When trying to decide between different board games to buy, where does a game player turn? Even though many people have played the classics such as Scrabble, Monopoly, Clue, Sorry, or Pictionary, often it is hard to choose between the newer games such as Mexican Train or Apples to Apples. Also, if buying for a grandchild or niece or nephew, a grandpaent or Aunt or Uncle might not be sure which games might be best suited for their young relative's age group.
A buyer should determine the following criteria before a game purchase:
- The game players' interests and ages
- The desired price range
- How other players review and rate the game
Game Shopper Resources
There are several resources available for researching what game might be the best choice, using the buyer's criteria.
Bestcovery is an internet consumer resource that provides information and feedback on just about everything. For gamers, it lists the "Best Board Games for Families", where you can drill down to the details of the game, user reviews, or view a higher level view by clicking on "compare all" to see a side-by-side.comparison against other popular games. They have related "bests" for Halloween Board Games, Board Games for Kids, and Best Board Game for Parties. The site provides links to where the game can be bought.
Amazon sells a wide range of products to consumers, including a varied selection of games. They list board games in their "Toys and Games" section (sub-category games & puzzles).
Amazon lists the bestsellers on the first page, and choosing one of these games is a good place to start. Once a game shopper clicks on a particular game, additional games similar to the chosen game are listed as alternate choices. Using this feature is a great way to shop through the available games. Each game listing provides a game description, the best age group, sales rank against other games, and customer reviews. Every shopper in Amazon should pay attention to the customer reviews and the overall star rating to determine whether or not to buy!
Board Game Ratings sells a wide selection of games from their website and provide shoppers with game descriptions, awards the game has earned, related game choices, their own review and user reviews and ratings. They have a cool rating feature on each game that rates the game based on six factors of gameplay, they are:
- Strategy - How much strategic thinking is required?
- Luck - How much luck is involved?
- Knowledge - How much outside knowledge is needed?
- Creativity - How important outside-the-box thinking is to the game.
- Social interaction - How much the game relies on social activities.
- Complexity - How difficult the game is to learn, play and remember for the next time.
Using one or all of these resources before buying a board game improves the odds of buying the right game for game shoppers. There's really no need to guess and buy a game that ends up sitting on the shelf and winds up at Goodwill barely touched. The internet has brought this game buying thing a long way, hasn't it?
Resources:
- Amazon.com
- Bestcovery.com
- Board Game Ratings.com
Comments
Great resource Jan! As a teacher, I'm always on the lookout for great board games that will both interest and challenge my students on an easy day. Thanks!
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