I have a sudden urge to stop buying games.
I know it won't happen. But I am considering significantly lowering my self-imposed annual game acquiring quota. I have bought / self-made / been given 11 games this year. My quota is 20. I had vowed no new games until 2nd half of the year, which I think I will achieve, since it's already mid April now. My only must-buy game now is the Brink of War expansion of Race for the Galaxy. Two other close to must-buys are Axis & Allies Pacific 1940 Edition and Axis & Allies Europe 1940 Edition, the latter not released yet.
When I look at my collection (close to 200 now), I see many games that I like and have not been playing as much as I'd like to. So I really should be spending more time playing them. Most games get better and better as you play more and become good at it. I have so many games which I have not achieved this with.
One tip that I found most useful in controlling the game buying urge is this - procrastinate. In Oct 2009 (Essen time) there were so many new releases that I was interested in. Eventually I did buy some - Agricola: Farmers of the Moor, At the Gates of Loyang, Factory Manager - but for many others by now I don't feel much urge to buy anymore. Well, I am still interested to at least try Hansa Teutonica, but that feeling may wane too, the longer I wait.
I now have a stronger urge to play again many of the games already in my collection. When am I going to get a 4-player game of Indonesia? I should play Die Macher and Automobile again. How about doing a 5-player game of Samurai Swords? I should play Space Alert again before I forget all the skills. A marathon / campaign series made up of Axis & Allies games? Complete the Blue Moon tournament with Han (playing all combinations of all 8 races)?
I have written a little program using Excel macros to check for games that I like and have not played for a long time. I should put it to good use.
And let's see whether I can hit 15 games acquired in 2010.
not to mention that the newer games recently doesn't seem to leave as big as an impression as the older ones... bring out the old games!
ReplyDeletehaha.. i have this urge every morning but it quickly forgotten when games come out... impulsive buying of me
ReplyDeletegordon
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ReplyDeleteI know what you're talking about. We only have 75-100 games sitting out on the shelf and still have trouble playing them all regularly. While 200 games seems a little hard to imagine I know I'll be there soon enough.
ReplyDeleteGood luck cutting back!
Well according to my BGG stats, I own 19 games and I don't get time to play all of them that often, let alone 200! In fact I sold some recently I just haven't been playing, including Puerto Rico & Railroad Tycoon.
ReplyDeleteAbout 180 games were bought over about 6.5 years of being in the hobby. Some were bought before that. I have not been good at selling / trading away my games. So my numbers will keep increasing. Actually by now there are games that I should sell/trade, just that I never get around doing it.
ReplyDelete200 games is peanuts compared to many other gamers. Even 2000 games is not unheard of.
Hiew,
ReplyDeleteI'm from KL. Been reading your posts over last couple of weeks. By any chance are you thinking of letting go your copy of Dominion? I am interested =)
Email: Perry.Loh AT gmail.com