Why I Stopped Indulging In Heavy Boardgames

31st May 2024 (Friday)

I love heavy boardgames, I really do. To the young adult trying to prove himself, taking on heavy, complicated boardgames was a sign of maturity, being part on the boardgaming "elite”, but it also meant getting better at planning, problem solving, reading the room, creating well-timed distractions and of course, chasing that elusive feeling of "epicness" that comes with taking on a monumental task and succeeding. So why have I stopped indulging in heavy boardgames? Here are some of the reasons with some examples in no particular order.

Length

The Big Show of heavy boardgames, Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition

Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition has a published play time of 4 – 8 hours although there have been reports of 12 – 15 hour sessions taking place. Whilst longer length does not always increase the heaviness of a boardgame, the two are more often correlated. At this point in my life, sitting down to play any boardgame that takes longer than 2 hours means a lot of buy-in and commitment from the other players at the table because this is very likely the only boardgame we are going to play that session.

Immersion / Theme

Golem, maintaining control over your golem in the streets of Prague… yay

And so, when we commit to a heavy and complicated boardgame, I want it to be immersive and exciting so not only are players invested throughout but also to be able to get through the teach as little repetition as possible. The theme of the boardgame has to connect with your players or it is going to be a very, very long session. I remember being in a very late 3 player session of Merchants & Marauders where I decided to play the Merchant and the other players chose to be Marauders. Whether it was because I was new to the group or they just liked attacking each other, I ended up amassing a fortune by shipping goods from one location to another. Sadly the experience for me was more akin to a 2 hour long fetch quest.

Extreme Asymmetry

Hegemony: Lead Your Class To Victory has four different groups for players to choose from

A heavy and complicated boardgame often already has a teach that could rival the playing time of the boardgame itself. Too add to that burden the fact that I would not only need to go through with each player, the rules for playing their particular chosen character / group / faction, but to do so at each session if they play a different character / group / faction is too much of a burden for me. Now don’t get me wrong, if each player has the same action choices each turn but an asymmetric ability to take a more powerful version of the action then that’s not a problem.

Price

Weather Machine on Kickstarter was a whopping MYR739 (23% higher than TI4)

Again, whilst not always the case, heaviness and price are often correlated when it comes to boardgames. The more complicated it is, the more bits and bobs it requires, often leading to prices that are far above MYR200 or roughly USD50. Now whilst I can afford to splurge on the occasional fully blinged out, deluxe Kickstarter version heavy boardgame, it still does represent a significant risk where I just can’t bring the boardgame to the table, and in a tough secondary market, that represents a significant financial loss to me. I lost about 57% on Patchistory that I ended up not playing at all before managing to offload it.

No or poor solo option

Through The Ages: A New Story Of Civilization is oh so heavy but comes guaranteed with epicness

There are times when the theme jives with my boardgaming soul and so the length does not matter as much, the gameplay is great and I’ve used my birthday budget to strike down the price embargo. Unfortunately, the last thing then standing in the way is either a poorly conceived solo mode or no solo mode at all. I am not averse to the occasional solo session with a heavy boardgame that I, alone amongst my group, enjoy but without a solo mode, this sadly becomes a significant obstacle to indulging in a heavy boardgame.

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I love heavy boardgames but there are so many obstacles against indulging in it. Perhaps one day when my group dynamic changes or when time becomes more of a luxury then I would be able to indulge once again.

Until next time, keep calm and play better.