What BOARD GAME(s) have you been playing?

Yeah, i think I have less than 20. I keep my collection updated on BGG and I'm sure it's not very many games at all. Once Emily gets older, I bet I'll start playing them all again and maybe the collection will grow again but I doubt it.

Bomber, what a great write-up on TS! I love reading people talking about game sessions, so exciting and engrossing. I could totally feel you pain when you draw into a hand full of red. I love those moments, "How am I going to get out of this mess?"

You got +8 in the early war as the USA player?? Man, was the USSR player sleeping or what? The US is in such a bad position with Asia and Africa. With Asia, I think you just need to minimize the damage. I don't think you can ever really go after it. The Middle East is what screws me up the most. It's a game of leapfrog that one. I never know when to pull out or go heavy.

Yeah, I'm not really one to hold up as a gaming beacon Jeff since you know I've had several hundred games many times, and I have sold and rebought more games than I would Wager (like, actually seriously Wager) than anyone else on the planet. I shit you not, some games I have acquired more than ten times, and not just a handful, MANY of them. Its lunacy of course, actually I Think it has gone hand in hand with some issues I've had upstairs (thats what she said!). Think I've got it under Control now, for me personally I just Think of it as such a waste of time faffing about with new rules, new games, new tweaks, I'm just not that bothered, again, for me personally, you guys do whatever floats your boat. I probably have too many games at 10 (well, 8, as Street Soccer Ive put to one side for the kid, I wouldnt miss it really, and Carrom I dont really Count as a boardgame). its not even that the ones Ive picked are the be all and end all (though I'd say several of those are best in class), its just that now I have those, and am "into" them, I really dont see the need or appeal in alternatives, variations, or sequels. And Ive stopped trying to Think about "oo Ive got a good auction game", I mean, when you Think about it, who the fuck Thinks in "mechanics". I dont know how that got pushed forward as some truth - oo, I must play some medium weight economic game with tile placement. Wtf? A good game is a good game, and its more relevant to me to class it by who will I play it with and what "sort" of game is it. optimising a fucking spreadsheet, Rolling Dice and playing Soldiers, or getting in the face of each other reacting to how the game develops, or coping with the chaos thrown at you by the game, I prefer "soft" rules that are almost generic systems where they quickly give way to getting involved with each other, and that being the game, not the other way round ("following rules"). Games where house rules and variants make a mess are red flags to me - systems should be self correcting and open for sticking your nob in where you see fit.

Anyway, as for Twilight Struggle, its just SO FUCKING GOOD, I mean even if I didnt like it or enjoy it, its JUST SO FUCKING GOOD. I do wonder if like the best Movies and Music, its one part designed and perfected and the rest just a magical coming together of stuff in a way that might have been impossible to plan for, if that makes sense, like it all fits together so well. Such an experience / narrative as well as it also being a fucking great game, rather than it being one or the other. I've played 3 times face to face, and one time I lost with the Missile Envy, We Will Bury You nuclear war trap, one time here with Wargames and Another time with a sadly misplayed rule which I later renamed "The Norad FUCKUP" where US influence was being put in EVERY US controlled country each time hahah. But none of those 3 losses have dampened the experience. Looking forward to semi competence and unravelling the deeper strategy but really a great game to enjoy by doing.

I dont actually remember how I got the early lead, I did get a Domination in Europé early on and I might even have scored Europé twice, we are both rookies so he probably made some mistakes too but I knew I was doing good and just waiting for the tide to turn. I was literally shocked to see my hand on the Late War deal, I mean it felt like I'¨d been sat in a proper political summit meeting and some proper international crisis just got whispered in my ear by one of my top advisors, I was like fuck, I thought the US would be steamrollering, and I really didnt get my head round wtf was going on when he pulled the Middle East scoring slap and Wargames hammer on me, but it was still awesome

I'll try to make some better notes for the next game and put up some session reports here or something, and you can all laugh at my incompetence as a global leader

good Point about the "my" and "family" games Jeff. I've been there. But my wife has told me many, many times, even though she's quite into games and happy to play/try pretty much anything, shes Always said "to be honest, I'd be happy even if we just had Agricola". And thats the thing, you get into this thing where you discover all these games you never knew you had, youre a bit fed up that you missed your "golden years" in terms of free time, Money and access to nerds, so you tend to go a bit mental and try to retroactively make up for it, but you can never do it. youve moved on. You have a family, kids, job, other stuff. Games are just not that important. Sure, I could sit and play a new game a week with the wife, but whats the Point, find something you both like, the important thing is we sit down and have fun together, and you get a lot more out of a game you both know DEEPLY so you are at no Point thinking about rules and wondering how this or that might work, you're really playing each other with the game as the backdrop. Sure, now and then you might want a change, but once you get your head round what your own Life is actually like, its not that hard to realise you can get by with a handful of games. Course, if you are lucky enough to have a lot of free time, access to other gamers, and want to have 1000 games, thats up to you. Doesnt work for me, even though Ive acted like it does at several Points Before now. Of the games I have now, Ive played Agricola, Tigris, memoir, Carrom, Innovation and street soccer well over 100 times F2F and several hundred times online (apart from Carrom natch). Still loving all those games. I'd like to try Acquire, Modern Art and El Grande but realistically I dont need all of those - El Grande has become more of a "damn it I WILL get a Group to give this a go with" resolution, I'm hoping the simple rules (if not simple strategy) and kitsch value of Modern Art will make it a hit with some friends of ours that have said they would play something sometime. Acquire I might get rid of because, well, Tigris, and Twilight Struggle I've now actively set up a local opponent and Schedule and also plan to hit VASSAL with it too.

I had a Quick look at the releases this year, and recently the last few years and I just find it utterly utterly naff and pointless. I'm sure there are some good games in there but I'm just not interested in the boardgame scene any more, its actually counter productive for me in terms of just enjoying the few games I have. In an ideal World, 20 years ago, sure I could have filled my boots with the lot of it, but fuck that. It does actually feel like the whole industry and Community (read: BGG) is just trolling the fuck out of everyone and each other.

Still, I'm just one dude, nobody else should give a fuck, and I'm not preaching to anyone else to take any notice of how I do it.

I like Reading about your perspectives Jeff (and Barney's Always cool even though it turns out hes NOT Richard Simmons, fuck!) so keep sharing.

ldsdbomber wrote: I'll try to make some better notes for the next game and put up some session reports here or something, and you can all laugh at my incompetence as a global leader

It wouldn't be fun if you were making perfect plays. It's a great read cuz the game is always about minimizing the damage of disasters.

Your post alone I think has removed my consumer dissonance from participating in the Twilight Struggle kickstarter for a retail digital game for consoles and PC. I've been ho-huming that decision for some time now but all of a sudden I feel glad I participated.

(this should probably be broken out into its own thread, but whatever)

Yeah, the 'family' games category is a lie. Who put Settlers and Dungeon! on our shelf? Me. With their wife really digging Ticket to Ride, who went out and bought Exp 1 and Exp 2 maps? Me. (yet, we still simply play the main game). Who watched BGG to be find when Target was gonna clearance out Zooloretto and Dixit? Me. Who brought in Detroit/Cleveland Grand Prix this past summer as part of the ERP? Me. Me, me, me.

I've fooled myself in the past, looking at the game shelf thinking, 'gee, _I_ only have about 20 games, these rest are family games'. Whatever.

My wife is fine playing BattleLine, base TtR and Zooloretto. My son is good if he and I just play Heroscape or Pokemon. Why do I have Nexus Ops again? I'm also not a super fan. It's ok, but it's never the first, or 5th, choice of games I'd pull off the shelf and I've _never_ scheduled a game night with others to play NO.

At the last BB League night, I gave away a few boardgames as 'door prizes'. I won't be surprised in the least if I do that some more over the next two months. I can see myself just giving out Shogun, Railway Rivals, Risk 2210 and others to folks in my groups. The fear is they'll disappear though. Not in that they'll get sold off, but the folks I game with already have so many damn games their collections that I doubt they'll want to pull out a game I gave them over some title they paid cash for.

That's the thing too. Too many games across too many collections. We (my circles) have hit the point of diminishing returns a long time ago...

Still, there are other games that call to me. Having a game on each mechanic never meant anything to me, but for some reason I've felt the need to own war-games based on conflicts in North America. Why? I'm never gonna choose to play Texas Glory (though a fine game) over Hammer of the Scots. I'm not a fan of Command and Colors at all, yet have a desire to re-own the original Battle Cry. I like Tammany Hall, but it's nay been out twice. If I'm going to move cubes around a map I'm likely always going to reach for Condotierre over TH (and probably even Shogun).

BlockMania and Talisman (both GW) are both in incredible, like new shape, and I've even pimped them out. Yet, neither hasn't seen the table more than once in the past year. Other games are selected over them. Why keep them? Because they are mainstays from my good old days? I fear I won't ever be able to re-buy copies in as good condition again? They're great games, but there's just so much time...(and I feel like I game plenty).

To be totally honest, there's also another, deeper level I think that I've attached to some games. I'd wager it's also true for most all of us here, even if we may not be comfortable admitting it.

Identity.

I've had a GW game on my shelf for over 30 years. How would it be to not ever have one? What if I jettisoned all my games except 5-10? I may not call myself 'a gamer', but I've played a lot of games in my time, somewhat keep up what's going on, talk/read about them plenty (here and elsewhere), etc. FOR_30_YEARS.

What if I packed it all in?

What would I have to show for the past 30 years? fun times, friendships, and memories I suppose. And that's what should really matter, but would I start to then begin to feel like it was all wasted?

It's not like I spent 30 years playing guitar or painting with oils or anything. A skill that takes time to develop. I've...played....games.

So, to no longer have any...what would I have to show for it?

I dunno.

This is probably deeper than anyone was expecting, but I do turn 40 in a few months, and I'm very aware of what I'm modeling for the kids. Do I want them to hold onto their pokemon cards 30 years from now? It's kind of the same as what I do. Do I want my son to be pouring over games sites looking for deals and trades when he's older or would I like to think he'd be a bit more interesting? As it is, I think the kids are on a great course, but before too much longer they'll realize how much time/money I waste on games/gaming.

True, I do feel like some titles such as AH TITAN and GW Talisman are pure works of art, but still, in the end they're just games....and I've sunk a lot of hours into 'em...

Perhaps, I've been lying to myself and I am a gamer (though I don't video game).

You wouldn't be the first (or last) to at some point think what the fuck have I wasted my time (and money) on all these years. But it is what it is, we did what we did cos we did it and thats just how it went down. Nothing wrong with starting a new day every day and deciding on doing something totally different just cuz! Good that you're thinking of the kids though, I'm mortified they will just like the stuff I do, and want to do the same things I do and did. That might just be the contrarian in me but I am in no rush to push my kids to be "gamers", like rugby or want to be scientists. Better that they turn into scraggy haired guitar twanging bank robbers who think games are stupid.

So... I look at my shelves and there's a lot of memories of good plays in the majority of them, with a few shelf toads on there as well that never get played. I smile when I think of them. I dunno, maybe this is reflective of being an atheist, but what else is there supposed to be? I'm going to fucking die.

I'm not clear what else is supposed to be going on that is so awesome besides doing shit like playing games. Meditating like the Buddha? That's never been terribly rewarding for me when I've tried it. But then I also backpack and do outdoors stuff, which also makes me smile when I look at the gear that crowds my closet. Probably the only thing I'll really regret is spending too much time at work, but then my work is pretty personal and rewarding relative to others I've talked to.

I guess if I felt like I was being chained to it, doing it out of habit, so there I see where you guys are coming from... but this has always been something that gives me a lot of joy, a fuck of a lot more than other things I've tried. What's the distinction between "habit" and "what you're genuinely into!"

As an honest question, Jeff, what is it that makes you think, say, learning to play guitar is a normatively better way to spend all that time than gaming? Is it the skill buildup/progression? Perception of societal contribution?

I live just a couple of miles from the FFG Event Center, which now has 500+ games available for play:

https://twitter.com/FFGCenter/status/527130857392599040/photo/1

So I sometimes question my need to own about 100 games.

KingPut wrote: We had some Halloween fun last night with Mansions of Madness - Season of the Witch. Season of the Witch is a great scenario but maybe a little tough on 3 investigator. The investigators followed the clues and didn't waste very much time but they still ran out of time. I would suggest adding a couple of extra turns to game if anyone is playing this scenario.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. It was still a great session, though.

Gary Sax wrote: As an honest question, Jeff, what is it that makes you think, say, learning to play guitar is a normatively better way to spend all that time than gaming? Is it the skill buildup/progression? Perception of societal contribution?

Sure.

First, I didn't say playing a guitar was better. Second, I'm not sure (though I could be wrong) that one's theistic view has much to do with it.

I too do a lot outdoors stuff. I've always stayed in shape, and in fact am now in easily the best shape of my life. I've got a good career, beautiful wife, awesome kids, etc. So, in some sense, many things are great. So, It's not that i've spent the past 30 years solely bellied up at a table, chugging Mt. Dews and crushing pocky sticks.

However, that doesn't mean I feel like I've really reached my potential. For me, I'd like to be able to play music better, be more well read, and definitely travel more than I have lately.

All this time and money spent on games is fine, but it also means less time and money for other pursuits. It's all a balance for what works best for you. And for me, I'm finding that there are other areas I'd like to grow in and some cases wish I had made some other choices.

in the end we're all just killing time

Nice post, I hear you.

Black Barney wrote: in the end we're all just killing time

... or is time killing us?

– Deep Thoughts by metalface

What would I have to show for the past 30 years? fun times, friendships, and memories I suppose. And that's what should really matter, but would I start to then begin to feel like it was all wasted?

It's not like I spent 30 years playing guitar or painting with oils or anything. A skill that takes time to develop. I've...played....games.

So, to no longer have any...what would I have to show for it?

I think I started playing games as an adult about ten years ago. Prior to that it was Dungeons and Dragons, Titan, Circus Maximus, Traveller and some terrible Avalon Hill games in the eighties that I bought at the local Hammond's hobby store (UFO anyone?) and that one game about Timmy the time traveling Vietnam vet. We were on vacation at my in-laws and I stopped by a hobby store and bought some CheapAss games (remember those?) and it was like that scene in Taxi (the tv show) when Jim takes a bite of his first pot brownie.

There was a brief period where I met with a game group and it was fun, I was always the guy who wasn't quite that good and talked a little too much. The group disbanded but some of them get together on their own at someone's home and play train games. I think what happened is that gamer weirdos started showing up and they quietly circled the wagons and I was lost in the purge. That, and I realized I didn't want to drive half an hour to play any more. I think that I thought of myself as the fun guy, and the other group members as the euro-analyticals, but then realized not too long ago that I had become the same cold, analytical player who looked slightly annoyed when people got too social. Part of growing up is realizing that you're an A**hole, too.

My wife has been irritated at my game collecting and selling for years now, and I have also asked myself the question, "What if I had spent that time and energy learning to play the guitar, or juggling, or whatever" and the truth is, the heart wants what the heart wants, and you can't fool mother dopamine. I have a brain that needs to be fixated on something, whether it be tools, games, or airsoft pistols. Some of this is hard wired, and some of it is a response to that nagging feeling that you've hit your prime with the birth of the last child and nowhere to go at work, so all that is left is memories of your youth, the faint glimmer of hope that you'll find a group of friends, weekends repairing your crumbling house, hoping your back lasts another year and that slow, inevitable fading of your life's car battery as winter approaches, with each starting of the engine taking a little longer each morning, your headlights getting scratched and dim and crap this is a stupid metaphor. Sure, I would have liked to have spent ten years playing the piano, but ultimately only in service of some ego-driven desire to impress other people or somehow use it to make people looooove me.

Anyway, I scaled back on the gaming, then we moved to the Middle East and I only brought a few, and we don't really play them, except on occasion. When you move, you take your problems and relationships with you, and the same forces that kept me from playing in the States are at play here. Too little time, fatigue, some sort of internal gamer's block, and tired of learning rules.

My kids are having a great time playing Savage Worlds right now, and spent yesterday gluing together maps and counters, or "nerd scrapbooking." Last night they played with friends for five hours, which is a memory they'll be glad to have one day. I'm at Saturday basketball with my fourteen year old, and he's making some baskets and having a good time. That's a memory he'll be glad to have one day. Nobody looks back and says, "Man, I'm glad I got that cool game in a trade and then never played it then traded it for some heavy wargame that I never opened."

A game can be this object that you project your hopes on. There is hype. Someone YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE will take some malformed, 6.5 concoction with some interesting ideas and whip you into a frenzy. You buy it, you play it or not. Someone else comes out with a devastating critique and then you're like ANNE BOLEYN, YOU W**** and then you're on to the next pretty young thing who is bound to disappoint you. BGG is Thomas Cromwell, quietly making the arrangements and acquiring the only victory points that you can actually spend. (Sorry, reading "Bring up the Bodies" right now)

Ok, that's enough self-pity for now, and I've told this story about five times. Still trying to make sense of it.

[A basketball just came straight at my laptop. I casually lifted my crossed leg and it hit my sole and was deflected directly over me. It was kind of cool.]