Loving Collectible Games

There's often a dread surrounding collecty games. It is easy to understand why. They can get expensive. So can biking, skiing, cooking, gardening, playing non-collecty games and pretty much any hobby you become passionate about.

I think the term Money Pit is most often associated with CxGs (collectible games). And while this may be true, there are several tremendous advantages to CxG games.

While you may spend $500 on a single CxG fairly easily, opponents may argue that you could have had 15 other brand new games for that price.

Well, what if I don't WANT 15 brand new games? What if I don't want to buy games that will hit the table one or three times and vanish? What if I don't want to skim games and move on to the next? What if I want to get overly engrossed in a single system? 

And what if I simply don't like those other games as much as a CxG?

We often see GeekLists of $200 orders from GameHammer or Thoughts&Bits. There's also those who spend that $200 on a bunch of boosters for a single game. If the same amount of hours of entertainment are gained, is there really any difference? Some People want to concentrate all of their effort to a single activity, some want to spread. I would never pinpoint either philosophy as better.

The dollar/fun factor can easily be far greater for a collecty game than individual purchase. Certainly less time is spent learning rules and having the learning curve of a game tucked under your belt and more time spent in the meat of the game.

$4 or $8 for a booster isn't much. It can satisfy the need to walk out of a game store with something in hand. When my son was about 8, he played Pokemon. He could scrape together $4 from leftover snack and lunch money pretty easily. Saving $35 for the latest Nintendo game is a bit more difficult. Yes, he's done that, too. Just like choosing to get a booster or two for a game you KNOW you enjoy or trying to save money for a big boxed game which you THINK you might enjoy. He understood the metagame. I've seen him save $35 for a video game to play it once. Is that any worse than adding a few new cards to his collection? Those cards certainly get more play. And he's become aware of the secondary value - HE doesn't need card X, but he knows his buddy will give him 2 cards he DOES need for it.

Some collecty games cost a wee bit more - like the forthcoming Mutant Chronicles, with 54mm miniatures. OK. I know what I can afford to spend on toys. I'll put some aside for that, and just get fewer boosters. Still, my wallet is quivering in excitement to buy me some random mutants.

Let's face it, collecty games survive by selling you the identical product you bought last week. It's a freaky business model, but it's fun. After all, people play the lottery, too.

There's also the Christmas feeling of opening a booster, wondering what cool rare might lurk within. While this kind of almost happens with a new game, you usually know what's in the box. The blind booster is the mystery. Mystery is exciting.

Some people have addictive personalities. OK, if you can't afford food and go buy boosters for the latest CxG, there's a problem.

Generally, when trying a new CxG, I follow the setup of 2 starters and 4 boosters as an initial purchase. This usually lands you in the realm of a new boardgame price wise, and lets you get a flavor of whether or not you next trip to the shop is a different game or 8 more boosters. Or 1 if you pass a comic shop and they happen to carry the latest whatever you're into. Some games you will find function perfectly well without trunks and trunks of boosters. Adding a booster might just adda new twist or two to make you break out a game you hadn't played in a while, which you will know you enjoy, and at a minimal additional expense. 

I love expandable games. They let you buy in as you see fit. BattleLore, HeroScape and BlueMoon are my top three rated games, and they might be lower if they didn't have such nice expansions. Its like sequels to a book or movie you love. You just want to immerse yourself deeper with the characters once you know them.

Blind boosters add a bit of gambling, but they also add a few metagame elements like trading and hunting for the rare you need to perfect your latest strategy.

My son has learned a tremendous deal about handling his money. $12 is an absurd amount to pay for a single Pokemon card. Or is it? Would you rather have 3 boosters of cards you probably will never play? In truth, you might, just for the thrill of opening new boosters, or for the off chance that you will end up with that, or a more valuable card.

If you drop $0.50 in an arcade game and get a moments thrill, and the same rush can be gotten from buying a booster and you actually get to KEEP something and further play with it, then yes, the entertainment value of opening a booster becomes a viable purchase even if the contents are not.

The Metagame of deckbuilding/armybuilding/stackbuilding/whateverbuilding can exist in non-collecty games, but there's something about acquiring a new card and basing your deck around it against a usual opponent who is not aware that you snuck out and got that new card which is a whole new layer of fun.

Does it suck that many of these games work so that he who has the most expendable cash wins? Hell, yes, it sucks. There are several solutions: Make sure each player has the same budget. Or share the component pool. Or resign yourself to the fact that this is your hobby and hobbies can be costly. I've never gotten into the tournament scene, but tht life hobby also seems viable to those who simply admit it costs money to do well. I can think of very few hobbies that don't require greater investments as one gets more involved. You just have to find your comfort level.

On my honeymoon, my wife and I were so addicted to Highlander:TCG that we actually scoured the local towns for a place to find boosters. It was a wonderful adventure that we will never forget. In the end, we spent maybe $25 on new cards, had a great time exploring an unfamiliar countryside (we were in Vermont) and were able to go back and play the game with no rules reading, no wondering if we could fit a game in before dinner, and no "eh, we didn't like that game" afterwards.

Some collectible games die. OK, most. Does it ruin the game? Not really, unless further expansions were going to complete some holes left in the base set. In fact, dead collecty games can be hugely cheap and tons of fun. If everyone from a game group chips in and you all invest in a dead game and get several boxes of the stuff, agreeing to deckbuild and play again NEXT session, you have a great gaming event.

I have cases full of various collecty dice, figures and cards. Like many games in my collection, I don't know if I'll play them again in the future or if circumstance just leaves them unplayed. But the constant freshness of a game system that has proven itself to me, the fun of the product hunt and the metagame of (possibly secret) deckbuilding will always keep me exploring the next big collecty.

Some people will hate the collecties, knowing they simply can't spend the cash to compete with the best, or that they are completionists and MUST have every component. It's just like deciding on any other boardgame. Know yourself, your likes and your self control.

And enjoy.