💰 Cost Per Play Calculator
Enter your game's purchase price and how many times you've played it to see your cost per play, a common way hobbyists gauge value.
The division, and where the labels fall
Cost per play is the whole of the arithmetic - what you paid, spread over the sessions you got out of it:
cost per play = purchase price / times playedThe defaults, $60 over 20 plays, come to $3.00 and are labelled Good value. Getting that same game under the $2 line takes 31 plays, because 60 / 30 is exactly $2.00 and the bands are strict: 2.00 still reads as Good, 1.94 does not. A $40 game hits Excellent at 21 plays, a $100 one at 51.
What the rating means
| Cost per play | Rating |
|---|---|
| Under $2 | Excellent value |
| $2 to under $5 | Good value |
| $5 to under $10 | Fair value |
| $10 and over | Still building value |
- Use what you actually paid, including shipping and tax. A $60 game that cost $72 delivered is $3.60 a play at 20 plays, not $3.00.
- Count sessions, not players. One evening with five people is one play. Counting heads makes every party game look like a bargain.
- Zero plays is handled separately. You get the price back with no rating rather than a division by zero.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good cost per play for a board game?
Under $2 is treated as excellent here, and under $5 as good. For scale, $5 a session is roughly a coffee, and a $60 game crosses it on the 13th play, at $4.62.
Should I include expansions in the price?
Only if you count the plays you had with them. Adding a $30 expansion to a $60 base and dividing by every play ever, including the ones before you owned it, flatters the number.
How many plays does a $100 board game need?
Fifty-one to get under $2 a play, 21 to get under $5. Big-box games earn that back through repeat play; a one-evening game rarely does, so judge it against a cinema ticket instead.