Predicting Upcoming Board Game Trends

okay Jeff the first video that we're going to do we're predicting Trends upcoming Trends in board games yeah with literally no information okay okay MH got it yep [Music] [Music] perfect hello everyone welcome back to Foster the mea Channel all about and Bo gaming things exactly we are here to do something crazy we're going to be predicting the next big things that are going to be happening in board games I've written I wrote a few things down I literally just told Jeff what we were doing so he's come uh unprepared but that's my fault but you probably have some stuff in your brain I have a couple yeah we've got a couple so you know trend happen right now a big Trend trick taking that's a huge thing right now isn't it Jeff is it or is that just something we're honed in on did we do our intro no yes we did did you say board games board game me things yeah we did okay yeah we did okay we did anyways yes there's a few like trends that are currently happening these are going to be upcoming Trends but like something that's current is Trick taking games that's a big thing that's what I'm saying is it or we just honed in on it no I think it's a big thing I think trick taking it's so hot right now like Hansel so hot it's hot hot right now like Hansel so how many do you have oh I have just like a list not a big deal all right what's one thing that you think is going to be an upcoming Trend in board gaming uh I think you're going to see more and more of the Lord of the Rings IP oh being plaster on everything like Marvel was that's interesting I do have one of is um a surge of ips okay so I actually have a Counterpoint okay I think IPS are outside of the uh Publishers that tend to do IP stuff heavily yeah like steam Forge for example sure I think you're going to see a decrease in IPS overall you think outside of again outside of the Publishers that focus on IP I but before that like while and I I shouldn't say before while that's happening I think you're going to see a boost in Lord of the Rings IP because it was sold to a different conglomerate and so the like people are getting access to the IP that they didn't have for a very long time right but I think outside of that IPS in general are going to start to peel off you think interesting because like I think that more video game IPS are going to start popping up up but less like movie IPS yeah okay fair enough I I would agree there I I was honing in on sorry I was honing in on like movie IPS because I think a lot of people are just sick of it sick of like yeah I think like we saw the rise of Marvel in and I think that that has to Peter out at some point yeah like you know the the Marvel like uh what's that freak game Champions no legendary uh crisis control stop you're not helping there was like this Marvel game that I was like why does this have to have a mar no stop why does it have to like there's no reason for this to have Marvel on it I can't remember it doesn't matter but like there's all of these games that it's like why here's what I hope I hope Marvel IP gets replaced with Pokemon and everything starts to be Pokemon I don't think so because like I feel like Nintendo is probably impossible to work with do you think yeah but I mean like what's that game is it like J what's the one where you have to get all the little G splendor splendor yeah Marvel Splendor yeah like why is that a thing The Avengers or whatever I know I get it like The Infinity Gauntlet and stuff but like it doesn't need no we don't need that that's it it's just a play at user acquisition yeah it's all it is and I feel like board gamers are probably getting tired of it a little bit but again like I mean unmatch just did Ninja Turtles and I'm like oh man if they start bringing back Ninja Turtles like I don't know we start seeing a surge of like 90s IPS like Power Rangers Ninja Turtles the thing right like those kind of things that might be a good thing to predict like more 90s Nostalgia stuff because we're of that age now yes definitely like our generation is of that buying power age we're looking for a slice of our youth back looking for the Nostalgia yeah yeah I don't know I I'm still I'm still I'm I'm putting my feet in the ground I'm saying put in Lord of the Rings is going to keep getting more and more IP games yeah it's going to get to be to the point of Marvel where people are like all right and I think Al outside of that um it's going to start petering off yeah one of the things that I'm predicting is less big box games MH and more small box and not just smaller box games but quicker play I think we're going to start seeing like I think people are so burnt out on the big campaign experience the three-hour gameplay the bloated Miniatures and like all of this stuff I think people number one people are getting burnt out on it and number two it's getting way too expensive to keep buying and making these games that I think the trend is going to start being like stripped down streamline quicker play less upgrades like it's gonna be back to the basics I only I agree but I also somewhat disagree because I think the problem is is you still see these like big like go on game found all of their campaigns for the most part are like like awaken Realms puts out a campaign and it's like4 million right but do you feel like are we starting to see less of that though like from awaken Realms they're going to keep doing it but I think as as we go along in this hobby there's going to be less and less people interested in those things for two reasons one cost into attention span yeah like I think as younger Generations get more into the hobby the attention spans are less and less and less so then to sit down and play a big like campaign game and a lot of those Generations grew up on video games and that's what those games are competing with which is really difficult yeah I think that like yeah there's a certain niche of hobby gamer and current consumer that is propping that up that I don't know how long that lasts um I think that's probably something that happens over the course of the next few years let alone like this year yeah yeah I I just think that we're going to start seeing less of those games because like even as like our gaming style we might like enjoy those games but I'm not looking for those games anymore yeah and I feel like we hear that all the time in our community where people are just like it's too much well yeah I mean I think the last one too much I just want a card game I think the last one that a lot of people were kind of like enough enough or like at least like they had ordered it and then it arrived was ISS Vanguard and I know a lot of people that love that game but I think there was a lot of people that were like I bought this like a year and a half ago myself included and then it arrives and it's just like holy just too much crap this is so much stuff like I don't why did I get this yeah but then we'll and it's so like those games be for us anyway and I know for a lot of people they're just like they sit on the Shelf because they're so hard to get to the table because there's so much like setup and even like thinking about the rules teach that's why I'm saying like I think more like streamlined straightforward games where it's like you have a couple pages of rules you can get right into the game play and you can have fun with a game right away versus a game like ISS Vanguard or something like that where it's like okay well it's going to take me like five hours to learn the rules and then I'm going to live in the rule book yeah you're kind of like getting into uh one of the points I was going to make which ahead which is I think you're going to see an increase and you've already stated it you're going to see an increase in terms of accessibility of games and I mean that from a perspective of uh rules overhead like you're going to see more more and more games come out that are like you can learn this in 5 minutes ority or it's going to be like a very systematic way of getting into the game like the like you're starting to see rule books now that are very much like start here do this that's one aspect of the game okay you've learned this aspect of the game okay here's the next one add this in then add that in and then it's just going to be much easier to get stuff tabled for a newer generation of gamer because again I think attention span's a big problem span is a big problem for board gamers yeah most so many board gamers have Bo Gamers but like board games yeah because like people want instant gratification now yeah and board games don't necessarily provide that you know some do but most don't I think uh another one for me I think we're going to see a surge of frog games we just had a bunch of bunny games we just had cppy baras were a big thing is because there was a frog game just released I feel like but I'm starting to see more there's top frog there's a totally awesome game about frogs there's like there's more I'm just starting to see did Cosmic frog do it first maybe I don't know but I think like that's because you know there's always like the cute animal Trend and like what's the next an cats was big for a while cats were big there were cats that was huge and then you know dogs tried to eek in but bunnies took over dogs have always had their place in the yeah Spotlight but like frogs I think are the next I think we're going to start seeing a lot of frog games oh and Freeman freeze just did a frog game yeah freaky frogs from out of space he was he's the ship that launched a thousand no face that launched launch frog was ships whatever that phrase is but I think frogs I listen I I think that's a I think less space more frogs unless you're a cosmic frog yeah well they've already done it it's been done no more frogs in space this might be a little spicy one oh and I don't think the math supports my argument okay um I think conventions are going to become less and less and what I mean by that is some of the I think like gen con's always going to be Gen Con and y y y but like I just think with how difficult it is and how expensive it is to travel and um I just I I can see some of these conventions just starting to shrink a little bit packs Origins those are two in particular that used to be really big that I like we haven't been to Origins but from what I've heard from people that go it's kind of like shrinking every year and tax has been shrinking I think what's going to happen is people like have to pick and choose and they're going to pick like Gen Con yeah they're going to pick a big one um and I I just feel like yeah there there's so many conventions now like there's so many year it's like oh there's a new conen just seems to be yeah there seems to be like this attempt to do more and more and more and I I just feel like it's it's there's too many or it's going to be more just like localized conventions like how break oan in Toronto and there's one in Montreal and like uh there well like every Community has their own little convention and maybe that's just what it is and people just pick one big one to go to a year and you're either going to pick like a buying con or a Play Con based on like what you like but yeah I think you're right and I don't mean like they're not I don't necessarily mean that they're not going to exist no like but I just feel like they're not going to be paration might be lower yeah I just feel like they're going to there's not going to be as many people going to these things in the in the future um I think that we are going to see a surge in cozy gaming M I think that's going to be a big thing and that is going to include more solo games yep because I think solo gaming obviously it shot up during Co and it's kind of like I think a lot of games have solo modes in them but there's not been not been a ton of like solo only games and I think we're going to start seeing it again because I think people want it and a lot of those games are going to be cozy games and particular people are looking for a little bit of comfort in their lives a little bit of coziness I am personally so I think that's definitely going to be a thing with the solo gaming and a Resurgence of cute where what do we get away from cute does that does that connect with the Frog thing yeah frogs are cute cute cute frog Revival cute cozy frog games where are they people uh I'm putting it out there into the world I need it I'm really think about this stuff on the fly so yeah take that for what it is I will uh I think the next thing for me is just in general um I think less games are going to get produced um because I don't know how it's sustaining itself currently like everyone is putting out a game yeah like there's so many obviously there's all of the Publishers we all know about and then there's like a new publisher every other day yeah and there's so there there there's just so many people that are in this hobby that are like I'm going to make my game and I just I don't know how it continues to sustain itself long term yeah um I mean I know that we they've talked about how like it was like the Golden Age of board gaming like a couple years ago right I don't know if that's still the case from like a financial standpoint but I just don't see how we continue Along on this trajectory of like a new game well a new publisher like a 100 games a day being thrown up on Kickstarter and Kickstarter is part of the reason why yeah like crowdfunding is one of the reasons why this happens or is happening um I just I I just don't see how yeah we continue consuming at the same rate it's interesting because like I was just at Gamma and even like I've only been to gamma twice last year and this year this year it was double the size in terms of like Publishers yeah which is crazy well I mean that's what I mean like and like you go around you see every booth and it's just like every booth has like at least like three games and there's a couple that are like pretty independent they have one game and they're just kind of like getting it out there but it's overwhelming well like we were just at Lance Lot games and like I literally was just sitting there being like like we're pretty in the know of board games and the Hobby and what's coming out and whatever and I'm sitting there and I'm like I haven't heard of 50% of these games and that's wild to think about and like for for for every shelf I'm seeing there's 30 shelves of games I've never even heard of yeah you know what I mean like I just don't I also think it's interesting because like now just every game gets made pretty much do you know what I mean and 100% there's been and I listen I'm a complete Advocate like if you want to create something and make your game it doesn't matter if it it's the best game ever or just a little game that's you're only going to play or whatever you should make your game and because somebody's going to like it but like I have noticed that there have been a lot of games that are just getting pumped out of there that are very mid to the point of what I'm like why would they put this game out because they they like I'm speaking about Publishers in specific CU like I know that they can do better CU they have way better games but now it's got to a point where it's like quantity like ah the big thing is like we're going to have 50 releases this year and like that's insane like have three good releases yeah I don't I I I don't understand the Publishers that are able to do that yeah honestly and that's what I mean I don't think that's sustainable yeah and I I want to be clear I'm not stating this from a like people need to stop producing games like whatever that's not that's not for that's not for me to determine yeah um what I'm saying is from a consumer standpoint I don't I don't understand how it Still Remains viable yeah I don't understand how to Jim's Point like a publisher could be like we're going to do 50 releases today like because they just hope a couple of them are going to stick yeah sure and and like listen it's you know there's there's a cost analysis to all of this stuff and there's a lot smarter people in the world than I am so maybe it makes sense to produce 50 games and hope a couple stick I don't know I don't know either but like it's just we see it all the time you know it's like oh I have my new game coming out I have my new game coming out I have my new game and I'm like and they're all and great go for it and we don't want to Snuff out independent Publishers because then we wouldn't have all of these great games that we have but for for me I just see it all happening and I'm like how how are you sustainable yeah how do you stand out in a crowd I think of it almost as like and this is not obviously accurate like you know when you go to a restaurant and the menu has like five things on it it's like the menu from creek where it's like this big yeah and you know the menu that has five things on it yeah it's probably everything's going to be good sure versus the menu that has like 50 things on it your Chef can cook all 200 of these dishes like why does it have Irish stew Tika Masala yeah like all of sush Sushi like like it doesn't make any sense but anyways yeah I do I think yeah I don't know I think you think that we're going to see less I think we're just going to keep seeing more I think we'll see more re uh implementations of games and I think we're starting to see that already I think we'll see less new stuff I just think we have to I just think we have to it's just not there's not it's not that big of a hobby yeah in my opinion right but I think we will see more re-implementation of things like I think awaken Realms is already starting to path or like pave that path forward because like they've done cast burgundy they did um they did another one that's not uh Agricola oh my god I've not played it I can't remember was that frog no they did another reimplementation deluxified version of an older game like I think that stuff's going to happen more and more and more because those games have proven to stand the test of time right um but I think we'll see less new game development eventually and more reimplementation of some of the stuff deluxified versions of stuff we've already played yeah I think like like I mentioned before about the Streamline stuff I do think we're going to see like some streamlined versions of some more popular like bigger games like I think about Moon Breakers and then they have Moon rollers where it's just set in the world but it's a much easier game to get to the table Grand AUST Hotel rolling right yeah yeah yeah exactly oh there's one more that I have that I I'm just very curious because like a new board gaming mechanic has not come out since like deck building like deck building has been like I'm sure someone will well will yeah they probably will try but good luck like what is a new like is there any more board game mechanics that can be discovered like that can breathe a little bit of life and like new not just an iteration not like oh this is worker placement but different it has it uses dice like do you know what I mean like deck building was kind of that last big thing I'll be very when was that I mean that was yeah that's a while ago I know that we're doe like what's a new mechanic that can be discovered that I wonder how much is pulled outside sources like I wonder if like deck building was pulled from video games or something there's a lot of video games that I think of that are older than Dominion that had a deck building mechanism in them yeah any more from you Jeff yeah I think uh I think you're GNA continue to see an increase of digital implementations of games oh yeah I I and I'm not here to argue with people about whether that is valid or not I don't care I am you mean like more BGA yeah I'm like I know a lot of people will argue with me that digital implementations of games are a bad thing I disagree I don't like want to argue with you about it in the comments you can have your opinion on that I think it's great because it gives people the opportunity to play games that might they might not otherwise get to play yeah um I don't think board games are defined in your box so if people want to play digitally by all means um but I think you'll see more games on BGA we're already seeing it uh I'm very curious to see if competitor pops up not necessarily competitor but I don't know how I don't know how they keep host hosting so many games on their platform um because they're putting out a new game all the time now yeah so I don't know if you'll see like a a new iteration of BGA where it's more robust um but that being said I think you're just going to see more direwolf stuff you know like root do yeah I that's what I was just thinking more not on BGA but more more apps more so that people who play video G games like on Steam and stuff are going to stumble upon well you're already seeing it I guess it's kind of a cheat because it's already happening yeah but there's not like a ton of them do you know no but I think you would it's expensive yeah um but I think you're going to see more digital uh implementations because yeah there's a lot of companies that are trying to bridge the gap between board games and video games and I think that's a good thing yeah like bring those Hobbies together yeah um and I think you'll see more and more of them um and I think you play so I think you'll see more more of the old stuff being put digitally you know what I mean like they did they did root they did uh Dune like they did um Ras biringham uh undaunted has one um there's Calico has one munchkin God I don't know if it's oat yet but they've been working on that forever which is another direwolf thing but yeah I think you'll just see more more of that because it's awesome I don't care it's great I love it I love playing with friends that I would never get to play with otherwise that are on another side of the freaking planet I also find like beyond the BGA like the actual like digital implementation as a video game like they make it so they can make it so interesting like you know in the Calico one like the cats are walking around and they're laying on the blankets while you're playing and it's just like that doesn't happen on BGA on BGA you're just getting the board game whereas like when they do GTS yeah when they do the digital implementation it it like it takes the game the app when they do the app when they do the app it takes the game and it just like builds out the world yeah and it comes back to that same with like root because they got like the little it comes back to that point of like um attention span yeah you know like people can pick up and play digital implementation of a game pretty pretty quickly and most of these have a really good tutorial like you pick up the root app and it has a tutorial for the game and every single faction you can't you cannot compete with that oh best way to learn root with with a a physical board in front of you you just can't yeah Jeff the sponsor of today's video is Ivy Studio it's actually the sponsor of the month not just this video they're sponsoring the whole month they have a game on Kickstarter coming to Kickstarter if it's not on on there already called scales of Fate which is a two player version of veiled fate it's like abstract strategy it's great you should definitely go check it out it's in the link in the description below and what I want to say about IV studio is we're talking about Trends these guys are trending they're trending okay they don't miss every game they're being Innovative they've nailed a lot of the things I enjoy yes like they're like ux design yeah wo so that's actually what I wanted to talk about because one thing that I hope will Trend in board games coming up is better ux and UI in board games yeah Publishers please you are not uux and UI designers no most of you aren't some of you are maybe some stop pretending yeah stop pretending like you are start hiring people because there are people that do that as a business like as a job that can make ux and UI in board games so much better and I think IV Studios Nails this agreed everything looks great it's intuitive and I hope fingers cross that that is a trend in the future agreed I think those are the trends that you're going to see but the one big takeaway is frogs so if you're yourself thinking about designing a game I urge you to make it a boat frogs I just I'd be very curious in the comments below let us know what are some trends that you think are on the horizon because it's like it's hard to predict it's like throwing spaghetti at a wall see what sticks you don't really know but we we see weird analogy but that's a common analogy no I know it's a common analogy but it was a weird one to use in that instance I feel like sticking spaghetti but we're obviously deep in the hobby we see the things but we don't know anything so I'd be curious to know no we don't what you know they don't know that we know that they know that we know Jeff doesn't know what that's from do you that's the office no it's friends they don't know that we know that they know that we know I'm pretty sure it's in the office too it well they took it from friends anyways that is everything that we have for today's little discussion video if you would like to buy board games like any of the Frog games that may be coming out in the future you should first start by checking your friendly local frogging store and for us that is the boardroom game frog exactly and if you like B Game Cafe B Game Cafe if you like what you see subcribe we hope to see you again soon and now we say goodbye goodbye lat it [Music] is y that was a little puzzle yeah that one doesn't go on it won't go on it should no they're different oh what they're different why are they different sometimes things are made different cuz these all stack yeah so shouldn't just stack like that I guess not because do you see it's different I hate this my brain does not like this this should go in here okay now what just like a little kid doing one of those all the shapes go into the one hole that was annoying boom roasted the inside of my ears popping do you know what I mean yes where you can like hear yourself MH [Music]