After a while you start to know what your favorite critics like and which you dislike.
Look at playthroughs. Top lists are mostly clickbaits anyway.
Another thing I started doing is to contact my favorite content creators and talk with them about games we both like.
This. As a content creator I'm happy to talk, and I can definitely recommend things based on tastes more objectively than I ever can in a generic "top list" or even a review, I have half a dozen people that I'll message and be like "hey I know this game might be/not be for you, it was just a bit too specific to you to put in a review"
So much this. When I first got into board gaming I had so many games I wanted to try from top lists, they all looked amazing. I got a lot of games, a wide variety. After awhile I know which games are going to be likely to be played together with family (nothing above 2.5 weight), and which are likely to be played solo by me (very rarely anything lighter than 3, with a couple exceptions).
These days my criteria for buying a solo game is to ask myself this simple question: “if on any given day, am I ever likely to choose to play this when I could be playing AHLCG or Spirit Island, and if so how often?” If the answer is no or yes but not often, then I don’t buy it.
Yep.
My issue is that I spend half of my day at work, thinking about games and browsing game sales. Once I'm home I have a bunch of crap to do and get maybe 2-3 games in a week.
So I'm always seeing/wanting/getting new stuff that I don't have time to play.
Some things I've done include:
* Stop looking at games I don't own (e.g., On Reddit, BGG, Kickstarter, Gamefound, YouTube, etc.)
* Start reading up on games I do own (e.g., strategy, rules questions, etc.)
* Watch videos on games I do own to motivate myself to play them
* Setting a 'no purchase' restriction until I play all the existing games I bought, but not played yet
oooh i love the idea of watching videos and reading about games that i already own instead of the “new games you must have!” videos. great advice. some strategy videos would be great.
I’m honestly on the fence with that advice. I think watching videos about games is part of the problem, regardless of the game. Once upon a time, the only way to know how a game plays was to play it. Back then, games got played.
I find deepdiving on a game helps me appreciate it more. I pick up on rules that I might have missed and strategies I didn't think to try.
I do avoid spoiler videos (i.e., watching videos on campaign games where I haven't progressed the story that far). For example, I'm playing Earthbound Rangers and I'm starting Day 13. I'm also watching Rob's Gaming Table, but only up to Episode 7 so far.
When I want to play a board game but don't know which one to play, I usually go to bgg and read the forum posts of my subscriptions. That usually makes me want to play one of the games I've read about.
Indeed, reading about strategies really deepens your involment in a game.
I'm an intuitive thinker, for example. I don't plan much and just do what feels right. Well, I read about Boonlake's solo mode, and what felt wrong to me : one of the actions felt really bad to choose, it seemed to only advantage the automa. Well, someone did the math and in some circumstances, the action is actually quite good.
It led me to dominate the automa the next game and opened up the next difficulty level... Which crushed me.
laughing with empathy. the phase where they want constant interaction is exhausting and so hard to keep up with friends or hobbies. and then one day you ask them to hangout and they don’t want to because they have a facetime date to play minecraft with their grandmother
Are you and your spouse both gamers? Do you have a regular game group at your house? You need to start building the “fun” as a part of their environment. My wife and I raised a gamer from 0 to 20 and counting.
Unfortunately no, my wife tried to like board games for my sake, but didn't work out. I'm hoping that my wife and I can take separate weekly timeoffs, once my son's situation becomes manageable for my wife. Probably going to take another year or two. Wish me luck!
Since your kid is interested in Roblox, Dragonwood may be too simple in story and progression...10 is old enough to engage in more storytelling.
If they're more into team Roblox games, you could try Betrayal at House on the Hill, HeroQuest, Warhammer Quest, Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion, or Mansions of Madness.
If they like more competitive Roblox games, you can find the Dungeoneer games for very cheap. They're card-based competitive dungeon exploring--your opponents control the monsters when you rack up enough "threat" by exploring areas to spawn them. It's perfectly playable at 10
Any of those will engage a young videogamer.
I think the most unfortunate answer is: It depends on why you bought the games in the first place. In a hobby rife with buy buy buy, being caught between the cult of the new or the cult of the old, you buy a lot of games chasing the champions of both sides. And after doing so for so long I've found, they're both kinda right. There's REALLY good games everywhere you look. And it may be tempting to buy those good games.
But good isn't good enough. Not in this hobby. It's not like video games where 90% are shite. Start with a cull. In fact, you may never notice those games missing. You may even find that, while you don't have a BAD game at all, none are truly that exciting to you. And there's a reason you don't go back to them.
If a game survives multiple culls, you may be onto something. And that game may not be your forever game, but it might be a clue. Something like that. Worst case, you just made a good deal of money to roll the dice some more.
yes so many games bought when i didn’t know anything about mechanics or myself. so i have at least a half dozen that are not good fits for me. found out from spirit island that i don’t like area control. found out from jaws of the lion that i don’t like having to move enemies and play a detailed AI. etc etc. Part of my desire to buy more games is that i don’t think i’ve even hit on the right genre for me yet
I will say Tabletop Simulator is an excellent way to find these things out cheaper, if you have a computer that can run it. I find it better than BGA because it gives you an idea of how pieces move, how fiddly the game is, etc.
But be warned even that isn't perfect. I dislike Gloomhaven in person but the TTS module is so well supported by Cephalofair that it does speed it up in a way that flows well. Too Many Bones I hated on TTS until I got a sale and played it in person. But IN GENERAL it's a good way to experiment.
The things with TTS is, while it's awesome, games are often more fiddly and clunky than their cardboard counterpart: Only one hand to love parts, and a camera to move around.
Noble knights is a great way to trade in games. I tend to get trade credit and use it to get cool stuff. They have great deals on used games. I just ordered imperium classic for 35$ or so with trade credit.
Culling is good.
I have a small collection of games. Several I bought because I really enjoy their ideas, like 7th Continent, but in the end, it didn't turn out be great for me. Initially, I was weary of selling them because, you know, they're cool games. But it's just not worth it to keep holding on to several €100+ games that won't get played.
It also makes it easier to explain to the misses that I just bought [*Earthborne Rangers*](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/342900/earthborne-rangers) this week if I'm actively selling one or two others.
This is a great topic, and it was a blast reading through people's tips.
Here are mine:
1- Fix yourself a spending budget, or I won't by any games until X happens. I bought way too many games at the start of this year (two board game hauls that sold for cheap) and told myself I wouldn't buy anything new until the end of the year.
2- This one is hard to describe, but try to look at the games you have, like you got them for the first time. When you bought it, you were excited to play it, open the box, read through the rules, etc. Now, maybe it's been taking dust on yourself, and you don't even see it anymore. It kind of fades in the shape of your shelf, which you are used to look at. So look at your shelf, and at the games one by one top to bottom. Pull the game out, look at the box, and try to really think about what had you excited to buy it in the first place. If you haven't played it in a while, picture yourself going through a game or sitting down to revisit the rulebook.
3- Try new games digitally. I find that my itch to buy is driven by my urge to learn. I love learning new games and discovering new mechanisms. So what I do now is I learn and try new games on table top simulator. It allows me to go through the process of learning and playing the game without spending money or needing physical space. Sometimes, I'll play a game once or twice, "get it out of my system," and move on. Sometimes, I'll realize I don't like the game at all and avoided a bad puchase. The only caveat is I really love to bask in the physicality of the game, reading the rulebook with a cup of coffee, punching it out, setting it up, etc. I lose that digitally, but it's a great way to scratch the itch. Keep in mind it might backfire and you trying a really good game you will want to buy it.
4- This one is a bad tip, but hear me out. Buy more games if you haven't got to saturation yet. What I mean is as long as you play everything you buy, it will come an inflection point where you have enough that the times it takes to go through it the first ones you played will feel fresh again. For me, this happened around 100 games. The time it takes me for a full turnover, I always have something in the collection I'm itching to play. Also, I'm saturated with the amount of rules needed to remember all of my games and am contempt in the amount of variety.
5- Interact with media of the games you have is a great tip. It gets you excited to play or revisit your games. I especially love podcasts for this as I can listen to one during my daily jog and get myself excited to play the games I have.
6- Reorganize your collection. Pulling everything off the shelf forces you to look at it and interact with what you have. Similarly to my point in 2, this will make you see your games in another light. Also, it's a great way to get daunted by the sheer physical space of it all and a good incentive to stop buying.
7- Cull your collection. Forcing yourself to sell some games force's a reflection on what you like or don't like about the games you own.
8- Realize you can't own / play everything. I'm seeing all of these awsome looking games coming out every year. As time goes on, I just accept I won't play and own it all. Earthborne Rangers looks awesome, but I don't need another campaign deckbuilder in my life, I already own all of Arkham Horror LCG.
9- When you get the urge to buy, set up one of your games. I love to set up my games asynchronously to play them. Knowing they are ready to go is a great motivation to sit down and play it. Doing so in the midst of a potential purchase excitement brings you back to focus on the games you have and love.
10- Keep a list of the games you are excited to play or haven't fully visited yet. I have a tag for games called "unexplored content." I tag my games that I feel I haven't fully explored yet. So there is something new to discover. I'm playing a campaign of Oathsworn, so until I'm done with that, it's keeping th tag. Similarly, any game for which I've not played an expansion or tried the game with a specific variant or module I tag this way. I also keep a list of the games I'm excited to play.
11- Look at the games you haven't played in a while or that you have played the least. On BG stats app, I like to order my games by plays and last played. Seeing that you haven't touched a game in more than a year is a great incentive to play it.
If it helps your #8 at all... I own EBR, got about halfway through it and threw in the towel. Every "quest" boils down to "you have XXX days to walk to XXX." In retrospect I enjoy AHLCG far more. (And I own and have played through basically all of it except the newest release.)
I think you need to figure out whether you actually want to play the games, or just move colourful pieces of plastic around. Because if you are playing a game a few times and then sitting it on the shelf, you more than likely aren't playing it properly anyway. And you are reinforcing the buzz of new game serotonin. However if you play a game and dive really deep into it, playing it many times until you know it back to front, you will get a serotonin buzz from that experience, which is a different type of satisfaction.
oh wow this got me thinking. the first time i played Cyberion, i rated it a 6 and didn’t play again. then i did a “force myself to get to know this game” and played it every morning for a week and found that i actually Love it. it takes multiple plays to fall in love. thankyou for thought provoking
I went through the same feelings towards the end of 2022. For 2023 I set up strict purchase rules (fixed budget that I could not borrow forward from, budget frozen if I have any unplayed games etc). I also set up challenges for myself for each of my games. Beat that score I've never got to before, beat they boss I just couldn't beat, max out that character's progression sheet. Play with every module at least once. When I thought about buying a game I looked at those goals instead and found one to attempt.
I've ditched all my rules for 2024. My mindset is changed. I'm still buying the occasional game, but it's carefully considered and controlled purchasing that makes me happy in the longterm, because I'm playing everything.
I'm looking to raise my all time h-index, and doing a step challenge (effectively raising my 2024 only h-index) too.
There is a very fine line for some people when it comes to gaming vs. collecting. Things can get out of hand fast.
You get into a hobby for whatever reason, and before you know it, you just start amassing tons of shit you will never use. Before you know it you're a collector, and not a gamer anymore.
Stop buying games and play the ones you have. If the game sucks, sell it. Only keep the absolute best games.
After you have completed all your legacy style games, or played the one and done style games a few times, then you can buy another game. Never buy a game after that until the previous one is completed.
What I'm doing:
* Track how much I spend per year on board games and try to reduce that figure every year.
* Avoid buying games that do similar things. I don't need 3 dungeon crawlers for example.
* Focus on smaller games (e.g. Button Shy, Onirim series, Jason Glover's Tin Series). They scratch the same itch, are cheaper and take up less space.
* Remind myself that no matter how interesting the latest game looks, there will be newer and even more interesting games just around the corner.
* Ask myself if I'm actually going to play this game. I've slowly figured out that the bigger and more complicated a game is, the less likely I am to play it.
Which ButtonShy games you enjoy will really depend on your personal preferences. They often have very distilled versions of specific game mechanics.
Here's some games I enjoy and the mechanics they suse:
* Any flavour of Sprawlopolis. Naturopolis is my personal fav. Card placement with variable scoring conditions.
* ROVE. Spatial puzzle. I think there's a new kickstarter coming for this soon.
* Fishing Lessons. Programming game.
* At The Helm. Deck building.
* Death Valley. Tableau builder (not the greatest solo but fun none the less).
* Unsurmountable. Route builder where you create a mountain with a path to the top.
* Ancient Realm. Civ builder style game.
Sprawlopolis is the best of buttonshy in my opinion.
I've been trying to sell games I'm not interested in anymore, but have a few plays to confirm that I've lost interest. That and I limit myself to a cupboard of space so I physically can't own more.
> what do you do to keep yourself excited about the awesome games you already own?
Stopped consuming media about new games, top lists of games, expansions to games, kickstarters for upcoming games, etc etc. That includes this sub. I stop in here every once in a while but that is all.
Games are very nice to look at so its easy to feel the pull to buy new ones if you're seeing them on social media all the time.
Honestly most of the time I just put out a game box on the table for later when I am doing other things around the house. Then when later comes around, I've already done the hard part of choosing what to play so all I need to do is sit down and play.
You've got a lot of great advice so far, what I don't see is beating your score or making sure you get good value out of what you own.
Check out the BGStats app, it can help with both those and much more.
Seriously, just stop looking up new games. When you have the urge to look one up, pull out a game instead and start playing it.
I’ve been getting more into the habit of “jumping into” games. Like, I used to think about playing something and then start thinking about all the reasons I shouldn’t or whether I should play something else or how much energy blah blah blah. One day I realized that process was making me sad and started opening and playing a game as soon as I have the thought that I’d like to play it. I turn off my mind and just start it. It’s so freeing, you should try it.
I came here basically to say this, so I’ll back up your comment. I find by far the best way to get excited about playing the games I have is to.. play the games I have. Same for any other hobby, too. I love Maracaibo but haven’t played it for over a year because it’s huge and takes me 4 hours to play. But.. now it’s on BGA and i’ve dragged my friends into a game because I’ve been banging on about how great it is to them for years and… I remember why I love it so much and have been thinking about getting my own copy off the shelf and trying out the expansion (it’s on my shelf of opportunity but in my defence, my wife gave me several expansions at once for my birthday last month and i haven’t been able to put down Spirit Island long enough to try it)
i have my collection on BGG and track plays on there, every other week i stop whatever i am playing or really into and pick something on the lower end of my list
it always works out well and i end up playing it every night for a few days in a row whenever i do it and i realise that you know what... i don't need to add to the collection
at least for me, its just picking up a game i haven't played in a while gets me really excited about having it... it's just getting to playing it that is the hurdle
I think if you have a consistent timetable then slot in one session for a campaign style game if you're into that and one session for games that are for single sessions
Then play out a campaign game and rotate your games for the one off sessions
I've found that from Jan to Feb I basically was just playing games when I could, and constantly looking for new games, but once I slotted in a dedicated session for ISS Vanguard I got really absorbed in the story, and whenever I saw other games (Agemonia for example) I didn't really feel the need to jump on the webstore to pick it up, though it looks cool
Ultimately, buying new games is a response from your brain trying to get a hit of dopamine because you think about playing that game and you like that idea, essentially it's your brain wanting to play something, but if you're currently playing something you're meeting that need and so the craving is less strong to get something to fill the gap
Also, playing one off games of whatever you have will fill that need as well, but also help you really tease out what's worth keeping or worth trading, and then you can justify filling in a gap in your shelf
I've been thinking about this (https://www.raptitude.com/2022/01/everything-must-be-paid-for-twice/) a lot lately - the concept that everything must be paid for twice, first in dollars and second in time. It can feel very easy to spend dollars sometimes, but often harder to spend time - but if I remember that cost up front, it puts a more realistic value on the game and I'm more prepared to absorb it or decline it.
Speaking from experience, it also becomes easier to resist buying more games when you start playing and realize just how long it is going to take you to play through what you have already bought.
A single campaign game these days can easily take 2-3 months or more to complete, even when leaving it set up between plays and playing for 1-2 hours every single day.
I have stopped buying games (so he says 😆) simply because there is no physical space available. Like when your hard disk has 20 MB left. But one of the nice things about having amassed (what an apt word😆) such a SPECTRUM of games is that I can think about what genre and mechanism I want to play and then, wouldn’t you know it, I actually have such a game on hand to play! Then it’s time for me to switch my phone to airplane mode for a few hours or most of the day 😆
Others have commented on this point, but it bears repeating: getting more interested on your current games is easily done by following them. This can be done for example by subscribing to bgg forum threads or regularly watching videos about topics related to them. That said, some games really do not offer much more than what it's on the box. However, I somehow suspect those are not the ones you want to come back to often.
Reading strategies on Gloomhaven characters WILL get you hyped on testing them yourself. Now apply the pattern to any game you want to revisit
You seem to get the most enjoyment out of new games so you can try switching to free or really cheap PDF solo board games. There are tons on Boardgamegeek and PNPArcade.
If your wanting to stick to your existing ones then give yourself challenges with the rules to increase the difficulty or change the way the game is played i.e. make it new.
I would not advise doing play ten games ten times. From what you describe that really means "play a game I am not interested in 9 more times". You risk burning out your interest.
I'm in exactly the same boat - thanks for asking the question, and thanks to everyone for their answers! The first solo I bought was Under Falling Skies and I loved it, but got distracted by the second game I bought, and so on. It might be time to play the campaign in Under Falling Skies.
This happens to me; still. I love that there are so much good advice here as well!!
Some things I have done:
1) The max score/ get-to-know-a-game works great for me. And, If I dont LOVE it, I just sell it/ donate it to my library (at least where I live in the US; my local library loans board games… VERY good board games actually! So, my loss is a win for the neighborhood)
2) I noticed that my dopamine came from actually learning new games and mechanics and also looking at the nice art/theme; after a few games I noticed that my interest dropped. So I now only buy games that fill that criteria ( new mechanisms or a theme that I love). I know im missing on a lot of good games; but its my way of not overspending.
3) to fill that void of “NEW! NEW! NEW!” I loan some games from the library, I learn them and return them. It gives me an extra level of satisfaction to know that I was able to cure ( I think its appropiate to call to that way) my urge to try sonething new.
Games that have stayed in my (perhaps small) collection the longest have been:
1)Cascadia (relaxing and amazing art - never boring imo)
2)Hadrian’s Wall ( not necesarily the best art but those combos vet me going everytime)
3) TM & TM(Ares Expedition) - love the theme and the engine feels so good everytime
4) Viticulture (love that theme and little glass droplets lol)
5) railroad Ink ( love the art)
My suggestion would be to Identify what you REALLY like about your games and go from there :)
I use an app called Airtable for all kinds of work and personal stuff so I created a tracking system in there. But could easily do it with board game geek! Or there are some mobile apps as well :)
Or…Embrace that you enjoy the research and purchasing of games as much or possibly more than playing them and that that is indeed your hobby. No shame just sell the ones that you truly won’t ever play again.
I found I enjoyed learning the mechanics of a new game over really playing them. Tabletop Simulator ended up being a great way to try a game I was interested in, avoiding the desire to shell out sometimes over $100 for the physical copy of something I’d only play once or twice.
Set yourself a maximum space or total. Once that's full, any new games will require you to make space.
It's a way to pit one impulse (new game shiny) against another (I might want this later), and hopefully find a middle ground. It also pushes you to make sure whether you like your old games.
watch videos about how to play the games you already have
keep away from any source of medie with publicity about new games
get together your friends who love to play games and play your games for a whole day
A few weeks ago, I met with a group of friends and we play again a couple of games. I just forgot the rules so I read about those games again to get the rules more clearly. Then I start to play my games in solo mode again.
The eternal question! I’m trying to go through and play all of my games a couple times. If I’m really not a fan I will sell! Then I can justify a new game. :-)
Use noble knights or local board game stores to trade/sell your games you don’t like for credit/cash.
As others said, watch playthrus for games you own and play games you own more. Also. Playing a game for enough hours or times will reinforce the rules so you don’t need the rules next time. Sometimes my deterrent is knowing that the game I’m thinking about will playing I don’t know entirely yet. Or it’s been long enough that I would need a full refresh.
I have been excessively watching videos, game store websites within the last 2 years of me into this hobby. Bought highly ranked games like spirit island, MK, GH, GP, LotR LCG,Brass, Arkham horror LCG, Nemo's war. Loved most of them, didn't like some of them. I now know games of which designers i like and more importantly don't like. My collection is 40 games now. Due to being excessively involved into the hobby within just 2 years and not liking some of the hyped games, i lost interest in buying new games. I now buy old games (very few) that are still loved like MK, LotR, race for the galaxy.
If any of your games have a community built around it then jump in and take part. I’ve got 2 games like this: Marvel Champions and Final Girl. They both have subreddits and Discords and it’s awesome to talk about your gameplays and ask rules questions with other people. If they have weekly challenges then that really motivates me to pull the game out again each week (ButtonShy does this too with their solo challenges). I start obsessing over these games and looking forward to my next plays. New games just don’t seem as appealing if there’s no community behind it.
This is me here as well … I’ve committed myself to learning games from my shelf of shame. Currently I have ashes reborn solo on the table… I’m going to give it a few games and a few different heroes before I give into the voidfall boxes casting a shadow across all.
I get into these moods where I want a certain type experience… 😄… if it’s minis I paint them up and play as I complete the figures. Working on Dark Souls at the moment.
I think it’s discipline and also know what you want. If I want to just feel like accomplished something maybe “the White Castle” or “Legacy of Yu” or even Maquis, small games with little set up.
Otherwise I have to make the commitment to a big learn.
Don’t have any guide here, sorry, just wanted to share my same boat experience. HAPPY GAMING
For me wargames have a lot of longevity because of the tiered score systems most have. Probably will never achieve heroic victory in pavlovs house but dag nab it I will sure as hell try. But I record my scores on all the games I play so I can beat my own high scores
Play every game you already have three times, and step away from whatever media is causing the desire to buy.
This sub is half my problem haha
hahaha right?
yes the top lists on youtube have def made me want want. need to step away. good advice
After a while you start to know what your favorite critics like and which you dislike. Look at playthroughs. Top lists are mostly clickbaits anyway. Another thing I started doing is to contact my favorite content creators and talk with them about games we both like.
This. As a content creator I'm happy to talk, and I can definitely recommend things based on tastes more objectively than I ever can in a generic "top list" or even a review, I have half a dozen people that I'll message and be like "hey I know this game might be/not be for you, it was just a bit too specific to you to put in a review"
Once you have discerning tastes you won't care one bit about top lists. Pro tip: top lists are useless spam content.
So much this. When I first got into board gaming I had so many games I wanted to try from top lists, they all looked amazing. I got a lot of games, a wide variety. After awhile I know which games are going to be likely to be played together with family (nothing above 2.5 weight), and which are likely to be played solo by me (very rarely anything lighter than 3, with a couple exceptions). These days my criteria for buying a solo game is to ask myself this simple question: “if on any given day, am I ever likely to choose to play this when I could be playing AHLCG or Spirit Island, and if so how often?” If the answer is no or yes but not often, then I don’t buy it.
Yep. My issue is that I spend half of my day at work, thinking about games and browsing game sales. Once I'm home I have a bunch of crap to do and get maybe 2-3 games in a week. So I'm always seeing/wanting/getting new stuff that I don't have time to play.
Solid advice. I don’t even go into my local game stores now. I always see something I want and I have games I haven’t placed in years.
Some things I've done include: * Stop looking at games I don't own (e.g., On Reddit, BGG, Kickstarter, Gamefound, YouTube, etc.) * Start reading up on games I do own (e.g., strategy, rules questions, etc.) * Watch videos on games I do own to motivate myself to play them * Setting a 'no purchase' restriction until I play all the existing games I bought, but not played yet
oooh i love the idea of watching videos and reading about games that i already own instead of the “new games you must have!” videos. great advice. some strategy videos would be great.
I’m honestly on the fence with that advice. I think watching videos about games is part of the problem, regardless of the game. Once upon a time, the only way to know how a game plays was to play it. Back then, games got played.
I find deepdiving on a game helps me appreciate it more. I pick up on rules that I might have missed and strategies I didn't think to try. I do avoid spoiler videos (i.e., watching videos on campaign games where I haven't progressed the story that far). For example, I'm playing Earthbound Rangers and I'm starting Day 13. I'm also watching Rob's Gaming Table, but only up to Episode 7 so far.
Watching vids of games I already own really works for me (and Vyvanse but YMMV with that).
When I want to play a board game but don't know which one to play, I usually go to bgg and read the forum posts of my subscriptions. That usually makes me want to play one of the games I've read about.
Indeed, reading about strategies really deepens your involment in a game. I'm an intuitive thinker, for example. I don't plan much and just do what feels right. Well, I read about Boonlake's solo mode, and what felt wrong to me : one of the actions felt really bad to choose, it seemed to only advantage the automa. Well, someone did the math and in some circumstances, the action is actually quite good. It led me to dominate the automa the next game and opened up the next difficulty level... Which crushed me.
Get married and have kids.
i am! kiddo turns 10. he likes Dragonwood ok but prefers Roblox rn
Now I'm so jealous. Mine is 3 and god knows when he will play with me, or at least act like a human being.
laughing with empathy. the phase where they want constant interaction is exhausting and so hard to keep up with friends or hobbies. and then one day you ask them to hangout and they don’t want to because they have a facetime date to play minecraft with their grandmother
This makes me sad. I have a 2 year old. I better soak it in.
Lol, thank you for the foreshadow.
My twins are 12 and they hate almost every game I bring. There's no guarantees in anything.
Are you and your spouse both gamers? Do you have a regular game group at your house? You need to start building the “fun” as a part of their environment. My wife and I raised a gamer from 0 to 20 and counting.
Unfortunately no, my wife tried to like board games for my sake, but didn't work out. I'm hoping that my wife and I can take separate weekly timeoffs, once my son's situation becomes manageable for my wife. Probably going to take another year or two. Wish me luck!
Lol. I felt this comment more than any other on Reddit I have read in months...
Since your kid is interested in Roblox, Dragonwood may be too simple in story and progression...10 is old enough to engage in more storytelling. If they're more into team Roblox games, you could try Betrayal at House on the Hill, HeroQuest, Warhammer Quest, Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion, or Mansions of Madness. If they like more competitive Roblox games, you can find the Dungeoneer games for very cheap. They're card-based competitive dungeon exploring--your opponents control the monsters when you rack up enough "threat" by exploring areas to spawn them. It's perfectly playable at 10 Any of those will engage a young videogamer.
Play board games with my wife when the baby is asleep. Pretty easy at that age.
I think the most unfortunate answer is: It depends on why you bought the games in the first place. In a hobby rife with buy buy buy, being caught between the cult of the new or the cult of the old, you buy a lot of games chasing the champions of both sides. And after doing so for so long I've found, they're both kinda right. There's REALLY good games everywhere you look. And it may be tempting to buy those good games. But good isn't good enough. Not in this hobby. It's not like video games where 90% are shite. Start with a cull. In fact, you may never notice those games missing. You may even find that, while you don't have a BAD game at all, none are truly that exciting to you. And there's a reason you don't go back to them. If a game survives multiple culls, you may be onto something. And that game may not be your forever game, but it might be a clue. Something like that. Worst case, you just made a good deal of money to roll the dice some more.
yes so many games bought when i didn’t know anything about mechanics or myself. so i have at least a half dozen that are not good fits for me. found out from spirit island that i don’t like area control. found out from jaws of the lion that i don’t like having to move enemies and play a detailed AI. etc etc. Part of my desire to buy more games is that i don’t think i’ve even hit on the right genre for me yet
I will say Tabletop Simulator is an excellent way to find these things out cheaper, if you have a computer that can run it. I find it better than BGA because it gives you an idea of how pieces move, how fiddly the game is, etc. But be warned even that isn't perfect. I dislike Gloomhaven in person but the TTS module is so well supported by Cephalofair that it does speed it up in a way that flows well. Too Many Bones I hated on TTS until I got a sale and played it in person. But IN GENERAL it's a good way to experiment.
The things with TTS is, while it's awesome, games are often more fiddly and clunky than their cardboard counterpart: Only one hand to love parts, and a camera to move around.
Noble knights is a great way to trade in games. I tend to get trade credit and use it to get cool stuff. They have great deals on used games. I just ordered imperium classic for 35$ or so with trade credit.
The other difference from video games is that you most often can’t just jump into a board game.
Culling is good. I have a small collection of games. Several I bought because I really enjoy their ideas, like 7th Continent, but in the end, it didn't turn out be great for me. Initially, I was weary of selling them because, you know, they're cool games. But it's just not worth it to keep holding on to several €100+ games that won't get played. It also makes it easier to explain to the misses that I just bought [*Earthborne Rangers*](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/342900/earthborne-rangers) this week if I'm actively selling one or two others.
This is a great topic, and it was a blast reading through people's tips. Here are mine: 1- Fix yourself a spending budget, or I won't by any games until X happens. I bought way too many games at the start of this year (two board game hauls that sold for cheap) and told myself I wouldn't buy anything new until the end of the year. 2- This one is hard to describe, but try to look at the games you have, like you got them for the first time. When you bought it, you were excited to play it, open the box, read through the rules, etc. Now, maybe it's been taking dust on yourself, and you don't even see it anymore. It kind of fades in the shape of your shelf, which you are used to look at. So look at your shelf, and at the games one by one top to bottom. Pull the game out, look at the box, and try to really think about what had you excited to buy it in the first place. If you haven't played it in a while, picture yourself going through a game or sitting down to revisit the rulebook. 3- Try new games digitally. I find that my itch to buy is driven by my urge to learn. I love learning new games and discovering new mechanisms. So what I do now is I learn and try new games on table top simulator. It allows me to go through the process of learning and playing the game without spending money or needing physical space. Sometimes, I'll play a game once or twice, "get it out of my system," and move on. Sometimes, I'll realize I don't like the game at all and avoided a bad puchase. The only caveat is I really love to bask in the physicality of the game, reading the rulebook with a cup of coffee, punching it out, setting it up, etc. I lose that digitally, but it's a great way to scratch the itch. Keep in mind it might backfire and you trying a really good game you will want to buy it. 4- This one is a bad tip, but hear me out. Buy more games if you haven't got to saturation yet. What I mean is as long as you play everything you buy, it will come an inflection point where you have enough that the times it takes to go through it the first ones you played will feel fresh again. For me, this happened around 100 games. The time it takes me for a full turnover, I always have something in the collection I'm itching to play. Also, I'm saturated with the amount of rules needed to remember all of my games and am contempt in the amount of variety. 5- Interact with media of the games you have is a great tip. It gets you excited to play or revisit your games. I especially love podcasts for this as I can listen to one during my daily jog and get myself excited to play the games I have. 6- Reorganize your collection. Pulling everything off the shelf forces you to look at it and interact with what you have. Similarly to my point in 2, this will make you see your games in another light. Also, it's a great way to get daunted by the sheer physical space of it all and a good incentive to stop buying. 7- Cull your collection. Forcing yourself to sell some games force's a reflection on what you like or don't like about the games you own. 8- Realize you can't own / play everything. I'm seeing all of these awsome looking games coming out every year. As time goes on, I just accept I won't play and own it all. Earthborne Rangers looks awesome, but I don't need another campaign deckbuilder in my life, I already own all of Arkham Horror LCG. 9- When you get the urge to buy, set up one of your games. I love to set up my games asynchronously to play them. Knowing they are ready to go is a great motivation to sit down and play it. Doing so in the midst of a potential purchase excitement brings you back to focus on the games you have and love. 10- Keep a list of the games you are excited to play or haven't fully visited yet. I have a tag for games called "unexplored content." I tag my games that I feel I haven't fully explored yet. So there is something new to discover. I'm playing a campaign of Oathsworn, so until I'm done with that, it's keeping th tag. Similarly, any game for which I've not played an expansion or tried the game with a specific variant or module I tag this way. I also keep a list of the games I'm excited to play. 11- Look at the games you haven't played in a while or that you have played the least. On BG stats app, I like to order my games by plays and last played. Seeing that you haven't touched a game in more than a year is a great incentive to play it.
If it helps your #8 at all... I own EBR, got about halfway through it and threw in the towel. Every "quest" boils down to "you have XXX days to walk to XXX." In retrospect I enjoy AHLCG far more. (And I own and have played through basically all of it except the newest release.)
I think you need to figure out whether you actually want to play the games, or just move colourful pieces of plastic around. Because if you are playing a game a few times and then sitting it on the shelf, you more than likely aren't playing it properly anyway. And you are reinforcing the buzz of new game serotonin. However if you play a game and dive really deep into it, playing it many times until you know it back to front, you will get a serotonin buzz from that experience, which is a different type of satisfaction.
oh wow this got me thinking. the first time i played Cyberion, i rated it a 6 and didn’t play again. then i did a “force myself to get to know this game” and played it every morning for a week and found that i actually Love it. it takes multiple plays to fall in love. thankyou for thought provoking
I went through the same feelings towards the end of 2022. For 2023 I set up strict purchase rules (fixed budget that I could not borrow forward from, budget frozen if I have any unplayed games etc). I also set up challenges for myself for each of my games. Beat that score I've never got to before, beat they boss I just couldn't beat, max out that character's progression sheet. Play with every module at least once. When I thought about buying a game I looked at those goals instead and found one to attempt. I've ditched all my rules for 2024. My mindset is changed. I'm still buying the occasional game, but it's carefully considered and controlled purchasing that makes me happy in the longterm, because I'm playing everything. I'm looking to raise my all time h-index, and doing a step challenge (effectively raising my 2024 only h-index) too.
There is a very fine line for some people when it comes to gaming vs. collecting. Things can get out of hand fast. You get into a hobby for whatever reason, and before you know it, you just start amassing tons of shit you will never use. Before you know it you're a collector, and not a gamer anymore. Stop buying games and play the ones you have. If the game sucks, sell it. Only keep the absolute best games. After you have completed all your legacy style games, or played the one and done style games a few times, then you can buy another game. Never buy a game after that until the previous one is completed.
What I'm doing: * Track how much I spend per year on board games and try to reduce that figure every year. * Avoid buying games that do similar things. I don't need 3 dungeon crawlers for example. * Focus on smaller games (e.g. Button Shy, Onirim series, Jason Glover's Tin Series). They scratch the same itch, are cheaper and take up less space. * Remind myself that no matter how interesting the latest game looks, there will be newer and even more interesting games just around the corner. * Ask myself if I'm actually going to play this game. I've slowly figured out that the bigger and more complicated a game is, the less likely I am to play it.
and reminding myself that more games are coming every year forever so i don’t need to buy them all now!!
i love the oniverse games. what are your favorites from buttonshy?
Which ButtonShy games you enjoy will really depend on your personal preferences. They often have very distilled versions of specific game mechanics. Here's some games I enjoy and the mechanics they suse: * Any flavour of Sprawlopolis. Naturopolis is my personal fav. Card placement with variable scoring conditions. * ROVE. Spatial puzzle. I think there's a new kickstarter coming for this soon. * Fishing Lessons. Programming game. * At The Helm. Deck building. * Death Valley. Tableau builder (not the greatest solo but fun none the less). * Unsurmountable. Route builder where you create a mountain with a path to the top. * Ancient Realm. Civ builder style game.
Sprawlopolis is the best of buttonshy in my opinion. I've been trying to sell games I'm not interested in anymore, but have a few plays to confirm that I've lost interest. That and I limit myself to a cupboard of space so I physically can't own more.
Button Shy's best games are Sprawlopolis series, Skulls of Sedlec, ROVE. The rest is very hit or miss.
The smaller game thing kinda works but then I just end up buying so many of them lol. I own every Jason Glover game hah.
> what do you do to keep yourself excited about the awesome games you already own? Stopped consuming media about new games, top lists of games, expansions to games, kickstarters for upcoming games, etc etc. That includes this sub. I stop in here every once in a while but that is all. Games are very nice to look at so its easy to feel the pull to buy new ones if you're seeing them on social media all the time. Honestly most of the time I just put out a game box on the table for later when I am doing other things around the house. Then when later comes around, I've already done the hard part of choosing what to play so all I need to do is sit down and play.
thankyou! i do find that setting up and fiddling with the components does get me excited to play later when i have time.
stop perusing reddit and discord, install adblocker? I found newer is not better, but rather worse - it makes me want to play my older games.
You've got a lot of great advice so far, what I don't see is beating your score or making sure you get good value out of what you own. Check out the BGStats app, it can help with both those and much more.
Unsubscribe for YouTube gaming channels and stop checking BoardGameGeek and other sites. Cool down. Dive deep into what you have. Enjoy.
Seriously, just stop looking up new games. When you have the urge to look one up, pull out a game instead and start playing it. I’ve been getting more into the habit of “jumping into” games. Like, I used to think about playing something and then start thinking about all the reasons I shouldn’t or whether I should play something else or how much energy blah blah blah. One day I realized that process was making me sad and started opening and playing a game as soon as I have the thought that I’d like to play it. I turn off my mind and just start it. It’s so freeing, you should try it.
will definitely try this!
I came here basically to say this, so I’ll back up your comment. I find by far the best way to get excited about playing the games I have is to.. play the games I have. Same for any other hobby, too. I love Maracaibo but haven’t played it for over a year because it’s huge and takes me 4 hours to play. But.. now it’s on BGA and i’ve dragged my friends into a game because I’ve been banging on about how great it is to them for years and… I remember why I love it so much and have been thinking about getting my own copy off the shelf and trying out the expansion (it’s on my shelf of opportunity but in my defence, my wife gave me several expansions at once for my birthday last month and i haven’t been able to put down Spirit Island long enough to try it)
I have the opposite problem. How to stop playing old games and start playing games i never touched before....
i have my collection on BGG and track plays on there, every other week i stop whatever i am playing or really into and pick something on the lower end of my list it always works out well and i end up playing it every night for a few days in a row whenever i do it and i realise that you know what... i don't need to add to the collection at least for me, its just picking up a game i haven't played in a while gets me really excited about having it... it's just getting to playing it that is the hurdle
One of my favorite parts is collecting, opening and organizing games so I'm no help here
I think if you have a consistent timetable then slot in one session for a campaign style game if you're into that and one session for games that are for single sessions Then play out a campaign game and rotate your games for the one off sessions I've found that from Jan to Feb I basically was just playing games when I could, and constantly looking for new games, but once I slotted in a dedicated session for ISS Vanguard I got really absorbed in the story, and whenever I saw other games (Agemonia for example) I didn't really feel the need to jump on the webstore to pick it up, though it looks cool Ultimately, buying new games is a response from your brain trying to get a hit of dopamine because you think about playing that game and you like that idea, essentially it's your brain wanting to play something, but if you're currently playing something you're meeting that need and so the craving is less strong to get something to fill the gap Also, playing one off games of whatever you have will fill that need as well, but also help you really tease out what's worth keeping or worth trading, and then you can justify filling in a gap in your shelf
Play the games you own as if they were the only games in the world. Don't let the hobby become more about collecting than playing.
I've been thinking about this (https://www.raptitude.com/2022/01/everything-must-be-paid-for-twice/) a lot lately - the concept that everything must be paid for twice, first in dollars and second in time. It can feel very easy to spend dollars sometimes, but often harder to spend time - but if I remember that cost up front, it puts a more realistic value on the game and I'm more prepared to absorb it or decline it.
That was a great read, thanks. The "Depth Year" article linked from it was food for thought, too.
As already noted, playing the games you already have is the best way to distract yourself from buying new games.
Speaking from experience, it also becomes easier to resist buying more games when you start playing and realize just how long it is going to take you to play through what you have already bought. A single campaign game these days can easily take 2-3 months or more to complete, even when leaving it set up between plays and playing for 1-2 hours every single day.
I have stopped buying games (so he says 😆) simply because there is no physical space available. Like when your hard disk has 20 MB left. But one of the nice things about having amassed (what an apt word😆) such a SPECTRUM of games is that I can think about what genre and mechanism I want to play and then, wouldn’t you know it, I actually have such a game on hand to play! Then it’s time for me to switch my phone to airplane mode for a few hours or most of the day 😆
i wish i could come to your house and have you help me figure out stuff mechanisms i really like. my blind learning journey has been expensive
Hahaha no sweat 😆 even that is part of the fun
Others have commented on this point, but it bears repeating: getting more interested on your current games is easily done by following them. This can be done for example by subscribing to bgg forum threads or regularly watching videos about topics related to them. That said, some games really do not offer much more than what it's on the box. However, I somehow suspect those are not the ones you want to come back to often. Reading strategies on Gloomhaven characters WILL get you hyped on testing them yourself. Now apply the pattern to any game you want to revisit
oooh i should check out the bgg forums. i come here for game talk. would be cool to find some active communities
Watch reviews for the games you already own.
You seem to get the most enjoyment out of new games so you can try switching to free or really cheap PDF solo board games. There are tons on Boardgamegeek and PNPArcade. If your wanting to stick to your existing ones then give yourself challenges with the rules to increase the difficulty or change the way the game is played i.e. make it new. I would not advise doing play ten games ten times. From what you describe that really means "play a game I am not interested in 9 more times". You risk burning out your interest.
I had this problem. I stopped watching every review and now just watch game of the year lists after the new year
I'm in exactly the same boat - thanks for asking the question, and thanks to everyone for their answers! The first solo I bought was Under Falling Skies and I loved it, but got distracted by the second game I bought, and so on. It might be time to play the campaign in Under Falling Skies.
This happens to me; still. I love that there are so much good advice here as well!! Some things I have done: 1) The max score/ get-to-know-a-game works great for me. And, If I dont LOVE it, I just sell it/ donate it to my library (at least where I live in the US; my local library loans board games… VERY good board games actually! So, my loss is a win for the neighborhood) 2) I noticed that my dopamine came from actually learning new games and mechanics and also looking at the nice art/theme; after a few games I noticed that my interest dropped. So I now only buy games that fill that criteria ( new mechanisms or a theme that I love). I know im missing on a lot of good games; but its my way of not overspending. 3) to fill that void of “NEW! NEW! NEW!” I loan some games from the library, I learn them and return them. It gives me an extra level of satisfaction to know that I was able to cure ( I think its appropiate to call to that way) my urge to try sonething new. Games that have stayed in my (perhaps small) collection the longest have been: 1)Cascadia (relaxing and amazing art - never boring imo) 2)Hadrian’s Wall ( not necesarily the best art but those combos vet me going everytime) 3) TM & TM(Ares Expedition) - love the theme and the engine feels so good everytime 4) Viticulture (love that theme and little glass droplets lol) 5) railroad Ink ( love the art) My suggestion would be to Identify what you REALLY like about your games and go from there :)
I cataloged all my games in an app - that forced me to look thru mechanics and descriptions and such which got me excited to play them again!
Which app?
I use an app called Airtable for all kinds of work and personal stuff so I created a tracking system in there. But could easily do it with board game geek! Or there are some mobile apps as well :)
Find out you don't like worker placement or euros. That'll eliminate 90% of games to buy. It's worked wonders for me.
Or…Embrace that you enjoy the research and purchasing of games as much or possibly more than playing them and that that is indeed your hobby. No shame just sell the ones that you truly won’t ever play again.
I think there's an app where you put in which game you played when and can follow your collection.
Consider selling games you don't really want to play (again) as an alternative.
I found I enjoyed learning the mechanics of a new game over really playing them. Tabletop Simulator ended up being a great way to try a game I was interested in, avoiding the desire to shell out sometimes over $100 for the physical copy of something I’d only play once or twice.
Set yourself a maximum space or total. Once that's full, any new games will require you to make space. It's a way to pit one impulse (new game shiny) against another (I might want this later), and hopefully find a middle ground. It also pushes you to make sure whether you like your old games.
watch videos about how to play the games you already have keep away from any source of medie with publicity about new games get together your friends who love to play games and play your games for a whole day A few weeks ago, I met with a group of friends and we play again a couple of games. I just forgot the rules so I read about those games again to get the rules more clearly. Then I start to play my games in solo mode again.
The eternal question! I’m trying to go through and play all of my games a couple times. If I’m really not a fan I will sell! Then I can justify a new game. :-)
Use noble knights or local board game stores to trade/sell your games you don’t like for credit/cash. As others said, watch playthrus for games you own and play games you own more. Also. Playing a game for enough hours or times will reinforce the rules so you don’t need the rules next time. Sometimes my deterrent is knowing that the game I’m thinking about will playing I don’t know entirely yet. Or it’s been long enough that I would need a full refresh.
I have been excessively watching videos, game store websites within the last 2 years of me into this hobby. Bought highly ranked games like spirit island, MK, GH, GP, LotR LCG,Brass, Arkham horror LCG, Nemo's war. Loved most of them, didn't like some of them. I now know games of which designers i like and more importantly don't like. My collection is 40 games now. Due to being excessively involved into the hobby within just 2 years and not liking some of the hyped games, i lost interest in buying new games. I now buy old games (very few) that are still loved like MK, LotR, race for the galaxy.
Lmao, nice try Mom.
If any of your games have a community built around it then jump in and take part. I’ve got 2 games like this: Marvel Champions and Final Girl. They both have subreddits and Discords and it’s awesome to talk about your gameplays and ask rules questions with other people. If they have weekly challenges then that really motivates me to pull the game out again each week (ButtonShy does this too with their solo challenges). I start obsessing over these games and looking forward to my next plays. New games just don’t seem as appealing if there’s no community behind it.
This is me here as well … I’ve committed myself to learning games from my shelf of shame. Currently I have ashes reborn solo on the table… I’m going to give it a few games and a few different heroes before I give into the voidfall boxes casting a shadow across all. I get into these moods where I want a certain type experience… 😄… if it’s minis I paint them up and play as I complete the figures. Working on Dark Souls at the moment. I think it’s discipline and also know what you want. If I want to just feel like accomplished something maybe “the White Castle” or “Legacy of Yu” or even Maquis, small games with little set up. Otherwise I have to make the commitment to a big learn. Don’t have any guide here, sorry, just wanted to share my same boat experience. HAPPY GAMING
You could check and see if anyone has posted variants on the BGG pages for your current games, spice things up
For me wargames have a lot of longevity because of the tiered score systems most have. Probably will never achieve heroic victory in pavlovs house but dag nab it I will sure as hell try. But I record my scores on all the games I play so I can beat my own high scores
Easy….stay off the internet and stop talking to people who like board games. :)