Quick question: are reviews mandatory for board game websites?

I say this because that is what everyone seems to do. Some websites only do reviews and consider that adequate content. Is that all that people want?

I got more to say about this after the jump, of course…

I briefly touched on this on I Can Deal a bit ago that games are more likely to be played if they are talked about but do they have to be in review form?

On one hand, having a lot of different opinions on a game is always good for the consumer but when all the opinions seem to be the same & people buy the games before they are released, does it matter? Add in the fact that a lot of games are from Kickstarter and there are people who make a living out of these exclusive reviews, and it just really gets you thinking.

What purpose do these reviews serve to most of these people and what does a review mean to them?

Personally, I don’t look at reviews much. That said, I do look at how games are played, components, and features of a game. Never been the keenest on jumping on the review world since I want to play games for fun and not worried about scores or what not. But people asking about games is sort of like a mini-review. Those aren’t bad, are they?

We talked about reviews a little bit on I Can Deal as well and it can be an interesting topic. Nowadays I think a review needs the follow aspects (at least)…

• Show off the game (components)
• Good/Bad Aspects
• How it makes you feel?
• profit
• Recommended point of action

The first aspect is pretty clear, you show people what comes in the box (if there is one). Doesn’t have to be every little detail but a good idea of what comes in the box like miniatures, cardboard, cards, etc.

The second aspect is simple enough as well, explain what you liked and disliked about the game. Why should someone bother with it if it doesn’t have good stuff about it. This could be innovation in gameplay or neat features. But this should be worked vice versa as well. Where there’s Ying, there is Yang.

The third aspect is all about sharing your feelings. How does the game make you feel when you play it? Does it elicit any feelings for good or bad when you play it? You should be playing board games for the excitement and/or fun and if it can’t do that, why should you bother?

The fourth aspect was really just an underwear gnome joke but profit can be important. By profit I mean profit for the company. The price for the game can be a biggie. Board games aren’t cheap and there are some games I know I won’t be willing to throw cash at because of their price compared to what you get.

The last aspect is a tricky one. Obviously it boils down to personal opinion but a lot of the time in other industries, people just jump to this section. Should this be a recommendation for others or yourself? Should you keep your opinions to yourself and let them come to a conclusion after reading it all? And that is a big question for reviewers nowadays.

Will this be the foundation of NTBoardGames reviews? Did I miss something? Should we start doing reviews? Let me know in the comments/Twitter/Facebook.

Remember…I’m just talking…