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FDQ: What Was Your Best Trade?

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Board games are expensive, and many gamers don’t get a chance to play every game they have anyway, yet there is still the desire for the new, the untested experience. This, of course, makes trading an attractive option. Which brings us to today’s question: what was your best board gaming trade? Answer in the comments!

@FarmerLenny answers:
It’s no secret that I am a board game trading maniac. Because my wife and I use an allowance system and I don’t have a lot to invest in the hobby, I try to make my dollar stretch as far as possible. The way I do this is if there is a game that either I don’t love or my friends aren’t excited to play, after a short grieving period in the latter case, I trade it away.

I’ve landed some sweet trades. There was the time I traded BoomBlox: Bash Party (the Wii game) for Puerto Rico or Citadels for At the Gates of Loyang in a math trade. (Math trades, for those not in the know, are trades by computer algorithm; a more detailed explanation is here.) These were both trade ups in terms of value. But perhaps my greatest trade in terms of usability was the Settlers of Catan 5-6 player expansion (a game I still hadn’t used after three years of ownership) for For Sale (a game I play all the time). I will also occasionally “trade” a game by selling it and using the proceeds to reinvest in the hobby. In that case, perhaps my greatest “trade” was Pirate’s Cove for El Grande. In any case, my collection is often fluid because of the trades.

@Futurewolfie answers:
I’m definitely the kind of person that likes to collect and keep.  I have a few board games that haven’t been touched in a while, but you never know when the right mood will strike.  At the very least, if the game is something different than anything else I own, it will probably stay for a while.

That being said, there does come a time when you realize a game just isn’t going to hit the table, or it’s too similiar to another game.  Dragon Parade was just never going to show up with my gaming group, and Android was too long to be worth it. At least we had our fun with Android, but I traded it away for the much shorter Shadows over Camelot, which was a win.  But really, that’s all I’ve traded so far.

Still, I’m looking forward to this year’s GenCon math trade (the same place I got rid of Android and Dragon Parade), which is a great way to pass on a game relatively risk-free and without having to pay shipping.  So if anyone’s interested in Frag, Cave Troll, Tobago, or Wits and Wagers… those are all on my “to trade” list.

I'll try anything once, but my favorite games are generally middleweight Euros.

Discussion2 Comments

  1. As someone new to the hobby and without a disposable income; I used trading to swap out games I thought I would like, but didn’t, for new game I think I will like or one that will work with my girls.

    Now, all the games I have the girls or I like so the trading has stopped.

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