To What Degree Does Theme Matter?

The topic of theme in games was something that came up at a recent gaming meet-up, and it’s something that’s had me thinking. I’m someone who considers myself squarely in the mechanism corner of the board game arena. Whenever I consider any new game, I (mostly) ignore the theme and go straight for the mechanisms. What mechanisms are at play, and is there something that makes the way they are used stand out? Theme is more a secondary consideration for me – not completely disregarded, but at the same time not all that important. I know it matters to some degree to me because I’m not the biggest fan of purely abstract games, and I find it kind of fascinating that at least a portion of people who complain about lack of theme will still find abstract games very engaging. It just makes me wonder how a complete lack of theme is better than partial and/or pasted on theme.

Collection: Acquisitions and Cullings (Feb, 2017)

I should just say this right up front, so far my determination to slow down my game purchases has failed spectacularly, and February has joined January in being a month of many new games entering my collection. This month I made a larger game order (of 6 games) from my newest board gaming resource, intending on it to be the sole games purchase for the month – only to make several individual game purchases shortly after. I also engaged in my first successful math trade this month, and no fewer than three Kickstarter games showed up in the mail within only a few days between them.