Game collecting, or I guess collecting of any type is sometimes a fine art.
Do you obsessively always get everything available or just the bits that interest? Do you go for the “maximum” experience or always seek better balance?
I try with all my heart to strike a balance. I am happy to stop at a point of sufficiency short of completeness as long as that point makes sense and feels right.
Examples;
My Eldritch Horror set has the core game and all three of the small expansions, but not one of the three “big box” ones. The pretty universal vibe from the community was the small expansions added much without growing the footprint of the game, one is even considered near mandatory to make the core game work*.
The larger expansions add table hogging extra boards, eat huge amounts of time and add complication and one is guilty of the “big empty box” syndrome common with some games.
The ideal starter or even end point would be the core and Forsaken Lore, then maybe a second small expansion, either Signs of Carcosa, Cities in Ruin or Strange Remnants. Opinions were divided which, so I went with all of them.
Everdell core got all the small expanded game card set expansions Rugwort, Extra, Extra! and Legends (through the BGG store as I missed them initially) and some Rugwort Rats from Etsy. I then picked up Bellfaire to open the core game up a little (the ideal example of an expansion to me, more options, no real change or improvement in core dynamic**) and then I waited for Mistwood for solo play. Mistwood adds an AI opponent, or a ghost player and no extra boards.
This felt just right, but I have just purchased Newleaf.
I was avoiding the big expansions that changed, rather than expanded the core game, but Newleaf comes with some extra useful content (core and legend cards, events), ways to play them with an integrated theme that sits ok with me.
I can take what I want, much the same as Bellfaire. It also has butterflies, bats and bees, love those guys.
Mostly enough.
Star Wars Villainous. This is a tough one. The game is far from balanced in any form, but SWV is probably the worst game I have for it. The characters play fine and to theme, but a strong character or a competent player versus a weaker character or player create a dead duck game every time. Some characters like Kylo need a higher player count and Count Dooku needs at least one nerf to have any chance at all.
I have the first two expansions, but I am struggling with the last (Thrawn and Dooku) as they are weaker than the rest. The game is a seldom play for us, so much so I have to re-read the rules from scratch most times, making the last expansion feel like a completists fools errand. The game also struggles with insert-itis**.
My Attack Wing, Armada and X-Wing sets could all have done with less range (ideally I would exchange my prequel Armada collection for the same value in X-Wing ships), but these suffered from a combination of late game clearance deals, then post production obsessive chasing.
Attack Wing originally bought to be “the one” to avoid the others and even within that I could have stopped at TOS/TOM/Enterprise/Voyager themed sets and skipped the TNG era completely (where many of the scale and bloat issues are found).
X-Wing was only picked up because of the mass dumping of TFA 1e starters (5 for $100au), with intentions of limiting myself to TFA fleets (and the 2e starters were even a perfect fit) and Armada was meant to be the prequel fix- and toe dip, which was never finished.
What happened to all of these after the initial “planned” bit is history and I regret nothing (well……….).
Zombicide is a mess, but I am actually ok with where I am.
Black Plague has plenty of depth, but it is not complete (no Green Hoard, no Oriental version), but I did get a few of the special edition character boxes, a few small box expansions and the kickstarter character box also.
Now, to where I would have gone if I had known.
DCeased is only getting the intro game and Gotham Knights (completes the character figures) and Marvel gets the core, which I picked up cheap and it’s Intro set for other bits. These are far from complete, but I refuse to spend another $500au to get them there. The game is not that compelling!
My Star Wars Destiny set, was bought simply because full blister and starter boxes could be had for peanuts when it was cancelled, but it did turn into a few silly card and dice chases (no luck getting a full Vader set in 4 full boxes!). I then split my sets into themed sub-sets and gifted the balance to avoid massive waste.
Another case of a curious and slightly infuriation mix of well themed starter boxes and luckless random blister buys, leading to real money spent for very little.
Tiny Epic games were a later discovery, when there were a dozen available. I was keen to get them all, then the flood gates opened. I have managed to stop buying them (Vikings was my last), no Cthulhu, Dungeon or Pirates and I even stopped collecting the originals. I am happy with about six different games with “deluxe” bits where relevant. I also bought a couple of Ultra-Tiny Epic games, which are quite amazing for what they are.
One thing of note with these is every single top ten list of TEG’s is different, making collecting them a hit and miss affair. I like Zombies, Vikings and Cowboys, have mixed feelings on the rest I have and no list I have ever read matches my tastes. It is also interesting to note that apart from their size, the value of the games locally ($50+ au) is often on par with similar “real” games (Cyclades Legendary edition is only twice that).
7 Wonders Dual for us was a much better buy than 7W regular as we most often play as a couple. The core game is a little unbalanced (few use green Science cards for victory and if they try, it is easy enough to spoil their plans in the late game), but the Pantheon expansion opens up more options and breaks the flow of play.
We have the Agora expansion also, but have never played it and would likely only play it with the base as a different feeling game to the Base + Pantheon game. I did get the Leader cards from Etsy (fan made content based on the Leaders expansion for 7W), which can open the game up almost like a Pantheon-lite expansion and is ideal for travel as they fit in the core box. I also like that specific leaders are called out, it adds some flavour and context to the civilisation you build.
Unmatched is getting the full treatment because it is fully and seamlessly inter-compatible and I just love it. This is the best and easiest intro game I have, one that can grow with the player, be played in teams and cooperatively and rewards you playing your character of choice, not just the best ones (basically the opposite of Villainous). The game is also a stand out in that even after over a dozen releases, the earliest characters are just as relevant as the new ones.
I did hold off on some boxes until recently (Witcher, Shakespeare), but now I intend to get Hell Boy and have TMNT on pre-order (maybe not Stars and Stripes or Ali v Lee, we will see).
In hind sight I could probably have skipped the Marvel sets as they add the least to the overall landscape and the elusive Deadpool single is a ghost these days.
Into the Unknown has just started and seems to be in a death spiral of slow expansion releases already. I really only want to complete the Enterprise and DS9 crews and add a small Romulan presence (really wish the second Defiant in Tensions Rising was a Romulan Scout or Science ship), so one more expansion will end that.
Away Missions is a little gem that has much to gain by grabbing the expansions. I did not go with the TOS sets, but I have the rest and each adds options to the game that keeps it interesting.
This is another case of a core game that some find unbalanced (The Borg can be hard to play, but make an ideal team for teaching or an experienced player to use to even things up a little), but one that opens up dramatically with Klingon, Romulan and more Federations teams.
Captains Chair is a bit like Unmatched in that it can be played in any combination, so I will get the two new sets and leave it at that (I really just want some TOS/Strange New Worlds love). I would have been ok with a TOS/TOM themed box only.
You see the pattern?
If logical boundaries can be found, I will set them. If a favourite period or logical stopping point is presented, I will grab it and stop there, but sometimes not it seems.
I like to add an expansion that increases options and improves balance first, but occasionally (and sometimes with intent) let it get out of control, especially when a game is ended. I have learned to avoid expansions that are just money grabs, add little (or are just bad value), or run the risk of ruining the core game.
Control tends to come with;
awareness of the landscape (including possible growth-future releases),
planning within that landscape to a satisfying conclusion,
being satisfied and moving on, because there are a lot of games out there.
If you have no idea what the landscape may be, which is to say, it is still a growing concern, then you cannot plan your “sanity fences” to fend off rampant expansionism. It does not help that companies like Wizkids tend to deliberatley mix things up so you cannot easily draw clean lines within the offer (again, Captains Chair with only TOS or TNG characters).
The perfect pain storm tends to be blind collecting (Destiny), which is both frustrating and wasteful, a limited release schedule with common instant collectibles (AW, XW), coming late to the game (most of the above) or waiting seemingly for ever for new releases (Into the Unknown, Captains Chair, Zombicide DC/Marvel). The last is probably tariff based, so way to go Trump and the new world order!
Wingspan is improved with the European expansion for all the right reasons, but we are yet to be tempted to run the Australian expansion (we have) or the South American one (we do not have). It is a beautiful game, but basically fine as is.
Sometimes, I can short circuit the process by just being patient.
Cyclaides was a big tempter especially with favourite reviewers like Board Game Bollocks rating it consistently in their top 2 games for years, but I still waited for the deluxe (Legendary) version, which promised to be a cleaner and smoother experience at reduced cost. The original basically needed at least 1 expansion to make it complete and 2 for a full experience. It was and is as I had hoped. I am not even bothered by the Maelstrom expansion coming later (or the need to buy the deluxe set to get both) as it is optional, cheap enough and coming soon after the core game.
I bought the Carcassonne big box, which did it justice well and truly and was much better value than buying a half dozen smaller expansions.
It turns out, I may have bought a better, or at least more efficient version of the Everdell experience with Silverfrost. It not only has a more dynamic and challenging core system (snow!), but also a simpler solo AI than Mistwood, a Spirequest sub-game and slicker mechanisms, but that falls into the “wait a very long time to see where things finally land”, category.
I bought it anyway as an Everdell variant with a Spirequest vibe. The simpler Farshore does not tempt, but Everdell Duo does.
*
For me the perfect expansion is one that expands on the core game without wholesale change, fixes needed balance issues, adds more of the good, makes the bits that do not work perfectly fit into the game more relevant and keep the footprint/shelf presence of the game under control.
Expansions like 7WD Pantheon (or the Leader cards), Everdell Bellfaire, Extra, Extra! & Legends, Eldritch Horror Forsaken Lore are ideal and near mandatory for those games. All are a small additions that add much and should really be included in future core releases or re-designs, like the Cyclades Legendary edition, which cherry picked the best of three expansions.
Everdell Pearl Brook/Spire Crest, EH Under the Pyramids and the other big box expansions are not on my wish list as they either add little, change the feel of the game or sometimes become a distracting sub-game in their own right. There are also some “big, but empty box” traps in there.
Other times, a little “where would I like to end up and how will I get there most efficiently” before I start a journey can be helpful.
If I limited my X-Wing collection to TFA period (1 and 2e), my Armada collection to the original series and my Attack Wing fleets to TOS, TOM, Voyager and Enterprise, I would have saved a lot, had the same overall experience and picked up some the bits I missed in the end (like Weapon Zero from the Enterprise series).
*Most games are pretty well designed, but sometimes elements are a little unbalanced from the start like uninspiring Science cards in 7WD, limited card selection in Eldritch Horror or the overly complicated Events in Everdell, that the designers may fix these with an expansion.
**Insert-itis is when the box insert refuses to accomodate sleeved cards, cannot fix it’s own components once assembles or has no room for small expansions that do not have their own box, like the three characters for Star Trek Expeditions (a massive box with no room for it’s micro expansion box). Villainous will not take sleeved cards and/or the needed token tray has to be carried separately.