It’s no secret that board games can be expensive. In fact, some games can cost upwards of $100! But why are they so expensive? Is it because the materials are expensive to produce? Or is it because the companies who make them are trying to take advantage of consumers? In this blog post, we will take a look at why board games are so expensive and explain why you shouldn’t care.
There are a few reasons for why board games are so expensive.
1 The materials required to produce a board game can be quite costly.
For example, many high-quality games use thick cardboard for their playing boards and pieces. This cardboard is not only expensive to produce, but it also adds to the weight of the game, which increases shipping costs. In addition, some games use speciality dice, meeples or other unique components that can drive up the cost even further. For example, a game like Settlers of Catan can include more than 30 pieces, which means that the manufacturing costs are high. Additionally, many board games come with rulebooks that are several pages long, which also increases production costs.
2 They take a long time to design and develop.
It’s not uncommon for a team of designers to spend years working on a single game.
3 Marketing
Once the game is finally released, it takes even more time and money to market and sell it to consumers.
4 Companies have to make a profit in order to stay in business.
Board game publishers only receive around £25 for every game they sell, which means that they need to sell their games for at least £50 in order to break even. This is still a high price for most people but you can see that they need to add some profit on top of that price in order to be able to stay in business.
5 Board games are not mass-produced like other products.
It is important to remember that they are usually made in small batches and therefore have a higher per unit cost. This is because there is simply less economy of scale when it comes to board game production.
So why should you care that board games are expensive?
I don’t think you should care! It’s like every hobby, if you enjoy it then that’s what you choose to spend your hard earned money on. Some people like aquariums, some cycling, some board games – it’s a personal choice – and what price enjoyment?!
