In The Car

I own a lot of games. Probably too many, but you didn't hear that from me. But I rarely game in my home. Most of my gaming is done on Wednesday evenings at Phoenix Games in Mukilteo.

Now, Brian has a good library of demo games and store copies on-site. And the Wednesday crew is allowed to (and does) make use of that library. But Brian rarely has (for example) expansions as part of his library. So players who want to play (for example) 7 Wonders with the Leaders expansion need to bring their own copy.

No-one has an infinite trunk in their car. So I'll never have room for every game I want to play at all times in the car.  It just doesn't work like that. I can fit about thirty games the size of Ticket To Ride in the car. And a mixed bag of other-sized games.

So I have to prioritize and arrange the car.

My number one most important priority for games in the car is "Do I know or suspect that folks in the group will enjoy the game?"  Because if I bring a game that no-one likes, I've wasted space in the car and some of our limited gaming time. There are games in the car that I'm not a fan of, but other folks I game really like.

New games have priority. Playing games at Game Night helps Brian sell more copies of those games. But I have to be careful not to pass the point of, "I don't need to buy it. Eric has a copy," with some of these games.

Games that can hold more players tend to get higher priority, too. I don't play many two-player games on Wednesdays, and those that I do play tend to be fairly fast-playing.

Beyond that, it's "What else can I fit?"

I have games from GenCon that haven't hit the table on Wednesdays yet. Like Madame Ching. It's not a bad game. There are just games we want to play more often.

Lately, the group has wanted to play Fist of Dragonstones.  I got it to the table the week after Alex went back to France (sorry, my friend). And I remembered after the first game why it stopped hitting the table.

It's not because it's a bad game (because it really isn't). It's not because it's un-fun (because it isn't). It's because I'm so very bad at it. So. Bad. In the last three weeks, I've played it four times and scored zero points.

In general, I'm okay with losing at games. I have no problem not winning. But when I can't even get on the board, I get frustrated and look for other games to play.

The group likes it, though, so it'll stay in the car for now.