Quantifying your Fun

June 28, 2008

Greg Williams recently posed the question over on the BoardGameGeek forums: “Why do you log your plays?”, referring to the practice of tracking every board game that one plays using a tool available on BGG for doing so. People had all sorts of answers for why they do or don’t bother keeping track of every time they play a board game, but the question made me wonder why I bother to go through this process of keeping accurate records of my time spent enjoying this hobby. I realized that many of the advantages of logging your plays stem not from BGG itself, but rather from John Farrell’s “Extended Stats website.” This is not the first time I’ve written something inspired by this incredible website, as you may recall my article on the Cult of the New was also based on a new graph feature available on John’s statistics website that had particularly impressed me at the time. I should mention that to log your own games played, visit BoardGameGeek, search for the game you’ve played in the search bar, scroll toward the bottom of the individual game’s page, and in the “I Played This Game On” box you can set the date and number of times that you played that game, and then click “Submit.” Upon reading Greg’s question, I was prompted to revisit John’s website and rediscover all the wonderful reasons to diligently log your games played. You can see here the overwhelming wealth of information that is available for my own gaming history, from which I will now pick out some of the more interesting facts to discuss. The Extended Stats website is great for little tidbits of fun information, such as the fact that on average I have played each of the games I own 9.38 times, but it’s even better for looking at trends over long periods of time, such as months and years of games played. To celebrate the fact that I’ve been keeping track of my games played for exactly three years now (since June 28, 2005), I’m going to take a look now at three different features of that site that provide a window into the past three years of my gaming history. First, I’ll take a look at a table of my games played by month, including the game I’ve played the most each month and my favorite new game each month. Second, I am going to discuss a list of game designers, ordered by the number of times that I’ve played each of those designers’ games. Third, I’ll finish by analyzing the games that have dropped off the radar, meaning games that were played multiple times in one year, but zero times in the following year, to see why those games have dropped of the radar and whether I’ve forgotten some gems in my rush to always try to the next new release. Before I launch into this in-depth discussion of my games played, I should preface it by noting that I played certain games many times before beginning to log them three years ago, so some of the games that I’ve played most won’t appear as such in this discussion. These include particularly Settlers of Catan and Carcassonne, but also some plays of the other early additions to my collection, such as Entdecker, Bohnanza, Mississippi Queen, Lowenherz, Settlers of Catan Card Game, Lord of the Rings, and Acquire. With that having been said, it’s time to begin quantifying my fun!

The first window into three years of my game playing is the following table, which breaks down my games played by month. For each of the 36 months, it provides the total number of games played, the most played game (the number of times it was played), the runner-up for most played game, my favorite new game that month, and the runner-up for favorite new game. The table should be fairly self-explanatory, and further discussion of the results of this breakdown will follow the tables, so without further ado, please follow me down the rabbit hole into the life and times of an avid gamer.

Now for some observations about this massive table. The first thing that jumps out at me as the most striking feature is the sudden appearance and subsequent dominance of Crokinole. Upon receiving my Crokinole board as a Christmas gift in December of 2006, it quickly became my most played game for seven of the following eight months. Crokinole even became my second most played game for all of 2006, even though I only played it during the last week of the year. While Crokinole plays relatively quickly, in about 30 to 45 minutes (for a full game to 100 points or 4 matches when playing match-play), it manages to beat out many shorter games, primarily because of its replayability. While I’m happy to play a game almost any time of any day, I rarely want to play the same game many times in the same day or the same week, but dexterity games like Crokinole are different. Even more so, Crokinole is different from any other dexterity game that I’ve played, in terms of the way it blends dexterity with strategic decision-making. The second fact that may not be so readily apparent, but was noticeable to me in deciding my favorite new games each month, was how my taste has diverged over time from the favorites on BoardGameGeek. In particular, I have played the following four games, but selected others in each of those months: Agricola (December 2007), Brass (January 2008), Race for the Galaxy (March 2008), and Through the Ages (April 2008). Whereas the popular favorites, such as Princes of Florence, Tigris & Euphrates, and Puerto Rico, dominate the early portion of this chart, my choices have become a little beat more off the beaten path lately as I dig a little deeper into this hobby over time and discover the types of games that I personally enjoy most, wading through the over 35,000 games in the BoardGameGeek database. It’s not that I didn’t like any of those four games, but these new contenders for the Top 10 best games of all-time don’t measure up in my view to the classics, like El Grande, Princes of Florence, and Tigris & Euphrates. I expect many of these newer games to fade, as was the case with BattleLore (of which my opinion is available here), but I’m sure some of these new games will stick around, and surely join the ranks of Power Grid as notable outliers from the general convergence of my tastes with the BGG crowd favorites. The third thing you might notice is that there were three months (March, May, and August of 2007) where I decided not to pick a favorite, which was not because I didn’t play anything new during those months, but rather because nothing seemed good enough to merit being included here. The contenders that I didn’t feel merited inclusion were Villa Paletti, Schwarzmarkt, and various RoboRally expansions for March 2007, Bridges of Shangri-La for May 2007, and Taluva, Odin’s Ravens, and Schnapp for August 2007. I was tempted to put some of those into the chart, but they didn’t quite make the cut in my view. It’s not that they’re bad games, but rather that surrounded by the likes of In the Shadow of the Emperor, Antiquity, Kreta, and La Citta, it didn’t feel like they belonged. My fourth and final observation is the dearth of expansions in this list. While I love buying and trying expansions to board games, I’m frequently disappointed with them, as discussed tangentially here. I included a few expansions in this chart to highlight the expansions that I’ve really been impressed with, including A Game of Thrones: Storm of Swords Expansion, Age of Steam – Scandinavia Map, Mr. Jack Extension, and Galaxy Trucker: Rough Road Ahead. Those expansions (in addition to some of the Carcassonne expansions that I tried before the start date of this chart, discussed here), are the cream of the crop in that field. The Storm of Swords expansion for Game of Thrones not only allows you to play with four players, but also introduces leaders and neutral house ally cards, both of which add a lot to the game. The leaders in particular alter the predictability of the timing of the game by allowing you to sometimes march during the raid or consolidate power phase. The flexibility introduced by this expansion makes the game significantly more tense and exciting. The Scandinavia Map for Age of Steam is my favorite three-player map for Age of Steam, which is my favorite number of players to have for Age of Steam. The introduction of the ferry action in Scandinavia is a great addition to the game, and the layout of the map makes for many choke points that players need to rush to claim. As for Galaxy Trucker, it’s just a hoot to play, and the Rough Road Ahead expansion just adds to the fun even more, making this game a definite contender for Game of the Year in my view.

The second feature of the Extended Stats website that I’ll investigate now to celebrate the three-year anniversary of tracking my games played is a list of game designers, with the total number of times I’ve played games by that designer, the number of unique games by that designer that I’ve played, and which games I’ve played by that designer, including how many times I’ve played each. This table is ordered by the total number of times I’ve played games by each designer (with the number of unique games played breaking ties). I’ve grouped co-designers together if they co-designed all of the games that I played by them, but separated co-designers if they did not work together on every game that I’ve played by them. I should also note that this chart only includes designers whose games I’ve played at least ten times.

No surprise to see Reiner Knizia at the top of this list with 321 plays. That means that fully 15.4% of all my games played over the past three years have been designed by Reinier Knizia (321 out of 2,091), which is quite a lot indeed for one man, but I suppose he’s not just any man. Not many designers can say they’ve published 266 games, of which I’ve tried a measly 19 different games. It’s incredible to think that I’ve tried only 7.1% of Knizia’s games. And not many designers can say they’ve been Andy Warhol-ized either, can they? Aside from the dominance of Knizia, exceeding the second most played designer by over 100 plays, another noteworthy thing about this table is the fact that I’ve played the games of 48 designers (or design teams) at least 10 times, which was the cut-off for being included here. That’s a whole lot of different designers, ranging from the well-known and widely publisher to the obscure. The top of the list is not surprising, but what is surprising is to see who is missing from the top. Designers such as Rudiger Dorn and Dirk Henn, who came in at 16th and 26th respectively, were ones I would have definitely expected to make the top ten. It’s also interesting to see which designers made it near the top of the list on the strength of a single game, such as Gunter Cornett & Alvydas Jakeliunas with Hey That’s My Fish, Corne van Moorsel with StreetSoccer, and William Attia with Caylus. In contrast, some designers (such as Uwe Rosenberg, Friedemann Friese, and Klaus Teuber) show up relatively low on the list considering how many different games I’ve played by each of them. I guess it just goes to show that there are some designers with games that I’ve played deeply and other designers with a variety of games that I’ve played broadly, although the number of different games that I’ve played by a designer does roughly decline as you go down the list as you’d expect. Clearly I explore more of the different games of the designers whose games I especially enjoy and play many times. In the end though, I’ll say that these 48 designers are the cream of the crop when it comes to game designers, and you can’t go wrong giving their games a try.

The third and final feature of the Extended Stats website that I’d like to explore here is the one that indicates which games have dropped of your radar lately. These are lists of games that I played multiple times in one year, but zero times in the following year. This seems useful for identifying which games were played at least a couple times, but then were forgotten and never played again. These may be games that I intentionally stopped playing and have been meaning to avoid, but alternatively they may be forgotten gems that I have simply overlooked in my haste to constantly be trying the next new exciting release. This is yet another feature on the Extended Stats website that makes logging your games played especially worthwhile.

First, the games that I played multiple times in 2005, but not at all in 2006, are as follows: Carcassonne: Hunters & Gatherers, Metro, Acquire, Attika, Balloon Cup, Category 5, Chess, Cities and Knights of Catan, and Settlers of Catan Card Game. This list and the two subsequent lists for 2006-07 and 2007-08 are ordered by the number of times each game was played in the previous year (and alphabetical for ties). Unlike the two subsequent lists, both of which feature a number of games that I’d like to try to play again, this mostly a list of games that I’ve traded away or sold because I didn’t like them. I traded away Carcassonne: Hunters & Gatherers, Metro, and Attika, and I sold Acquire. I still have Balloon Cup, Cities and Knights of Catan, and the Settlers of Catan Card Game, but am not dying the play any of them. So this list actually tells me little because none of these are games I’d forgotten to get to the table, but rather are simply games that I’ve not been meaning to play again and don’t intend to play again anytime soon.

Second, the games that I played multiple times in 2006, but not at all in 2007, are as follows: LOTR Confrontation, YINSH, Backgammon, Blokus, BuyWord, Diamant, Keythedral, Mesopotamia, Carcassonne – The Princess & Dragon, Carcassonne – The River, Carcassonne – The Castle, Game of Thrones, Mammoth Hunters, Princes of Florence, Sword & Sail, Ta Yu, Tower of Babel, Australia, Bohnanza, Bus, Carcassonne – Die Katharer, Carcassonne – King & Scout, Carcassonne – The River II, Elfenland, Fifth Avenue, Games of Thrones – Storm of Swords Expansion, High Society, Hoity Toity, Mexica, Modern Art, Oasis, Penguin Ultimatum, Polarity, Space Beans, Ticket to Ride: Europe, and Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition. This list includes some more interesting games that I’d actually like to try to play again, although of course it includes a number of games that were not accidentally not played in 2007. I suppose these more recent lists include some better games because my collection has grown significantly, making it harder to get all the good games to the table each year. Some of the games that I played multiple times in 2006, not at all in 2007, but would like to try to make sure to play again in 2008, include LOTR Confrontation, Princes of Florence, YINSH, Keythedral, Oasis, Ta Yu, and Game of Thrones. That’s a solid list of seven games that deserve to be played each year, and I’ll try to give each a try again soon. I’ve actually already played two of these (LOTR Confrontation and Princes of Florence) in 2008, and have plans to play Game of Thrones again soon. So I just need to make sure to get YINSH, Keythedral, Oasis, and Ta Yu to the table in 2008 at some point. In contrast though, there are certainly a number of games on this list that not only did I not play in 2007, but also don’t plan to play again in 2008 or ever perhaps. This includes games that I’ve traded away like Australia, Mesopotamia, Ticket to Ride: Europe and Tower of Babel, and also games that are on my to-trade list now, such as Fifth Avenue and Modern Art. This list also includes some mediocre games that I may or may not play again, such as Mammoth Hunters, Mexica, Blokus, Elfenland, Penguin Ultimatum, and Polarity, but don’t need to make sure to play again like the seven mentioned before, but don’t need to avoid like the ones just mentioned or the ones about to be mentioned. Finally, this list includes a number of games that I never owned, but rather tried other people’s copy, and determined that they aren’t my cup of tea, so I’ll be happy to not play them again, including Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition, Hoity Toity, and Diamant. So there are many different categories in this list, ranging all the way from a few great games that I need to make sure to play again to a few games that I’m not interested in ever playing again or disliked so much that I got rid of them. Either way it’s handy to be able to see what I played multiple times in 2006, but never in 2007, and try to figure out why those games have dropped off my radar.

Third and finally, the games that I played multiple times in 2007, but not at all in 2008 (through the end of June), are as follows: Age of Steam, Notre Dame, Gheos, Taj Mahal, Chess, Stuff Yer Face, 1960: The Making of the President, Die Macher, Taluva, TransAmerica, Yspahan, Age of Steam – Western US & Germany Map, Attribute, Blue Moon City, For Sale, Ingenious, Magic: The Gathering CCG, Odin’s Ravens, Shear Panic, Through the Desert, Travel Blokus, Trias, Age of Steam – Scandinavia & Korea Map, Amyitis, Chairs, DVONN, Fearsome Floors, Go, Lost Cities, Micropul, Wits & Wagers, Age of Steam – England & Ireland Map, Age of Steam – France & Italy Map, Age of Steam – Disco Inferno & Soul Train Map, Bridges of Shangri-La, Canal Mania, Commands & Colors: Ancients, Egyptian Ratscrew, Elk Fest, LOTR Confrontation Deluxe, PUNCT, Terra Nova, Thurn & Taxis, Um Reifenbreite, War of the Ring, Web of Power, and Ys. Just like the list of games that I played multiple times in 2006, but never in 2007, this list of games played multiple times in 2007, but never in 2008, includes a broad spectrum of games, from a few great games that I need to make sure to play again soon to a few games that I’ll be happy to never play again. The great games on this list include Age of Steam, Notre Dame, Die Macher, Through the Desert, Trias, and Web of Power. Those are six games that most definitely deserve to be played each year, and will hopefully be played again soon. In contrast, I’ve traded away or am looking to trade away Gheos, Yspahan, Amyitis, Bridges of Shangri-La, Canal Mania, and Thurn & Taxis. That’s six games that I definitely don’t need to play any more, although I’m happy I gave them all multiple chances in 2007, even if they’re not for me in the end. It’s an interesting and diverse list of games that comprise those that you play multiple times in one year but not at all in the subsequent year. It’s also a list that sheds light both on games you mean not to play again and on forgotten gems that you need to make a conscious effort to play again soon.

In the end, I keep track of my games played for these reasons and many more. The wealth of information available on John Farrell’s “Extended Stats website” is truly incredible. You can really tell a lot about a gamer by the information available about them on that site, and you can really tell a lot about yourself by looking at that information as well. Breaking down the games played by month, by designer, and by year has allowed me to glean a variety of interesting facets of my game playing habits. These are just a few of the windows into yourself and your fellow game players that you can enjoy if you keep track of your games played.