Board Game Burnout and how to deal with it

Please note that this video and content is in relation to "playing board games" and not designing board games. I will simply add that when Designers suffer from Board Game Designer Burnout which is also a thing... It's best to have a roster of games that allow you to switch to another game and establish a better focus on something more "NEW" and fresh!

This will allow a Designer to focus his mental energy on a new set of issues as most games are different from one another.

If you are designing two (2) TCGs (Trading Card Games) well ... If you burnout on one, it might be best to focus on another GENRE of game altogether.

Why? Because two (2) TCGs which may be different may have similar aspects and as a Board Game Designer, you may get burnout on this GENRE of game. It may be wise to focus on a game that is let's say an AREA CONTROL game which is FAR DIFFERENT from a TCG (as one example).

Cheers!

Note #1: The whole idea is to TRY to focus on different mechanics not only "Set & Hand Management", "Take-That" and "Card Drafting" as another example.

Different mechanics pose different set of challenges and this MIGHT help to get you back to your TCG sooner rather than later as you work through issues with another Board Game!

The Video is about "Board Game Burnout", the fact that with all the stressors in the world, it is becoming hard to ENJOY the "Board Game Hobby". Things like reading, learning and understanding NEW Games and their rules is becoming a less favorable activity for what apparently is a certain group of people.

Watch the Video if you are UNSURE... If after 5 minutes you cannot relate, well then this is NOT you and therefore may not be content that appeals to you in that you may not suffer from "Board Game Burnout".

Sincerely.

Magic: the Gathering (MtG) is a very BAD example. Why? Because you MUST build your DECK before Playing. As such it is very HARD to LEARN without being given an initial deck to play with.

Even once you have such a deck, you need to learn the cards that are part of that deck and how to play the game to win USING that "specific" deck.

Again "Not Easy". Magic: Arena does a good job in introducing the game to new players but as you move onwards, tailoring specific decks becomes more and more difficult.

Sure you get better cards ... But do you KNOW what to do with them???

This is the same like "Pokémon Pocket" when the game started, there were only three (3) Booster Packs and about 150+ cards. It was then EASY to construct a deck given a limited POOL of cards.

But as NEW Booster Packs were introduced, the game and it's cards have taken a serious learning curve in making better decks for Pokémon. I play once and a while, I get Booster Packs every other day and wonder picks to TRY to get better cards, etc. etc.

However the game with all the booster packs (like 8 so far) ... Is becoming more and more difficult to build and play with.

Cheers @X3M.

Update: Just to let you know there were 3 initial Booster Packs and now there are currently 8 of them available to draw cards from...

I'm thinking about using "Pocket Pokémon" as a GAME for my Cousin's two boys. I will need to review the cards and make them only 25 "Game" Cards and 25 "Energy" Cards. So 50 cards to a Deck = -10 from the original game and with some exceptions created by the NEW "Compact" Pocket version (I have to tailor the decks again...)

Anyhow ... I will work on that soon enough.

If I were ever to design a game for public. I would sort the units and cards. Having portions A, B and C. And start in the manual that new players only play with the A portions.

The manual as well. Would have, of course the explanation as a whole. But clearly have A, B and C. The colours used would be red, blue and green. And then also give them different background textures for the colour blind.

But this is side tracked.

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A burnout on board gaming itself. Is very bad. Solutions?
Either you find a new board game that is totally different.
Or you start making your own rules.
Or you don't play board games for a while and do something else in those times. Have a drink and relax, start watching a series, go out and do some sports. Get a different hobby like gathering a certain set of toys. Clean your house, it has been a while, hasn't it? Do some gardening (I hated doing that, but found a game-like way to do it).