Five Themes for Set Collection in Board Game Design


I often rely on set collection for my early prototypes. It's such a simple, satisfying framework to motivate players and give clear goals. The problem is how often set collection becomes a rote, emotionless task list to complete. The theme of the set collection is what set makes it more appealing to new players. An evocative theme suggests secondary mechanisms that help fill out the rest of the game. Here are a few themes I've used or seen over the years.


Recipes and Shopping Lists

Welcome to Stabbed! Impress the chefs, follow the recipes, and you won't be stabbed!

This is by far the most common usage of set collection. Players are tasked with collecting certain amounts or combinations of resources. Then they're rewarded with a certain number of points. That straightforward transactional structure is certainly useful when the rest of the game is rather complex, but it doesn't necessarily suggest fun secondary mechanisms.

I got around this in Junk Orbit by making the "resources" serve two purposes. On one hand, the tiles you collect are worth their listed value if they're delivered to their destinations. On the other hand, you may discard a tile to move a distance equal to its value. Now you must decide whether it's worth the opportunity cost of tile A in order to deliver tile B.


Awards and Achievements 

Start your research! Bribe the committees! Be the first to publish... or perish!

If you want to add some more urgency to the proceedings, you can award set collection values mid-game in a racing format. Whoever achieves the set conditions first gets the best reward, followed by consolation prizes for follow-up finishers. 

In Monsoon Market and Space Battle Lunchtime, I gave each recipe a perfect "gold" value if you matched the requisite ingredients and quantities exactly. However, I also permitted incorrect quantities and ingredient substitutions for lesser values. There the choice is whether to rush a recipe for a quick gain or hold out for a better reward that may take longer.


Omens and Prophecies

It has been foretold that a hero would deliver three sheep, two lumber, and one stone.

I really love this theme for a set collection mechanism. The theme reframes the set collection mechanism as a foretelling of future events. In essence, you begin the game with an epic debt that must be repaid or face divine consequences. Critically, for this theme to work, the set collection must be randomly assigned. You didn't ask for this! That puts you in the POV of an archetypal hero called by circumstances out of their control, rising from humble beginnings to higher purpose.

I haven't used this mechanism myself, but I think it suits mythical themes very well. I recommend revealing the set collection goals slowly over the course of the game, letting players predict and adapt to shifting fortunes as they're uncovered. (The game Akrotiri does slow reveal very well.) Consider the secondary outcomes of an unfulfilled prophecy. The impact should affect the central shared game space of the board somehow, like a monster left unslain or a voyage doomed to drift eternally.  


Pledges and Promises

I do hereby swear to build a train route connecting Seattle to Vancouver via Orlando.

This is a slight hybrid of the Awards and Omens structure. Players must "call their shot" early in the game, declaring that they will achieve certain conditions. The more outlandish the promise, the higher the reward if accomplished. This might be done during the setup of a round, like predicting how many tricks you will take in a card game. It might be done as a part of normal gameplay, such as funding awards in Terraforming Mars.

This theme works well if you're willing to let players have a loose, unguided couple of turns early in the game. That lets players assess their standing during the first few rounds before they commit to a certain goal. This is great for gambling games where early bets pay out the most money. I recommend giving players some small randomly assigned contract to get things started, like the initial draft of tickets in Ticket to Ride, so they have some initial starting steps to follow. Games like Downforce, For Sale, and many trick-taking games force players to commit to a goal very early, which requires some play experience to make an informed decision. This is great for veteran experts, but can be off-putting to new players.


Fuel and Tech Trees 

We need to make a stop at Pluto if we're going to hit our quota.

In this theme, the set collection is a set of prerequisites that must be met in a particular order. It's not enough to get all the ingredients by the end of the game, each condition must be met in a particular sequence to satisfy the ultimate goal. 

I've wanted to use this theme as a representation of gravity assists orbiting through the solar system. For example, the two Voyager probes only had so much space to carry thruster fuel, which wasn't enough to accelerate to the outer planets. To build up momentum and save thrust, they had to do flybys of inner planets at key opportunities when they were aligned. 

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What other set collection themes have you seen?

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