Intro
Welcome to this week’s gaming post! I thought I’d mix things up this week by discussing a few of the recent trends in the board gaming industry. As a caveat, these are just my personal opinions, and if you’re interested in learning more about any of these topics, there are tons of other content creators and media outlets that cover these topics in much greater depth. So without further ado, let’s jump into the trends!
Deluxe Remasters & Reimplementations
I’m combining these two topics because they tend to go hand-in-hand, but it feels like a large number of recently published and upcoming games are either reimplementations or deluxified remasters of older titles. As recent proof, Blood Rage: Valhalla, a standalone sequel to Blood Rage, was announced. Agricola has two upcoming reimplementations, the Special Edition and Dead Harvest. I’ve discussed how Agricola was my stepping stone to medium and heavy euro games and is still one of my favorite games of all time, so admittedly I’m more than a bit curious about Agricola’s upcoming releases. However, I still have to ask, do we really need a special edition or a reimplementation of every popular game? At least Agricola is an older title, but Dune: Imperium – Uprising only released three years after the first game, and don’t get me started on the “-span” series (e.g., Wingspan).
I’ll admit, I’m not immune to the trend; I do have all three mainline versions of Great Western Trail, and I just recently covered the La Granja: Deluxe Master Set here. If one of these games is a favorite of yours, then I can empathize with your excitement.
My worry with this trend is that with the rising cost of publishing games, more studios will opt for the safer route of choosing to republish games in a remastered or updated form, rather than take the chance on a new title. There are already parallels you can draw to Hollywood and the video game industry following similar trends. To clarify, I have no issue with older titles getting a new coat of paint, and components have come a long way in the last 15-20 years. I just don’t want these types of games to be at the expense of further innovation in the hobby.
Significant Studio Challenges
Earlier this year, the big news in the board game industry was how increased tariffs would impact the hobby. Greater Than Games, best known for publishing Spirit Island and Sentinels of the Multiverse, recently announced that all new projects would be on hold due to the ongoing tariff uncertainty. In addition, citing declining revenues and increased costs, CMON announced that they would stop developing new games and sold off some of their biggest franchises like Zombicide and the Eric M. Lang myth trilogy.
These challenges are not only impacting publishing studios. Earlier this year, Boardlandia, a large online retailer, closed citing “a series of significant and increasing challenges”.
I think that we can all agree that between the increased tariffs and the increased cost of goods, the cost to design, manufacture, and distribute board games has multiplied, which has caused publishers, distributors, and retailers’ already thin margins to decrease. In addition, with so many games releasing each year, it feels like the level of competition in the industry has never been higher. As consumers, the increased competition has kept the price of games relatively low; however, it has put a strain on those making and distributing games.
Competition is healthy for the industry, but with so much of the recent uncertainty and increased costs, I hope that companies can weather the storm.
Growing Number of First-Time Publishing Studios
On the flip side, as of the last few years, it feels like it’s never been easier for first-time designers and publishers to enter the industry. The rise of platforms like Kickstarter and Gamefound has made it easier for companies to launch new games. Kickstarter has dealt with its own set of problems, namely with games taking much longer to fulfill than originally promised, but on a whole, the impact of platforms like Kickstarter cannot be understated.
One example of a recent first-time design and publishing team is Kinson Key Games when they burst onto the scene earlier this year with their launch of Galactic Cruise. I covered the game here, and I was very impressed with not only the gameplay, but also the production design. Paverson Games is another example of a relatively recent studio. They released Distilled two years ago to much praise, and their next project, Luthier, is heavily anticipated in the coming months.
As for first-time designers, Tomáš Holek released three games last year, including my personal favorite, SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. It’s great to see new designers and publishers be able to break into the industry, and even with the challenges I mentioned in the previous section, I hope to see this trend continue.
Too Many Games Releasing
Look, I understand that we as board gamers have been privileged to have many new releases every year; however, we’ve reached the point that the market feels oversaturated. Even Tom Vasel has gone on record saying that too many games are coming out.
We’re at a point where it can be challenging for games to differentiate themselves from the pack, and even the gems can be overlooked in a sea of so many games. In addition, I can imagine that for new board gamers, the sheer number of choices can feel overwhelming.
I would love if publishers would place more intention on deciding which games to release. One good example is Czech Games Edition (CGE). CGE typically releases only one or two new games each year. Last year, CGE released SETI, targeting the medium to heavy weight gaming crowd, and Little Alchemists, a reimplementation of Alchemists targeted towards the young and lighter audience.
Not every publisher needs to release 5+ new games each year. If anything, it’s making it harder for new games to stand out. I’d be interested to see if the current challenges publishers have been facing will lead to a significant drop in the number of new releases by the end of this year.
Video Game Adaptations
Up until recently, I’d always considered most video game adaptions in board games to be inferior implementations of their digital counterparts. Often when you’re trying to adapt these types of games, some mechanisms usually must be cut, simplified, or abstracted to the point that often I would rather just play the video game.
However, lately it feels like both the overall quantity and quality of video game adaptations in board games has increased. Lately I’ve been playing through the official solo campaign for Anno 1800: The Board Game. In addition, one of the most popular games released last year was Slay the Spire: The Board Game. With upcoming games like Stellaris: Infinite Legacy, Cyberpunk 2077: The Board Game, Valheim: The Board Game and many more, this trend doesn’t seem like it’s slowing down anytime soon. I’m all for seeing more video games adapted into board games, I just hope that publishers are able to respect the source material while still making a game that can stand on its own.
Closing
With that, I’ll wrap up my thoughts on some recent trends in the board gaming landscape! I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of the topics I’ve mentioned, and what are some trends you’ve been seeing in the hobby? Happy gaming!
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