2010 was a good year. Well, 2011 was even better. I played more games than on any year on my records. Quality matters, too, but I can control quality more than I can control quantity and if quantity is good, quality tends to be good as well.

I played lots of games with my son. My daughter, who is soon three, has started to become interested in games. We’ve played our first real games, and spent lots of time playing with games. Her favourites are Blokus, Kids from Catan and Kayanak.

I had to miss couple of cons early in the year, but managed to visit Ropecon and stay overnight at Helcon (or Lautapelaamaan, as it is called now).

I played lots of PBEM 18xx earlier this year. It was fun, but takes a bit too much time. It’s still nice to have that option. All in all I’d say my interest in 18xx has waned a bit. The games just take too much time. There’s a game or two running in every con, yet I had no interest in playing at Helcon, for example. I did play a game of 1865 in Ropecon, and kind of wish I hadn’t.

I’ve added some of my best board game photos taken in 2010.

Good new games (2010-2011)

South African Railroads. A new Winsome game, or actually a remake of an older Veld Railroads, which had the same game under more chrome. I had Veld Railroads, too, but sold it unplayed after SAR was published. This leaner remake has everything I need, I can’t see how adding more stuff would improve the game. It’s rather good as it is, a quite delightful game of small dividends and player-triggered dividend payouts that shorten the game. Players are given plenty of tools to work wonders in this game.

Dobble. Probably better known as Spot It! Lovely pattern-recognition game. May be difficult to get on table, as these kinds of games are polarizing, but I like it a lot.

Puzzle Strike. I’m intrigued by this game. It’s supposed to be the Better Dominion, but I’m not seeing that yet. Then again, I did play nine games and I’m still not sure what to think about this game. Looks like I need to play more. This may end up a keeper or in the trade pile, I’ll try to make up my mind until Ropecon next summer, but it sure is an interesting game and worth trying if you’re interested in deck-builders.

Rattus. Maybe a bit of a flash in a pan? We quickly played five games of this in May, then afterwards I only played this once. Still, it’s a fun game of bashing the other players. The Pied Piper expansion is fairly important, I think, as it gives the game a lot more variety, which is good.

Pantheon. Bernd Brunnhofer is a very reliable designer, who has done three very good games. Pantheon is the most recent, and a very good game. Good dose of luck, but also timing, strategy and opportunity. Mechanically the game is very solid and well-executed. This is something I’d like to explore further in 2012.

1865: Sardinia. The one face-to-face 18xx game I played this year. I also played a PBEM game. Not bad, not at all, lots of good ideas in this one. Might be interesting to try with just two players.

Ascending Empires. The idea here seemed crazy enough to be interesting: a 4X flicking game. First, though, the game didn’t fit on the tables of our regular meeting place (that has been fixed now by a change of venue) and then the first game took two hours… Well, the second game took just 60 minutes or so, which is much better. This game offers lots of promise, too bad the rules are a bit too vague for my tastes.

Eclipse. It’s been great fun to watch how successful Eclipse has been. It’s come a long way in a year or so, from November 2010 when I first played the prototype to now when the game is in BGG Top 100 and I have my own copy. It’s a very good game and overall one of the highlights in 2011.

Jishaku. I’m not sure what to think of this one. Not much of a game, but plays in couple of minutes and I did play it more than ten times, so it can’t be garbage. Not a keeper, but a fun filler with a nice gimmick.

Good older games I haven’t played before

Lamarckian poker. I finally took the effort to learn the rules to this classic. It was well worth it, as this is a great little filler. Very simple, uses standard playing cards, easy to teach if people know the Poker hands, and plays fast. It rarely takes more than five minutes to go through a pack. This is something everybody should know, just in case.

Stone Age. Another Brunnhofer game. This is my favourite worker placement game now. The dice work well here, you can take risks or play it safe. There’s several valid approaches to the game and the starvation strategy is an interesting twist to try. All in all very well done. I’ve left my copy at my mom’s place, because they love the game and I mostly play it with them, so I’ve been mostly playing this with experienced players — always a good idea.

Lords of Vegas. An interesting game with a theme of gambling and property development and game mechanics to match. In the long run this may be too luck-heavy, but as it is, I’m rather interested in the game right now.

Oregon. I had completely dismissed Oregon as a boring family game when it was published. I played it, and it turns out it’s a pretty good game! Family game, yes, but the game plays fast, 30-45 minutes, and has quite enough strategy and tactics in a simple, easy-to-teach package. All in all rather lovely game.

Cavum. Just one play, but it was very promising.

Children’s games

These are the children’s games we played most, in the order from most popular to least popular. All games mentioned here were played at least five times. There were over 30 games that didn’t reach five games and didn’t make it to the list.

Kids of Carcassonne. Nooa doesn’t fancy this, I said last year. This year we got over 50 plays out of this! Based on first half of the year, I was expecting reaching hundred plays, but the enthusiasm waned a bit. I remember a day when we played ten games in a row, at approximately three minutes per game. Fun. Nooa also likes the adult Carcassonne and I think we might be moving on from Kids of Carcassonne, but it has been a good ride and I definitely recommend this game.

Geistertreppe. Didn’t make the list last year, now 30 plays. Roll-and-move doesn’t get much better than this. Very entertaining little game, and plays fast. A bit poor with just two players, but we still enjoyed it a lot. This is a classic game for kids (the sequel, Geisterwäldchen, less so).

Villa Paletti. A hit last year, a bigger hit this year. The tower-building game is a classic, and this is more interesting than basic Jenga (which we also played).

Gulo Gulo. Last year’s number one hit game took a bit of a dive. Iain says this isn’t as good as people say… I still think it’s a very good game, but yeah. My daughter has shown some interest for this, though.

Click Clack. This is starting to feel a bit childish, then again I just played this for the first time with my daughter. So, there’s life for this game still.

Kraken-Alarm. Rather entertaining little memory game, with a really cool swinging wrecking ball that is used to capsize a boat. It’s a gimmick, but it’s a fun gimmick and the game works. Well, it can be a bit stale at times, but we still played more than ten games.

Forbidden Island. My son liked this one enough so we played about ten games. Well, I played and he gave some suggestions. Co-ops can be good with kids. I’m rather bored of the game myself, though.

Maskenball der Käfer. Simple co-op game. Pretty good for three-year-olds. My son (five) has asked for this occasionally, haven’t yet tried this with my daughter.

Settlers of Catan Junior. This continues to be popular.

Mouse Carousel. When did we play eleven games of this? Probably didn’t take many sessions. Not a bad memory game, actually.

Kayanak. Popular, though tends to encourage creative play as the rules are not pleasant to the kids. My son doesn’t like the dictatorship of the dice. My daughter loves to play with this game, too. Punching holes in paper and fishing for metal balls is just great fun…

Das magische Labyrinth. Still reasonably popular, and I enjoyed the game even more once we forgot the dice and just moved three steps each turn.

Kids from Catan. There’s hardly any game in the box, but the components are cool and my three-year-old daughter likes the game. What’s more to ask? I also paid the princely sum of four euros for the game. I’ll probably get rid of the game once the kids grow out of it, but so far I’m going to enjoy it with my daughter.

Das kleine Gespenst. Fun little memory game.

Mysteries of Peking. This is actually a fairly awful game, but I have fond memories of it from my childhood and my son loves it. We play it almost every time we’re at the inlaws (it’s my wife’s old copy).

Dawn Under. I’ve sold mine long time ago, but I borrowed my mother’s copy. We’ve played couple of games, not a bad game at all.

Schildkrötenrennen. I’d like to play more, but this is still a bit demanding for my son. Keeping his colour a secret, for example, is still a bit of a challenge.

Animal upon Animal – Balancing Bridge. The original didn’t make it to the list and this new version only barely. Not my son’s favourite games at the moment. I keep suggesting the original every now and then, but with little success.

Games I’ve kept on enjoying

String Railway. Still an excellent filler. Fortunately I’ve been able to avoid the most analytical players, as those sort of ruin the game. It’s just not precise enough for very exact play. You have to relax a bit. I also have the Transport sequel, which I’ve only played once, but it seems very promising too.

Nile DeLuxor. Nile was good, one of the hits in 2010, and the new DeLuxor version improves it. There’s a decent box, actually usable cards and more cards to improve the game with larger player counts. Nile is very good with two or three players and decent with four and six. Rather entertaining little filler.

Carcassonne. This old classic made a bit of a comeback, thanks to the excellent iPad Carcassonne. I’ve played it quite a bit, both against AIs and humans, and I’ve found that Carcassonne is actually a rather excellent game. It’s really well done and fun to play.

Innovation. Playing Innovation is tricky, but I still managed eight games, mostly two-player games with Hannu (who is just about the only person in my game group who likes the game).

SNCF. This got eight plays, not bad, but could be better, as it is a rather excellent little game. Now better known as Paris Connection, this is a rather elegant game of railroads and shares, but unfortunately nobody else seems to be as thrilled by it as I am. I need to push it a bit more as a filler; it stands a good chance, because the game is very player count flexible.

Samarkand. I still like it a lot. No sight of the expansion so far, but to be honest, I think I’m better off without it.

Bunte Runde. I finally got myself a copy of this charming little game. This could go under children’s games, but I also played this with adults. I think this is a lovely little abstract.

The not-so-good, the disappointing and the plain bad

The Enigma of Leonardo. This was pretty dreadful.

Excape. Knizia game, but very frustrating.

Roope-setä Liikemiespeli. The worst business game of the year.

Days of Steam. This was one of the worst disappointments. Well, I knew this might not be the hottest game, but still… it fell incredibly flat. The game has some real problems and it is pretty much unplayable until fixed. Too bad, I liked parts of it quite a bit.

Chunky Fighters. Kind of interesting, but eventually very tedious.

Fives and dimes

Longest list ever? Maybe. Dimes:

• Kids of Carcassonne (57)
• Geistertreppe (32)
• Villa Paletti (18)
• Dominion (17)
• Lamarckian Poker (16)
• String Railway (14)
• Gulo Gulo (13)
• Haselnussbande (13)
• Jishaku (13)
• Forbidden Island (12)
• 7 Wonders (12)
• Mouse Carousel (11)
• Nile DeLuxor (11)
• Kraken-Alarm (11)
• Dobble (10)
• Carneval (10)

Fives:

• Settlers of Catan Junior (9)
• Stone Age (9)
• Puzzle Strike (9)
• Carcassonne (9)
• Innovation (8)
• SNCF (8)
• Bunte Runde (8)
• Kayanak (8)
• Kids from Catan (7)
• Samarkand (7)
• Dawn Under (7)
• Das kleine Gespenst (7)
• Das magische Labyrinth (7)
• Battle Line (6)
• Schildkrötenrennen (6)
• Terra Evolution (6)
• The Mysteries of Peking (6)
• Rattus (6)
• Repello (5)
• Principato (5)
• Jälkipeli (5)
• The Resistance (5)
• Geschenkt (5)
• Animal upon Animal – Balancing Bridge (5)

Year metric

• Battle Line (10/11)
• Attika (9/9)
• Age of Steam (9/9
• San Juan (8/8)
• Ta Yü (8/9)
• Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation (8/10)
• Ingenious * (7/8)
• Gang of Four (7/9)
• Tarock (5/5)

First number is the years I’ve played the game, second is the number of years since the first time I played. So, I first played Age of Steam eight years ago and have played it every year since that. With Battle Line I’ve missed a year. I didn’t play games marked with an asterisk this year.

H-index

My H-index for this year is 11. All-time H-index is 26, two up from last year.

1971 3M Bookshelf Acquire

Hope you like this blog — I just renewed the domain for another five years. It’s ten years next year…

I’ve enjoyed the blog myself, every now and then there’s a reason to dig through the archives. I played Hollywood Blockbuster (aka Dream Factory, aka Traumfabrik, aka Fabrik der Träume, aka Hollywood) last Sunday, my game stats told me I had played the game once in 2002 and again in 2003.

But where? Quick search in this blog told me: FinDipCon V. It also told me other games I had played that day, brought back a bunch of memories (like playing Citadels with William Attia, who was just a French Diplomacy player back then).

FinDipCon IV, where I played Traumfabrik for the first time, is unfortunately older than this blog, so there’s no records about it.

FinDipCon II, back in 2000, was my first board game con. Oh, the memories. Next weekend is Lautapelaamaan, aka the tenth Helcon. Helcon, by the way, is completely covered in this blog, as the first one was in 2002 after this blog was started, and I’ve never missed one.

Like the last year, I’m playing Eclipse with the designers of the game. I’m expecting being crushed, again. Should be fun. Looking forward to Eminent Domain, King of Tokyo and who knows what — should be a good day of gaming, and then a nice night in a hotel nearby. That’s a nice change, by the way, as Helcon 2005 was the last time I was able to do an overnight visit (my wife was pregnant with our son in 2005, which explains the change). Now I’m sharing a hotel room with my brother.

Here I am, lost in memories — but that’s ok now, as I’m over 30 and have blogged for almost ten years now.

1865 Sardinia is available from Gotha Games. I bought three.

Gaming year 2009 wasn’t terrific, but 2010 was. By numbers alone, I played a lot more games than last year. However, the biggest reason 2010 will go down in history as a good board game year was Nooa. I played well over hundred games with Nooa — actually, I played with Nooa about as much as I played games in 2009, total.

My son’s a bit of a gamer, then. Unfortunately his going to part-time daycare in August (or actually moving from morning group to afternoon group) really cut into the time we could spend playing games (since we can’t play games as well when his sister isn’t sleeping), otherwise we probably would’ve played 200 games this year, easy.

Well, he’s just four now and we still spend lots of time playing with the games, but I’ve also seen good development during the year. When we started playing games, a loss or even an impending loss might make him cry. Not so, anymore, he takes losses much better now. He’s also pretty good in some games, like Gulo Gulo.

So, I’m definitely looking forward to 2011.

Most of this was written in 2010, so wherever I say “this year”, it means 2010.

Good new games (2009-2010)

Samarkand: Routes to Riches. Easily the best new game this year. I love it! Exactly the right mix of interesting decisions and easy-going game play in a swift 30-minute setting.

Then again, a big part of why I like this game is the weekend I was visiting Jyväskylä and played 11 games (see my Samarkand notes from that weekend). I think there are plenty of games that would shine a lot brighter with that kind of attention. It’s a shame I can’t give it in most cases, as the drive to try new games is that strong.

Of course, not every game deserves that kind of attention or gets any better with more plays. Samarkand does, and I’d still like to play more, but opportunities have been rare. Perhaps I’ll take it with me to Jyväskylä next time I’m going…

7 Wonders. Another game to get the Jyväskylä treatment (see Notes on 7 Wonders). Not quite as good as Samarkand, but still solid. A good filler, but perhaps not much more. Lots of hype, mostly deserved. Looks like few people hate this, which always helps — at Lautapeliopas, the game has received a bunch of five-star ratings, lots of four-star ratings and the weakest rating is one three-star rating. Well, it’s still a new game and I suppose there’ll be more of those three-star ratings, but still, it’s impressive — this is not a game many people hate.

Vasco da Gama. Now, here’s another of those Jyväskylä treatment games (relevant blog entry here; I should probably add “Jyväskylä treatment” as a tag for the blog). This one I sold to my mother, so it’s conveniently available whenever I visit Jyväskylä. We’ve played it few times since and they’ve played it more. It’s not a particular favourite of mine, but sure I’ll play it, especially when we can just whip it out, play a game without going through the rules and 30-40 minutes later we’re done. A solid game, and I can see how someone could really like it.

Innovation. I made it to five plays this year, despite the resistance — some folks flat out decline to play without even trying the game, some tried and don’t want to play again… Mostly two-player games, I think I’ve played only one three-player game. That was probably the best game, though the last duel against Hannu was an epic match which I eventually won by drawing to 11. So far I like Innovation a lot. It’s chaotic, but the novelty factor in each game is still strong. Will I be bored? With the current pace of play, not soon.

Nile. This was a bit of a surprise hit. It’s a fairly simple set-collecting game, but especially with just two or three players, it’s great fun as it plays really fast and while luck plays a big role, the game is so quick it doesn’t really matter. The art is pretty, but the card quality is abysmal. Sleeves fortunately fix that problem.

Homesteaders. Only two plays so far, but here’s definitely something I want to play more. Homesteaders does the resource management auction thing well, with lots of possibilities, but also delightfully tight finances. Very strategic game. Some copies are apparently badly water-damaged or poorly printed, I secured mine from an auction so I knew I’d get a good copy.

String Railway. Lovely filler, cutest box ever. Fun game, but there’s a danger of taking the game too seriously, leading to extensive analysis and slow play. When players get more serious, the game materials prove lacking, as the strings tend to squirm around a bit, making exact play difficult. Players should just relax a bit, but that’s a bit hard, as in the other hand the strings make clever plays very attractive. “Ah, managed to visit all seven stations without crossing over any of your strings, ha!” But it’s fun, train-themed and very portable, so thumbs up for String Railway.

Marrakech. Here’s a real surprise. I wouldn’t have believed Marrakech would be such a good game. It’s a good family game, fun filler for adults, looks great, has some luck, some control over that luck and so on — all in all a very charming package.

SNCF. Only two games so far, but shows much promise to be a quick, yet thoughtful game. There’s clearly room for variation depending on how the group dynamics go. With the family game potential and all, this should get steady play in coming years.

Roll through the Ages. I’ve been interested in this one, yet haven’t gone and bought it. I eventually got it from a math trade, and it was a very good acquisition. It’s a great, simple filler that has a somewhat evocative theme (for a such a small dice game, at least) and the basic idea just works.

Eclipse. Trying Eclipse in Helcon was an interesting experience. Getting a great designer preview article for Lautapeliopas (in Finnish, sorry!) was also one of the highlights of the year. I’m glad to hear they’re likely to have the game published in 2011. If that happens, I’ll buy a copy.

Quick impressions: Charly — Surprisingly entertaining filler. Greed, Inc. — Blog post here; very favourable impression, but a long game, so hard to play. American Rails — Blog post here; good, but for some reason the Winsome — or Winsome-like — games haven’t hit the table a lot. Finca — Game of the Year in Finland, and for a good reason.

Good older games I haven’t played before

Lokomotive Werks. One of the many Winsome reprints and actually got played twice. I like it a lot, even though it’s very, very dry. The supply and demand mechanism with the dice is brilliant. Bunch of dice are rolled to show demand for different locomotives, players fulfill the orders and reduce the dice. When new models arrive, old ones are slowly (or quickly) obsoleted.

Tzaar. Almost a new game — I tried this once, quickly, in Helcon 2008, but now I introduced it to my brother and we played almost ten games. It’s a good game, one of the best in the Gipf series.

Cannes. A cheap auction purchase that turned out to be kind of geeky, but fun game of network building and logistics. Rough edges here and there, but it’s fun. First impressions post here.

Die Aufsteiger. Very neat climbing game. The second game was much better than the first, maybe the third gets even better? Don’t know, but want to try. Neue Heimat got just one short game, but would deserve more.

Fladderadatsch. Amazing family game. Move around the track, trying to avoid the piles of shit. Can you remember where the shit fell? Watch out for that revealing click sound when the magnetic shit attaches to your feet… Fun!

Railroad Dice 2. Bought the whole Railroad Dice set (1, 2, Germany expansion for 1) from a friend. Have only played this once. Would love to play again, but unfortunately this wasn’t that warmly received. Blog entry here.

Dampfross. Dated, but also fun. Has family game potential, but unfortunately won’t work with just two. Blog entry here.

Duck Dealer. Just one play, but seems very promising, but also very AP prone. Very delightful. Blog entry here.

Children’s games

Here’s a new segment to the year review! I’m listing here the notable children’s games for the year. What we’ll play will of course change as time passes, so here’s an attempt to document what’s going on. These games are listed in the order of most played games first, and all games on the list got at least five plays.

Gulo Gulo. The best. No doubt about it, and a damn shame to hear this one’s out of print from Rio Grande. This is so much fun to play, even with just two players. Kids will figure this one out soon and only little adult guidance is necessary. This is my number one recommendation for someone who’s looking for a good game for kids from 4 years up.

Click Clack. Very simple, works for three-year olds. There isn’t a terribly much of a game in it, and I hear it’s expensive, so maybe not worth the effort, but it’s surprisingly entertaining for what it is, and the click clack magnet mechanism is a joy. The huge and unsteady box isn’t.

Mago Magino. Not bad for such a simple game. The fix is mandatory with two players, otherwise there’s very little to this game. As it is, Nooa has liked it, but it wouldn’t be this high on the list if I decided.

Settlers of Catan Junior. Nooa likes this, perhaps because of the pirate theme, but it’s way too difficult for him. Basically I play for both of us. Also, this isn’t the best two-player game. Still, ten plays. This works wonders with six-year olds and is a great gateway to Catan proper.

Viva Topo! Fun little game, it’s fun to see how the strategy evolves. So far there’s very little. This is a good one to have, as the game has use as a filler for adults as well.

Kids of Carcassonne. Carcassonne simplified. I’d like to play this more, but for some reason Nooa doesn’t really fancy this one. He actually likes the real Carcassonne more, not that he really gets it. I think we should focus on this one for now. This is a good game.

Kayanak. A charming classic, this ice-fishing game where players must punch holes through paper sheets and fish for magnetic fish. I’ve wanted this since I first saw the game in Essen 2005 (photographic evidence back from 2005, blog entry), now I have it and it’s great. Slightly too difficult for Nooa, though, but he does ask for it.

Das kleine Gespenst. Very cute memory game. The difficulty is pretty good, perhaps a bit on the easy side, but works well. The game looks gorgeous. Die kleine Hexe is another Preussler novel turned into a Haferkamp game, but that one should be avoided. It’s pain to setup and not fun to play. Avoid.

Villa Paletti. I stored the game in the children’s room (mostly to have more room for better games in my actual game cabinet) and Nooa wanted to play it and hey, we’ve played eight games of it. Often Nooa wants to invent new rules, but the basic tower-building works in two player game in any case. Solid game.

Das magische Labyrinth. Find your way through the invisible labyrinth. This is a clever game I like a lot. Some folks don’t like the die-rolling involved, but so far I don’t mind. I can see how that could be seen as a problem. It’s fairly easy to fix, I suppose (say, move three steps every turn). Charming little game, looks absolutely stunning.

Memory. Can’t get much more classic than this. We’ve got several copies (including Bob the Builder, Agricola and Tatu ja Patu for you Finnish folks). A good game, sure, but still a bit difficult for Nooa, whose concentration isn’t yet up to the game. He’s getting closer, though, and can now play fairly well if he wants to.

Schildkrötenrennen. Here’s a game I like more than Nooa. This is a fantastic game, particular for adults looking for a quick filler. I’m sure this’ll work as a kids game, but not yet.

Animal upon Animal. A classic, but still more of a toy than game for Nooa.

Mouse Carousel. A fun memory game. Nooa has been able to play this well for a while now, but his success varies a lot based on his concentration. But it’s a good, pleasantly tactile game that works well.

Games I’ve kept on enjoying

Dominion. There’s no denying it: Dominion is one of my favourites and got over 20 plays this year. I don’t really play it in the club, because lugging the huge box (two boxes these days) of cards is just too much of a pain. I’ve been thinking about doing a smaller set in the Alchemy box as a carry-on set, that might work. But, I’ve found Dominion Online, that’ll help too. Of the new sets this year, Alchemy was interesting, but perhaps sort of ho-hum, while Prosperity was nothing short of amazing. A must-have, if you ask me. (Of course I have all of them.)

San Juan. I’ve played exactly two games of Race for the Galaxy, while San Juan got 12 plays. I like San Juan better, especially with the expansion cards. Also, it helps that my brother prefers San Juan.

18xx. Of course! Two games of 1846 and one 1889, 1825 Unit 3 and 1830. Of these, 1830 didn’t impress me much, but it was a newbie game (at JunaCon). I could play again, but I’m not terribly thrilled. 1889 was better, when it comes to that kind of game. 1825 is still my favourite. 1846 was interesting, but the route calculation is a bit heavy and it’s generally a slightly heavy game for the local players. Next year I’d like to play more 1825 and try 1886 and 1853. 1889 will be my choice of game for newbie situations.

The not-so-good, the disappointing, the plain bad

Saba: Palast der Königin. Just pointless.

Atlantic Triangle. Didn’t work for us, probably a decent family game.

Sturgeon. We did not want to finish the only game we played — the fun simply ran out before the game was over. Review here.

Fives and dimes

Dimes:

• Dominion (24 plays)
• Gulo Gulo (19)
• Click Clack (18)
• Samarkand: Routes to Riches (15)
• San Juan (12)
• Mago Magino (12)
• Flash Duel (11)
• Settlers of Catan Junior (10)
• Viva Topo! (10)

Fives:

• Tzaar (9)
• 7 Wonders (9)
• Arvuutin (8)
• Kayanak (8)
• Kids of Carcassonne (8)
• Das kleine Gespenst (8)
• Villa Paletti (8)
• Memory (7)
• Das magische Labyrinth (7)
• Nile (7)
• Schildkrötenrennen (6)
• Charly (5)
• Animal upon Animal (5)
• Vasco da Gama (5)
• Innovation (5)
• Mouse Carousel (5)

Year metric

• Battle Line (9/10)
• Age of Steam (8/8)
• Attika (8/8)
• San Juan (7/7)
• Einfach Genial (7/7)
• Ta Yü (7/8)
• Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation (7/9)
• Gang of Four (6/8) *
• Race for the Galaxy (4/4)
• Tarock (4/4)

First number is the years I’ve played the game, second is the number of years since the first time I played. So, I first played Age of Steam eight years ago and have played it every year since that. With Battle Line I’ve missed a year. I didn’t play games marked with an asterisk this year.

H-index

My H-index this year is 9. My total H-index is 24.

I’m playing 1889 by email with Scott “redracecar” Petersen, Breno K. and jimb. Not that I’m scared, or anything…

There was some talk on ratings at the Lautapeliseura forums, as one of the forum regulars, oskari, reached 1000 ratings on Geek recently. Not bad, in six years! He’s very prolific game sampler, so no surprise he was the first Finnish gamer I know to reach the magic milestone (it’ll take me couple of years, I believe).

Another interesting metric was mentioned: H-index. This is something that’s used in measuring quality of scholars. Quoting Wikipedia, “a scholar with an index of h has published h papers each of which has been cited by others at least h times”. In game terms, a gamer with an index of h has played h games each of which has been played at least h times.

If you record your plays in BoardGameGeek, check your most played games (mine’s here, so go there and just replace your user name). Then start counting games from the top: 1, 2, 3… and you’ll find your H-index when the number you count is larger than the number of games played for that game. On that list of mine, I would get a H-index of 19 (Tarock is the 19th game and has 20 plays — the next game would be game 20 and have just 19 plays).

With my own records which are more accurate, my H-index is 24. What’s yours?

Just look at this pretty little 7 Wonders box:

Of course there’s no scale in the picture, but the artwork is cut from the 7 Wonders box insert (which was so weak and wonky I didn’t feel at all bad ruining it for good), so you can guess from that. The box is a Alea Treasure Chest box (I’ve got two of those, both useless), so it’s just big enough for the wonder boards. The rulebook doesn’t fit in, but all I need is the quick rules, folded in half.

This box is much better than the original box. The game’s a filler and I wouldn’t mind carrying it with me, but my backpack has some limits to what it holds and those large boxes hog the space… With the smaller box things get much easier.

Here’s my side of the recent Finnish math trade:

• I traded 2038 for Days of Steam
• Bamboleo for Roll through the Ages
• Epäillyt for Age of Steam: Disco Inferno / Soul Train
• Fauna for Santiago
• Fluch der Mumie for Blokus
• Hornet for Finca
• Steel Driver for Stephensons Rocket

Some of these trades are better than the rest, but as a whole I’m fairly happy. Take Blokus, for example — I’ve wanted a copy for a while, but haven’t desired the game enough to buy it, particularly at 35 euros or whatever it usually costs in Finnish stores. Now I scored a copy still in shrinkwrap. Most of the games I traded away were review copies I haven’t paid for, so the value differences don’t matter as much (of course, I could’ve sold the game in the auction next week and especially for Steel Driver might’ve received a better deal, but I’m not complaining).

I was also able to improve my train game quotient, as I traded two train games (well, 1.5 really) away and gained two train games and an AOS expansion! Almost 40% of my collection is now train games. My expansions are 72% train games, not counting expansions my collection is 25% train games.

I’ve got 666 game comments entered in Geek.

Quite a few games. I found a student paper clipping from years ago, where I proudly claim owning about 40 games, which was a large collection back then (I currently have 214, as listed in Geek).