Kickstarter addict reflects on backing $16,000 worth of board games, regrets everything

Over the past two-and-a-half years, Reddit user Ranker2 has spent more than $16,000 backing more than 150 board game projects on Kickstarter. It turns out it wasn't worth it.

In a Reddit post titled "An epiphany after 2.5 years backing board games on Kickstarter," Ranker2 wrote about their habit of backing board games on Kickstarter, how it became a sort of addiction, and how they recently came to the realization that most of the board games they backed weren't even enjoyable.

"I reviewed my [Kickstarter] backed list to take inventory on what has or hasn't been delivered when it hit me: most of the games I had backed are terrible or don't get much play," Ranker2 wrote. "While there may be a dozen that the board gaming community may agree were successes, it doesn't mean that THAT type of game or genre was something I enjoyed. Going through the list, I was able to count on one hand how many of those 100+ Kickstarted board games I liked."

Ranker2 followed up on his post with a comment listing every project they backed and how much they paid to back it.

How did it get this bad? Ranker2 said it was their fear of missing out (FOMO) on a potentially good game or a game that other people in the board game community were excited about.

"Kickstarting games felt as if I was part of this insider club with first sneak peeks at board games that the general population wasn't even aware of," Ranker2 wrote. "I would monitor the [Kickstarter] Roundup almost religiously. As time progressed, I kept Kickstarting more and more due to the fear of missing out ... I even backed projects simply because they had a large number of backers -- obviously the game must be great or else so many people wouldn't have backed it right?"

Ranker2 also wrote about how Kickstarting board games usually ends up saving buyers a bit of money, especially if they have to resort to buying the game or add-ons through eBay.

Backing board games became a bit of an addiction, Ranker 2 wrote. Perhaps this stems from Kickstarter being a bit of a gamble -- you're paying for an unfinished project with the hope that it will prove to be great. But there's always a chance that the Kickstarter will fall through or just fail to meet expectations.

"Doing the math, it seems like the winning move is to sit back, let the brave souls sort out the wheat from the chaff, and pay the eBay tax when a winner comes along," Ranker2 wrote. "I'd have a lot more money on my hands not to mention a lot more shelf space."

Sounds like a good plan.