I don’t think we disagree! When I say simple I don’t mean austere. I love beautiful games and I love fantastic components. I just think that the components should aid playing the game and that they should be considered as part of a balanced whole.

King of Tokyo’s standees work because they reinforce the visual aesthetic. I suspect I’d like Kemet or Blood Rage to have simpler tokens for the infantry to contrast with the monster minis (maybe wooden blocks?) but I’m fine with the smaller minis. Those games are largely about giant mythological creatures so highlighting them with the component choices makes sense (and they don’t get in the way of playing the game).

I don’t see where CoB gets better with minis or elaborate coins, but it definitely gets better with setting appropriate, beautiful art or a built-in insert that aids set up for each round.

Sure, those games aren’t Everdell, but my comment was in regards to what you wrote that simple games should look that way. And that is where I disagree.

Components can improve immensely a game, no matter how simple the game is. Imagine King of Tokyo without the standees. It is simply a worse game. because the components are part of the whole deal, as can be experienced by anybody playing boardgames on Steam or Tabletop Simulator. Rules aren’t the game by themselves.

I would argue that great games like Blood Rage or Kemet would not have been as acclaimed if they had used wargame counters instead of huge miniatures. Or picture how a simple set of quality poker chips improves any game with money.

Compared to some of the deluxe stuff we’re seeing those two games are quaint. But I’m not against any premium components. I completely agree that the bags with those snaps makes Sheriff of Nottingham what it is, and that’s the kind of thoughtful upgrade that works best.

Haha, yeah! I’m a big fan of “deluxe” as defined by wargamers.

I think I disagree about that point and my argument is King of Tokyo. It’s a superdeluxified Yahtzee and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I am sure there are other examples, like maybe Sheriff of Nottingham, where unnecessary components make the game better.

I find myself far more willing to drop over $100 on something that’s expensive because it’s niche (a Splotter or 18xx game, which I’ve done a couple of times) rather than one that’s expensive because of a lot of pieces.