Game Reviews – PAX Aus 2022

I went to this year’s PAX Australia gaming convention and briefly reviewed of a lot of independently developed video games, as well as several board games, for friends who weren’t there. Now you, too, may read my reviews.

Video games reviewed: Before We Leave ; Darkweb Streamer ; Dredge ; Every Hue of You ; The Godfeather: a Mafia Pigeon Saga ; Gubbins ; Mars First Logistics ; Repella Fella ; Sigil of the Magi ; Spies and Soldiers
Board games reviewed: The Crew: Mission Deep Sea ; Magic Maze ; Nataterra
Bonus content: Aethermon: Tower of Darkness ; Chess Plus

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Second-hand Markets for Used Games

There’s a bit of discussion over at Penny Arcade on the practice of buying used games rather than new ones – views apparently range from “It’s basically piracy” to “It’s legal, why should I care if the developers don’t get my money?”

Here’s my contribution:

Hey Gabe,

I’m an economist as well as a gamer, so a few thoughts from that direction: while a second-hand game purchase doesn’t directly benefit developers, it’s not a 1:1 decrease in sales – I might purchase more new games if I know that I can sell them later (like buying a new car every 10 years when the old one is still drive-able), and/or use the money used from selling old games to buy new games. Cheapskates who wait for used games probably wouldn’t buy new games, anyway – they’re paying with their time (waiting for games to appear on the second-hand market) rather than money. Second-hand games also increase exposure in younger/poorer audiences that later, when they have the money, can go out and buy new original games.

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