Sep 25, 2025

Expansions are a scam (sometimes)

Buying expansions for board games is a habit I’ve broken in the last year. Here’s why.

The good kind

Some expansions genuinely transform a game:

  • Spirit Island’s Branch & Claw fundamentally changes the game with the Event deck
  • Brass: Birmingham has no expansion (and doesn’t need one)
  • Race for the Galaxy’s expansion arc adds entirely new mechanics that the base game lacks

These are the rare cases where the designer says “here’s a new module that solves a real limitation in the base game”.

The bad kind

Most expansions add content. More cards, more boards, more variety. They don’t deepen the game. They just give you more things.

Wingspan’s expansions: more bird cards. Same gameplay.

Catan’s expansions: more board types. Same gameplay.

Ticket to Ride’s expansions: more maps. Same gameplay.

You’re not getting a deeper game. You’re getting more variety on the same surface.

The economic argument

A new game costs $40–80. An expansion costs $30–50. So an expansion is barely cheaper than a new game.

For $40, do you want:

  • More variety in a game you’ve played 30 times
  • Or a brand new game you’ve never seen

Almost always option 2 is the better return on time. New games make the hobby feel fresh. Expansions reinforce existing patterns.

My current rule

I buy expansions only when:

  1. The base game is on my “best 32” tier (so I’ll play it 50+ more times)
  2. The expansion is genuinely transformative (designer states so, reviews confirm)

This is rare. Maybe 1 in 20 expansions on the market.

When I’m wrong

I’m wrong about Brass: Birmingham. There’s no expansion to discuss. But I bought several Race for the Galaxy expansions. Worth it. I bought all the Spirit Island expansions. Worth it.

I’m wrong about smaller games. Sushi Go’s expansion adds enough new mechanics to genuinely refresh the game. Skip it if you don’t play Sushi Go regularly though.

I’m wrong about kids’ games. Expansions to family-weight games (Ticket to Ride, Castles of Burgundy) keep them interesting for kids and casual players.

But for serious gamers, expansion purchasing is mostly a sign of “I don’t want to learn a new game”. The hobby gets more interesting when you push past that.

Recommendation

For each expansion you’d buy, write down what specific problem it solves in the base game. If you can’t articulate it, save your money. Buy a new game instead.