Kinfire Chronicles and The Era of $150 Board Games

I long resisted the idea that board games are getting too expensive. They just cost what they cost. They’re complicated physical products targeted at a niche audience. But when prices reach the level of “I could buy a new kitchen oven or a board game” level, I think it’s time to ask ourselves some difficult questions.

Like, for example, how good does a board game have to be to justify that? Because make no mistake, Kinfire is pretty good. But is pretty good good enough?

And how do we even answer that? Let’s say that it is, but then four months later another $150 board game comes out that’s also exactly as good. And then another. And then another. Who can afford to keep buying them? Where’s the cut-off? At these prices, how do you continue to judge a game’s quality?

I ignored price for a long while as a board game reviewer, but I feel like it’s become unconcionable lately. A lot of people just can’t reasonably justify to keep making purchases like that. And I feel like the cut-off line has come.