I thought the hype around legacy board games was just marketing

My group started Pandemic Legacy Season 1 last year and I was sure it was a gimmick. After we tore up our first character card in month 3, I realized the game was serious. The permanent changes after each session, like the new rules we unlocked in July, completely changed how we played. It felt like our own story, not just a repeat of the same game. Has anyone else had a game mechanic they doubted that turned out to be amazing?

3 comments

3 Comments

skyler_baker1mo ago

Tearing up cards felt so wrong but made the game special.

logan_white591mo ago

Destroying game pieces just feels like a cheap trick to make something seem deep. It's a gimmick that forces a moment instead of earning it through good design. That special feeling you get is fake, because the game made you trash your own stuff to create it. A truly great game shouldn't need to break its own parts to be memorable. It teaches a bad habit of treating things as disposable for a quick thrill. The whole idea is wasteful and honestly kind of lazy.

the_lisa9d ago

Funny enough, I went through something like this with a game that had me rip up a character card as part of the story. First couple times it felt cheap, like why am I wrecking my own stuff? But then I realized it actually made me care more about what the card represented. The game forced me to let go of something physical, not just click a button to make it disappear. It turned into a memory I still talk about years later, so maybe there's something to using that tension rather than just being wasteful for no reason. Sometimes breaking a piece mirrors a real loss in a way that feels earned if the rest of the game builds up to it right.