Internet Killed the Board Game Store - Extra Credits Gaming

Man, it is an awesome time to love playing games. Popular retail stores are carrying hobby board games and polyhedral dice, while the rise of quality actual plays has gone gangbusters in the media, spawning a surge of tabletop role players. And even one of the most popular TCGs has been releasing a ton of crossover sets with other famous media properties, further catapulting the game into the mainstream. Dang, I cannot wait to visit my friendly local game store because I am sure all of these innovations are just going to make it a super popular place to play games with like-minded folks. And wait a second. What in the heck darkest TIMELINES IS THIS? THANKS SO MUCH TO FACTOR FOR ALWAYS GETTING me great-tasting fast and fresh meals delivered right to my door, no matter what timeline I'm in. Real quick up top, I want to give a very special shout-out to our own EC social media director and my forever go-to person for all things board games, Kat, for writing this episode. Thanks so much, Kat. Okay, to figure out what went wrong with all this, we need to first set sail on the oceans of time, all the

way back to the clear waters of gaming in 2012. Ah, what a year. The Wii U was making its debut, The Avengers first graced the big screen together, and a little show called TableTop hit the internet on the YouTube channel Geek & Sundry. They took all these air quotes odd board games that the average person might not have ever played and paired them up with witty guests and banter, showing off the games, sure, but more importantly, really putting a spotlight on the community of players that loved to play them. And this helped create a tabletop game boom, kind of in the same way that Critical Role has just catapulted D&D in the public eye, meaning I no longer had to play my precious hobby games in the darkened corners with only two people I knew once a year at a convention anymore. Oh, no. Instead, game stores were flooded with new players, and they were flourishing, becoming little island oases for a growing community looking to dip their toes into the hobby. And man, were there options. For example, an average friendly local game store lineup might have some drop-in TTRPG sessions during the day, Magic the Gathering tournaments

at night, or dedicated Games Workshop or other miniature game tournament tables for the weekends. They would host things like board game meetups to try new games, and game designer days where industry professionals would come and show off what they'd been working on. They basically became like the geeky version of Cheers, where everybody knows your game, and they're always glad you play. Where I could say debate the pros and cons of Rifts with the clerk at the counter, and Kat always stopped to thank them for saving all the newest X-Wing drops for her, because her Imperial forces needed the latest technology and firepower to crush the Rebel scum. Dang, Kat. I've never seen this side of you before, and I'm a little scared. Kat's dark side affliction aside, we then got to watch this community expand and evolve on all fronts, including into a new genre of game store to compete with my friendly local game store, the board game cafe. The evolution into a cafe seems so obvious looking back, and really was a super smart move for the looming dangers to come. I mean, what goes better with hours of gameplay at a table with your friends than drinks and snacks? Gaming cafes started springing up instead of

new game stores, and they would hire board game lovers to do things like take orders and teach people how to play games while they were waiting for their food. People could rent a table and play for hours, ordering sodas or beer. And with all that, they had completely turned the basic game store revenue model upside down, because they didn't even need to sell games or push the latest Magic packs to pay the bills like a normal friendly local game store. All they needed was a large enough community of people to hang out for as long as possible and keep buying those delicious apps and sweet treats. Wait, don't run off with those truffle fries. So, while things were looking pretty great from the community's point of view, as the board game, strategy, and RPG industry were seeing more players than ever. Now, with the split customer base between friendly local game stores and gaming cafes, the OG stores saw a decrease in foot traffic. Some of whom even had to reduce their late-night hours to compensate. But, before we continue, I'm a bit distracted. Zoe, what is that off in the distance? Wait, I don't think the horizon's supposed to be that dark, is it? Oh, no. It's the Krakazon and other monstrous chain retailers hungry to

capitalize on the rising sales of hobby games, lending the industry a helping tentacle by making games even more available, sometimes even delivering them directly to your door at a lower cost than most friendly local game stores could afford. Woo, those business-savvy monsters are brutal. They were able to use their billions of dollars worth of assets to buy things in bulk. And boy, oh boy, did publishing companies love this idea. In fact, many publishers started making retail-only copies of beloved games exclusively for sale at these big-box stores and online retailers that hit the market at that magical $25 mark. Some gaming companies even gave big chain retailers their products before Kickstarter backers and hobby stores could receive them, leaving the hobby store customers high and dry and willing to go buy them at big chains. At this point, if your hobby store didn't have the game you wanted on hand, all you really had to do was go down the street to any general merchandise retailer, bookstore, or even sometimes a local grocery store to try and get your gaming fix. On top of that mess, the industry was now experiencing

something we call the board game bloat, where publishers were releasing more games than ever before, which kind of left the community spinning in confusion about what to buy. I mean, I didn't really need to buy a new game if I hadn't already played the one I bought last week. Wait, did they remake and re-theme Zombicide again? It Hold on, is that the Kickstarter edition or a retail version of a game? Okay, how can a game have a fourth expansion if it just came out? I mean, look at this. In 1990, a total of 880 games released for the year. And in 2000, 1,265 games were released. But if you look at 2019, a whopping 4,677 board games made it to the market in that year alone. Even Kat, who, mind you, play tests board games and produces content on them on the regular, only had time to play 376 new games last year. Oh, yeah, she counted. And on top of all of that, no one was really ready for what was going to happen to the friendly local game store industry next. Magic the Gathering Arena was released to the masses, which for many players was an absolute digital godsend. No more having

to spend countless nights staying up till 2:00 a.m. to finish out a game. No more arguing with players across playmats and dodging flipped tables. No more organizing the paper magic cards littering the bottom of my closet. But the flip side of all that convenience and accessibility was that it really did put a kibosh on a lot of the weekly buy-ins at the friendly local game store and really cut back on the need of purchasing giant physical booster boxes when a new set released. To say that that hit hobby stores hard is an understatement, as some businesses had built their entire revenue stream off of Magic the Gathering sales. So, with more customers visiting board game cafes, purchasing games from the crack of dawn, and playing Magic the Gathering online instead of in person, the friendly local game stores were barely avoiding their watery graves. Then, of course, you add a dash of COVID lockdown to suffering stores, along with supply chain issues we've talked about in past episodes, and that really did push a lot of the stores overboard. Now, at this point, you're probably wondering if even the concept of the hobby game store can ever recover

from being capsized by this industry storm. Well, after touring my local gaming community, I can confidently say that yes, some will survive, but they're also going to have to continue to evolve with the communities that drive them. Stuff like making sure the place is inclusive is an absolute make or break scenario. Also, having disability access to the building and to restrooms and, of course, changing tables and facilities are also a necessity. AKA, making sure that more and more people can come and play, because building a safe and fun space for communities of gamers to play and double down on the in-person experience is absolutely key. Then, of course, there's the offerings. Maybe it expands out to things like teachable miniature painting nights or an Iron DM challenge with silly store trophies. Perhaps it's participating in local gaming conventions or something like a children's board game night. But all of those things are really only half of the solution, right? Because we are the ones that are voting whether or not these stores stay open with our dollars. So we as gamers will need to put aside our phones for a moment and come together to help support these small businesses if

we want them to survive for future generations. I know I do because tabletop games in general are not an individual experience. We're purchasing these games to hang out with friends and try new things because we're thirsting to connect with other like-minded geeky folk. And that's not an experience that big chain retailers or delivery services can give us because it's a need for a human experience that in my opinion can best be quenched by sitting around a table with your friends, pushing some cubes around a board, and connecting with new people you might find at your friendly local game store. Sorry if that all sounded a bit preachy, but this is something that Kat, myself, and really all of us at the EC team really do believe in. I love a physical space to go play games with folks and I don't want them to go away. So in that vein, if you have a friendly local game store near you that you would love to show some support to, why not drop their name in the comments and say what they're doing that's awesome so we can get more eyeballs on them and maybe get some more people through their doors. Oh, actually speaking of which, I am running late to

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