One more year spent at the gaming table, pushing cubes and slapping cards on the table.
Let's look at some stats!
GAMES
I played 135 different titles (slightly down from 142 in 2018), for a total of 483 plays (up from 439—I'll make and effort and try to reach 500 plays for 2020!). Translated into grains of sands in the hourglass, this means 451 hours spent over cardboard confrontations and cooperative puzzles with family and friends, or almost 19 full days devoted to boardgaming bliss. I really can't complain. But I still want more, you understand.
Out of those 135 titles, 63 were new to me (almost the same as in the previous year: 67). I made a conscious effort to play more of my older games in 2019, so I'm a little surprised the number of new games went down by almost nothing. I guess I can't really stay away from the new stuff. Too shiny.
I played 135 different titles (slightly down from 142 in 2018), for a total of 483 plays (up from 439—I'll make and effort and try to reach 500 plays for 2020!). Translated into grains of sands in the hourglass, this means 451 hours spent over cardboard confrontations and cooperative puzzles with family and friends, or almost 19 full days devoted to boardgaming bliss. I really can't complain. But I still want more, you understand.
Out of those 135 titles, 63 were new to me (almost the same as in the previous year: 67). I made a conscious effort to play more of my older games in 2019, so I'm a little surprised the number of new games went down by almost nothing. I guess I can't really stay away from the new stuff. Too shiny.
Here are the top 10 games I played the most in 2019:
1. Black Spy (26 plays)
A classic trick-taking game, and a favorite at the office over lunch.
A classic trick-taking game, and a favorite at the office over lunch.
2. Combat Commander: Europe (19 plays)
A WWII tactical wargame, and my all-time favorite.
A WWII tactical wargame, and my all-time favorite.
3. Les Sept Sceaux (19 plays)
Known in the U.S. as Wizard Extreme, this is another trick-taking game that pleases the office crowd (and fits in the limited time we have each day).
4. Undaunted: Normandy (19 plays)
A simple wargame deck-builder that found its way onto my Top 10 for this year.
5. Arkham Horror: The Card Game (16 plays)
A Lovecraft-based cooperative experience that's as addictive as it is terrifying.
6. Pandemic Legacy, Season 2 (16 plays)
Also known as "cocaine in a box," season 2 was even better than season 1.
7. Axio (13 plays)
A simple and (really) quick-playing abstract game from Reiner Knizia.
8. Tramways (12 plays)
As far as train games go, this one's a genuine brain burner.
9. Forum Trajanum (11 plays)
An overused theme, but still one of my favorite recent designs by Stefan Feld.
10. Barrage (10 plays)
A clever hydroelectricity production game, and my favorite game of 2019.
PEOPLE
During 2019, I explored the boardgaming world alongside 55 different players, down from 65 in 2018. Two years ago that number was 97: does it mean I want to play with fewer people, or is it the other way around?
So here are the top 10 people with whom I played the most in 2019:
1. Suzie D. (125 plays)
2. Gustavo A. (122 plays)
3. Jean-Luc S. (89 plays)
4. François P. (82 plays)
4. François P. (82 plays)
5. Niko S. (76 plays)
6. Maxime M. (65 plays)
7. Marilyne E. (31 plays)
8. Fred B. (23 plays)
9. Pascal G. (23 plays)
10. Jérôme G. (17 plays)
My two youngest daughters landed the 11th and 12th spots, so they are sadly not on the list this year. They used to be very active boardgamers, but I guess reaching 16 and 18 years of age awakens new and different interests. Still, the GF is holding on to the top spot, and for a third consecutive year!
Also, new colleagues who made an appearance on last year’s list are still there, and what’s more, they’re moving up the ranks—always a good sign.
LOCATIONS
Also, new colleagues who made an appearance on last year’s list are still there, and what’s more, they’re moving up the ranks—always a good sign.
LOCATIONS
While my boardgaming had brought me to 13 locations in 2018, I ended up playing games in 17 different places throughout 2019, including New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and even Normandy, France, upon my early June trip there for the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
I played slightly less at home in 2019 than I did the previous year (56%, down from 65%), but my workplace boardgaming more than doubled (25%, up from 12%)! Boardgaming over lunch involves shorter games to be sure, but a play is a play.
I played slightly less at home in 2019 than I did the previous year (56%, down from 65%), but my workplace boardgaming more than doubled (25%, up from 12%)! Boardgaming over lunch involves shorter games to be sure, but a play is a play.
RANDOM OBSERVATIONS
My h-index has been 10 for four years in a row. I'm cursed!
(In this context, my h-index is the number (h) of games, which I've played a number (h) of times.) In other words, for the past four years, there are 10 games I played 10 times each. I haven't been able to play 11 games 11 times each since 2014.
It makes it possible, at least, for me to complete my 10x10 Challenge, which is one of the recent obsessions shared by serious boardgamers: play 10 games 10 times within the same year. The intent here is to ward off what people call the "cult of the new," where players are only interested in the fresh releases and move on to greener pastures after giving each game just a few tries—sometimes not even venturing beyond a single play. The voluntary 10x10 challenge forces participants to truly explore a part of their collection, often revealing hidden depths that would otherwise never have surfaced.
I succeeded in achieving my 10x10 for 2019, but it was on "easy" mode: I just needed to play 10 games 10 times each, no matter what they were. As a result, some short games like Black Spy and Axio wormed their way into the challenge, alongside heavier fare such as Terraforming Mars and Tramways.
So for 2020, I've given myself two such 10x10 Challenges: one with "regular" games (albeit more dense ones—the easiest game on the list is probably Viticulture), and one with only solo games (again, no freebies, with games ranging from Castle Itter to D-Day at Omaha Beach).
Here's what the things look like:
My favorite game, Combat Commander, currently stands at 433 plays. I have no doubt I'll cross the 500-play threshold in the next few years, especially now that my wargaming buddy François and I have decided to replay all of the official, published historical scenarios in chronological order. In other words, we're replaying WWII via Combat Commander. That's 118 scenarios through which I'm assuming the role of the Axis. For the first go, that is—because, being thoroughly insane, we've already decided we'd play the entire war in such a fashion twice. So I'll get to experience the entire thing from the other side in, what, three years?
We're already done with the first 14 scenarios, and I'm documenting every game here on my blog, in case you're curious (or just need something to help you fall asleep).
I begun 2019 with Pandemic: Fall of Rome, and I ended it with Kanban: Automotive Revolution. Not too shabby!
As of this writing (on January 2nd), I already have three plays under my belt. Short games, but still! It's a promising start.
So what am I looking forward to in the coming year?
There's On Mars, the latest Vital Lacerda design; the game was supposed to arrive in 2019, but hey, that's Kickstarter for you. Then there's Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps! which sounds just like the old Aliens game from Leading Edge back in the late '80s, and which I loved so much. I'm also excited about 303 Squadron, a gorgeous Polish wargame about the Battle of Britain. What about Rocketmen, a space-bound deck-builder from my favorite designer, Martin Wallace? And, of course, a slew of GMT Games releases, among them Apocalypse Road (a Mad Max-type race/slaughter fest), Caesar: Rome vs Gaul (the follow-up to the seminal Hannibal), Dominant Species: Marine (the last game from my dear, departed friend Chad Jensen), and more.
As always, it's going to be a fun ride.
(In this context, my h-index is the number (h) of games, which I've played a number (h) of times.) In other words, for the past four years, there are 10 games I played 10 times each. I haven't been able to play 11 games 11 times each since 2014.
It makes it possible, at least, for me to complete my 10x10 Challenge, which is one of the recent obsessions shared by serious boardgamers: play 10 games 10 times within the same year. The intent here is to ward off what people call the "cult of the new," where players are only interested in the fresh releases and move on to greener pastures after giving each game just a few tries—sometimes not even venturing beyond a single play. The voluntary 10x10 challenge forces participants to truly explore a part of their collection, often revealing hidden depths that would otherwise never have surfaced.
I succeeded in achieving my 10x10 for 2019, but it was on "easy" mode: I just needed to play 10 games 10 times each, no matter what they were. As a result, some short games like Black Spy and Axio wormed their way into the challenge, alongside heavier fare such as Terraforming Mars and Tramways.
So for 2020, I've given myself two such 10x10 Challenges: one with "regular" games (albeit more dense ones—the easiest game on the list is probably Viticulture), and one with only solo games (again, no freebies, with games ranging from Castle Itter to D-Day at Omaha Beach).
Here's what the things look like:
My favorite game, Combat Commander, currently stands at 433 plays. I have no doubt I'll cross the 500-play threshold in the next few years, especially now that my wargaming buddy François and I have decided to replay all of the official, published historical scenarios in chronological order. In other words, we're replaying WWII via Combat Commander. That's 118 scenarios through which I'm assuming the role of the Axis. For the first go, that is—because, being thoroughly insane, we've already decided we'd play the entire war in such a fashion twice. So I'll get to experience the entire thing from the other side in, what, three years?
We're already done with the first 14 scenarios, and I'm documenting every game here on my blog, in case you're curious (or just need something to help you fall asleep).
I begun 2019 with Pandemic: Fall of Rome, and I ended it with Kanban: Automotive Revolution. Not too shabby!
As of this writing (on January 2nd), I already have three plays under my belt. Short games, but still! It's a promising start.
So what am I looking forward to in the coming year?
There's On Mars, the latest Vital Lacerda design; the game was supposed to arrive in 2019, but hey, that's Kickstarter for you. Then there's Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps! which sounds just like the old Aliens game from Leading Edge back in the late '80s, and which I loved so much. I'm also excited about 303 Squadron, a gorgeous Polish wargame about the Battle of Britain. What about Rocketmen, a space-bound deck-builder from my favorite designer, Martin Wallace? And, of course, a slew of GMT Games releases, among them Apocalypse Road (a Mad Max-type race/slaughter fest), Caesar: Rome vs Gaul (the follow-up to the seminal Hannibal), Dominant Species: Marine (the last game from my dear, departed friend Chad Jensen), and more.
As always, it's going to be a fun ride.
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