I've noticed over the last few years that there's loads of really awesome boardgames out there.
The production quality and stuff you get with them are really impressive, like loads of good quality boards, dice, figures and all sorts of stuff.

I regularly goto a gaming club at our local community centre (on a Tuesday) and we play RPGs, board games etc.
About half the people who come play Boardgames the rest RPGs and everyone seems to play equal amounts of either so no particular preferences individually of RPGs over Boardgames.

Even so, I would have said some years back I would prefer playing RPGs over boardgames, but these days the Boardgames are really interesting and just great fun to play, especially for one off sessions.

Anyone else noticed this?

I wonder if the high quality of boardgames are good or bad for RPGs.
One one hand they probably DO take people away from RPGs, but I bet they bring people into RPGs as well..
Also Boardgames take less organization so the prep vs fun level is great.

Still there's nothing quite like playing an RPG and having characters that develop over time and storylines that continue etc..

Its about as good or bad as the state of basketball's popularity is for football, I would say.

There been a generational change in boardgames lead by the euro-games such as Settlers of Catan and Carsonne. The quality of the current crop of games is quite high.

I like boardgames, but given a choice, would play an rpg every time.

For me, a boardgame is plenty fun at the moment, but an rpg gives me more with its long term nature.

I think boardgames make a good entry drug. There's not that much of a conceptual leap from Doom or Descent or Super Dungeon Explore to an RPG.

I just dropped an embarrassing amount of cash on Catan, Munchkin, and Dominion.  Why?  Because my kid likes them better than RPGs...

Quote from: danskmacabre;571922Anyone else noticed this?

Boardgames have been on the up and up for sometime compared to RPGs. They really hit their stride around 10 years ago with the surge of German board games.

I don't think that board games and RPGs are necessarily competitors. I find them to be complementary. However, board games seem to have been more successful in adding RPG elements than RPGs have been at adding board gaming elements IME. This may make it seem like board games are making in roads.

As you say though, board games will never be able to fully scratch the itch that and RPG does. However, games like Road to Legend for Descent do show that you can have characters that develop over time and storylines that continue in a board game (a 120+ hour campaign in the case of RtL).

Quote from: Skywalker;572143As you say though, board games will never be able to fully scratch the itch that and RPG does. However, games like Road to Legend for Descent do show that you can have characters that develop over time and storylines that continue in a board game (a 120+ hour campaign in the case of RtL).

While this is true, a lot of what I said in the other thread about the XBox holds true for boardgames as well:

1) Boardgames require less preparation, and typically take less time to complete

2) There is less impact if someone can't make a given session

3) They are typically easier to learn/master than a given RPG

Stuff like that...

Quote from: mcbobbo;572145Stuff like that...

I agree. I play board games a lot when RPGs are impractical as they have a number of advantages over RPGs. I think the same is true in reverse too though.

Quote from: Skywalker;572147I agree. I play board games a lot when RPGs are impractical as they have a number of advantages over RPGs. I think the same is true in reverse too though.

But more board game improvement then necessitates more RPG improvement, and some of the nasty gotchas aren't flexible.

Well companies like FFG keep trying to make RPG hybrid Board games like Decent and Warhammer FRP 3e some like them some don't, I have both and enjoy them but the setup and takedown time involved is the problem for me, so they get played less than a standard rpg.  Except maybe for my Zombies! board games, those are fun and quick to play.

Boardgames have been a big fad the last few years, the way CCGs were a few years before that.  It remains to be seen if the bulk of them will end up prevailing, or split up into smaller micro-fandoms/hobbies, or mostly just vanish.  I'll be curious to see if anyone will actually be playing Cataan, much less anyone new, in 20 years.

RPGPundit

I know your point was will Catan be played still 20 years from now, but FWIW Settlers of Catan is already 17 years old.

Quote from: RPGPundit;573103Boardgames have been a big fad the last few years, the way CCGs were a few years before that.  It remains to be seen if the bulk of them will end up prevailing, or split up into smaller micro-fandoms/hobbies, or mostly just vanish.  I'll be curious to see if anyone will actually be playing Cataan, much less anyone new, in 20 years.

They've been doing fine for 17 years already.  The adult board games hobby isn't a fad, although it's definitely in a protracted growth phase right now.  The CCG industry came into existence, boomed and then collapsed to its current steady state in less than a decade.

I've noticed I can have a pretty good time playing a boardgame with total strangers.

For rpg's, I need to be playing with my friends.


(These are my two biggest hobbies, with RPG's being #1)