Will The Super Mario Labyrinth Board Game Become A Future Collectible?

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The popular Labyrinth board game has released a Super Mario Edition to celebrate its 35th anniversary in North America. Previously this edition was only available in Europe.

The preorder for the Super Mario Labyrinth went live on 8th September in both Canada and the United States to little fanfare. And you can pick up a copy for yourself on Amazon for just $34.99.

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A Future Collectible?

Super Mario has made his way on to popular board games like Monopoly, Jenga, and Uno. So there is no doubt that the Super Mario franchise appeals as branding on a board game:

And it is because of that branding that this edition could become a future collectible.

These are the reasons:

  • We can predict that Super Mario will most likely still be popular in a quarter of a century, and even if Nintendo collapses (very unlikely), Mario will remain part of pop culture.
  • The real question is, how saturated will the market be with copies of the game? And as there has been little fanfare over the preorder, it might only be collectors picking this specific edition of the game up.
  • Additionally, Labyrinth is a board game with a difference (more on that below). Plus, it was designed by a psychologist in the mid-80s. These elements give it more history and cross-over appeal.

For a $35 investment now, on top of 25-years of patience, this game could be worth 5-10x the cost if kept sealed.

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What Is Labyrinth?

The board game has a similar set of rules as the classic Labyrinth, just with a Super Mario Bros cosmetic overhaul. In the regular edition of Labyrinth, two to four players play the game and move around the tiles in search of hidden treasures. But in the Super Mario Edition, the treasures are replaced with Super Mario characters like Peach, Bowser, and Donkey Kong that need to be found.

The player that manages to return the most friends to their original place wins the game. But you have to be careful as the path is full of twisting passageways. And these passageways make the return journey very difficult. Other players can create paths for themselves and block others to halt their progress.

Labyrinth is designed to be played with family and young kids. According to the Amazon page for the Super Mario Bros Labyrinth, the package comes with 34 maze tiles, 24-character cards, and 4 playable pieces that players control. And each game can last somewhere between 20 to 30 minutes.

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The Origin Of Labyrinth

Labyrinth is a very old board game. It was made in 1986 by a German psychologist called Max Kobbert. Kobbert wanted to create a moving board game that he could open or close on his own desk drawer:

And that is the most exciting feature about Labyrinth, you make your own paths, and you can block another player’s path. This is contrary to other board games where everyone has to go through the same paths. 

Fun fact, there is a life-sized Labyrinth in Ravensburger, Spieleland, an amusement park located in Germany. And almost 5 million people have navigated it to this date.

For those of you interested in getting your hands on the Nintendo-themed board game, you can head to Amazon and pick it up today.

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