Question about that guy who said playtesting is a waste of time

An old player at my local meetup in Austin told me last month that playtesting games before buying is pointless because reviews are enough. I trusted him and bought a $60 game that turned out to be a total dud with broken rules. Has anyone else had bad luck from skipping the test play?

2 comments

2 Comments

karenw231mo ago

Honestly, I think people get way too dramatic about a bad board game purchase. It's sixty bucks, not a mortgage payment, and you can always sell or trade it if it sucks. Ngl, sometimes half the fun is the gamble of trying something blind and getting a surprise hit.

felix_coleman871mo ago

Bought it blind off that advice too, $70 for a game called "Cosmic Heist" that had rules so broken you couldn't even finish a round without arguing. Ended up sitting in my shelf for a year before I traded it for a used deck of cards. Now I never buy without watching a full playthrough on youtube or trying it at the store. Reviews can hype up anything, but you can't fake watching real people struggling with bad mechanics.