Single-Use Board Games – The board game hobby’s throwaway attitude (Topic discussion)

Let’s be honest. We all buy games we only play one or two times, or even three or four in rare cases. The term “shelf shame” describes games that have been purchased but never played. These games may sit unplayed on a shelf for months and never even see a table. In this article, I’d like to investigate this further and find out why we only play the same games a few times.

New and Shiny

The headline “throw away” is likely to grab attention, and even encourage clicks. I wanted to emphasize that we don’t play most of our games very often. It’s very rare for us to throw games away. Most likely, we’ll sell them or give them to someone else. That’s what I have experienced. Please share your thoughts in the comments section below if you have a different view.

Even so, many of us only play our games a few times. This is often because we are attracted to the next (to us) new game. It’s great to receive a new game, remove the shrink wrap, punch out all the tokens, sort everything into bags and then read the rules. For many, it’s part and parcel of the hobby. Fresh cardboard smells great. A new game can offer exciting experiences.

The harsh light on the table of the board games seems to fade everything into grey. What was exciting and new when we opened the box is now a distant memory as wooden tokens strike cardboard player mats. We might need to play the game again to be sure that we have it right. The third game will determine who is the best player, but the latest crowdfunding alert that we receive on our phone quickly diverts us.

Repeated Review Play

All of what I’ve said so far is really clear to me. I’m also attracted to new games, especially those that seem to offer something different. Perhaps a new mechanic or twist. As a game reviewer, I must think about the next game that I will cover. I must also play the games enough to be able to review them critically. Even though I play most games only a half dozen times, this is especially true if the game is longer and heavier.

Only a few of the games I’ve played more than 10 times are included in my total games played. Only 45 of the nearly 300 games that I’ve recorded on the App have had 10 or more times logged. This is only 15% of the games I have recorded. Many are short and quick.

I have made it a goal to play more games in the past few years. I’ve tried to complete the 10×10 challenge, which is playing 10 board games 10 times within a year. By not choosing which games I wanted to play so often in advance, I made it easier on myself. My h-index is still 8, which means I’ve played 8 games at least eight times. This is not good, but not terrible either.

While I can use the excuse that I’ve set a goal to review around 50 games per year – that’s one game a week – except for Christmas and New Years, this excuse doesn’t work for most of us. It is a mystery why some people keep their games on shelves and talk about the next one, even though they may have only played it once or twice.

Collected Games

Since I am a collector, it is no surprise that many people are completists. Ikea Kallax shelving is the ideal board game storage option for hobbyists. The Kallax is the smallest version, with four compartments. This allows for up to four standard-sized game boxes. However, many hobbyists have larger versions and even multiples.

They are proud of their shelfies and post them on Instagram. On social media, we love to share the latest board games haul. We love to share the latest board game haul on social media. We may tell ourselves we’ll play these games in the future but we know deep down that it won’t happen. Many of us are motivated by the desire to own games and display their beautiful box art. Many of us don’t like to admit it publicly.

It’s okay to collect and who knows, maybe our games will be worth more money in the future if they are kept in mint condition. If it worked with the Boba Fett Rocket Launcher we should have kept, but our parents threw it out after keeping it in the attic for decades, then maybe it will work for this amazing 3kg box of wooden cubes and custom meeples. It also includes metal coins, linen finished cards, dual layer cardboard player boards, and a beautifully illustrated quadruple fold game board.

I Think Not – Throw Away

While I still believe that we should play the games that we have more and throw away the ones we don’t use, I can understand the appeal of collecting video games. It’s just not for me. I am slowly removing games I will not play in person. Online gaming has made it easier to play games. I know that I can play these games online with my friends even if they are on a digital platform.

I want to reach a point in which I own mostly games that will be played a lot. This means that I will still have a collection of games, and this collection will change with time. But I am going be stricter and I’m going to get rid of any games that are not being played. Okay, I will allow a few exceptions. Even though I know I’ll never play them again, I keep a few games for nostalgia reasons.