I Spent $3200 on the Wrong Sci-Fi Games for My Venue (Here's What I Learned)

The $3,200 Mistake

In September 2022, I was managing procurement for a new indoor entertainment center in Austin. The theme was sci-fi. The budget for games was substantial. And I thought I had it all figured out.

I ordered 15 different sci-fi video games, 8 board games (including the Bloodborne board game—I was proud of that one), 4 card game setups (I'd even learned how do you play sevens card game to train staff), and 2 VR experiences. Total: roughly $3,200 in content licenses, physical copies, and setup fees.

Six weeks later, we had a graveyard of games nobody played. The Bloodborne board game sat unopened. The VR experiences were too complex for casual walk-ins. And the best-performing area? A $2 card game—card game spit—that I'd added as an afterthought.

That's when I learned that picking best sci fi video games for a home setup is very different from buying for a B2B venue.

Why My Approach Was Wrong

I made the classic mistake: I bought what I thought was cool, not what would actually work in an indoor entertainment context. I was looking for the best sci-fi board games and best sci fi video games based on reviews, not on venue suitability.

"The best game for a Saturday night crowd isn't always the one with the highest BGG rating."

Here's what I didn't consider:

• Time-to-fun ratio (how fast can a new player get enjoyment?)
• Group dynamics (does the game scale from 2 to 6 players?)
• Setup/teardown complexity (can a staff member reset it in under 2 minutes?)
• Learning curve (can drunk friends pick it up in 30 seconds?)

It's tempting to think you can just pick the top-rated sci-fi board games and call it a day. But that advice ignores the reality of running a venue: throughput matters. A game that takes 45 minutes to play and seats 4 people might generate less revenue than a 5-minute game that seats 6.

The Real Cost of Bad Game Selection

Let me walk you through the actual numbers from that first batch:

• Video games: $1,200 total. Most were single-player. In a venue, single-player means one customer per 20 minutes. At $5 per play, that's $15/hour revenue. Not great.
• Board games (including Bloodborne): $800 total. The Bloodborne board game took 4 hours to play. We had it reserved once. Once.
• Card games: $50 total. Card game spit, though? It's fast, competitive, and people watched. That area generated more buzz than any video game.

That $3,200 order taught me a lesson: transparency in game value matters. I should have asked, "What's the revenue per square foot per hour?" instead of, "Is this a good game?"

What Actually Works (That I Wish I'd Known)

After 18 months and about 47 checklists later, I've developed a framework for selecting games for our venues. It's not sexy, but it works:

The Venue-Ready Game Checklist

1. Time-boxed: Can a session be completed in under 15 minutes?
2. Social: Does it encourage talking, laughing, or trash-talking?
3. Low barrier: Can someone play without reading a rulebook?
4. Scalable: Works for 2 players or 6?
5. Fast reset: Can staff reset it in under 1 minute?

For sci-fi video games, this means prioritizing party games or quick-play shooters over narrative-driven single-player experiences. For best sci-fi board games, I now look for games that play in 20 minutes, not 2 hours.

A Note on Pricing (January 2025)

Based on publicly listed prices from online retailers and B2B distributors, here's a rough benchmark for venue-level game costs:

• Card games (like card game spit setups): $5-20 per deck. Buy in bulk (50+ decks) and you're looking at $3-5 each.
• Board games (like Bloodborne board game): $40-80 retail, but B2B licensing or bulk discounts can bring that down to $25-50.
• Video games (digital licenses for venues): $200-500 per station for commercial licenses, plus ongoing fees.
• VR experiences: $500-2,000 per experience for commercial licenses. Setup costs are significant.

"The vendor who lists all costs upfront—even if the total looks higher—usually costs less in the end." — My new procurement mantra

What I'd Do Differently

If I were starting over today, I'd build a curated portfolio from sci-games or a similar B2F supplier that handles the complexity. The key isn't having the best sci fi video games individually—it's having a mix that works together for your specific venue.

For example:

• 2-4 high-energy video games (racing, shooting, party)
• 5-10 quick-play board/card games (think card game spit energy)
• 1-2 VR experiences (if you have the space and staffing)
• A few "premium" games for enthusiasts (one Bloodborne board game is fine, but not 8)

The Bloodborne board game is a great game. But it's a home game. For a venue, I'd rather have 10 copies of how do you play sevens card game—a game that costs $0 to learn, $2 to play, and keeps a table of 6 people engaged for 15 minutes.

The Takeaway

I'm not saying don't buy best sci-fi board games. I am saying think about your context. A game that's perfect for Friday night with friends might be terrible for a Saturday afternoon with strangers.

That $3,200 mistake? It's now our team's training case study. Every new buyer hears the story. And we've saved at least that much by running our checklist before every purchase.

If you're building out a sci-fi game portfolio for a venue, start with the card game spits of the world—the games that are simple, fast, and fun. Add the Bloodborne board games later, if at all.

And whatever you do, ask "what's NOT included" before you ask "what's the price." That one question would have saved me $890 in redo costs alone.

It took me 3 years and about 150 orders to understand that venue context matters more than game quality. Now I'm passing that lesson on.