Marshall P.
United States
Wichita
Kansas
"Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution" - Theodosius Dobzhansky
There is grandeur in this view of life, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.
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The Three Year History of a Game Group.
This is the story of a game group that started in Wichita Kansas in April of 2005. It's about the people who make up the group and the games that they played.
2005
I moved to Wichita Kansas in February of 2005 and immediately started looking for a game group. At the time the only thing going was a group of about five people through meetup.com, but they had never actually had a face to face meeting. I started pushing to make a meet up happen, but it became clear that there was no real excitement for it. I got my gaming fix in by going to Starbucks on Sundays with my wife (txcristy), ordering some coffee and pastries, and playing some two player games like Carcassonne: The Castle, and Odin's Ravens. I had some vague hope that we would generate some interest from other patrons, but nothing ever materialized.
Fortunately, about this time I was contacted through BGG by Drew (katang) who was sending emails to everybody near Wichita with a BGG account. I was the only one that responded, all of the other accounts were abandoned. Drew is an avid gamer who likes everything from Heroscape to Twilight Imperium to typical euros. We discussed setting up a game group and decided that we would regularly meet on the third Saturday of the month.
The first official meeting was on April 21st (which was a Thursday, after this we went to the third Saturday format) at the Starbucks my wife and I had been patronizing. It consisted of myself, Cristy, and Drew. We played Rumis and Ticket to Ride, and that was it. That was the group's first official game session.
I began a database for the game group. This would pay off handsomely later allowing me, among other things, to write a comprehensive three year history of the group. I also began a yahoo group to facilitate our communication, and we immediately began discussing prospects for a venue better than Starbucks for our sessions.
The second session was held on Saturday, May 21st at Prairie Dog Comics. Drew had convinced PDC to agreed to host our group once a month. Drew brought two of his friends Scott (kersed) and Chris. The four of us thus formed the core of the group. It was pretty much just the four of us that carried the group through those first few months until we started getting new regular members. During this session we played Samurai, Fist of Dragonstones, and then Power Grid to step one only (we were running out of time). In addition to eurogames Scott likes Star Wars miniatures and games with his kids. And Chris and I have the most nearly exact same taste in games as any two people I've met. I think the only game we disagree on is Vegas Showdown. I can reliably depend on Chris's opinion of a game to determine if I will like it or not.
The first appearance of Power Grid was quite inauspicious. From this one brief playing there was no sign that it would go on to be the groups favorite game, and dominate our playing time as completely as it has.
Now that it looked like there was actually a group we immediately began trying to arrange a second regular meeting per month. We tried several nights and several locations, but nothing really worked until another local game store, Agents Comics and Games volunteered to host us on the first Friday of every month. Even staying open late just for us. The first Friday night session was held on September 2nd. We played High Society, Modern Art, Shadows over Camelot (the only time that game would be played in the group), and Bohnanza.
Now the group was really beginning to shape up. We had two regular standing sessions that continue to this day: the first Friday of the month at Agents, and the third Saturday of the month at PDC. We wanted to keep meeting at two separate locations to maximize our exposure to foot traffic, and hopefully walkup players, but the location at PDC was not ideal. They were enthusiastic about hosting us but their shop was very small, and we often had to share space with an RPG group. We struggled quite a bit with whether to stick with the PDC location or not. Ultimately, we stuck it out and the facilities issues sorted themselves out when PDC moved to a larger store.
The next significant development happened at the first Friday session at Agents in October. Little did we know we would pick up two valuable members at this session. The first new member was Kevin K. (notlobot), and we welcomed him with a game of High Society.
Kevin K. was in high school at the time, but he was very mature and very interested in games. He became a regular at our sessions, and developed a taste for the heavier, meaty euros. Eventually he went off to college at K State, but we still saw him occasionally at sessions during his weekends home. After only one semester, however, he decided to join the reserves and went off to basic training. This was a big loss to the group, but, of course, a big and important step for him. After basic training and medic training he eventually came back to Wichita and we saw him for one session in September of 2007. I think he went back to school at K State, and I have hopes that he'll pop up at a session in the future.
The second member that we picked up that day in 2005 was August (Masauwu). After our game of High Society the store manager, Tim, came up and introduced us to August and he said was a customer interested in trying out boardgames. We had already set up and explained the rules for Power Grid (the second playing of the game in the group) and we didn't want to restart. So I said "welcome August, you're our sixth for Power Grid, we're going to throw you in the deep end here." August proved that he could handle the "deep end" however, and Power Grid became his favorite game. He now owns all the expansions, and never turns down a game. At first August only came for the Friday night sessions, but as his interest grew he started showing up at the Saturday sessions too. Finally, in 2007, August became our most dependable member, missing only one session the entire year and playing in over 100 games.
We didn't have to wait long for our next big acquisition. The very next session (the third Saturday in October 2005) Kevin L. (klide) and his wife Karen joined us. We started them off that day with Ticket to Ride, Modern Art, and Coloretto. They must have liked something they saw because they quickly became regular members. Kevin L., in fact, played the most games and attended the most sessions of anyone in 2006, and is behind only August in 2007. Both of them have become very valuable members of the group.
By any measure 2005 had been a very successful first year for the group. Regular sessions and locations were established. Attendance was growing, along with the game collections, and there was no danger of the group fading away. Just as the year ended it was about to get a whole lot better, however.
In early December the local paper (the Wichita Eagle) ran a story on boardgames as gift ideas. The story covered the usual fare from Trivial Pursuit to Monopoly, but, encouragingly, also included Blokus. I sent an email to the reporter who wrote the story and offered up that there was more to the world of boardgames than she might be aware. I briefly laid out the history and characteristics of euro games. Shortly thereafter, she contacted me for an extensive phone interview, and the paper sent out a photographer to get some "action shots" from our final game session of the year. The story on our game group and euro games wouldn't come out until 2006, but when it did the impact as immediate and long lasting.
But first, some stats for the year 2005.
Number of games played = 70
Number of unique games = 34
Number of unique players = 18
Average attendance per session = 5.21 players
Average number of games played per session = 5 games
Table: Top Ten Players by Number of Games Played
Player Number of Games Played
Marshall 54
Drew 51
Scott 42
Chris 33
Kevin K. 19
Kevin L. 13
Darren 12
Karen 7
August 6
Chad 6
Table: Top Seven Games by Number of Times Played
Game Number of Times Played
Rumis 7
Samurai 6
High Society 5
Ticket to Ride 3
Through the Desert 3
Guillotine 3
Puerto Rico 3
I also track games played by total number of player hours. This rewards longer games that hit the table less often than the fillers. For example, if three people sat down to play a one hour game that game would accrue three player-hours. I find that our group plays games a little bit quicker than the playing time listed on BGG. So for each game I try to estimate the average playing time for our group covering all ranges of players. It's not 100% accurate but it should average out if a game gets played a lot of times.
Table: Top Ten Games by Number of Player-Hours
Game Number of Player-Hours
Puerto Rico 21
Power Grid 17.5
Samurai 14.25
Princes of Florence 13.5
Ticket to Ride 13
Citadels 11
High Society 10
Modern Art 9
Bohnanza 8.25
Tigris & Euphrates 8
2006
The year 2006 was quick to capitalize on the momentum from 2005. The article on our group in the Wichita Eagle appeared before our first game session. As soon as the article hit I was contacted by people who wanted to come to the next session. Consequently, the first session in 2006 became our biggest session ever, with the highest attendance and the most games played. I wrote it up in a geeklist called The Night My Game Group EXPLODED.
Richard and Marie were a retired couple who were looking to try out some boardgames. I started them out with Ticket to Ride and they loved it. They bought a copy from the store on the spot (in fact for several months after the article the game store had trouble keeping Ticket to Ride and other games in stock.) Richard and Marie continued coming to the game sessions and were very excited and enthusiastic about the games. I thought we had a new pair of regulars with them. But then, they just stopped coming. I sent some emails that went unreturned, and then finally an email got kicked back as undeliverable. I have no idea what happened to them, but I kinda fear the worst. To this day I still haven't heard from them.
We did pick up a regular member that night with Clint {cheez). Clint is a role player and a fan of American games, but he seems to have really taken to the euros as well. He's been attending our sessions pretty steadily since this first one. He's currently number 10 on our all time games played list, which ain't too shabby.
Another semi-regular we picked up that night was Greg. Greg came with his wife Shelly, she dropped in a few more times but Greg still comes to the occasional session to this day.
A lot of the other people who showed up that night were one and done. But pretty much everybody who came to a session for the first time since that article came out did so because of the article. It was really a boon for the group and drove a lot of membership for us.
Among the games played for the first time in that session in 2006 were Ra and Tower of Babel. Ra would go on to be the second favorite game of the group behind Power Grid, and Tower of Babel remained popular through 2006, but has faded a bit since then.
When Ra made it's first appearance in the group I avoided it. I had played Ra once a couple years earlier and didn't have a good experience. But as Ra racked up play after play it was inevitable that I'd get in on a game. And once I did I realized the error of my ways. Ra has made a steady climb in my ratings since I started playing it again. It's now one of the most owned games in the group, and still gets played a reasonable amount.
A month later in February, two games that proved to be enduring favorites made their debut: Cartagena and Railroad Tycoon. Cartagena remains a common filler to this day, and Railroad Tycoon sees relatively regular play (it probably gets some of its time stolen by Power Grid though).
The next regular member to join the group was Ty (tyrone123) in April of 2006. We started Ty off with Coloretto, China, Ra, and Modern Art, and he must of liked what he saw. Ty has a job that keeps him pretty busy so he doesn't often make it to two sessions in a row, but he can be counted on to drop in whenever he can. He also has a knack for acquiring games that the group hasn't played yet like Zooloretto and Thebes.
In June of 2006 Dave first joined us. For awhile it looked like Dave was going to be a dependable regular, he made it to six sessions in a row. But then he just dropped out. No word on why, but I think that, while he liked the euros at first, ultimately we weren't playing the right types of games for him. These things happen.
Next up was Robert in September 2006. His first games with us were Ra, Ticket to Ride, and Acquire (which he owned). Gradually Robert became a core member with heavy attendance in 2007. Sometimes he brings his daughter with him and she acts as our banker, card dealer, or other such odd jobs.
At BGG.con 2006 I picked up a copy of Amun-Re off of the prize table. During the second session in November that copy hit the table kicking off a nice run for Amun-Re that saw it get some pretty good table time in 2007.
And finally, in December of 2007 Nick (Lobosolo) joined us with games of Coloretto, High Society, and Amun-Re. Nick is an avid gamer and an editor at the Wichita Eagle so he knew of the group since the article a year before. Hey, what the heck took you so long then Nick? Nick is a big Sid Sackson fan and has made it his goal to collect all Sackson games. Nick also introduced the group to Thurn and Taxis which would make the top ten list for 2007.
And now, for some 2006 stats.
Number of games played = 224
Number of unique games = 78
Number of unique players = 61
Average attendance per session = 10.08 players
Average number of games played per session = 9.33 games
Table: Top Ten Players by Number of Games Played
Player Number of Games Played
Kevin L. 94
Marshall 91
Chris 73
August 63
Kevin K. 60
Scott 60
Drew 54
Karen 27
Dave 22
Ty 21
Table: Top Ten Games by Number of Times Played
Game Number of Times Played
Coloretto 13
Ra 12
Rumis 10
Polarity 10
Blokus 8
Tsuro 7
Cartagena 7
Tower of Babel 7
High Society 6
Power Grid 6
You'll notice a few more American style games making the list below. In general the group started to diversify it's playing style in 2006 and games like Descent and Roborally hit the table on more than one occasion. Part of that is a function of having more players at each session. It allows several games to be going at once, which means it's easier to get longer and taste specific games to the table. This trend would continue (to the great benefit of the group I think) in 2007.
Table: Top Ten Games by Number of Player-Hours
Game Number of Player-Hours
Power Grid 43.75
Railroad Tycoon 42
Ra 39.75
Roborally 25.5
Tower of Babel 22.5
Descent 20
Caylus 19.25
Betrayal at House on Hill 18
Blokus 15
Cartagena 15
Amun-Re 15
2007
Since we've established our regular sessions on the first Friday and third Saturday of the month it sometimes happens that the calendar conspires to put two weekends between our game sessions. A neat trend that started in 2007 during these two weekend breaks is that someone would volunteer to hold a game day at their house. These game days don't make it into the database, but I think they're an invaluable development for the game group. We get to meet each others families, share some food and drink in a more comfortable atmosphere, play some different types of games - like party games, and generally be more sociable and friendly. I sincerely hope these rotating home sessions continue.
Right out of the gates in January Kevin L. brought a new game to a session which went on to rocket up the charts to be the number one played game of all time. That game was Quoridor, and it was played five times the first night alone. In 2007 the group seemed to have a need for short two player fillers so Quoridor continued to see heavy use, amassing 26 plays by the end of the year.
The second session in January was nearly snowed out. It was a miserable day, so bad that even I didn't go to the session. I thought that nobody else would make it, but to my surprise August and Nick both attended and played two player games of 10 Days in Europe, Power Grid, and Thurn and Taxis. This was the first of two sessions to be adversely affected by weather (the second being the last session of the year,) which kept attendance down, and slightly drug down the average session attendance for the year.
In the first session in February we were joined by Joanne. Joanne, and her daughter Gina, would go on to become semi-regular members. I think Joanne was scouting out the group by herself in this session, as she just played two games of For Sale. That must have been enough though, because for the next session she came back with Gina, and they played Ra, Coloretto, Tutankhamen, and Ticket to Ride. They've been coming back ever since. Joanne and Gina's favorite type of games seem to be geometrical abstracts like Blockus and Rumis (note to self: recommend Ingenious to Joanne.)
The second session of February also saw the debut of Vegas Showdown. Vegas was well received and went on to get steady play for the rest of the year ultimately finishing third in player-hours.
For the most part the rest of 2007 was pretty uneventful. The sessions went off without a hitch seeing with an average attendance of 11 or 12 players. A regular flux of new games were introduced with two of the more popular ones being Incan Gold and Hey! That's My Fish. Overall we tended to play more shorter games per session in 2007, but we also saw several games of Twilight Struggle, which bucked that trend.
Finally, in October of 2007 a new game burst on the scene: 10 Days in Asia, brought by August who is a fan of all things named "10 Days in ..." In just the final three months 10 Days in Asia saw seven plays and cracked the top ten.
The same session that brought us 10 Days also brought Bart and Elizabeth. Bart is wildly enthusiastic for games of all kinds, and while he hasn't been attending long enough to crack the top ranks of the games played lists, I'm pretty confident that his name is going to figure big in 2008.
And now, for some 2007 stats.
Number of games played = 278
Number of unique games = 91
Number of unique players = 45
Average attendance per session = 10.17 players
Average number of games played per session = 11.58 games
Table: Top Eleven Players by Number of Games Played
Player Number of Games Played
August 122
Kevin L. 109
Marshall 88
Robert 81
Nick 74
Chris 58
Clint 47
Drew 45
Ty 42
Joanne 37
Gina 34
Table: Top Ten Games by Number of Times Played
Game Number of Times Played
Quoridor 27
Ra 12
High Society 10
Power Grid 10
Tsuro 9
Hive 9
Hey! That's My Fish 9
Incan Gold 8
Cartagena 7
10 Days in Asia 7
For Sale 7
Thurn and Taxis 7
Vegas Showdown 7
Table: Top Ten Games by Number of Player-Hours
Game Number of Player-Hours
Power Grid 77
Ra 36
Vegas Showdown 31.25
Amun-Re 30
Railroad Tycoon 30
Imperial 24
Ticket to Ride 22
Shogun 20
Twilight Struggle 20
High Society 19
This year we're having our first annual Holiday party on December 29th, complete with a gift exchange and everything. Overall the group's health is very good, we're getting a steady influx of new players and we're constantly expanding our gaming repertoire (see Imperial, Shogun, and Twilight Struggle on the list above). With continued support and enthusiasm from the group's members 2008 should bring more of the same. Thanks for reading, I'll close with some all time stats for the group.
All Time Stats
Number of games played = 572
Number of unique games = 131
Number of unique players = 84
Average attendance per session = 9.02 players
Average number of games played per session = 9.23 games
Table: Top Fifteen Players by Number of Games Played
Player Number of Games Played
Marshall 233
Kevin L. 216
August 191
Chris 164
Drew 150
Scott 131
Robert 93
Kevin K. 90
Nick 77
Clint 65
Ty 63
Karen 59
Greg 44
Joanne 37
Gina 34
Table: Top Fifteen Games by Number of Times Played
Game Number of Times Played
Quoridor 27
Ra 24
High Society 21
Coloretto 21
Rumis 19
Power Grid 18
Tsuro 16
Samurai 15
Cartagena 14
Polarity 13
Blokus 11
Hive 10
Ticket to Ride 10
Hey! That's My Fish 9
Railroad Tycoon 9
Through the Desert 9
Table: Top fifteen Games by Number of Player-Hours
Game Number of Player-Hours
Power Grid 138.25
Ra 75.75
Railroad Tycoon 72
Amun-Re 45
Ticket to Ride 43
High Society 43
Roborally 40.5
Puerto Rico 39
Samurai 38.25
Princes of Florence 33
Vegas Showdown 31.25
Descent 30
Cartagena 28
Tower of Babel 26.25
Caylus 24.4
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Tom Rosen
United States
Arlington
Virginia
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Thanks for writing up this history Marshall, I really enjoyed reading it
Best of luck with your group in 2008!
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Bulldozers
United States
Crystal Lake
Illinois
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WTG!! FUN!
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drew woodworth
United States
wichita
Kansas
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Thanks for writing that up, Marshall. I still find it amazing how the group has evolved from its humble beginnings.
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Bart Brunscheen
United States
Wichita
Kansas
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Good to be a part of the History and can't wait for all the fun years of gaming to come. Good Job Marshall, top notch reporting.
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Nicolas Guay
Canada
Memramcook
New Brunswick
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Nicely done, truly an inspiration. I just started a gaming group guild this year and I really hope we can grow the way your group has.
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/guild/376
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justin easley
United States
Tremont
Illinois
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marshall - thanks for putting this together. after seeing the effort you went to in order to pull this thing together, it almost made me want to move to kansas just to join in...and then i told myself, "self, you're a husker fan...it would be sacrilegious for you to move south."
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Jason Easley
United States
Hanna City
Illinois
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A Big Red man has no place in Chalk Land.
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