The economics of board gaming are worth thinking about explicitly. A new heavy euro game at $60 USD, played 20 times with 4 players, costs $0.75 per player per session — comparable to a mediocre streaming service and delivering a qualitatively better shared experience.

At that math, the hobby is cheap entertainment. The challenge is that most enthusiasts do not play games 20 times. The average play count for games in BGG collections is shockingly low — many games get 2-3 plays. At that rate, the economics look different.

The correct approach to collection management, purely from an economics perspective: buy fewer games, play them more. A 30-game collection played to saturation generates more value than a 200-game collection played shallowly. This is obvious advice that the cult of the new conspires to make difficult.