Us board gamers can be a peculiar bunch can’t we? We’re rules strict, logical to a fault yet often fantastical in our ideas, and love seeing our friends and loved ones destroyed by our expert gameplay. Maybe that’s just me?
And I can say us board gamers, as I think I can assume you, who is reading a blog post on a board game website about things only board gamers will understand, is most likely a fan of this cardboard heavy hobby, or at least keen to delve into its boardy goodness.
So if you’re a fan, you might find here a shared idea, a common compulsion that I often think marks out a board gamer from everyone else. While we might have our own unique ways of expressing these ideas, or a scale on how much we actually do the things I’ll be discussing, I wanted to run through 5 things that only board gamers will understand, so that we can share in our odd quirks, and maybe feel less judged by people who just can’t understand the ridiculous world of board games.
1. There’s room in the house for one more board game
Board gaming really isn’t a hobby for anyone who doesn’t live in a mansion. (Or perhaps put better, for anyone who lives in the UK).
Houses are small and often cluttered with annoying things that some people might describe as essential, like food, clothes, appliances and other people.
Board games on the other hand, are often big, bulky, and hard to fit in around these supposed crucial items.
If you’re a lover of big box games like Frosthaven, Star Wars Rebellion or Nemesis, I hope you also have the financial clout to also afford the mortgage on a second property just to store them in. And you might say but Paul, there’s a whole host of small games out there, get 6 Nimmt, Star Realms, Fugitive! And I would reply, I know, I own bloody loads of them, and guess what, after a while they start taking up room as well!
But despite knowing that realistically we don’t live in houses big enough to actually accommodate our hobby, all board gamers reason with every single purchase that there is room for one more board game (while still refusing to sell games you haven’t played for three years… I am looking at you 7 Wonders).
Yes every birthday and Christmas I will still add board games to my list despite not having a clue where I will put it. The cupboard is full, the unit is chock a block, but still a copy of Critter Kitchen might just squeeze itself into that small gap between my bed and bedside cabinet. Problem solved.
And despite our partners or our parents protestations that the house is literally bursting to the seams with board games, we will always, without fail, have a little peruse of Zatu for the next game to add to our house cluttering collection.
2. The Backlog of Shame
Speaking of board games cluttering the house, perhaps our family can be justified in their annoyance with us, when we also own a load of games which we have only ever played once or twice, or perhaps even more likely, not at all.
Despite forking out anywhere between £50-200 on a new game, it can still often sit there, wrapped warmly in its polystyrene, waiting to actually be played.
We have all been guilty of it. Either we’ve read about a game that really tickles our fancy only to be intimidated to actually open it and learn its rules heavy secrets, or instinctively backed something on Kickstarter, forgot about it, and it then arrives and you don’t actually have the time or people to play it with.
It can be a particular problem with games that require a large player count like Blood on the Clocktower (more on this issue later), or perhaps ones that would just take a long time understanding and explaining that other players get put off. Instead they just sit, sadly staring at you begging to be played, urging you to come find its amazing gameplay and wondrous theme inside its huge cardboard box, only for you to continually ignore it in favour of your 30th game of Flip 7.
My current backlog consists of Scythe, Everdell Bellfaire and Wyrmspan, but I have heard tales of people’s backlogs being ten games deep, which sends shivers up my spine.
3. Opening a new board game
This entry might be more specific to me and my borderline OCD personality, but if I have bought a board game or at least gone half on a game with someone, I MUST be the person who gets to open it for the first time.
The unbridled, ASMR adjacent feeling of ripping open the polystyrene, (if you can ever actually get the purchase to do it without scissors), the ever so slight resistance you get from opening the game box for the first time, the new board game smell that reverberates around the room, and of course, the joy of seeing how many small cardboard pieces you’re going to get to pop out meticulously over the next 30 minutes. Sheer bliss.
For other non-board gamers, this might feel like a chore, an annoyance. I don’t want to spend my time popping out these pieces or assembling this airplane control (Sky Team you wonderful game). I want to get on with actually playing it.
But for board gamers, this is often the best part. Slowly seeing your game come to life as you take in the wonderful game components, pop out the pieces you see you’ll be using throughout the game, assembling something unique to your new purchase. Everdell was fantastic for this as you built the wonderful tree that will be at the centre of your game, and opened the wonderful little gems, pebbles, wood and fruits that will be the pieces you collect.
Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion was another example where opening it and just organising it took up an hour or two of my life, even before learning the extensive rules. And I loved it.
Recently me and my brother went halves on Spirit Island, and as it arrived at his house he callously asked me if he should open it and learn the rules before I came round to play. It will be quicker that way, he said. BLASPHEMY! I SHALL BE PRESENT WHEN THE GAME IS REVEALED.
For me opening a new board game is an event akin to opening the Ark of the Covenant in Indiana Jones. Just with more childlike wonder, and less face melting.
4. The importance of the rules teach
The hardest part of getting people into board games, and thus often actually getting to play them, is teaching rules.
Unlike opening and organising games, I don’t think anyone particularly enjoys learning the rules, or perhaps more appropriately teaching them. Unless they’re a masochist.
But this is where it gets difficult, because I think as board gamers we understand the importance of the rule teach. And there are two opposing sides to this.
Firstly, how important the way you teach it is. You can’t just sit down with people opposite you while you read off a 20 page instruction manual on how to play. You’ll lose them after 5 minutes and it will lead to bored players going into a game they don’t understand and as such, won’t enjoy playing it.
Instead, teaching people through playing is often the best way, with the vast majority of games actually being fairly simple when you get down to the bare bones of the thing. Even games with big rulebooks, lots of symbols and different terminology like Dune Imperium or Ark Nova can be taught and understood by playing the game slowly, and taking people through it turn by turn.
Games that really excel in this are games like Wingspan which brilliantly guide you through your first few rounds, expertly teaching you the game in about 10 minutes without having to constantly look back through the rules.
But the second important thing about the rules teach, is people actually engaging with it! I know all my fellow board gamers will have come across people who actively don’t seem to want to learn the game, and the frustration this causes. You’re going through with them a really important rule of the game, say you can’t change your hand order in Bohnanza, and they’re sat idly scrolling through their phone.
Not being too much of a stickler over rules, especially for people’s first games is good, I would recommend a bit of understanding and leniency. However, rules are there for a reason, and often game breaking if not always followed. (I sound like my parents).
Board gamers are often drawn to logic and rules, so the importance of the teach cannot be understated. So do please try and listen when we’re teaching it, I promise it’s worth it!
5. Organising a game night
Finally we touch on the thing I think that will resonate most with every board gamer out there, organising a game night, and how infuriatingly difficult it can be.
Trying to get a group of people to attend something, in person, all at the same time, around every other life commitment, can feel like a full time job in of itself. As I touched upon earlier this is particularly tricky when you want to play a game with a large player count, one which truly shines at a higher number.
Some of my favourite games like The Thing, Avalon, Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest, shine brightest with the maximum number of players, but it is so hard to get that amount of people in a room, to learn and play a game which might conceivably take up their whole evening. Blood on the Clocktower is a game I have wanted for years, but have never bothered to purchase as I know I would never be able to get a proper game of it going.
Because one of the sad parts about our fandom, is that people just aren’t as into or as committed to board games as we are. The shame.
Legacy games particularly are hit hardest with this difficultly. I have owned four legacy games in my lifetime, only one I have finished, the other three have barely been touched as we’ve started it with people who have had the audacity to move, or be ill, or the greatest insult of all, decide they’re not in the mood for a board game. WHO THE HELL IS EVER NOT IN THE MOOD FOR A BOARD GAME!
Yes us board gamers can always feel united in the pain and fury that goes into trying to organise a board game night. I’ve managed to rope in my colleagues from work with the pretence of ‘good for team building’ to have a board games night every few weeks, just so I can actually play some games.
While we might now have board game groups and socials we can join or online board gaming, there is something special about having a group of your closest friends and family round for a big board game night. Which is why its so crushing that it’s harder to organise than Glastonbury Festival.
So that is 5 things only board gamers will understand, but I am sure there are several other quirks and habits we all share, so have a think about what eccentricities you find you have while playing a board game!
About the author:
Paul Websell is a freelance contributor for Zatu who spends his time either playing board and video games or talking about them. While he’s not on social media, you can view his other blogs right here on Zatu!
