New Hotness, Supply Drives Board Games

Hot new games and availability drove board game sales, while a preference for deck-builders manifested on the top card games chart.

Two new games made strong showings on our chart of the top-selling board games in the hobby channel for Spring. HeroQuest, the revival of the 1990 Milton Bradley game released in late 2021 under Hasbro’s Avalon Hill brand, had a very good Spring, driven by strong unit sales and high price points ($134.99 on the base game, and $59.99 and $44.99 on the two expansions).

Capstone Games’ Ark Nova was the new hotness in the hobby channel this season, with high expectations colliding with insufficient supply.

The two top games tied to the Dune franchise held up well.  The theatrical release was in late October, but the disc and digital releases were in January, giving the property continued visibility.

Wingspan went through some changes, as Stonemaier Games opened up direct-to-retailer sales, and eliminated all but one of its distributors in the U.S.

The top two card games in the hobby channel for Spring (January – April) were deck-builders as lighter games slipped down the chart.  One reason for the shift may have been a change in what kinds of games people were playing as their Covid avoidance efforts waned.

Rio Grande’s Dominion returned to the top spot, behind the release of Dominion: Allies in March, and Marvel Legendary was #2, behind the timely release of Marvel Legendary: Doctor Strange and the Shadows of Nightmare.

These bestseller lists are from ICv2’s Internal Correspondence #102:
For the lists of the bestselling Collectible Games in the hobby channel, mass channel, and overall, click here.
For the bestselling hobby channel Non-Collectible Miniature lines, click here.
For the bestselling hobby channel RPGs, click here. [COMING SOON]

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Source: ICv2