Am I the only one who thinks the obsession with Kickstarter exclusives is bad for the hobby?

At Gen Con last year, I was in a demo for a new dungeon crawler. The guy running it spent 15 minutes just listing the 50+ exclusive minis you could only get by backing the campaign. It felt like a sales pitch, not a game. I've bought 3 big box games in the last 2 years that are basically incomplete without their 'all-in' pledge. It pushes FOMO hard and makes regular retail copies feel like second-rate products. How do you guys handle this without going broke or feeling like you're missing out?

3 comments

3 Comments

caleb_fisher4427d ago

Ugh, I feel this so much. My rule now is to only back stuff that's fully playable at the base pledge (and I wait for retail a lot). Honestly, skipping those exclusives gets easier once you miss a few and realize your game nights are still fun.

andrewreed27d ago

My buddy learned that the hard way... @caleb_fisher44 is right.

seth_singh2027d ago

Missing out on a Kickstarter exclusive can actually make a game easier to teach and play later. You don't have to explain all those extra bits that might not even be balanced. Caleb_fisher44 has a point about waiting for retail, you get the version that's been tested more. In my experience, a clean rulebook beats a box full of stretch goals that just add clutter.