Board Games Aren't Great For The Environment
March 21, 2023 7:14 AM Subscribe
Board games aren't terribly sustainable so to help the environment we must heavily regulate and mostly eliminate private jet usage.
Sorry not sorry to be glib but I'm really out of gas on interacting with sustainability pushes that don't hit the big (mostly untouchable) ones like private jets, maritime trade, and the US Navy (not necessarily in that order).
posted by Slackermagee at 7:31 AM on March 21, 2023 [153 favorites]
Sorry not sorry to be glib but I'm really out of gas on interacting with sustainability pushes that don't hit the big (mostly untouchable) ones like private jets, maritime trade, and the US Navy (not necessarily in that order).
posted by Slackermagee at 7:31 AM on March 21, 2023 [153 favorites]
I always admired the business model of Cheapass Games, whose games contain only those components which are unique to the game. Of course, nowadays you can buy a very nice edition of Kill Doctor Lucky with a full set of components, but I don't know what the relative sales figures look like.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:36 AM on March 21, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:36 AM on March 21, 2023 [11 favorites]
This guide recommends some games that do a good job with sustainability, including Canopy, Downtown Farmers Market, Elevenses, Kingdomino, Oink Games, Paint the Roses, Wingspan, and the slimline edition of Too Many Bones.
In case you're looking to buy some more board games.
posted by box at 7:42 AM on March 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
In case you're looking to buy some more board games.
posted by box at 7:42 AM on March 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
I ready like the old 3M bookcase games. whenever I find one it's usually in great condition. Some are near 60 years old, a tribute to material design.
posted by clavdivs at 7:45 AM on March 21, 2023 [12 favorites]
posted by clavdivs at 7:45 AM on March 21, 2023 [12 favorites]
I just wish the boxes were smaller so I could fit them all on the shelf. At this point I am unlikely to get a new game mostly because I've got nowhere to put it. If they fit in a smaller space I'd probably have more games!
posted by cubby at 7:50 AM on March 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by cubby at 7:50 AM on March 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
Give me a break. I still use board games produced 40-50 years ago that I had as a kid. My own kids' board games are now 15+ years old. They still sit there on a shelf, ready to be used, consuming no further resources, etc.
This reminds me of the debates regarding e-readers more than a decade ago. People told me that their e-readers were better for the environment because they were "saving trees." Yes, but all of those e-readers have likely been hopelessly obsolesced at this point, if they even work at all and now haunt hidden corners of forgotten junk drawers and boxes in closets. Meanwhile my books still sit on their shelves waiting to be re-read by me or discovered by someone else. Most are at least 2-3 decades old and a few are much older still. Still perfectly readable and outside of a light to read by require zero new inputs of energy to use. Same for the board games.
posted by drstrangelove at 7:50 AM on March 21, 2023 [63 favorites]
This reminds me of the debates regarding e-readers more than a decade ago. People told me that their e-readers were better for the environment because they were "saving trees." Yes, but all of those e-readers have likely been hopelessly obsolesced at this point, if they even work at all and now haunt hidden corners of forgotten junk drawers and boxes in closets. Meanwhile my books still sit on their shelves waiting to be re-read by me or discovered by someone else. Most are at least 2-3 decades old and a few are much older still. Still perfectly readable and outside of a light to read by require zero new inputs of energy to use. Same for the board games.
posted by drstrangelove at 7:50 AM on March 21, 2023 [63 favorites]
Horizons of Spirit Island (essentially a somewhat streamlined but backwards-compatible edition of Spirit Island exclusive to Target) was designed to be more physically compact and sustainable (e.g. no plastic tokens).
posted by jedicus at 7:51 AM on March 21, 2023
posted by jedicus at 7:51 AM on March 21, 2023
It would only take eating red meat less often a few times a week; or cycling instead of driving a few times a week; for someone to make up for the carbon emissions of any boardgames that they buy.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 7:53 AM on March 21, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 7:53 AM on March 21, 2023 [10 favorites]
Plastic use is a problem when it’s disposable, because you have to keep making more all the time. I am sure Hasbro has been trying for years to make a single-use board game, but until then I am totally not worried about this one tiny fraction of industrial plastic use.
posted by Jon_Evil at 8:04 AM on March 21, 2023 [24 favorites]
posted by Jon_Evil at 8:04 AM on March 21, 2023 [24 favorites]
We've played Wingspan a few times and I was pleasantly surprised at the non plastic components. I assumed it was an intentional choice given the game; its a little disappointing to learn that that was a recent change due to pushback, but I'm glad they did it.
Yes, there are bigger fish to fry for climate change and plastic use but for me personally I'm happy when a product I like and enjoy goes low or no plastic. Having small kids really drives home just how much freaking plastic there is and how hard it is to avoid; it's great to see designers and manufacturers jump in at the "reduce" stage. Yes, games have a long shelf life but that plastic is going to get discarded eventually. And also, as noted, smaller boxes (and reducing number of components/having players provide their own) means more room for more games!
posted by damayanti at 8:11 AM on March 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
Yes, there are bigger fish to fry for climate change and plastic use but for me personally I'm happy when a product I like and enjoy goes low or no plastic. Having small kids really drives home just how much freaking plastic there is and how hard it is to avoid; it's great to see designers and manufacturers jump in at the "reduce" stage. Yes, games have a long shelf life but that plastic is going to get discarded eventually. And also, as noted, smaller boxes (and reducing number of components/having players provide their own) means more room for more games!
posted by damayanti at 8:11 AM on March 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
I always admired the business model of Cheapass Games, whose games contain only those components which are unique to the game. Of course, nowadays you can buy a very nice edition of Kill Doctor Lucky with a full set of components, but I don't know what the relative sales figures look like.
Cheapass rebranded as James Ernest Games in the mid-2000s because the Cheapass model absolutely wasn't profitable, and I say that as someone who owned many of them at one point. Ernest made more money selling upscale versions of his designs because the overhead on even simple production plus shipping meant that it was simply better business to sell fancier versions of the games.
Since then Ernest has rebranded again as Crab Fragment Labs, selling many of his games on a print-and-play model.
posted by mightygodking at 8:22 AM on March 21, 2023 [12 favorites]
Cheapass rebranded as James Ernest Games in the mid-2000s because the Cheapass model absolutely wasn't profitable, and I say that as someone who owned many of them at one point. Ernest made more money selling upscale versions of his designs because the overhead on even simple production plus shipping meant that it was simply better business to sell fancier versions of the games.
Since then Ernest has rebranded again as Crab Fragment Labs, selling many of his games on a print-and-play model.
posted by mightygodking at 8:22 AM on March 21, 2023 [12 favorites]
My immediate thought was more plastic is wasted in a single takeout food order. If you want to reduce plastic use, encourage more potluck gaming nights.
posted by gwint at 8:24 AM on March 21, 2023 [25 favorites]
posted by gwint at 8:24 AM on March 21, 2023 [25 favorites]
Yeah I'll worry about the waste in packaging for board games, this is a sensible priority and will definitely have any kind of impact whatsoever anywhere ever at any point.
posted by GoblinHoney at 8:27 AM on March 21, 2023 [24 favorites]
posted by GoblinHoney at 8:27 AM on March 21, 2023 [24 favorites]
One thing that people miss in life cycle analysis is the quantity of impact that comes from delivery of the product tends to dwarf manufacture and use costs. This savings is why consumer goods have a sometimes surprising impact, and why it's kind of silly to talk about "the impact" of any product because the single biggest decision you can make are whether you're walking or driving to the store (or getting it delivered).
I'm sure, like most manufacturers, that game manufacturers can be more efficient. Let's push for that, especially smaller boxes and more durable materials because that improves the experience for everyone. But most of the impact is ultimately going to come from infrastructural changes that would help lighten the load from all consumption.
posted by q*ben at 8:30 AM on March 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
I'm sure, like most manufacturers, that game manufacturers can be more efficient. Let's push for that, especially smaller boxes and more durable materials because that improves the experience for everyone. But most of the impact is ultimately going to come from infrastructural changes that would help lighten the load from all consumption.
posted by q*ben at 8:30 AM on March 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
I still use board games produced 40-50 years ago that I had as a kid.this is pretty definitively not what the article is about; it's about modern trends and ethos in board game (over-)production
it is unsurprising to me that there would be a sustainability problem in the industry, but also I agree with cubby -- I just wish packaging were designed to be more compact and efficient about using my precious space, for games I basically only get to play every couple of months when I can gather the appropriate friend group(s).
posted by Kybard at 8:31 AM on March 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
ha HA, finally an angle I can use to convince my friends to stop hosting so many goddamned board game parties.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:35 AM on March 21, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:35 AM on March 21, 2023 [7 favorites]
Over a decade ago I decided that I really needed the wooden box "Nostalgia Series Edition" of games such as Monopoly, Scrabble, Sorry, Risk, and others. This would protect them from damage by our children. I liked the better packaging and how well the games fit on a shelf.
The pieces were a mixed bag of cardboard, paper, and plastic. Still, I appreciated how they differed from the normal boxed Monopoly and the like. Compared to the other board games my children played, these really held up very well. Could have done with more wooden parts instead of plastic; heaven knows how fun Twister would be on a wooden board.
I appreciate what the Green Game Guide is trying to do. In reading their v1, it looks straightforward: make games sustainable, if possible use 100% recycled FSC-certified (or other verifiable sources) wood/paper/cardstock, design out plastic or use certified plastic that’s plant-based AND compostable, and design compact boxes with no plastic wrap and made for recyclability.
I wish more things in my life were designed this way, including my to-go orders. Heck, I look back at my CD music purchases over the last few decades and wonder about the plastic cases and the plastic-wrapped cardboard box they came in, so they were the same height in the LP racks. Anyone else remember when cardboard-based CD cases were noteworthy?
I get this is a different use case, given the games generally sit on shelves for years, whereas the CD+cardboard+plastic wrap was more for marketing/sales and designed to be discarded. I tend to think of this as a starting spot (ala the cardboard-based CD cases) as part of a larger trend of acceptance and the Green Game Guide is giving a path for the organizations who are looking for guidance.
posted by bacalao_y_betun at 8:38 AM on March 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
The pieces were a mixed bag of cardboard, paper, and plastic. Still, I appreciated how they differed from the normal boxed Monopoly and the like. Compared to the other board games my children played, these really held up very well. Could have done with more wooden parts instead of plastic; heaven knows how fun Twister would be on a wooden board.
I appreciate what the Green Game Guide is trying to do. In reading their v1, it looks straightforward: make games sustainable, if possible use 100% recycled FSC-certified (or other verifiable sources) wood/paper/cardstock, design out plastic or use certified plastic that’s plant-based AND compostable, and design compact boxes with no plastic wrap and made for recyclability.
I wish more things in my life were designed this way, including my to-go orders. Heck, I look back at my CD music purchases over the last few decades and wonder about the plastic cases and the plastic-wrapped cardboard box they came in, so they were the same height in the LP racks. Anyone else remember when cardboard-based CD cases were noteworthy?
I get this is a different use case, given the games generally sit on shelves for years, whereas the CD+cardboard+plastic wrap was more for marketing/sales and designed to be discarded. I tend to think of this as a starting spot (ala the cardboard-based CD cases) as part of a larger trend of acceptance and the Green Game Guide is giving a path for the organizations who are looking for guidance.
posted by bacalao_y_betun at 8:38 AM on March 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
well behind even video games when it comes to sustainability
Where’s the argument for that? I don’t see it in the Kotaku article.
Although, never mind, how we each prefer to use our share of atmospheric capacity doesn’t matter for climate change — staying within the planetary limit does. Cap fossil fuel extraction, auction it, rebate the money to every human per capita, let individuals choose how to use it.
posted by clew at 8:46 AM on March 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Where’s the argument for that? I don’t see it in the Kotaku article.
Although, never mind, how we each prefer to use our share of atmospheric capacity doesn’t matter for climate change — staying within the planetary limit does. Cap fossil fuel extraction, auction it, rebate the money to every human per capita, let individuals choose how to use it.
posted by clew at 8:46 AM on March 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
This reminds me of the debates regarding e-readers more than a decade ago. People told me that their e-readers were better for the environment because they were "saving trees." Yes, but all of those e-readers have likely been hopelessly obsolesced at this point
Less of a problem about e-readers and more of a problem about using locked-in file formats, no? After all, PDFs and ePubs are quite portable and works across many devices. But on topic, I've recently gotten the impression that the money spent on a boardgame is less about covering the cost of producing the board and the tokens etc., and more about the developer recouping the time in designing, refining, testing and revising and then promoting the game over it's lifecycle. If I devote a year of my life to developing a game, I need the return to meet -- to exceed, actually -- the value of a year of my life.
To pick Azul, for example, there's no reason you couldn't play the game on a roll-out mat and use cards and tokens cut-out from index card stock. The gameplay would be identical. But the lovely board and shiny gorgeous tiles enhance the experience, which justifies raising the price, which justifies the developer working on further games. This continues until the dev gets bored and moves on, or until the extra tactile bits don't enhance the experience anymore, and development on the game collapses.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 8:46 AM on March 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Less of a problem about e-readers and more of a problem about using locked-in file formats, no? After all, PDFs and ePubs are quite portable and works across many devices. But on topic, I've recently gotten the impression that the money spent on a boardgame is less about covering the cost of producing the board and the tokens etc., and more about the developer recouping the time in designing, refining, testing and revising and then promoting the game over it's lifecycle. If I devote a year of my life to developing a game, I need the return to meet -- to exceed, actually -- the value of a year of my life.
To pick Azul, for example, there's no reason you couldn't play the game on a roll-out mat and use cards and tokens cut-out from index card stock. The gameplay would be identical. But the lovely board and shiny gorgeous tiles enhance the experience, which justifies raising the price, which justifies the developer working on further games. This continues until the dev gets bored and moves on, or until the extra tactile bits don't enhance the experience anymore, and development on the game collapses.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 8:46 AM on March 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
finally an angle I can use to convince my friends to stop hosting so many goddamned board game parties.
I... I would like to meet your friends. <_<
posted by xedrik at 8:50 AM on March 21, 2023 [9 favorites]
I... I would like to meet your friends. <_<
posted by xedrik at 8:50 AM on March 21, 2023 [9 favorites]
I just wish packaging were designed to be more compact and efficient about using my precious space
Yes, please. Quite regardless from the sustainability point, Please just package games in boxes that can reasonably fit on a Billy bookshelf. I'm not even a huge board game person, but I have more than a few that have to get packed in those under-bed storage bins and slid under my coach when not in use, because the boxes are too big to fit on my shelves or in the cabinet where we keep most of our games.
I do understand that giant boxes are a marketing thing and help games standout on store shelves and probably even help justify the price, but let's be reasonable. Not everyone lives in a 3,000 sq. ft. McMansion with an entire room in the basement devoted entirely to the board game hobby.
posted by asnider at 8:57 AM on March 21, 2023 [7 favorites]
Yes, please. Quite regardless from the sustainability point, Please just package games in boxes that can reasonably fit on a Billy bookshelf. I'm not even a huge board game person, but I have more than a few that have to get packed in those under-bed storage bins and slid under my coach when not in use, because the boxes are too big to fit on my shelves or in the cabinet where we keep most of our games.
I do understand that giant boxes are a marketing thing and help games standout on store shelves and probably even help justify the price, but let's be reasonable. Not everyone lives in a 3,000 sq. ft. McMansion with an entire room in the basement devoted entirely to the board game hobby.
posted by asnider at 8:57 AM on March 21, 2023 [7 favorites]
Are Billy cubicles the right size for LPs too? That seems like a decent shelf standard. Bigger than anyone’s face, usually small enough to be picked up in one hand.
posted by clew at 9:05 AM on March 21, 2023
posted by clew at 9:05 AM on March 21, 2023
I just want a standard size for boardgame boxes like DVD cases (obviously larger) so I don't have to engage in an entirely separate game of Tetris to try and fit them all into a shelf without wasted space.
posted by msbutah at 9:06 AM on March 21, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by msbutah at 9:06 AM on March 21, 2023 [5 favorites]
finally an angle I can use to convince my friends to stop hosting so many goddamned board game parties.
Careful- they may decide to amortize their sunk carbon cost by hosting even more board game evenings.
posted by zamboni at 9:37 AM on March 21, 2023 [8 favorites]
Careful- they may decide to amortize their sunk carbon cost by hosting even more board game evenings.
posted by zamboni at 9:37 AM on March 21, 2023 [8 favorites]
They do know that you can play the board game more than once, yes? You don't throw it away and buy a new one each time.
posted by AlSweigart at 10:06 AM on March 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by AlSweigart at 10:06 AM on March 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
Anybody here wanna trade some wool for styrofoam?
posted by bondcliff at 10:08 AM on March 21, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by bondcliff at 10:08 AM on March 21, 2023 [9 favorites]
Are Billy cubicles the right size for LPs too?
Actuall Billys? No, I don't think so. But the Expidite line and whatever the thing that replaced it is called are the exact right size for LPs.
posted by asnider at 10:28 AM on March 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Actuall Billys? No, I don't think so. But the Expidite line and whatever the thing that replaced it is called are the exact right size for LPs.
posted by asnider at 10:28 AM on March 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
They do know that you can play the board game more than once, yes? You don't throw it away and buy a new one each time.
There are single-play games out there where, by design, you tear pages out of the rule book and cut up the components to solve puzzles, but at least they are produced with a minimum of plastic and are reasonably packaged. (And they're a lot of fun!)
posted by xedrik at 10:30 AM on March 21, 2023
There are single-play games out there where, by design, you tear pages out of the rule book and cut up the components to solve puzzles, but at least they are produced with a minimum of plastic and are reasonably packaged. (And they're a lot of fun!)
posted by xedrik at 10:30 AM on March 21, 2023
There are single-play games out there where, by design, you tear pages out of the rule book and cut up the components to solve puzzles, but at least they are produced with a minimum of plastic and are reasonably packaged. (And they're a lot of fun!)
This is a good point but, like you say, they're usually mostly paper/cardboard and so should, at least in theory, but generating minimal waste and be recyclable.
One notable exception is Risk Legacy (which, technically, is played more than once, in a sort of campaign-style). It's very expensive and does have a lot of plastic but, by design, it is really only playable through one campaign, after which it's not really replayable (because of spoilers and the fact that, if played accordingly to the letter of the rules, you're supposed to destroy certain components in certain circumstances and even physically write/draw on the game board).
Now this is a unique situation, but it's one that is starting to be aped by other designers, such as Pandemic Legacy (which actually takes is a step further and is marketed as a one-and-done campaign, whereas Risk Legacy was at least hypothetically supposed to be playable after the campaign was finished -- usually this was not practical in reality because the changes made to the board as a result of the campaign left things very unbalanced).
posted by asnider at 11:09 AM on March 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
This is a good point but, like you say, they're usually mostly paper/cardboard and so should, at least in theory, but generating minimal waste and be recyclable.
One notable exception is Risk Legacy (which, technically, is played more than once, in a sort of campaign-style). It's very expensive and does have a lot of plastic but, by design, it is really only playable through one campaign, after which it's not really replayable (because of spoilers and the fact that, if played accordingly to the letter of the rules, you're supposed to destroy certain components in certain circumstances and even physically write/draw on the game board).
Now this is a unique situation, but it's one that is starting to be aped by other designers, such as Pandemic Legacy (which actually takes is a step further and is marketed as a one-and-done campaign, whereas Risk Legacy was at least hypothetically supposed to be playable after the campaign was finished -- usually this was not practical in reality because the changes made to the board as a result of the campaign left things very unbalanced).
posted by asnider at 11:09 AM on March 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
And here I was hoping for the sustainability flame war comparing Gloomhaven vs. Scythe vs. Axis and Allies...
posted by Chuffy at 11:22 AM on March 21, 2023
posted by Chuffy at 11:22 AM on March 21, 2023
It looks like US board game sales is about $2 billion. At $20/game, for example, that means about 100 million games a year, or roughly one per household. (I'm sure these numbers are wrong, but the order of magnitude is right.)
Echoing others: it's certainly good to reduce waste, but this is about 733rd on the priority list.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 11:34 AM on March 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
Echoing others: it's certainly good to reduce waste, but this is about 733rd on the priority list.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 11:34 AM on March 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
One notable exception is Risk Legacy (which, technically, is played more than once, in a sort of campaign-style). It's very expensive and does have a lot of plastic but, by design, it is really only playable through one campaign,
On the other hand, a Risk: Legacy campaign is 15 sessions long. I don't have any hard numbers, but I feel like that's a pretty decent level of use compared to the average copy of the average board game. Sure, lots of people will play their copy of Settlers of Catan or Wingspan or whatever hundreds of times, but many copies of many games will only be played once or twice, if that.
Having played Risk: Legacy and Pandemic: Legacy Seasons 1 and 2, I don't really think of them as pushing a disposable, recurring-purchase business model. Or if the publishers were trying to push it I don't think it worked. No one in the groups that I played through those games with was particularly interested in buying another copy. They were fun but not really replayable even with a fresh copy.
posted by jedicus at 11:37 AM on March 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
On the other hand, a Risk: Legacy campaign is 15 sessions long. I don't have any hard numbers, but I feel like that's a pretty decent level of use compared to the average copy of the average board game. Sure, lots of people will play their copy of Settlers of Catan or Wingspan or whatever hundreds of times, but many copies of many games will only be played once or twice, if that.
Having played Risk: Legacy and Pandemic: Legacy Seasons 1 and 2, I don't really think of them as pushing a disposable, recurring-purchase business model. Or if the publishers were trying to push it I don't think it worked. No one in the groups that I played through those games with was particularly interested in buying another copy. They were fun but not really replayable even with a fresh copy.
posted by jedicus at 11:37 AM on March 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
But the Expidite line and whatever the thing that replaced it is called are the exact right size for LPs.
Expedit/Kallax is a default storage option for board game tragics (even spawning kickstarters for add-ons like LAX RAX), but it’s definitely trending towards the aforementioned
posted by zamboni at 11:43 AM on March 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
Expedit/Kallax is a default storage option for board game tragics (even spawning kickstarters for add-ons like LAX RAX), but it’s definitely trending towards the aforementioned
dedicated room full of gamesterritory.
posted by zamboni at 11:43 AM on March 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
Very nice, registering each lax rax onto the box below it.
posted by clew at 12:13 PM on March 21, 2023
posted by clew at 12:13 PM on March 21, 2023
Still haven’t found the worked comparison to video game sustainability.
posted by clew at 12:14 PM on March 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by clew at 12:14 PM on March 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
No one in the groups that I played through those games with was particularly interested in buying another copy.
I didn't mean that they were pushing people to buy multiple copies, but more about the fact that, once played through, the game is "done" and may just become waste.
But you're right that 15 sessions is more play than many other games get (which is, in part, why I would prefer to pay to play at a board game café than jam my house full of games I won't play more than a handful of times; if I'm going to shell out for a game, I want to know I'll get repeated enjoyment out of it).
On yet another hand, a game that you only play twice can be sold or given away. "Legacy" games, unless you want to keep it as a fun artefact, have little or no resale value (if played by the letter of the rules) and will still enter the waste stream sooner than other games.
posted by asnider at 12:17 PM on March 21, 2023
I didn't mean that they were pushing people to buy multiple copies, but more about the fact that, once played through, the game is "done" and may just become waste.
But you're right that 15 sessions is more play than many other games get (which is, in part, why I would prefer to pay to play at a board game café than jam my house full of games I won't play more than a handful of times; if I'm going to shell out for a game, I want to know I'll get repeated enjoyment out of it).
On yet another hand, a game that you only play twice can be sold or given away. "Legacy" games, unless you want to keep it as a fun artefact, have little or no resale value (if played by the letter of the rules) and will still enter the waste stream sooner than other games.
posted by asnider at 12:17 PM on March 21, 2023
Still haven’t found the worked comparison to video game sustainability.
There's a link in the article to a different white paper about video game sustainability, but it is still very weird that the comparison is made in the subhead/teaser text when the case isn't actually made in the argument itself. I guess it's just because it's Kotaku and they're known for covering the (video) gaming industry?
posted by asnider at 12:19 PM on March 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
There's a link in the article to a different white paper about video game sustainability, but it is still very weird that the comparison is made in the subhead/teaser text when the case isn't actually made in the argument itself. I guess it's just because it's Kotaku and they're known for covering the (video) gaming industry?
posted by asnider at 12:19 PM on March 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
Board games aren't terribly sustainable so to help the environment we must heavily regulate and mostly eliminate private jet usage.
To the rich and powerful, a private jet is simply a game piece on the board of Earth.
posted by FJT at 1:07 PM on March 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
To the rich and powerful, a private jet is simply a game piece on the board of Earth.
posted by FJT at 1:07 PM on March 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
Back in the day video games came in large boxes with printed instruction manuals and posters and the like. Nowadays if you're getting a physical copy it'll be a disk or cartridge in a jewel case with no manual or anything else, and if you're just downloading it then there isn't anything at all.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 2:22 PM on March 21, 2023
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 2:22 PM on March 21, 2023
Anybody here wanna trade some wool for styrofoam?
Depends—do you want wool or styrofoam?
posted by cyclopticgaze at 2:36 PM on March 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
Depends—do you want wool or styrofoam?
posted by cyclopticgaze at 2:36 PM on March 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
I suspect the environmental cost of a video game is more in the energy to power the gaming computers and the servers - here's an article, for instance, that claims that US gaming consoles are linked to 34 terawatt hours a year in energy usage, which is equivalent to the carbon dioxide emissions of roughly five million cars. In that respect, at least, a board game (which you can still play when the power goes out as long as you've got candles) might be more environmentally friendly than a video game - even if it does have more plastic bits than one might wish.
posted by Jeanne at 3:28 PM on March 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Jeanne at 3:28 PM on March 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
I never bought a copy of Dominion because of how they packaged a card game
posted by krisjohn at 3:35 PM on March 21, 2023
posted by krisjohn at 3:35 PM on March 21, 2023
that US gaming consoles are linked to 34 terawatt hours a year in energy usage, That's almost 5x the amount of energy used by the U..S. Navy.
posted by clavdivs at 3:36 PM on March 21, 2023
posted by clavdivs at 3:36 PM on March 21, 2023
> I never bought a copy of Dominion because of how they packaged a card game
It's a useful way to sort the cards. A cardboard or wooden one would be nicer, but I think it's reasonable.
posted by The corpse in the library at 3:52 PM on March 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
It's a useful way to sort the cards. A cardboard or wooden one would be nicer, but I think it's reasonable.
posted by The corpse in the library at 3:52 PM on March 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
Agreed. The insert is there to keep cards separated. Weren’t a lot of empty spots IIRC.
posted by Windopaene at 4:20 PM on March 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Windopaene at 4:20 PM on March 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
I suspect the environmental cost of a video game is more in the energy to power the gaming computers and the servers
I've only got a Nintendo Switch, and because it is meant to be portable it needs to be reasonably energy efficient as well. I could believe that an XBox, Playstation or computer with a powerful video card would be using a lot more electricity. On the server side as electricity use is a cost I'd imaging the people running the servers would be doing what they could to reduce it. As far as the consoles themselves are concerned I don't think a gamer is going to accept a lower electricity bill in exchange for worse graphics so maybe the best we can hope for are standby/sleep modes that actually use little to no power.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 4:22 PM on March 21, 2023
I've only got a Nintendo Switch, and because it is meant to be portable it needs to be reasonably energy efficient as well. I could believe that an XBox, Playstation or computer with a powerful video card would be using a lot more electricity. On the server side as electricity use is a cost I'd imaging the people running the servers would be doing what they could to reduce it. As far as the consoles themselves are concerned I don't think a gamer is going to accept a lower electricity bill in exchange for worse graphics so maybe the best we can hope for are standby/sleep modes that actually use little to no power.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 4:22 PM on March 21, 2023
Private jets are terrible, but there aren't that many of them. Collectively, they contribute 0.1% of global GHG emissions as far as I can tell. That's a lot relative to the number is people that use them, but just a reminder: we could ban private jets and we wouldn't even move the needle in this. You could ban all aviation altogether and you'd still have to contend with 97.5% of emissions.
More than intensivity, what matters is scale. Board games have that over private jets.
Am I defending private jet usage? No. But it is bizarre to focus on it, when it has so little actual impact. We can't fix climate change by making millionaires live like us. The way we all live is the problem. Private jets are individually worse than cars, but collectively, it's the cars that matter more, by orders of magnitude, because there are more of them.
Board games aren't going to move the needle much either. Doesn't mean don't do anything - I applaud the move to more sustainable materials, production, packaging (doesn't hurt that it typically makes for a nice experience as a player - plastic sucks). But this, like private jets, like aviation in general really, is futzing with deck chairs while the Titanic bears down on a recently calved and melting berg.
posted by Dysk at 11:21 PM on March 21, 2023
More than intensivity, what matters is scale. Board games have that over private jets.
Am I defending private jet usage? No. But it is bizarre to focus on it, when it has so little actual impact. We can't fix climate change by making millionaires live like us. The way we all live is the problem. Private jets are individually worse than cars, but collectively, it's the cars that matter more, by orders of magnitude, because there are more of them.
Board games aren't going to move the needle much either. Doesn't mean don't do anything - I applaud the move to more sustainable materials, production, packaging (doesn't hurt that it typically makes for a nice experience as a player - plastic sucks). But this, like private jets, like aviation in general really, is futzing with deck chairs while the Titanic bears down on a recently calved and melting berg.
posted by Dysk at 11:21 PM on March 21, 2023
Seen on Twitter just now: Loam, a board game about biodiversity and building healthy soils, which will be available both in print-and-play form and in a boxed version with recycled paper, vegetable-based inks, and no plastic except for the shrinkwrap around the boxes.
I am oddly intrigued by a game about building healthy soils with microbial biodiversity.
posted by Jeanne at 12:04 PM on March 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
I am oddly intrigued by a game about building healthy soils with microbial biodiversity.
posted by Jeanne at 12:04 PM on March 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'm in a number of board game design groups online. Every once in a while someone asks about what sorts of design considerations might help a game be more environmentally friendly, or whether there are particular publishers or manufacturers that would help them towards making their game greener. It used to be that these questions would be met almost universally with "stop asking/thinking about this because denialism/nihilism". But that trend is slowly, slowly changing as these groups warm up little by little to greener design.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 10:06 AM on March 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 10:06 AM on March 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by Etrigan at 7:17 AM on March 21, 2023 [3 favorites]