Collection Churn April 2017

I noted to Brandon Kempf (from WDYPTW) last month that my BGG numbers finally tipped - I have more previously owned games than ones that I do own now. 454 vs 438 (note that 454 is actually games + expansions - the real game number is more like 300 but whatever). Part of the reason for that stems from trying to reduce my collection to a more manageable number of games that actually get played more. Some of that comes from a maturation point in my collection - while I like new games, I stopped buying first and deciding later - I'm trying to be more conscious about what I acquire. I still impulse acquire on occassion, but I know what I like and what will get played and so there is less impulsiveness in my collection now. At any rate, I'm on a quest this year to scale down. Here is what happened last month:

Acquired: 7 Wonders Duel, Terraforming Mars, Yokohama Deluxified

I played 7 Wonders Duel a while ago and liked it and only finally got around to trading for it. I liked it enough to print a 3D playing area for it - you still have a chance to win one! Small box is also a good thing as part of the churn is due to a lack of space for all my games.

I also ended up trading for Terraforming Mars. Still not quite sure this will get the play, but it had so much buzz last year I thought I'd take a look. It is still in shrink, but my trade was local, so there was no shipping - two of my games out the door and only one came in, still on track!

My last acquisition from last month? Yokohama Deluxified. When I ordered Orleans Deluxe from TMG, I was super happy with the result. I bought a game blindly that had great buzz and was given the nice bits treatment. When they announced that Yokohama had also caught their eye and was going to be given a facelift too, I was already ready to jump in with both feet. Except that I didn't have the money when the Kickstarter was happening, so I ended up having to get it on the secondary market. I found a seller who simply submitted my address when it was time to ship. Because I just moved last week, I still haven't had a chance to break this out. Playings are coming soon!

Sold or traded:

• Colt Express - I liked this ok, but it is too fiddly for what it is (and I don't have fat hands). The family liked it ok, but not enough that I felt like keeping it.
• Cockroach Salad - I got this because it sounded funny. It was. For a minute. The kids enjoyed it, but it just wasn't really my thing. 
• Carcassonne Mini Expansions - I like Carc and had purchased the 6 mini expansions, but my Big Box 2 is more than enough.
• Can't Stop - another I like, but I didn't need the game on my shelf. There are online and app implementations when I need a fix. I also still have alternate push your luck games in my collection.
• Trajan - a fine Feld game, but I wasn't taken enough by it to feel like it owned a spot in my collection over other games
• Fortress America - this was something of a nostalgic keep in the first place. Loved this as a kid - never was going to get played as an adult.
• Pandemic - I have an unopened Season 1, so don't really need the original game. I'm not a huge co-op guy anyway.
• Small World - I still have Small World Underground and like 5 expansions I should rid myself of. SW is fine once you get past the garish art, but I don't see this hitting the table.
• Antidote - this was an impulse buy and a game I didn't really care for. Maybe because I suck at it, but mostly because it wasn't very interesting. 
• Pirate's Cove - a pretty good pirate game, but it too just collected dust on my shelves
• Fire and Ice - once, I thought I'd have a big game room with cool games sitting out on display. I found this at a thrift store and thought it looked good, but it never did come out of the box.
• Citadels - I thought the kids would like this, and they did (a little). Not enough interest to keep it around. 
• Hive Pocket - for some reason I thought it'd be nice to have a smaller form of Hive. Nope, it is too small for me. The regular Hive isn't a huge game anyway. Not sure what I was thinking.
• Formula Motor Racing - this was a Play-To-Win game that I won from the Geekway. Mostly a filler for 6 players. Not terribly interesting.
• Chaos in the Old World - I like this game. I just don't get it played and probably hadn't played it in over two years. 
• Lord of the Rings - I got this in a math trade as part of a bundle some time back. See Pandemic above - I'm just not a co-op guy. 
• Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation Deluxe - another good game that we never ever played.
• Glen More - I like this game, but am horrible at it. I can play online at Yucata.de if I really want. I really don't want to, so I got rid of it.
• Skull - Like Liars Dice, but less random. Suffers at the end of the game. Liar's Dice is better IMO.

Thus far for the year: 27 sold or traded + 9 acquired for a net of -18 games or expansions. Five of the nine I've acquired were expansions (3 for Descent and the Millennium Blades card rotation), so I feel good so far about where I'm headed.