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Until a few years ago my board game collection consisted of playing cards, my dad’s old copy of Scrabble, an RSBP game from the 1970s called Conservation, Haunted Wood, Articulate, and an American copy of Monopoly with missing pieces. I’m not sure what exactly piqued my interest in modern hobby board games, but I’d heard of Ticket to Ride and bought it on impulse when I spotted it in a bookshop. This was closely followed by The Settlers of Catan and then things got a little bit out of control. According to my Board Game Geek profile there are 206 games currently in my collection. It turns out that I’m extremely good at acquiring games and have made the collecting part a hobby in its own right.
My favourites
Despite having quite a lot of games, there are some firm favourites that I’m always in the mood to play. My favourite game is Viticulture: Essential Edition, I love the theme, the components and worker placement is my favourite mechanism. To me this is a perfect game.
It’s not the only one though, Wonderland’s War is pretty new to my collection, and I just can’t get over how good it is. The gameplay itself is wonderful, but it’s got such amazing table presence and beautiful components, particularly with the deluxe chips. They’re a splurge, but they’re worth it!
In sharp contrast to this is my very battered, ugly copy of Castles of Burgundy. My version is before it got its deluxe-special-edition glow up. I love it though, it’s an ideal weight for me, crunchy and interesting without a finicky complex ruleset. It’s a game that I can play without having to check the rules.
Glen More is like this too, and it was one of the first games that I bought after I found out a little bit more about the hobby and had started watching reviews on YouTube. I had to find it second-hand as it was out of print. Tracking games down that are hard to come by is another really satisfying part of the hobby. Although I’m very happy that Glen More II is now widely available. I backed it on Kickstarter, which is another exciting part of collecting games.
Like Wonderland’s War, Ark Nova is a newer game that established itself as a favourite instantly. I would play it every day if I had the time. Not my favourite theme but my favourite type of game to play. I love sitting down to spend two or three hours playing a crunchy, puzzly game.
Dungeon Petz fits that bill too, and I love this theme, the art and components are really whimsical and fun too.
Meadow is less complex than some of my other favourites but a brilliant game with a brilliant expansion, I love the art and the theme.
Theme wise Obsession is possibly my absolute favourite, but that’s not to take away from what a completely fantastic game it is. Like a few of my favourites, it’s a game to sit down and play when you have plenty of time and want to puzzle through interesting choices. The production is lovely, which I don’t think is essential (ahem, Castles of Burgundy) but it certainly doesn’t hurt. It’s set in Derbyshire which is where I live and that makes it a little extra special for me.
What I’ve played the most
Although I don’t play them as often as I’d like, all my favourites are amongst my most played games. I’ve also spent hours playing Gloomhaven, and Pandemic (both the original and Legacy seasons).
Some of the other games that have racked up a lot of play time, are smaller games that travel well. I almost always have a small game in my bag when I’m out and about. Both Hive and Bananagrams are great for portable gaming. I always take games on holiday, Jaipur and Lost Cities are usually in my suitcase.
There are also some lighter go-to games in my collection, easy to get to the table, set up and play. I’ve played loads of Sagrada, Roll for the Galaxy, and Century Spice Road and will happily continue to play.
What I’d like to play more
As I’m better at adding to my collection, than I am at actually playing games there are quite a few games that I’ve only played a few times. I work from home in my spare room with all my games. They can be a great talking point during otherwise boring Teams calls, but they also call out to me while I’m trying to work. Some in particular make me feel very guilty about not having played them more. Tapestry is right next to my desk, and I look at it nearly every day, thinking that I’ll play it that evening. I think this would be one of my favourites if I’d played it more.
Dinosaur World would probably be amongst my favourites as well if I got to play it more. I absolutely love the theme and it’s just the sort of crunchy puzzle I love.
I’ve also been desperate to play Blackout: Hong Kong again. I played it two or three times when I first got it and thought it was great, but then presumably got distracted by a nice shiny newer game and started playing that instead.
I played Great Western Trail at a board game cafe a few years ago and loved it so much that I immediately bought a copy and then never got round to playing it. I’ve not even punched out the tokens yet! Seeing the more recent versions coming out has bumped this back up to the top of my list.
One of the reasons I struggle to get some games to the table is the set up/tear down particularly for games with campaign elements. A while ago I started playing Vagrantsong which I was really enjoying. However, it got tidied away when we needed the table space, and it never quite made it back. This is very high up my list, I absolutely loved it particularly as I played the Runaway who has a dog.
What I can’t wait to play
As well as some games I’ve not played much, there are some games I’ve not played at all yet! Top of my list is Three Sisters. I’m not always a huge fan of roll and writes, but the theme of this one really drew me in, I read a beautiful essay about the Three Sisters recently in Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book Braiding Sweetgrass. It looks gorgeous too.
Sometimes games just need to look very pretty to tempt me, which is why I bought Canvas without really knowing anything about it. Now that I’ve got my hands on it, I can see that the gameplay looks interesting and unique so I’m very keen to try this soon.
I struggle to play more than one campaign or legacy game at once, and at the moment I’m playing through Clank Acquisitions Incorporated. Still, Charterstone has been on my Kallax for a couple of years now and I’m desperate to play.
I also backed Sagrada Artisans on Kickstarter. I got very excited when it was delivered but was in the middle of Pandemic Legacy 0 at the time.
Although theme wise Cthulhu isn’t a big draw for me, hearing Zee Garcia from the Dice Tower talk about Arkham Horror: The Card Game convinced me to buy a copy a few years ago. However, I got a little bit overwhelmed when I saw the rules. I feel like I’ve played more complex games since though, so hopefully I am up to the challenge now.
Despite my reservations about IP games, I’ve played quite a lot of Dune Imperium, I love the films and I love the game too. So much in fact that I bought copies of the Immortality and Rise of Ix expansions and I’m dying to play them. I’m confident I’ll get these to the table fairly soon, I find it easier finding the time to learn and play with new expansions rather than brand new games.
What I can’t let go of
I do periodically streamline my collection so that I can still get to my desk for work. There are some games that I can’t quite part with even though I don’t ever play them and I’m not likely to. Haunted Wood and Conservation are just really precious to me, and I can’t quite let them go. Every now and then someone contacts me on Board Game Geek asking if I’ll sell my copy of Conservation, it seems to have a bit of a cult following. I just can’t though, It conjures up some amazing memories playing it, like my friend James being enraged by all the baby birds when he was losing. It’s also got a piece of paper tracking the scores in my dad’s handwriting, it’s a silly and small thing, but it makes me smile every time I see it.
I also have The Name of the Rose which I bought second-hand without realising that it was a German copy (I cannot speak German) being posted from Germany, resulting in a pretty expensive mistake. I think I’d just got a bit giddy about tracking it down. I am determined that one day I will get the rules and card text in English so that I can play, but I should probably play all the other unplayed games in my collection first. Although I should actually prioritise all my outstanding life admin before that.
What I can’t wait to add
I know that I don’t need to add any more games to my collection, but there are so many great games out there. I love finding out more about the hobby and watching reviewers talk about games old and new. The downside is that they keep highlighting games that sound brilliant. A few years ago, I was a very enthusiastic Kickstarter backer. On occasion my giddiness got the better of me and I have experienced some buyer’s remorse. I’ve since learned to slow down a bit, do a bit more research and be a little more discerning. However, I have recently backed Flock Together and Mythwind because I couldn’t resist. Ezeekat, is one of my favourite content creators made these sound great. They’ve also made videos about Dorf Romantik (which I’ve enjoyed on the Switch) and Leaf, they both sound very much my cup of tea and now they’re top of my wish list.
I’m incredibly excited about Vantage coming out. I’ve loved every game from Stonemaier that I’ve played and apparently this has been inspired by Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It feels like someone is making a board game just for me!
I’m also eagerly anticipating Undergrove. Nature is maybe my favourite theme in games, so I love everything that Elizabeth Hargrave has done. The art is always beautiful, this looks no exception, and the cosy cottagecore vibes are especially appealing.
I’m also desperate to get my hands on Forest Shuffle and Sky Team, they’re so popular they keep selling out, so clearly, it’s not just me who’s keen to add them to my collection.
In summary
I have almost as much fun building and curating a collection as I do playing the games in it. Initially I bought a lot of worker placement games, because I love worker placement, but now I think more about the gaps in my collection and creating variety. That being said my impulse control is pretty poor, and I’m often tempted by games that look nice, have a theme I’m particularly interested in, or come recommended by content creators that I follow. This does lead to a lot of unwise financial decisions for the sake of my collection, but I see it as a good investment. I’ve spent many happy hours playing these games and will spend hours more!