New and Old Friends

Our son's guitar lesson was canceled yesterday, so I decided to take him to the local game store.

The game store is interesting because there are so many titles and genres to look at. Its very difficult to leave without buying anything.

Board games tend to have the highest value over time because there's just the box with no expansions or extensions or subscriptions. There are couple of games that I gravitate toward that we will most likely buy eventually. I inevitably pickup the box, look at the age range for the game and the cost and put it back down saying, "maybe next time". Games in this category include Kill Dr. Lucky and RoboRally. I've played Kill Dr. Lucky a little with the younger daughter, so I know that it would definitely have play longevity in the household. RoboRally requires quite a bit of strategy and has a million little pieces so that one is going to remain unbought for some time.

Another game that I look at frequently is Munchkin. Its a card based game with many different play sets. We've purchased most of the fantasy based sets and the kids have gone so far as to create some of their own cards including "Cool Guy" and "Pthpotsarela". The kids really like the game and we play it about 2-3 times a month. What's great about the game is that all of the different play sets are compatible, so you can play a Space, Spy, Ninja, Fantasy game of Muchkin with no problem. I look forward to expanding into one of these other play set themes.

TCGs, or Trading Card Games, occupy the other end of the balance from board games. To be a "current" player, you need to have at least the base set as well as the expansions on top of that set. For example, with Pokemon, you basically have to have cards from the last 3-4 sets in order to play. This is part of a sales strategy called planned obsolescence. If you buy a set of cards that are current now, you will only be able to play these cards for about 2 years or so. Playing TCGs can be financially draining if you want to keep up to date.

We, as a family, have been playing Pokemon for about 2 years, but recently, its been in retirement. The kids pull out the cards every now and then to look at them, but rarely is the game actually played. That said, the kids noticed recently via a TV commercial that a new expansion came out called Majestic Dawn. So, being at the game store, I felt compelled to buy the new starter decks as well as 4 booster packs.

I spent a bunch of time at the counter of the game store looking at the other TCG games as well. It just so happens that a new expansion for Magic: The Gathering was recently released called Shadowmoor. The wife and I used to play Magic in the mid-90s, so there is certainly some nostalgic appeal. I decided to pick up a couple of the theme decks for the Tenth Edition. I didn't buy into the new expansion because I wanted to ease into the game.

So, with a bunch of games in the bag, we headed home.