Hobby games grow faster

The hobby games industry is in its ninth year of growth and that growth is accelerating, according to the latest industry update from ICv2.

The graphic below breaks down the hobby games market into its component parts, with sales for each:

The reason for the accelerated growth rate seems to be the increasing presence of formerly hobby store-only products in mainstream stores. Remember these figures apply only to sales and the market in the US and Canada.

With the breakdowns by classification there were some surprises for me. The first was in board games:

Scythe has taken the top place in this category. Previously Catan and Ticket to Ride have fought over this place, but no longer.

Terraforming Mars is a game that has been recommended to me often over the past six weeks. I haven’t yet checked it out, but I’m sure I’ll play it before the end of the year.

In miniatures, Fantasy Flight’s Star Wars X-Wing continues its dominance:

The range of cheap, pre-undercoated miniatures for Dungeons & Dragons has made an immediate impact on the top 5 sellers. I really wish they would expand this to 10 games. I think the miniatures sphere is large enough for that now.

The next time this list is compiled, the effect of the new edition of Warhammer 40,000 will be felt, along with the release of Star Wars: Legion. I would not be surprised to see three Star Wars titles in the list next time.