by mic_al
lucioperca wrote:
"Pick up" is more or less literal in this context (hence "you first have to get someone to pick up a box before they'll buy it") -- what gets a typical buyer to bother looking at a game and decide whether it's something they'd consider playing it. In most cases that's a graphic design/art/marketing challenge; stuff like card interactions won't play into it at all.
That said, I'm definitely in favor of more obscure (or rather, more diverse and unpredictable) picks and think Yennenga is a step in the right direction. (I'm also going to keep banging on the "ladies' night sets" drum for, I assume, the duration of the series.)
Well I bought my UnMatched stuff online (pre-ordering Cobble & Fog) so I didn't "pick it up" b4 buying it. 😋
I saw the Victorian Gothic Horror chars/motifs, thought "cool! I like those guys!" watched some UnMatched reviews, learned about gameplay, liked the card system (🤮 at dice (in general, not always)), and bought it, then Bruce Lee, then several other ones.
But in general, I'm not gonna buy something because it's obscure (this thread's title literally asks for "a set devoted to unknowns") and frankly I'll probably avoid it. It's also probably bad marketing in general. Kids (a large segment of the target audience as this is low entry family game) aren't go "Oh cool! It's Cuhullin!" They'll go "Huh?...Whatever." They might go "Oh Cool! It's The Mandalorian!"
Also, as a general rule, I think it's a bad idea to tell your audience "Here's a character important to history. Your homework assignment (if u wanna enjoy playing with this character) is to go read up on him." The barrier to entry should be low.