Board Game Plays

119 Different Games

You will look at that number and see that it is about 10 plays of each game, on average. Of course that is only an average. So some games are going to get played a whole lot more. Those are the games that I sit down and I play between meetings at work, or sometimes, if I just need to observe, during a meeting at work to help keep me focused. So we’ll see a very high number for one of those coming up.

But I really like the combination of games that I’ve played. It’s some small games, but I also have a number of campaign style games that make the list. Obviously those are going to take longer to play. Which means that I’ve put a lot of time into playing board games this year. We’ll get to that number later.

385 Plays of Grove

So obviously a lot of plays came from Grove, but Grove is one four games that I’ve played over 50 times this year. Grove, Orchard, Relics of Rajavihara, and Criss Cross are all over 50 plays. They count for more than half of my total game plays for the year. And how fast they play, with the exception of Relics of Rajavihara which can take a bit of time to puzzle out a play, is quite fast.

87 New Games

This is a number I am quite happy with. It means, while I buy games faster than I play, still, I have gotten through a lot of games that I haven’t played before. I will say, I think if I dug into the whole list, there would be two or three that might be ones I’ve already played.

Looking at that number, I might try and get it to 100 new to me games, but I’m running out of time. I do have a friend who I teach a lot of new games to. And some of the games, probably enough, I could play solo if I learn them to get to 100. That is now an unofficial goal for the year.

Approximately 348 Hours

That is what the app, Board Game Stats estimates anyways. I’ll tell you, it says 11 hours for My City Roll and Build, that is probably 4 hours total maybe 5. It estimates what it says on the box. Sometimes, as I’ve written about, that is low. Other times, especially if I play it solo, that is very high.

Recently Trailblazers is another example of that. I did play it two player now, and half an hour is right. But solo, I got 3 games done in about 35 minutes. So take that number with a grain of salt, it’s probably under 300 hours with how fast I play some games, especially solo.

Gap

Gap was game number 1000. And turns out how I was taught at Gen Con was actually a bit off. That might have been my comprehending it, versus the teach, but an abstract game is sometimes hard to teach. Still really like the game and I think it’s better with much better strategy now that I’m playing it the right way. But Gap from Arcane Wonders was game play #998 through #1000 for me last n ight.

Final Thoughts

It’s really been an effort or focus to play more games this year. I get in campaign games, like Tainted Grail, every other week with one group. I play another campaign, it was Roll Player Adventures, now it’s Vampire The Masquerade: Chapters with another group. And I’ve played at least three campaign games over the course of the year, at least 7 games of them on Malts and Meeples.

Next year will I push for more? I might. Though, I think that 1100, which I’ll be close to this year, is an amazing number. Let me say this, though, if you play fewer games, it isn’t a big deal. I actually think that I’ll play fewer games next year. At the start of this year I was in a new job in a new role learning a lot in meetings. So I would play Grove between meetings or during meetings to help me focus and maintain focus. So don’t assume that you are slacking behind, that is not the case.

When I put out these goals, I never try and push them out too far. That is why I didn’t make it a goal from day one. I want a bit of a stretch, but I also don’t want to make board games into something that is work. Now it is “work” in that I make a little money from this website. But it isn’t because I’m not beholden to any company, I do it because I like to do it. So if you see this goal and feel like you’re slacking, you aren’t if you are having fun playing board games.

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My Board Game Resolution

To not pre-order a board game. Before we get into details let’s talk about keeping up.

Why Keep Up With Board Games?

I think I talked about this not that long ago. Or I talked about in the context of not shaming people for having unplayed games in their collection. Because while board gaming is a hobby, aka something I do, it is also a collection, something that I own.

There are tons of board games that come out every year. ANd a limited amount of time to play them. Some games, too, are just games that you want to own, for the collection. For me, I again talked about grail games. Games that I want to own. Sometimes it’s a game that I just want to own, like Battlestar Gallactica. Will I ever play my copy, I’m not sure I would. But it’s a rarer game that I really like.

And then new games, you don’t know what you like or don’t like. So get any game that sounds interesting to you. Now, for some people that isn’t an option. For me it isn’t an option. I’m starting to see The Return To Dark Tower show up for Kickstarter backers. I wish I’d been able to back it. But when I do have so spare money, it’s fun to get a new game, whatever might be hot.

But, on the flip side, while it is a collection as well as a hobby for me. I don’t want my hobby to just collect dust. I want to play the games which means that sometimes it’s better to wait to get a game when I’m ready to play it.

Let’s talk aout some examples/exceptions.

Space Base

People have called it more of a gamers Machi Koro, a game that I liked but didn’t stick around for me. If there is more game to it or more variability, I’m interested in it. But Space Base really isn’t going in and out of print. So maybe it was on sale when I got it but I didn’t need to buy it when I did.

Solomon Kane

This could be a lot of different bigger campaign style games. I didn’t need to get Solomon Kane, I’d just heard good things about it. So when I found a well priced copy on eBay I snatched it up quickly. Now, it’s not even all of the Kickstarter that there was, but it’s still enough content to keep me going for ages. And that was an opportunity for a game I wanted, and I knew I wanted, where I likely couldn’t do better.

The main difference the opportunity to get them in the future. It’s not a 100% fair comparison, but it also works for harder to find games or used games. Tannhauser, I don’t know when I’ll play it, but when I saw it in the wild, I bought it. So let’s get back to the resolution.

The Board Game Resolution

Now, there might be an exception to this resolution, but I’ll lay it out better here. This doesn’t include Kickstarter. And if there is a game that I own and love, I’m looking at you Detective A Modern Crime Board Game, I might pre-order something. Plus, Detective expansions pre-ordered come with more than just the game.

On the flip side, my resolution is not to pre-order a new game or an easy to find game when it comes out. If it doesn’t come with anything extra, I can wait for it to come out. If I missed it on the first print run, that means it’ll have a second print run, and and I can get it when I’m ready to play it.

Now, why is Kickstarter or Gamefound different?

Well, three reasons. I will sometimes, Call to Adventures Origins, for example, not back a game. Why, because what has been added to the game that is Kickstarter only isn’t enough. I can pick it up at retail, when and if I’m ever that excited to play it. So this one is like just buying a board game ahead of time. It doesn’t offer enough to take my money and then wait. But some games, Marvel United as example, come with so much extra on Kickstarter it’s worth backing.

Some games also won’t come to retail. Solomon Kane is an example of one that I wish that I’d backed and I was glad to find. Why, it won’t come to retail. It is just too big, even in the base two boxes, it is massive. You unboxed them on Malts and Meeples, you can watch that below, but I’d back that game on Kickstarter just to make sure I got it.

And finally, sometimes I just want to support the company. It might be a company that I really like their games. It might not have any of the extra bells and whistles that you expect from crowdfunding, but I’ll still back it. Grove is an example of this, or Hanamikoji: Geisha’s Road. I like both those companies. Will I be able to get those games in retail, most likely. But I want to support them.

Final Thoughts

There was a lot that I put in here. About why you should or shouldn’t buy new games, about why I’m not going to pre-order anything. And really, this is going to be more than that. My goal is to buy fewer games this year in general. I want to wait until I hear a review, or watch a game play of it to decide.

So will I still get a bunch of games, most likely. Will I back games on Kickstarter and Gamefound, for sure. Will some of them be duds even though I was extremely excited about them, for sure. Or at least they’ll be duds for me. And all of that is okay. What I want is to just be more mindful about the retail games that I purchase this year.

Do you have any board game buying or playing resolutions this year? Maybe you want to go to your first GenCon or Origins or PaxU, let me know what they are in the comments below.

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