What is your "inexpensive" hobby that turned out to be expensive/ you gradually invested lots of money into?
Edit: so it turns out that every hobby can be expensive if you do it long enough.
Also I love how you talk about your hobby as some addicts.
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For me, it's board games. I figured a few good board games could last a while. I'm sure you are (incorrectly) guessing the next step, that I just bought too many.
No, I bought Kingdom Death: Monster. And now I want the expansion packs, which combine to nearly $3000.
Maybe you can help me. I don't understand "boardgame people." Like, enjoy boardgames and tabletop games, but not playing a brand new one every time we get together.
What's wrong with playing poker or Catan or NBA Jam for the thousandth time?
The same thing that is wrong with wanting to play something new: nothing lol
A lot of board game geeks hate Catan. I also hate Catan, but my reasons probably aren't their reasons. So there's that.
But I don't entirely disagree. It's complicated. I bought multiple games to find ones I'd love more. I find most people with board game obsession still have a favorite.
Like me, I've spent more time playing KD:M and Spirit Island than the next 5 combined.
I also have a butt load of boardgames, I like playing Catan not a lot but maybe once a year. The ones I keep going back to are Star wars epic duels, Eldritch Horror, and Arcadia/Starcadia Quest.
Eldrich Horror is on my to-buy list. My wife got really burned out on board games so I've leaned into my ultra-crunchy solo-friendly stuff, but she enjoyed Arkham horror for quite a while.
But yeah. Last time I played Catan I wanted it to stop by round 2. I have horrible dice-luck, so a game's gotta be fun when I roll worst-case 5-10 rounds in a row. In Catan, it means I get all nerdy placing my towns on strategically sound intersections, and then watch everyone else play and I pass as numbers like 6 and 8 never roll for an entire game. My record is like the first half of the game getting no resources. Then getting one or two. Something about seeing the 3rd or 4th 2 roll give someone resources before you've gotten anything just makes you want to flip the table.
I get what you mean lol. I used to get pissed at the luck, but enjoyed when I was outsmarted. Now I enjoy all outcomes cause I have been able to get others into boardgames. If I play with new people I try to play towards getting them to win cause that gets them to want to play more. And once everyone knows how to play I get to play an earnest game. I'll even take a day off work every month to get friends together for boardgames, food, and drinks.
I guess that's kind of a reason I have so many boardgames, depending who's playing we might enjoy one more than another. But I noticed more people liking the co-op ones more than vs games lately. Started with pandemic, then Arkham Horror and Mansions of Madness, and now Eldritch Horror is what we've played most. Hopefully I get to try some of the new ones I got, looking forward to Unfathomable.
I agree re: coop. They seem to be the way of the future. Some people I game with get really frustrated being less competitive than the rest in games like Dominion, where taking your time and planning out your turns has huge return but makes everyone have to sit and wait (and don't talk to me, I'm figuring out whether I'm going to play my Laboratory or my Sentry first!)
For some reason, though, Pandemic goes over like a dead weight to most people. So much so, I've never bought Pandemic Legacy as good as it looks. Arkham horror is too crunchy for some, but just right for others. Spirit Island, surprisingly, has been a sweet spot for some recently. It's a little hard to get good at, but the sliding difficulty scale is really granular.
Kingdom Death, damn their amazing looking miniatures.
I couldn't agree more.
KD:M may have its imperfections, but I don't think I've ever played another game quite so beautiful (if you're into that existential dread type of beauty).
I had the good fortune of meeting a couple of board game nerds before getting into the hobby myself. They had a seperate insurance policy specifically for their games.
That's not a bad idea. I may do the same.
Oh man, my friend bought that game and has been trying to get us to play it, but I had twins, and have not more time for board games. It looked fun though
It's incredible, and a blast. A full campaign (assuming you don't lose halfway through) runs about 60 hours. So I get it :)
The digital version might be more accessible. I really wish they'd sell it without the minis. I just don't have the time to paint minis, which means I don't get the value worth in minis.
My wallet is happy I can’t manage to get groups together to play games and justify buying more games. I’m not.
Kingdom Death: Monster plays incredibly well solo, possibly better than any multiplayer variant except 4-player. It's one of the reasons I bought it.
I was pretty bored with Kingdom death before the end of it and I was glad to not keep playing it.
Interesting. Because you were doing too well? The only way KD:M gets a little boring to me is if I'm trying to min-max and only fighting the most appropriate monster for maximum return at each twist or turn. All those underleveled lions for 15 rounds, then all those antelopes, avoiding phoenix and any unique monsters, etc. I did a playthrough where I suicided extra population against most bosses instead of risking my better ones. Ok, that can get boring.
But throw all those in? Nothing quite like going for the overpowered unique phoenix and trying to land his death bonus on my character with Immortal disorder. Also nothing quite like that character making it, then constantly being targeted with "instead of damage, roll on critical injury table" and having to blow my party's rerolls to save her. (For the record, no she didn't make it to LY30)
But honestly, to each their own. I really enjoy it. And adding a few more hunt or showdown monsters (when you really "know" your base prey) is enough to keep an entire campaign fresh. And if not, PotSun and PotStars is a blast (said in Tabletop Simulator because I can't afford all that)
My group just really enjoyed Pathfinder the adventure card game much much more and it was hard not to make the comparisons between the two
Comparison with Kingdom Death? Interesting. I made a point of watching a few let's plays of Pathfinder the Adventure Card game, and it seems to me as similar as Catan and Pandemic (which is, not at all)
The comparison I see is Townfolk Tussle, which I intend to someday buy for a faster/easier campaign.