What to Buy?: A *very* Beginner's Guide to Evaluating Board Games - Written by Jason Hewitt and Mustafa Hameed

If there's one thing people seem to agree on its that libraries need to exist.

This is often where similarity in such opinions end.

Libraries and their environments are as unique as the communities and individuals they serve as well as the employees they hire and the boards they answer to.

With this in mind there are certainly trends that lend themselves towards particular evaluative criteria that might assist in the creation of a board game collection.

One thing you'll certainly want to be aware of is your audience. Obviously, the type of library will involve a certain type of patron and of course an argument could be made that not all libraries would benefit from this particular form of content. An academic research environment would seemingly not be as appropriate for board games as perhaps a high school library might be.

Another good criteria to keep in mind is cost. Is it worth buying that seventy dollar game that has 400 pieces? One or two of these pieces becoming lost might go so far as to render the game worthless and unplayable.

Perhaps the decision between whether to start a board game collection or no might be helped were the items to be donated. Any library employee who has dealt with donation policies knows that donations present a particular set of challenges all on their own.

There are of course many such criteria and considerations to be made when it comes to evaluation. Eventually these could be showcased, in-depth, on this blog. One at a time. Some we might consider including involve the following:

• Number of pieces: this is a major factor when it comes to cataloguing a board game for a library collection. Will it be necessary to catalogue the individual pieces?  It will also affect concerns regarding disposition. Is it necessary to throw out a board game that is missing a piece? 

• Noise: What type of environment will this game help to create for your library?

• Authority: Is the company that makes the game established or well known? Have they produced a simple and easy-to-follow instruction manual or is the game esoteric and confusing? A well established company is a "better bet" than some guy in his basement when it comes to creating a good working product. Usually...

• Space: Some board games are huge! Make sure you have enough shelf space!

Are there any particular criteria you can think of that might be included in this conversation?

Please feel free to comment about what evaluative material excites you!