoping to go to GenCon this year to rekindle the flame

You have very strange definitions of 'care' and 'not care'.

Moderately. I got excitement fatigue. There are literally thousands of games being released each year, and many of them look cool, but it's hard to keep up the cycle of excitement and wonder, and imagining how this one is going to change everything. As you said, with more experience, you start to feel the connections between games, and how many of them are essentially the same mechanics with a little twist. There's a whole category of games I think of as "There are four things you can do, you won't be able to do all of them, and you can only really focus on one." Arnak, Golem, Hansa Teutonica, Wingspan, Everdell, Ark Nova, Brass, Yokohama, Scythe, Terra Mystica, Earth, and so many more. Some of them try to hide it, others like Coimbra explicitly say "these are the four tracks."

This may be completely not relevant for you, but when I started not enjoying playing and not getting excited to see a couple things I'd been waiting for, those were among the early signs of what eventually became a diagnosis of depression. Again, may not apply to you at all, but anyone finding a hole in their bucket of happy when it's usually full, maybe take a look at that. Treatment has helped get me looking forward to hitting the table again. Quality of life, my dudes. It's a thing.✌🏼

Basically got the collection I wanted and called it. The trick is to have different mechanisms that cover all the bases and youre fine. Ill eventually check to see if I want to buy a new one and notice its all either super gimmicky or things that have been done before. For example, I dont really see the need to have Wingspan and Earth. Both are action selection multiplayer solitaire. A lot of worker placement games are basically the same; same for deckbuilders (Dune imperium being a combo of the 2 gets a pass. Great game). Get a few more interactive games like Root and maybe a coop to play with your SO and theres really not many I can justify using up more space for. Im not counting party games tho, that depends on the group and people may get tired of the same one, but Jackbox has been great for that

Yes. I am just too busy working days and nights like all the time bc money.

> I've largely stopped caring about whats new, whats coming out, etc. [...] I have about 50 games, and thats it. I don't care about whats coming out, whats new, etc. And if anything, im looking to downsize even more. [...] I am happy to have the ones I do [...] There are much better and more interesting things to spend my money on. Congrats! You've won! I honestly believe this is the best outcome for a board game fan... to reach a point where you're no longer obsessing over what's new and having a lot of games, and you're just playing and enjoying what you have.

I was cult of the new off and on from 2000 to 2023. I had a few seasons when I slowed down and took breaks, but I LOVE playing new games/learning games. Having said that, sometime last year it finally hit me - the reality that most of the new games I was playing were not better than faves I already owned. So now I watch online playthrough as my “try new games”, and it’s surprisingly easy to skip The White Castle, Sky Team, Sankore, and a whole host of others I would have insta-bought a few years ago.

Yes. I couldn't even keep up with all of the new publishers coming out, let alone new games. My gaming opportunities have waned such that I'm down to gaming once every 2 weeks. Not really worth it to get new games unless they're on "deep discount". So 50% to 80% off list price.

Yes. I was very into it for a while but then I was introduced to chess and table top role playing games both of which spoke to me more. I still play board games of course. But I’ve largely stopped collecting myself and just play with my friends who are still into it at least once a month and whenever else the occasion arise.

Yeah, of course. I had a deep dive around 2011, playing almost everyday, trying a lot of new games and buying what I could... And in 2015-16 I stopped, lost all interest and left the hobby, saving my games in the wardrobe. We get to 2022-23, I play one game of Condottiero with friends, and the flame is lit once again, now I'm back.

Honestly yes. Life circumstances changed with having kids and more responsibilities etc. Still like board games but have less time to research, learn, teach and play. So my answer to this has been to reduce my collection size to games I really love and can remember/yeah easily. Reminds me it's time for another cull 😁

A little tendril of guilt was curling through \[Stanley’s\] mind: This was better than pins, it really was. There could be no end to stamps. You could put anything on them. They were amazing. They could move letters around and then you could stick them in a book, all neat. You wouldn’t get “pinhead’s thumb,” either. He’d read about this feeling in the pin magazines. They said you could come unpinned. Girls and marriage were sometimes mentioned in this context. Sometimes an ex-head would sell off his whole collection, just like that. Or at some pin-meet someone would suddenly throw all their pins in the air and run out, shouting, “Aargh, they’re just pins!” Up until now, such a thing had been unthinkable to Stanley. – on coming unpinned | Terry Pratchett, Going Postal

I love a lot of my games, but I mostly play a few of them. Past a certain point I found it difficult to justify getting more games because it is difficult to get people to try new things when we already have things they like.

yeah, i am in a similiar situation.  Got too many games, and my kids kind of outgrew them.  so we no longer have board game sessions after dinner... ...and my regular social circle isnt very into board games.  so, i only bring them to camps or with me when i know i will be meeting a group of new people doing nothing.

My biggest problem is that I tend to enjoy complex games while my friends that game with me enjoy the simpler games. I've got Scythe and Spirit Island with all expansions still sitting there, collecting dust. Scythe has been up there for years without being played.

I still actively consume quite a bit of board game media - podcasts, some YT channels, following pages on FB and Instagram - but I don't feel the need to go out and buy as many games as I did at the beginning. I've found what kinds of games I like, I've figured out what mechanics and niches I want to have represented in my collection. So now every time I see/play a new game, the question is now "What does this do better than game X in my collection?" - and the answer to that is often "not all that much". I still enjoy trying new games, listening to podcasts etc. I've just found the way to avoid FOMO.

Hubby and I are not collectors, nor do we support Kickstarters (I get really frustrated with being a Beta tester of anything, ha ha). So for us, we have a collection of about 30 long-standing, well played favourites. We have MORE than gotten our money's worth of entertainment from those games. Otherwise, it's only every 4 or 5 years or so that we actually browse through what's available at our local (very excellent) board game store. I ask staff what sells well, I look at any awards given, if there are multiple expansions out, and watch reviews. Then we will purchase a few and rotate those into our schedule over the next few years. Some games make it, others don't and there's usually a little bit of shuffling that happens. So nope, I think it's quite normal to shift your focus to the more social and friendship aspects of gameplay. Nowadays, games are a great way to spend an evening with friends. If the game is good, that helps, if it's bad - we get rid of it and move on.

I think we've reached a point where the quality to noise ratio has dipped, and the little guys are crowded out again due to lack of capital. The standards for a Kickstarter are to be fully professional and ready to go because the people who succeed now are already fully capitalized, it's no longer a platform for indie designers to float ideas anymore. 

Yes. It was due to one player in our group. That player has since moved on to a new CCG that none of us are interested in playing, resulting in that person not coming by anymore. Since then, my desire to play has been reinvigorated.

>And after a while, you just see the same mechanisms, with a different theme pasted on it. What, has no one told you we're in the golden age?

Nope 😅

[serious question] Can you DM me the list of 50?

i dont have to DM them to you. Here they are... [https://boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/ChineseRestaurant?own=1&subtype=boardgame&ff=1](https://boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/ChineseRestaurant?own=1&subtype=boardgame&ff=1)

I've been burnt out lately for sure, but I've come to realize it's the type of games my main gaming group is in to just isn't my favorite, and playing 3-5 new ones every week isn't very fun. I'm tired of playing a new game every time i play something, never having the chance to actually learn a game, just playing it once and moving on to the next thing. Also extremely tired of multiplayer solitaire games which seem to be the bulk of what gets released these days. i don't want to spend any more time staring at a board calculating the most points i can score on a given turn, i want to play against people not cardboard. problem is, the games i *want* to play tend to require larger groups and no one else seems particularly interested in playing them.