I love miniatures.
I love everything about them, buying, painting, 3D printing, displaying. If a game has minis, I’m more apt to pick it up and look at it when browsing my FLGS. I am fully aware of this bias and have worked at trying to be less skewed to titles with big, beautiful miniatures. Don’t get me wrong, having a predilection for games that have copious amounts of “plastic crack” isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Except when it’s at the expense of dismissing games solely on the fact that they don’t have miniatures.
Reading this, you might think to yourself, “It’s a simple Euro vs. Ameritrash” conversation. And to some degree, you’d be right. But I think it’s more than that. I am a fan both styles of games (although I’m not a fan of the term Ameritrash), and have a good amount of both styles of games in my library. And have played both regularly.
But here’s the kicker. All things being equal, without any knowledge beforehand, if I’m looking at two titles, one Euro and one Ameritrash with lots of minis, I think I would be more inclined to pick up the Ameritrash game.
And this is the problem I’m trying to correct.
Now I’m not saying that you’re not allowed to like what you like. If minis are the driving force behind your game purchasing decisions, then by all means, you do you. I would never suggest otherwise. But I am making a conscious effort moving forward to look at mechanics over components.
Additionally, I think part of the reason why I’ve been leaning this way for so long is the value fallacy. We all work hard for our money, and we always want to ensure we’re spending it wisely and therefore getting the best value when we make purchases. Games included. So I think part of the reason why I’ve leaning towards games with minis is the idea that I’m getting a better value.
This is also an incorrect mindest.
Instead of focusing on the physical parts of a game, and deriving value from that, I need to focus on the enjoyment I get playing a game brings me. That’s where I need to see the value come from. If I look at it with this new mindset, I have a lot of games in my library that have tremendous value. And cool thing is, it’s value that’s on a personal level, because I have some great memories associated with those games.
So suffice to say, as I look to rethink my approach, I plan on having a stronger balance between the different styles of games available to me. And I will work to look past the components, instead focusing on what I can envision them providing me from an experience perspective.
But hey, if your enjoyment is derived solely from collecting miniatures, by all means go for it. I for one will be over in my little corner of the gaming world, trying to find my gaming Zen.
Right after I finish painting the minis from my new LOTR board game…
As always, leave a comment with your thoughts. Until next time, LLAP!
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