Evergreen Trends
Based on sales of evergreens, new customer acquisition for the category, and/or the repeat purchase rate of recently acquired customers are both down.
Inflation Impacts
In a sign that inflation, which boosted board and card game prices dramatically during the pandemic, may be having an impact, some were describing price-related sales shifts. The ultra-high end, presumably frequented by higher income consumers, seems to be holding up OK for the handful of titles in that price range.
Play Style
The style of play consumers are looking for is also having an impact on what’s selling. "What we’re seeing a really good turnaround on is the more casual, lighter, social play games," Pat Fuge of Wisconsin game store chain Gnome Games observed.
Titles on the Move
Titles new to the chart included Sleeping Gods, which we started hearing about late last year, and the ultra-high-end Horseless Carriage in the board game category, and Ares Games’ War of the Ring Card Game (on which sales were constrained by short supply) and Fantasy Flight Games’ Star Wars Deckbuilding Game in card games.
As usual, even when sales are a little softer, there are areas of strength, and opportunities to improve sales. It will be interesting to see how the board and card game categories morph as we go through this new/old-style year.
The in-depth version of this article appeared in Internal Correspondence #104. For the full-length version of this article on the ICv2 Pro site, click here.
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ICv2's Top 10 Board Games - Spring 2023 (Hobby Channel) |
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Rank |
Title |
Publisher |
|
1 |
Wingspan |
Stonemaier Games |
|
2 |
Root |
Leder Games |
|
3 |
Sleeping Gods |
Red Raven Games |
|
4 |
Cascadia |
AEG |
|
5 |
Gloomhaven |
Cephalofair |
|
6 |
Ark Nova |
Capstone |
|
7 |
Catan |
Asmodee |
|
8 |
Betrayal at House on the Hill |
Avalon Hill |
|
9 |
Heroquest |
Avalon Hill |
|
10 |
Horseless Carriage |
Splotter Spellen |
-
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ICv2's Top 10 Card/Dice Games - Spring 2023 (Hobby Channel) |
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|
Rank |
Title |
Publisher |
|
1 |
Codenames |
Czech Games, The Op |
|
2 |
Dominion |
Rio Grande Games |
|
3 |
War of the Ring |
Ares Games |
|
4 |
CLANK! |
Dire Wolf |
|
5 |
Marvel Legendary |
Upper Deck |
|
6 |
Coup |
Indie Boards & Cards |
|
7 |
Star Wars Deckbuilding Game |
Fantasy Flight Games |
|
8 |
Marvel Champions |
Fantasy Flight Games |
|
9 |
Monopoly Deal |
Hasbro |
|
10 |
Bang! |
Upper Deck |
The in-depth version of this article appeared in Internal Correspondence #104. For the full-length version of this article on the ICv2 Pro site, click here.
For other market reports on Spring 2023, see:
Top Brands Drive TCG Modest Growth
Games Workshop Slims Down Channel, 'BattleTech' Bulks Up, 'D&D' Declines
OGL Mis-Step Shakes Up RPG Business
If you are a U.S. retailer, e-mail Dennis Viau at DViau@ICv2.com to get your free subscription to ICv2’s Internal Correspondence.
ICv2 Pro subscribers have early and complete access to Internal Correspondence. Click here for the complete Internal Correspondence #104.
