The real big problem for boardgames is that it has no real grounding for criticism. Literally the requirement for being a boardgame reviewer is just being able to play games and say things they like and dislike.
The growth of the whole thing purely in the money for clicks space is like a pure Petri dish for the most predatory and nasty practice.
It’s a telling that one of the real top reviewers (SUSD) starts out from a writing person background and boardgame person second (look how both Smith and Dean really expand their brief now) . The joy is in the telling of the story rather than the boasting about having some toys for free.
… you ever have that moment where somebody says something and you just, like… have your jaw drop because it is such a perfect summation of a thing and you never thought of how to put it so cleanly before?
Criticism in boardgaming is in a weird place. It’s less about setting the game in the context of the boardgame culture, and more about reminding everyone that X in game Y was actually very problematic. It’s become a weird box ticking exercise, or worse, the entire focus of a review that’s now trying to be a documentary(?). It’s something I don’t think the industry has really managed to handle. Like no real research goes into the history to present it in an interesting way that provides perspective. Just vague gesturing.
Spacebiff has probably come the closest with his long read articles that does resemble something analogous to what Kermode would write about film, but my god, they’re often hard-going to get through.
My thoughts exactly. It might have been unintended, but it does not look good.
On the other hand, I have followed his advice (and also from other channels close to Quackalope) and stopped followed them as they were just churning KS videos and being a bad influence to my pocket, so I don’t think the guy is full of malice. But that is just my opinion. They have always been clear about doing paid promotions (at least that I know of) and it is something that I didn’t need in my life, so it was natural step for me to stop following them.
Consumers follow influencers. But it is also true the other way around. It is an ecosystem. As the Joker once said: we live in a society. Quackalope’s dodginess aside, I don’t have a beef with influencers. It’s a job. This is the equivalent of hating your marketing department. At the end of the day, they have to pay their bills. What matters is to be a bit street-smart and know what you want to gain from them. But this seems like a sign of what the industry will look like in the future.
It’s such a weird thing being a “reviewer”. You want to review something but without actually reviewing it. If that make sense. This is my 1AM confession: I tried my own way of becoming a reviewer years ago, but quickly realised that in order to be ““successful””, you shouldn’t be a critic. Rather, one that induces enthusiasm, which is what publishers and the audience wants. You only need to check the comment section on not-so-stellar reviews on popular games that established reviewers like SUSD have done.
Although I still get a bit irrationally peeved when these same people are talking about the rampant consumerism in the hobby. I can’t help but to think of that “hold on! this whole operation was your idea” meme
