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Organization

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04 Aug 2012 05:14 #131922 by Space Ghost
Organization was created by Space Ghost
Wrong forum perhaps, but the plan is to build some custom bookcases/shelves for the pile of games I have sitting around here. Some questions?

How do you guys generally organize your games? While I know it is "en vogue" to pretend like you don't have collections, I know the vast majority of you have enough games most would consider them a collection (I say anything over 30+ counts as a collection). Are they organized by type? size?

I am asking now so I can build the shelving in a manner to maximize space -- for instance, I am considering making a small section deep enough to house the FFG coffin boxes long-ways.

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04 Aug 2012 10:51 - 04 Aug 2012 10:52 #131924 by sornars
Replied by sornars on topic Re: Organization
I tend to sort my games alphabetically by last name of the designer...

Barring that I tend to sort things out by size/weight just for sheer practicality. I had a friend build me a custom bookcase for my games and while the upper shelves could definitely handle it, for stability/convenience reasons I just ended up putting my heavier/bigger games on the bottom shelves. I think after that the most important groupings are size and frequency of play. Boxes that are the same size stack well together and thus should probably be placed on the same shelves to maximize space. Depending on how you plan to stack your games (on their sides or one on top of the other) having the games you play most often in easy reach is also important to consider. If you end up putting boxes on on top of the other (as is often the most convenient method for storage but not for usage) you should put your favourite games on the top of the stack. Rearranging your shelves every time you want to play something new is a bitch. If you end up placing your games on their sides you have to make sure that they fit the shelves almost perfectly or have some book ends as any tipped boxes might end up in a mess of plastic and wood.
Last edit: 04 Aug 2012 10:52 by sornars.

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04 Aug 2012 11:49 #131927 by Stephen Avery
Replied by Stephen Avery on topic Re: Organization
If you have a lot of games and limited space, it is space efficient to organize them by size. Frank and Sandy took it a step further and placed coded dots on the side of the games. H3...row H shelf and 3rd shelf up. I always know which old games I've bought from Frank because of the dots. (though they peel off easily)

Steve"at capacity with only 300"Avery

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04 Aug 2012 13:26 #131928 by wadenels
Replied by wadenels on topic Re: Organization
We live in an apartment with limited storage space, and the best option for us has been to organize by size. Stacks of like-sized boxes to prevent bowing, caving, and such.

Other methods I've tried:

By style/theme/category. This would be my preferred method. A place for co-ops, a place for party games, a place for DOAM games. We tried it and it lasted about two weeks. Vastly differing box sizes meant that you had to be extra careful with stacking and some games were just a pain in the ass to get out of their stacks. There's no logical way to put Risk Onyx, Risk Godstorm, Cyclades, and Axis & Allies (2nd Edition) together.

By publisher/type. Ora Et Labora, Gates of Loyang, Luna, San Juan, and Glen More together. GMT games all together. FFG stuff all together, then subdivided by square-box, silverline, etc. This worked better than the previous example because publishers tend to reuse the same box sizes. The problem came in with what to do with one-offs like Survive!, Castle Panic, Betrayal at House on the Hill, Cyclades, Quarriors, and stuff like that. We ended up stacking the "oddballs" by size to maximize space, which leads us to...

By size. This really was the best way for us to maximize the limited space available. It also helps the boxes stay in nicer condition. As much as I'd like to have the space to keep things nicely spaced out and separated by theme & style, we just can't. So FFG's Civilization and Warrior Knights are stacked four-high with Zooloretto and Aquaretto. Our Mayfair Cosmic is stacked with Pandemic. It kind of sucks from a "What deduction game are you up for?" standpoint because they're all over the damn place.

Since you're looking at custom shelves, I'd recommend going with a style and publisher hybrid. I'd put my FFG games together, blending into my dudes-on-a-map games. I'd put my Euros someplace else, and put my coops together too. Let games like Betrayal at the House on the Hill and Cosmic Encounter bridge the gap between real ameritrashy games and the coop games. Then everything makes sense from an organizational standpoint and you can get some space-saving benefit from same-box-size stacking.

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04 Aug 2012 15:43 #131931 by quozl
Replied by quozl on topic Re: Organization
I try to organize by number of players. Doesn't always work out that way because I suck at organizing but it seems most convenient for me.

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04 Aug 2012 23:19 #131941 by Gary Sax
Replied by Gary Sax on topic Re: Organization
Interesting, I would never have thought by # of players.

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05 Aug 2012 20:19 #131960 by Dogmatix
Replied by Dogmatix on topic Re: Organization
I "organize" by available space and date of purchase. Older things are already on the shelves. Newer purchases may or may not be. ;)

To save space, I ditch many, many boxes in favor of consolidating series games/expansions in a couple of original boxes or in 3.5" blank heavy-duty boxes from GMT (think plain white versions of the C&C:A boxes).

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05 Aug 2012 20:32 #131962 by SuperflyPete
Replied by SuperflyPete on topic Re: Organization
I put mine wherever they'll fit, although some have homes, like my Runebound stuff. There's no "master plan" of any kind.

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06 Aug 2012 19:53 #132026 by MattFantastic
Replied by MattFantastic on topic Re: Organization
We were up over 650 not too long ago (now getting down closer to 500, and I'd like to drop even more) and I have only the vaguest idea of how I have things organized. I do have one shelf of most of my favorite games but otherwise it's just kind of a free for all of what will fit where. I do know where just about everything is though despite my lack of organization.

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06 Aug 2012 20:01 #132028 by SaMoKo
Replied by SaMoKo on topic Re: Organization
I am proud to say I'll never have this problem by keeping a manageable collection of games. Anything over 30 or so games is just too much for me. I'd rather cycle out the ones I'm not playing often than worry about storage solutions.

For a smaller collection, my single wall unit works just great, and I still have room to throw in some sculptures and art to class it up. The lower shelf I use to store coffin boxes, the rest are scattered around and classified by how a game 'feels'.

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06 Aug 2012 20:28 #132034 by jeb
Replied by jeb on topic Re: Organization
I am over capacity--sale thread coming soon! I have one decent bookshelf, and a poor excuse for a closet shelf.

Games the kids play go on shelves the kids can reach. That's the bottom three. They are sized to take a FFG square box upright, but it's a free-for-all for games in there. Things like the wonky WALLENSTEIN are next to WIN, PLACE & SHOW are next to MAG-BLAST.

I have one shelf that is as pretty as can be and loaded with FFG stuff only. There's FFG stuff on other shelves, but this one is just ARKHAM x3, BSG, CitOW, SID MEIER'S, TALISMAN, and uh... PUZZLE STRIKE? What is on the end there? Hmm. Anyway, it's a hodge podge up top and creeping over to the book shelf for books.

The closet is the only place to put the coffin games: WoW, TI3, and DESCENT. I have all kinds of wonky ones in there like a tub of HEROSCAPE, the weirdly big CONFLICT OF HEROES, and a loose KING OIL board.

It's not very organized, but it's 103 games per my eldest and easy enough to find stuff.

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06 Aug 2012 22:16 #132042 by SuperflyPete
Replied by SuperflyPete on topic Re: Organization
I'm waiting for the photos to begin.

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07 Aug 2012 12:42 #132083 by the_jake_1973
Replied by the_jake_1973 on topic Re: Organization
My girl and I have ours in two places. A closet upstairs in the library holds the ones that get regular play, otherwise known as "the games Tammie likes to play". The rest of the games that do not see regular rotation, aka "the game that appeal to only me", are in the basement craft room that also has our shelves of models.

I like the closet organizers for game storage since there is so much flexibility in space allocation.

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07 Aug 2012 13:17 #132089 by san il defanso
Replied by san il defanso on topic Re: Organization
I've been floating just around 100 games for a while now, according to BGG. I think that number includes expansions though, so the total is probably closer to 80. That's not a bad number, but I do find that there are a few that are somewhat underplayed. I could probably do with a sale thread soon.

I have one shelf that holds pretty much everything. A couple of games just sit by the side, but most are organized in some way. If it's an AT game in a square box (think BSG or Fury of Dracula) then it's on the top shelf. Bigger AT games (like Space Hulk and Wrath of Ashardalon) sit on the bottom couple of rows. Past that, there really isn't much organization. It's mostly just sticking things where they fit.

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07 Aug 2012 13:57 - 07 Aug 2012 14:00 #132097 by Matt Thrower
Replied by Matt Thrower on topic Re: Organization
Organise? Haha!

I keep games where they fit. I have games in the bookshelves downstairs. Games at the bottom of my wardrobe. Games on top of my wardrobe. Games in the drawers of my work desk. Games in the attic. Games in the space above the airing cupboard. I "store" some of my games on semi-permanent loans to friends who particularly like them.

I doesn't help that I have a pathological fear of stacking boxes. When I was a boy I stacked all my boxes higgledy-piggledy and most of the lids got dented and bashed to shit. The problem, of course, was the haphazard manner in which I stored & retrieved them but that bit seems to be bypassed by my normally rational brain which just screams DON'T STACK THEM! DON'T STACK THEM! Whenever I try to put games anywhere. So they're all standing on sides/ends and the contents slide down to the bottom and threaten to make the lids falls off.

Sometimes I fantasise about having a house big enough to have a games room. Ideally it'd be in a basement - less noise to the rest of the house and less light to fade box art. I'd have bare stone walls, like the interior of a castle. One side of the room would have floor to ceiling shelves for games, miniatures & books. The other would have my unmounted maps placed into picture frames and hung on up like portraits. There would obviously be an enormous table in the middle.

But at the moment, the mere idea of organising games is just pie in the sky.
Last edit: 07 Aug 2012 14:00 by Matt Thrower.

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