As I type this, there are only 41 minutes remaining in the current Kickstarter campaign for Everdell. By the time you read this, the campaign will no doubt be closed. I own the Collector Edition of all of the prior Everdell games (where available). It would seem that this would be a slam-dunk for me to back, right? So far, I haven’t. I am hoping that writing out my thoughts here will clarify whether I am (or am not) going to back, and why.
Kickstarter games are the ultimate test of delayed gratification. I am currently expecting games during March (this month) and throughout the year. All of them were ordered (and paid for) in 2020. Cloudspire is scheduled to come in this month. The Terraforming Mars “big box” was scheduled to come in this month as well but has been delayed to May/June time-frame. Others will be sprinkled throughout the year. So obviously I don’t mind waiting for games. Point in favor of pledging for Everdell.
I own the Legendary Box for Scythe, and as one of the aforementioned Kickstarters pledged for the “big box” for Terraforming Mars. I have the Jarl box for Champions of Midgard. Clearly I like big boxes (and I cannot lie). Point two in favor of pledging for Everdell.
I have quite a few games in my collection that are un-played and even still shrink-wrapped. Clearly I don’t mind buying games with a future intent to play them. Point three in favor of pledging for Everdell.
So why haven’t I pledged already?
I don’t know. I have looked at buying just the two expansions and the “extra bits” package. I have looked at buying the two expansions and the big box to store everything in. I have even thought about (like a gazillion other folks it seems) selling my current collection and buying the $199 Full-Dell pledge, which avoids the pesky issue of storing all of those expansion boxes. (Yes, I keep them. No, you may not judge me.)
Ultimately it comes down to conquering my FOMO, or “fear of missing out.” All of the Everdell expansions have come to retail. Some of them have even been available through Half Price Books. That means that even if I don’t buy now, it is very likely that I will be able to buy them in the future. That is the primary reason I have (so far) held back from pledging. The only thing I might miss out on would be some of the extra bonuses available in the big box of everything…and the company that publishes Everdell has shown that they are willing (and perhaps even likely) to sell this as a separate stand-alone item in the future as well.
19 Minutes to go.
I’ll let you know later what I decide.