Don’t throw away that used copy of Pandemic Legacy
What to do with your old legacy board games
It’s a bit heart breaking to have to throw away a Legacy board game box. Our copy of Pandemic Legacy season 1 stayed on a shelf for about 2 years before I decided to get rid of it, mostly to make some room for more games.
Throwing away a game is always a tough decision. There are emotional issues of course (our household is particularly attached to the memories we have with Pandemic Legacy), but environmental concerns are also added to the mix. You can’t give away a legacy game (it cannot easily be replayed), so what else can you do?
Well, don’t throw that board game away just yet, here are a few things you can do with your old copy of Pandemic Legacy (or any other “used” legacy game)
1. Keep playing the last scenario
OK, I have to put this one here because it’s the most obvious, but I’ll say right away that I really don’t like this suggestion (see why below).
So, of course, the first thing people will tell you about most legacy games is that you can probably play the last scenario to your heart’s content.
In the case of pandemic Legacy, it’s actually easy enough to remove most stickers and other “legacy” stuff, to revert back the game to a semi-regular Pandemic game. Yes. But… what you end up having is a pandemic game that takes 3 times the space of a regular pandemic game. The box is humongous, and the game map itself is gigantic compared to regular Pandemic. We’ve done it, it’s a subpar experience, and your game end up collecting dust because nobody want’s to get it on the table, figure out which rules make sense or not, etc… It’s doable, but just a subpar experience overall.
2. Make a memorabilia of your game experience
A bunch of Pandemic Legacy players (and other legacy games, including Gloomhaven) have decided to frame their game, for lasting memories. If you have a bit of time and some creativity, this can be a great way to give the game a proper farewell.
3. Reuse the components
Reusing our components is the way I’ve chosen to part with our copy of pandemic legacy:
- Tokens and Meeples are being reused in other games that need counters (e.g. Magic the gathering), or for print-and-play games.
- The plastic tray is being used as storage for card games
- The box itself will either be used as a storage compartment somewhere (look up Marie Kondo’s “hikidashi boxes” for ideas. I’d link to an explanation myself but all I can find are links that sell boxes, and that kind of misses the point), or as a box for a game that becomes to big to fit in its own box due to expansions.
- The cards can be used as cardboard for print-and-play games (or inserts inside a sleeve if you don’t want to go through the process of gluing everything together)
- The board itself…well, I admit I haven’t found a good use case for the board, but I did tell the kids it was ok for them to create their own board game with it if they want to…
Conclusion
There are ways to give your old Legacy board game a second life, either through memorabilia, or by reusing its components. Give it a try before you consider throwing it away!
Games mentioned in this article
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