Collection Churn and Other Misc Stuff - November 2017

Ok, let's face it - its hard to say "Collection Churn" when all you did was sell two games. Well, lets get that portion of the discussion out of the way and then find something else to discuss - like how things look as we start wrapping up the year.

In the Door: Nothing! One of the goals this year was reduce the collection and so no new games was a good thing this time around.

Out the Door:

Agricola - I acquired this as soon as the english version came out. It was THE hotness back in the day. The thing was, I didn't really play it. I acquire Le Havre a little while later and liked that game better to be honest. Then I moved on to lots and lots of other games. In the last couple of years I found Caverna and discovered that I really liked it much better than Agricola (neither is my favorite Ewe, but Caverna definitely replaces Agricola for me). Combined with the fact that I could play Agricola on my iPad and I long ago decided that I could live without Agricola on my shelf. Unfortunately, it wasn't until last month that someone else agreed with me and purchased it.

Excape - this was best described to me as Knizia's answer to Sid Sackson's Can't Stop. A little push your luck dice game that got a lot more recognition back in the day. Good game with custom dice, it is a little hard to find. I hadn't played this in a long time, so it too was on the chopping block. I'm surprised Knizia didn't license this one to get made into iOS and Android apps - he licensed the heck out of other games. In the end I think I still prefer Can't Stop - You can pull out a wild lucky win in Can't Stop, but Excape has a flaw that if one player is going to win, you can only delay it, you can't actually win over them in one majestic single turn.

Summing up the Collection Churn for 2017:

For 2017 I wanted to start reducing my collection. The goal was make room and play the games I like more instead of just hoarding games. Through the beginning of December I have traded or sold 52 games and 15 expansions. Of course, since some of those were trades, I also acquired 14 games and 7 expansions. So the math says I had a nice net reduction of 38 games and 8 expansions. Earlier in the year I passed the tipping point of having previously owned more titles (games and expansions) than I currently own. According to BGG, I'm down to 227 games owned. That feels like a small number (compared to what I've had in the past), but it doesn't feel like I freed up much shelf space. Oh well. I'm sure I'll continue scaling back my collection in 2018.

Nickels and Dimes 2017
Speaking of playing the games I like more... The year isn't over yet, so I'm not going to list all the actual 5s and 10s. Instead, I'm going to mention the ones that are close and see if we get to the magic numbers in December.

Almost Dimes:

• Biblios - 8 plays. This has gotten this high in count due to lunch gaming at my office. Not sure if we'll get more of this or not as there are a couple "almost nickels" that also need more plays.
• Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game - 8 plays. I can get in a couple more solo or plays with my son. I'm sure I can. 
• Race for the Galaxy: Rebel vs Imperium - 8 plays. These were all online plays against friends. I'm not sure that I'll get any more of just this. Same for the Gathering Storm.
• Race for the Galaxy: The Gathering Storm - 7 plays.
• Twilight Struggle - 7 plays. These were all via the app. I really enjoyed playing this, though the games started feeling a bit repetitive and getting my friends to play was harder. I don't know that I'll be able to find three more games before the end of the year. 

Almost Nickels:

• Catan - 4 plays. I made a beautiful 3D printed set for my daughter a while back and we got some plays of this earlier in the year. We should get in another just because we can.
• Splendor - 4 plays. Splendor is one that was introduced to my work lunch group, so I have a shot at another play. If not, my family all likes it so another play should be easy.
• Ticket to Ride Map Collection: Volume 2 – India & Switzerland - 4 plays. Well, these were all electronic, and I'm sure were split between the maps, so I don't know if should even count these.
• Wyatt Earp - 4 plays. A recent addition to our lunch group. Definitely one that I hope to get another game in before the end of 2017.
• Code 777 - 3 plays. I just talked about this one in my November plays. I might get a couple more in if we have a family game day.
• Fast Food Fear! - 3 plays. I received this as a review copy. We might play this again as a goof around the holidays.
• Las Vegas - 3 plays. Another kind of filler I like to play with the kids. Definitely a game to play again around the holidays.
• Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries - 3 plays. Got this map on the iPad and will definitely try and play some more.
• Ticket to Ride: The Card Game - 3 plays. My daughter loves this memory style game and asks to play it a lot. I should cave and play it a couple more times.
• Attika - 3 plays. I played a few online games earlier this year (yucatá.de) but I don't think I care enough about stretching this one just to get to the magic number that I'll actually get in a couple more games.

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