Tabletop gaming can be an expensive proposition. Whether it is purchasing new board games to
play, more miniatures to improve your army, or the newest expansion for the
collectible card game there is a cost to it.
What is worse is when you do buy something only to find that it is not
what you expected and you are stuck with it.
There are a number of different ways to get rid of things
that you do not want. Like selling them
on eBay, but you very rarely get the entire cost of you original purchase
back.
So what is a gamer to do?
I have a number of suggestions below for ways to be able to
play the games that you like without spending a lot of money. I have broken them up by type of game because
not all of the suggestions will work for all types of gaming.
Board Games
One of the best ways to board game on a budget is to go free
open board gaming events. These events
can be found at the friendly local game store if they have gaming space in the
store. If they do not have an event,
offer to run an event at the store for them.
Most of the time the management of the store will be open to the idea
since it means it will bring people into the store who are potential customers.
Another place to find these events is online at www.meetup.com. There are many of these groups there and
there should be one in your local area.
The problem you can run into is that the quality of games
and players can vary from group to group.
I was lucky to find a group here in Orange County, CA that has lots of
quality players and the variety of games that are brought to the events is
high. In over five years of attending
events, I have not been to one where there someone does not bring a game that I
have not seen before.
That being said, I have also been to events that do not a
great selection of games and the players have pretty bad game playing
etiquette. You will most likely have to
go through some trial and error to find a group that suits you.
Once you find the right group all you will need to do is
rely on others to show up with the games and you will be able to play to your
heart’s content. I do recommend that you
get your own board games when you can afford them in order to support the group. It is not required but it is always good
form. By the time you will look to
purchase a game you will already know what games you may want to purchase.
Another option for board gaming would be to play print and
play games. For a number of these games all
you need is a color printer and something to represent tokens and bits for the
game. Think Cheapass Games on a
budget.
It is a good way to be able to try out a game before
purchasing it. A number of Kickstarters
had gone this route with their games to get them out there before publishing
the game.
Card Games
The cheapest route to go with card games is to go the print
and play route. You can find a number of
free card games here http://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/39932/free-print-n-play-card-games
. All you need is a color printer and
some decent card stock and you off and running.
In the case of collectable card games there are a number of
counterfeit cards out there that you can get for free or cheap. I do not recommend that any one go this
route. As far as I am concerned if you
want to play this type of game you should to pay for the cards.
Miniatures
There are a number of
free rules systems out there for miniature games. This has a lot to do with the business model
for miniatures which is for the companies to make money off of the
miniatures. Only a few companies like
Games Workshop and Warlord Games can make money out of selling the rules and
miniatures. A resource to find free
miniatures rules is http://www.freewargamesrules.co.uk/
. They have a very comprehensive list of
free miniature game rules across all genres.
The problem is getting hands miniatures which are the profit
center for any miniatures game company.
One thing that you can do is create your own markers. This can be done a number of ways using
cardboard chits or rounds. You just have
to make sure that you make your front face and are clear about your arcs. You will also need a way to differentiate
your pieces.
Role Playing Games
For role playing games my advice is similar to the advice
for board games. If you just want to
play in role playing games the best way to find a group is to find one at your
friendly local game store. You will most
likely not be able to start a group unless you are willing to run games that
can be purchased at the store, which will require you to spend money on the
rule books if you do not own them already.
In regards to getting an actual game, role playing games
seem to have a lot of the best options for gaming on a budget. There are literally dozens of role playing
game systems on the internet for free. A
resource that has a number of them but is by no means complete is http://ericgarrison.wordpress.com/about/games/
and there is always open game license (OGL) for the D & D 3.5 rules at http://www.d20srd.org/ . These give you complete rule sets to use for
role playing games.
As you can see there are a number of ways that you can make
tabletop gaming affordable. All it takes
is a little time and effort on your part to be able to create these
opportunities.
If you have any other suggestions on this subject, please
let me know. If I get enough of them I
will do a follow up to this article.
This is one of the reasons I have the library I manage hold tabletop gaming events.
ReplyDeleteI get one of three reactions.
1) Pfft. Whatever. Board Games Suck.
2) "OMG! I don't know any of these games." And then they sit down and play.
3) "HOLY CRAP?! Do you want to play Brass?" And then they sit down and play.
Bottom line is that 2 out of three people that attend my events come back and then actively advocate for other people to join. It is a great thing. I love it.