Starting My End-of-Year Review

With the year winding down, I've started getting ready for the end-of-year posts just like this one.  Due to Christmas falling on a Wednesday this year, I don't know that I'll get much more gaming done (other than tonight and New Year's Eve) this year. These numbers will fluctuate, but I don't expect there will be dramatic upheavals here.

As of this writing (a few weeks before you see it, actually), the top-played games in my library are Rise of Augustus (with 30 plays), Mutant Meeples (with 13 plays), Shogi (with 13 plays), Le Fantôme de l’Opéra (with 13 plays), and The Duke (with 12 plays).  Not far behind is Mascarade with 11 plays.

So my top six consists of three Asmodee-distributed games, one classic, and two Kickstarted games (one of which I didn't even back).  All of them are either two-player or fast-playing.

In fact, looking at my top ten or fifteen or so, all of them are either two-player or are fast-playing.

It's because of the environment in which I play - Wednesday evenings with their constant mixture of players are really not conducive to very long games.  In fact, I'd rather play a dozen short games with different folks each time than one long game.  Most of the time.

This becomes more complicated when a two-player game that I really really like appears.  Like, say, Shogi. Or Le Fantome de l'Opera.  There are also games on the list that I want to play more. Changgi, for example. And there is no Dungeon Twister on the list, because I don't log demos in which I don't play. I ran several Dungeon Twister: the Card Game demos at GenCon this year. And then a few more at Phoenix. But I haven't actually played a full game, yet.

I'll almost certainly be playing more Changgi over the future.  I like it better than I like Xiang Qi. Part of that, however, is because one of the Game Night regulars learned to play as a child, and so knows some of the strategy involved. It's amazing how much more I like games when I have an idea of what you are supposed to do.  I've read a couple of books on Xiang Qi, but there is no substitute for an enthusiastic and knowledgeable teacher.

There are some games on my list that I thought would be higher than they are - I only played Spyrium four times this year, for example.  And I really like that one.  And it was a focus at GenCon.  I thought I'd played Gentlemen Thieves more than five times. And it's another favorite that everyone seemed to like. Now, it's possible I failed to record one or more plays of these.  But I don't think I did - I just didn't play them to death ...

When I add RPGs to the list, 13th Age (11 plays), and Dresden Files (11 plays) appear. Both excellent games - and both games which are ongoing.  I'd thought we played them more than 11 each.  And I'll probably be hitting 12 on Dresden by the end of the year (unless game is cancelled).