So lately, I’ve been backing games on Kickstarter (well, games and books). I’m not even sure why, since we don’t really play games at home at the moment. Sure, I’m hoping once we move into a bigger place, and actually have a table, that will change. Plus, I’m hoping that once Monki gets a little older she’ll want to play some games and we can have some family fun outside of the TV.
So for now, I see games which look interesting and I back them. Part of this is, as I say above, is about the future. But part, also, is about the idea of Kickstarter in general. I also tend to buy things from Etsy whenever possible. Yes, they might be a little more expensive, but that’s the price you pay for backing smaller, independent creators and companies. Today’s world is an interesting one to navigate, because the constant rhetoric in America (and elsewhere) is “buy local, support small” but then, when push comes to pocketbook, we go with low-cost and convenient. As much as you hate them, this is why Amazon is where they are in the market. So instead, I look at the homemade products (which are no less professional than their corporate counterparts) and see what ideas they have on offer (check out OctoBitzy, CustomizeMeAz, or Emijane, all places I’ve purchased great products, for an examples).
Kickstarter and Etsy are both part of this new crowdfunding revolution (there are plenty of others as well). The idea being that we can all pull together and support the things we like so they can manifest in the real world. One of my favorite bands, Marillion, started doing this years ago, pre-selling their albums in order to pay for the studio time to actually record the things. Then they’d pre-sell their concert tours so they could go out on the road and entertain fans. I love this. It’s like the good old days of patronage, where a rich person would pay for the time of an artist to create things. Which of course has its modern-day equivalent in Patreon.com, which I also support. So I crowdfund where I can.
Of course, this post originally started because I wanted to talk about 10 Gorgeous Retro Board Games Based on Sci-Fi Classics. I mean what better way to teach someone about space than television and movie board games? But then it evolved into something else. So, just to get it back on track and come back to my original intent, the idea of new and exciting board games, many found on Kickstarter, let me also toss in a link to a Popular Mechanics “best board games” article from the end of last year, including games about writing from Fowers Games.
And if you want to come on by and play a game, let me know and we’ll set up a time. We can always hang out, have a coffee, roll some dice or throw down some cards or, hey, we can get crazy and create fantasy character for an RPG. Ultimately, this whole post is really just about community and coming together to have some fun.
Getting the Hang of Thursdays 