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Rick Baptist
United States
Redlands
California
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Well, it wasn't as bad as last year, but I've wound up with a fair amount of unplayed games again. I can't find if I wrote anything about it, but it was either this year or the year before I was sitting on 25+ unplayed games in my closet after all these crazy seasonal discount deals. I eventually got that number down to 0, and if I had been blogging about it it certainly would have been worth the read. I found some great sleepers in there that remain favorites today (Vikings, Space Dealer, Dragon's Gold, China) and some that reside somewhere in my 'Previously Owned' list. All in all, I had a GREAT time exploring new titles with an open mind and I don't regret those days at all.
I've tried to take care since then and not build up a big reservoir, but like I said above, oops! Here's the list of titles that I have yet to get to the table. They've been gathering for a time, now. I welcome your comments on them!
Shogun
Stronghold
Offrandes
Magnum Sal
Leonardo da Vinci
Master Builder
Dark Minions
Antler Island
Cambria
Genesis
Now, getting these babies to the table isn't going to be easy. Couple reasons for that:
1) "Group Taste" -- Not to sound high and mighty, but I feel like I have the ability to enjoy almost every type of game out there. I certainly swing one way more than the other, but there's still a shot I'll like something I initially thought I might not, and I'll most likely give it a try. Most of my groups, though, are in a particular category. I have an Ameritrash group that I adore, but forcing Leonardo Da Vinci on them wouldn't be nice. I have a Euro group that I love, but dice games like Dark Minions would be avoided like the plague. There's tons of little groups in there, most of them casual gamers that could go either way. One group is certainly a try-all kind of group, but I just don't see them enough to barge in with new games to explain, especially when they're more comfortable playing games they already know. And these aren't all "freebies" that I can knock off at home with the family.
2) Rule Reading -- perhaps this is my biggest stumbling block to getting these games played. Oh man, have I pulled a 180 since I got into the hobby. I used to take rulebooks with me in the car if I knew I would be stuck somewhere. I used to read the PDFs late-night before bed. No longer. If I'm going to learn a game these days, I need to set the whole thing up on the table, get out the rules, and go piece-by-piece through it to understand it fully. Sometimes I just don't have the motivation to do this. My son sometimes has the patience to sit with me while I do this, but some of these games won't be up his alley. So that's when I start looking for explainers! I have some Stronghold veterans in place, which is AWESOME knowing about that particular game's rules, and I have a winner for Shogun also. The rest are on me.
3) Pushing the Play -- and the last, and most dire in my mind, is this one. Except for the most confident/forward of us, pushing new games on people isn't the most fun activity to engage in. I don't think that the hobby has reached a point of saturation (yet), but sometimes these lesser-hyped games don't appeal to strongly to the common gamer. So many folks are afraid of trying out something new because they won't enjoy it. And with three kids, I don't see these people as often as I'd like -- even I feel the pressure of not spending time on a new game that might not be as enjoyable as something else we both know!
So that's where I am and what needs to get done. It really does feel like a mission -- GET THOSE UNPLAYED GAMES PLAYED. Now I just need the victims ... er, players.
     
FOR DISCUSSION: Those of you that have an inkling of my taste, any guesses how the above-mentioned unplayed games will be perceived? And any other sob stories about getting unplayed games to the table?
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and I even know the first game off that list (although it's a little too long for our next game night). Please feel free to push our group any time.
