Another year down the hatch, with one of my worst boardgaming performances ever, and the reasons for this are pretty clear: the pandemic—that's a given—and a rocky start to 2022 because of my concussion. But also a serious step back vis-à-vis boardgaming in my home, where a variety of factors meant that the kids and my girlfriend all played much fewer games throughout the year.
So how does this all translate into numbers?
GAMES
I played 127 different titles (way up from 87 in 2021, so I'm apparently out of that death spiral), for a total of 380 plays (better than the previous 356, but still a far cry from the 500+ plays I used to hit in a single year). I spent 430 hours poring over mapboards in 2022, versus 399 hours in 2021—a slight improvement. That's almost 18 full days devoted to boardgaming bliss; I'll be aiming for more this year.
Out of those 127 titles, 62 were new to me (up from 49 in 2021), and—new data point this year—I ended up playing 17% of my collection. It'll be interesting to see how this metric evolves going forward.
Here are the 10 games I played the most in 2022:
1. Combat Commander (31 plays)
This WWII tactical game never seems to stray far from the top, does it? I
was hoping to hit a total of 500 overall plays this year, but I fell 13 short.
2. Snow Tails (20 plays)
These are all solo plays, back when I was working on my solo ruleset for this fun dog-sled racing game. (Yes, also part of my concussion recovery.)
3. Nemesis (16 plays)
The most Alien boardgame that's not officially Alien: fast and furious gameplay with a tense atmosphere, and colleagues who might or might not be trying to help/whack you.
4. Heat: Pedal to the Metal (12 plays)
My favorite boardgame of 2022 and one of the all-time great racing games. Also one of the easiest games to explain in my entire collection, which I find astounding.
5. Arkham Horror: The Card Game (15 plays)
Cthulhu and his tentacled friends still make for an amazing card game, but the latest cycle, Edge of the Earth, was the weakest of all those published thus far. Let's hope The Scarlet Keys make us forget this misstep.
6. Wing Leader (10 plays)
Still fighting my way through the entire Second World War using this air combat system, and loving it as much as when I first tried it out. (Even though the dice hate me.)
7. Great Western Trail (9 plays)
A mix of 1st and 2nd edition here, but delivering head after head of cattle to Kansas City never gets old.
8. The Quacks of Quedlingburg (9 plays)
This witch-themed push-your-luck game will most likely be an evergreen with my family. And I have yet to teach it to a new player who didn't enjoy it.
9. The Fields of Normandy (8 plays)
It's an interesting little solo book-game, but I can already tell I'm done with this.
10. Azul (7 plays)
My youngest daughter Ophélie was quite taken with this brilliant tile-picking abstract game early in the year, and then dropped it altogether. :D
PEOPLE
During 2022, I explored the boardgaming world alongside 28 different players, up from a paltry 13 in 2021. Things are improving!
Here are the 10 people with whom I played the most last year:
1. Suzie D. (76 plays)
2. Jean-Luc S. (75 plays)
3. François P. (72 plays)
4. Gustavo A. (37 plays)
5. Ophélie K. L. (27 plays)
6. Héloïse K. L. (24 plays)
7. Niko S. (12 plays)
8. Fred B. (12 plays)
9. Doris L. (10 plays)
10. William L. (9 plays)
For some reason, the GF felt like playing games a lot less often throughout 2022, which means she barely held onto her 1st place for the sixth consecutive year (whereas she'd log in about twice that number of plays on a typical year).
Again, three of the four kids are on the list, with Béatrice ending up 11th—not too bad considering she now lives in Switzerland!
And yes, my mom made the list again, which makes me really happy.
LOCATIONS
The number of different places where I played boardgames rose to 11, from a mere eight in 2021. It's still a little low, but much closer to pre-pandemic stats in this department. FaceTime remains one of those locations, and since I realized there were some people I would only play with through something like Boardgame Arena, I decided to include digital plays going forward. I'm not thrilled about it, but hey, there are worst things in life. I guess.
60% of my gaming was done at home, 21% over FaceTime and BGA, and the rest was scattered all over the neighborhood.
OTHER MUSINGS & RAMBLINGS
My H-index went down again this year, from 9 to 8. Not a great trend.
(In this context, my H-index is the number (h) of games which I've played a number (h) of times.)
My self-imposed challenges didn't go great, but I still managed to accomplish the following three:
- Play 5 games 20 times each (the 5x20 challenge)
- Log in 55 solo plays
- Log in 80 wargame plays
These two ended up in the gutter, though:
- Play 10 games 10 times teach (the classic 10x10 challenge)
- Log in 100 abstract game sessions
I think I'll drop the 10x10 challenge: 5x20 is more in line with how I operate when it comes to repeat plays. (Translation: I love to play many different games, and only get obsessed with a handful of them on any given year.)
And now that the pandemic is somewhat receding, I believe I can also let go of the solo challenge. Good riddance, I say.
My very first game of 2022 was the wallet-sized Sprawlopolis, a tiny solo affair even my concussed brain could handle. And I closed out the year with GMT's new racing title, Charioteer, just as the clock was striking midnight.
Last year, I was looking forward to three games that made my Top 10 list for 2022: Weather Machine, Boonlake and Messina 1347.
Not everything was great, however, as 303 Squadron and Free at Last both showed up with terrible rulebooks in desperate need of a rewrite.
2023 is already winking at me with a stack of GMT games delivered just a tad too late to count for 2022: Charioteer (an instant hit in my household), Twilight Struggle: Red Sea and Skies Above Britain (already set up on the war room table!).
I'm also excited about Rosenberg's new titles, Oranienburger Kanal and Atiwa, as well as the third and last (?) chapter of the GWT trilogy, Great Western Trail: New Zealand; and I'll have a hard time not trying out Undaunted: Battle of Britain because I'm a sucker for that famous WWII engagement.
Plus, who knows, maybe the long-delayed Dutch Resistance: Orange Shall Overcome will finally shake off its publishing chains and make it to the free world.
What are you waiting for? Get boardgaming!
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