Playing My Games: Q2 2019

Previously on Playing My Games: I have a lot of favorite board games! I’m collecting less and playing my games more! I’m keeping track of what I play and writing about it every few months!

So, how’s it going now that the second quarter is all wrapped up?

Second Quarter Slump

Q2 was not as game-y as I would have liked. Work was stressful, my family was busy with their own projects, and I haven’t gotten out into the broader Finnish gaming community yet. (I’m working on that last, and just signed up for my first game convention in Tampere.)

I still played a lot of games in normal human terms, but more than half of them were on the Evolution app again. Still love the game, still frustrated with the app’s multiplayer ranking. It’s far too easy to lose progress, especially when the app doesn’t always record your wins. The pool of concurrent players has shrunk to the low double digits over the last few months, so I suspect I’m not the only player who’s annoyed.

Summer vacation means more time to play with the kids, so they have been leading some of the choices. This means more family and children’s games in the mix (not a bad thing), and a return to older games like chess and Go (a very good thing!).

Spreading Our Wingspan

We also added one new game to the collection — this winter’s hottest game, Wingspan. A truly family-driven choice, I got to let myself be talked into getting this one. (It wasn’t hard to convince me.)

Wingspan’s ease of learning, scientific theme, and beautiful art and bits drew in even the family members who don’t usually have time to play. This has been a mixed blessing, in that we want to play the game all together and haven’t yet played it as much as we might have otherwise. But I think this is one we’ll be seeing a lot of in the long term.

Playing My Games: Q2 Stats

• Games played: 79
• Different games played: 28
• Games played more than once: 9
• Games in collection played for the first time this year: 12
• Total collection played so far this year: about 40%
• Newest game played: Wingspan (2019)
• Oldest game played: Go (-2200)
• Longest time since last played game: Say Anything Family Edition (May 31, 2016)
• Status of Cape Horn: still in shrink wrap.