by Jeff Rhind
So not only is this the birthday of this wondrous nation we live in...'Merica, but it's also, more or less, half-way through the year. And with that a look at mine, and Natlaya's, BoardGameGeek 10x10 Challenge, where we stand, and my thoughts.First, my daughter: Considering her list is pretty much made up of her favorite games that we play all the time, she is almost done already. Just a couple of stragglers. We need to play more Pick a Pig, Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small and Dweebies. No problem there. The Three Little Pigs which was her favorite right before I made her list, we lent it to a friend. The collection of games that she can play is far smaller than mine whether my own personal collection or those I play in my gaming group. So all in all she's doing well.
Now, my list: I am not even close. And here's why. At the time I made this list, these were all games I played all the time, or games I mistakenly thought I would play more often. In the past six months, I have acquired other games that would take many of these spots. My tastes have changed over the past 6 months. I guess that makes me a fickle gamer? I dunno. All I know is it is now July and I have yet to get Legions of Darkness (Sorry, Joel) or Space Hulk: Death Angel (Sorry, Rich) to the table even once. Plus my alternates? Sentinels and Caverna? I still do not own either of these and I do not think I ever will own Sentinels. I liked the "idea" at first but Legendary and DC DBG do it for me right now. Cuba Libre? 10 times? I would wear the game out and trade it away by then.
It's interesting to track a list like this, but ultimately futile. As I said, my tastes have changed over the course of the year. Plus this seems more like an assignment then a list of what I want to play. The differences are subtle but some of these games I could care less whether I play or not. Elder Sign is still sitting on the shelf next to Eldritch Horror punched and ready to go. Ahhh, someday. Some games I no longer own. In fact, today I just traded Race for the Galaxy away for Star Wars: X Wing Miniatures in a Math Trade.
To wrap things up, I think I will still track what games my daughter plays, as well as myself, relative to the BGG 10x10 Challenge but it's no longer a priority to play these games just to get that count to ten. I think I will still do the 10x10 Challenge in 2015, but just to see how my tastes and gaming change over time.