What's the appeal of digest-sized products?

[J.Quondam]

It might SEEM like a good marketing move, but for my part it simply means I won't buy any of them. Which is a bit of a shame, in a way, but I seriously do not understand the appeal of a product that takes up essentially the same horizontal space on a shelf but contains half the content of others.

My own failing vision issues aside.

They ARE cute, I'll give them that.

As near as I can tell in the digest-size books I've got, the fonts, etc, are the same size (or nearly so) as in a regular format hardcover. I don't recall having issues reading such books.
I do agree that the smaller size chops down the amount of words. However, at least in some publications, that lower word count seems to be offset by more concise writing and formatting, so the amount of usable content still feels comparable to a bigger book. Though I suppose that really depends on the specific book. ymmv.

 

[J.Quondam]

The extreme case of that was the reprinting of AD&D1e books in a tiny format in the late 1990s. I added a few of them to my everyday bag, because carrying them was no burden at all, and it meant I could look up ideas when I had them. That's practical for a one-book game in digest format, for people who object to PDFs.

I picked up a handful of those back in the day. The term "tiny format" is no joke; the font is practically microscopic! I stuck a pocket-sized fresnel lens in one of them to be able to read them.
But yeah, it was definitely nice to be able to put that itty-bitty Monster Manual in my back pocket along with a little notebook for emergency brainstorms.

 

[MacDhomnuill]

I think nostalgia for some of us older gamers has is part of it, but as others said they fit in a bag nicely and take up lass shelf space. I would add that the smaller size tends to result in lower price points and reduces “art spam” ie the proliferation of a greater art to text ratio in many publishers books.

 

[Kobold Stew]

I love digest size -- it helps prevent (writing) bloat; it is easily read in one hand; and when made thoughtfully, it allows encourages meaningful, helpful footnoting.

Traveller (LBBs) had it over AD&D; apparently betamax was a superior format as well....

 

[Umbran]

But then they're all out of order!

I think the simpler solution is to simply not buy stuff that will cause such issues.

Or, you know, use shelves. Maybe you aren't a shelf early-adopter, but many folks here can vouch for them.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

I generally wish most writing was more concise and books were more portable, so I wouldn't object to digest size on "not getting as many words" grounds. Nor do I particularly care about what makes for an orderly shelf. However RPGs tend to involve material that benefits from lots of tables, statblocks, maps, sidebars, etc.; all things that integrate better or at least easier into a larger page layout, so larger format seems better suited the the particular needs of the genre and smaller format seems like an oddball choice. I guess if a game doesn't involve any of those things a smaller format might make sense. It mostly seems like a gimmick though.

 

[payn]

I can see digest size rule books, but really at this point I’m 99% PDF.

 

[Staffan]

If it's just a downscaled full-size book (like Paizo's pocket editions), I'm not a fan. But if the book is designed for a smaller format, they can be pretty nice to read – no need to scan back up to the next column, for example. Plus, if the book is designed for a smaller format, it will likely look much better and be more comfortable to read on my tablet, and that's a big win.

 

[jdrakeh]

The only physical digest-sized books that I've liked are Nate Treme's Haunted Atlas (because it's a literal work of art) and Goblin Slayer (because it's standard manga size, which makes sense given its origins). That said, I loooooooooove digest-sized PDFs, because they're an all around better fit for whatever reader I happen to be using (be it the Kindle or my iPad Air).

 

[Lord Mhoram]

I can see uses for others but not for me.
As for size of book - we always host so that isn't a factor; I'm getting on in years, and eyesight is getting worse, so that is another factor for me; and for my collector side, ever other game book I have are full size, all the way back to 1st ed D&D, so they look weird on bookshelfs. That last one is really silly... but it a very minor factor anyway.