I moved to Rochester right before the pandemic, and finding Millennium Games was therapeutic. Visiting the store became my weekly ritual during a time when I thought, "Great! How do I make friends?" Fast forward four years, and my small collection of games has grown. The allure of a new game, punching cardboard, or rehoming a used game and giving it the love it deserves is still there. However, I had to pump the brakes.
I have made friends in this city I now call home, and I get to play games several times a week. In fact, I meticulously track how many games we play, own, playtime, win rates, etc. While I'm aware of BGStats, being a professional data nerd and engineer, I created my own system that allows me to customize the tracking, including MSRP vs. the paid price and cost per play.
I keep stats for what I play, but there's one sacred rule for the stats related to my collection: a game doesn't count towards the 'collection plays' tally unless both my wife and I have played it. Therefore, games played in Board Game Arena (BGA) and any games that my wife hasn't participated in do not count towards our totals. My collection is ours, and it only seems fair to count what we've enjoyed together, whether as a two-player game or with friends.
Of our roughly 500 games, a shocking 50 remain unplayed
That’s 10%!
18 of these games were acquired during Black Friday
14 of these games have been played by me (twice, each at least)
5 of these, I bought after learning how to play them in BGA
9 were gifts
1 is an expansion, does that count?
This picture tells a poignant story. Games we were once ecstatic about, like Darwin's Journey: Collector's Edition (the only Kickstarter I have backed), have never seen the light of day. My birthday gift of the Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West sits wrapped and untouched.
The truth is, familiarity trumps novelty, and short games have become our go-to. For instance, The Game by Pandasaurus Games is our most played game for the last 3 years running. If you haven’t played it, please check it out—it’s worth it! Occasionally, the headcount just doesn't match the game's ideal player number, or learning a new game is just not the vibe.
I love learning about new games serendipitously. While scrolling on Instagram, someone's post aboutFleet sparked my curiosity, and before I knew it, they were teaching me the ropes of it on BGA. I fell in love, and when my local store stocked the dice version, I had to buy it. Fleet: The Dice Game (Second Edition) was an instant hit! Then, I stumbled upon a used copy of the original Fleet with all the expansions, and... well, commitment is a powerful drug. Sadly, that beauty has been dock-warming for months.
So, I'm taking a stand. No new board games until we conquer this mountain of unplayed potential—or, as some call it, the #shelfOfOpportunity. I consolidated all the games we haven’t played and placed them in our center Kallax, so when we don’t know what to play, we have a starting point. Since snapping this photo, we've tackledHardback, Deep Dive, and Number Drop (which, by the way, is phenomenal – we've played it nonstop and even subjected our favorite couple to its addictive Tetris like charms. I may or may not have bought them a copy for Christmas).
Another game full of dust is Great Western Trail: Argentina. I got this one from my BGG Secret Santa last year. While I don't own a personal copy of the original, I really like playing it. We've logged three Great Western Trail adventures this year, yet our Argentinian amigo remains untouched. The intimidating rulebook and the siren song of familiar territory might be to blame. Or perhaps the fact that our games were previously scattered across various shelves, letting us forget which games have never been played.
Which games would you play from my photo? Are there any that you would cull right away? Arkham Horror (Third Edition) is a tricky one. We snagged it for free during a pandemic-era Asmodee promotion. We then designed a beautifully 3D-printed organizer. For that reason alone, I feel obligated to give it a shot. But oh, that rulebook! It is YUCKY!!! If I get tempted to purchase a game, I will light my “new board game smell” candle.
Cheers to depleting this mountain of unplayed games, and happy gaming!
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