They don't make them like they used to

Apologies for the lack of updates recently. I want to use these posts to talk about things that are interesting, not just regurgitating my reviews or pointing you towards recent posts on the main Punchboard site.

At the start of the year I decided I wanted to start playing the older games in my collection again, and I’ve stuck to it. I can’t always do that, I’m reviewing new games after all, but when I get some downtime I’ve been revisiting some classics. I took Troyes to my local games group and taught them, and I also introduced the same people to Stone Age on BGA. Both have gone down a storm.

I also treated myself to a copy of Finca I found for a reasonable price on Ebay. It’s a game I’ve wanted for over a decade, but just never got around to buying. A recent dive into games with rondels for another project got me thinking about it again, and despite its lightweight complexity, I’ve really enjoyed it.

Over the course of the last few months I’ve been asking myself why it is I get such joy from these older games, and I’ve realised the answer is ‘stuff’. More accurately, it’s a lack of stuff. Let me explain.

Most, if not all of the older games I’ve been playing come in the smaller, rectangular boxes. You know the sort. The same size as all those old Alea games like Castles Of Burgundy. They’re able to fit in those boxes because there’s less stuff in them. Compared to recent games, there are often fewer pieces, and smaller boards, and you know what? I love it.

Finca took me just a couple of minutes to setup for the first time, and the same to pack it away. The Manhattan Project has quite a few pieces, but has a nice small footprint. Caylus is the same, and Stone Age, and Troyes… You see what I’m getting at. It’s not just the box size either, it’s the things inside the box. I don’t mind a square box, I have a lot of them, I just don’t want too much stuff in them.

When I get a review copy of a new game from a publisher, unless it’s a smaller, lightweight game, I know I’m going to have to set aside an hour or so to punch and organise it. I know setup is going to take a while, and I know I’m going to need a big, empty table to house it all.

Obviously that’s not always true. I’ve really enjoyed Peak Oil Profiteer recently which feels like a throwback with its tiny board and few cards. As I look over to my shelves for what to play next though, I’m faced with Distilled, Solar 175, and Artisans of Splendent Vale. Those three boxes on their own, and the setup contained within, make my “I’ve got an hour free!” excitement pop like a bubble landing on their pointy, pointy corners.

Don’t get me wrong here, I’ve played all three of those examples above, and I really enjoy all of them. They’re just a reminder to me of the different between getting ready to play one of those, and pulling the likes of Kingdom Builder, Fresco, or Hamburgum down to play. All of those have wider or longer boxes than those Alea games, but none of them had copious amounts of setup to endure.

There seems to be a big divide in the size and number of components in new games now. You can still get tons of smaller box games, and I enjoy playing them as much as I do the bigger stuff. From there though, most of the time it’s a leap to the 30cm x 30cm, Kallax-friendly boxes at a minimum. I get it, store shelf presence is a thing, but I miss those rectangular boxes. Carpe Diem, the 25th Anniversary edition of Castles of Burgundy, and some others have been keeping the format alive, but they feel like a dying breed now. The fact that both of those games are from Alea isn’t lost on me either.

I long for the day when designers come back to the smaller, simpler offerings of classic Euro games. Simple in the sense of production, not depth. Macao is a fantastic game, but even the remake with all its Amsterdam retheming has had to compete with the ‘look at how much stuff you get in the box’ crowd of Kickstarter campaigns. Castles of Burgundy, while never being the prettiest game in the world, is currently undergoing Awaken Realms’ deluxe treatment which is going to see all manner of plastic and minis added. The box has a custom insert with three layers of components in…

Maybe I’m a grumpy old fart. Maybe things genuinely were better and easier when games were smaller and less fussy. Maybe it’s a little bit of both. Either way, I’m going to keep indulging myself with the happiness my older games still deliver, and with any luck, you’ll be reading more about them soon. Just maybe not in the usual places. That’s an update for another day though.

So in the meantime, what’s your favourite older game? Which games do you play ten minutes after taking the off the shelf?

As always, thanks for reading. Until next time.

Adam