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?

4 comments

4 Comments

caleb_fisher442mo 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.

hill.margaret1mo agoMost Upvoted

But you're missing the whole point of the hobby for me. Those special pieces and extra cards are what make my collection feel unique, like I've got something not everyone can just grab off a shelf. Waiting for retail means you always get the basic, safe version, and that's just boring. My game group gets excited to see the weird stuff that only came from backing it early. Sure, maybe some extras are messy, but figuring them out together is half the fun. Cutting out all the exclusives just turns every game night into the same experience everyone else can have.

andrewreed2mo ago

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

seth_singh202mo 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.