Opinion - Expansions, Huh, Yeah, What Are They Good For?
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The first expansion I bought was either Coup: Reformation or Catan: Seafarers.
I can’t remember which it was but they both surprised and delighted me in different ways. Interesting! Something that introduces a new element into a game that I already enjoy. Variability and longevity on top of my base experience with a board game.
Not too far into the future, I ended up getting Scoundrels of Skullport for Lords of Waterdeep and felt like I had added the last little puzzle piece to a wonderful worker-placement game. It was complete. Not in the way that the other two expansions built on the original premise but in a way that seemed this should have been there all along.
So what should an expansion do for a board game? How should designers approach these add-ons and what do gamers want from them?
Should Expansions Complete A Game?
When I think of the best expansions, something like this question comes to mind. Lords of Waterdeep is a game that I would never play without the expansion anymore. People who have the Rise of the Empire expansion—those lucky punks—swear by it and say that the combat is so much better with the new mechanics. Terraforming Mars was such a better experience with the Prelude expansion. People sing the praises (or drink them?) of Viticulture when played with Tuscany. Scythe can become a campaign game. Twilight Imperium 4th Edition can be… longer? Root doubles the number of factions.
The list goes on.
But what does it mean to complete a game? I think it’s when it elevates the experience of the game beyond what was possible before and sticks in the player’s mind more substantially. Of course, that’s a subjective metric, but it’s one that I think works.
Expansions that “complete” their games take them from good to great or from great to evergreen, so that they stay on your shelf.
The introduction of Corruption into Lords of Waterdeep immediately frees up players to pursue quests more recklessly, to weigh the risks of slow versus fast progress, and to stumble under the pressure of their own greed. It’s the right amount of weight to a game that, while a classic, could easily have become staler over time. And while I haven’t played with the Rise of the Empire expansion for Rebellion, I imagine it helps mitigate some of the frustration or chance in the combat of the game, which is one of the only fiddly bits in the whole experience—though it doesn’t ultimately bother me because I love that game a lot.
When should an expansion not do that, though?
Photo credit: Instagram user bjarnidali
By the way, this is not me bashing Endless Winter in any way. In all honesty, I’m probably going to be heavily backing this game once the pledge manager opens.
But… it’s more of a look at the Kickstarter model and other game releases that feature expansions immediately being ready to buy. If we’re using the Endless Winter campaign as an example, there are three expansions designed and ready to go alongside the base game, which begs the question: are any of these essential? Do any of these complete the game in a way that you wouldn’t want to play without it? If so, then it probably should just be a part of the game to begin with rather than an additional thing that you have to buy on top of the original purchase.
Kickstarter, and now Gamefound, campaigns are designed to have stretch goals and exclusives and add-ons and all of the things that you want to buy. However, in the search for the next add-on, I never want game designers to deconstruct the mechanics and potential of a game in order to have expansions rather than just a bigger game. Because people can always choose to not play with parts of a game. That’s the concept behind lower player counts and game variants in general, but expansions (that are ready at the time of the game’s release) should be in that category.
If an expansion completes a game, it should either be a part of that game from the beginning or it should be a deeper look at the game later that fixes some of the problems or weaknesses that exist after the game has released and players have explored what’s all there.
Should Expansions Add Something To The Game?
Other times, a game already feels complete. It feels like there isn’t anything that must accompany it and then we’re more than pleased when designers find new directions and additional avenues to explore the possibilities of the game.
Maybe it expands the game board.
Maybe it increases the player count.
Or maybe other mechanisms are introduced that adjust the complexity, increase the variability, and dramatically change how the players perceive the game.
Everdell is a wonderful worker-placement game. It’s accessible enough to introduce new players to the hobby. It’s got enough depth to interest more passionate gamers. And it’s beautiful enough to convince just about anyone to try it out.
But it gets even better once you start to look at Pearlbrook and Spirecrest. These expansions continue the world-building process and give you options that you hadn’t even considered before.
Physical monuments to build on top of events to complete? That certainly provides new ways to think about the resources that you collect. The ambassadors also function as specialized workers for you to place in specific spots.
And then Spirecrest continues that process by offering up seasonal treks through the world beyond the forest. As well as more specialized workers that affect the main game board and player tableaus. It really evolves the way Everdell plays. In good and influential ways.
These types of expansions offer a different value than ones that “complete” a game, but they are much more frequent. Many times I don’t think they achieve the same level of value or success, but the best ones reinforce why it’s good to return to a game after some time and create new ways to play with it.
It’s like when you return to a final draft of something after a while and start to realize that it looks unfinished still. There are revisions that you can make. Improvements you hadn’t considered yet. Leonardo da Vinci is attributed with the phrase “Art is never finished, only abandoned” and maybe game design is the same way. It’s just another creative pursuit that never reaches perfection or completion. It’s just released after some time and designers may return to it and tweak their creation if they find the inspiration.
I’m torn as to which type of expansion I prefer, though, or which one is the best.
I’m always in favor of having something become the best it can be, whether that’s by having an expansion complete a game or by having it simply add on to it and make it better. It just depends on which game you’re looking at and what you want to get out of it.
What is your favorite expansion? Does it complete the game? Or just add on? Let us know in the comments!