10 x Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion - 2
10 x Spirit Island - 4 [2]
[X] 10 x Marvel Champions - 10+
[X] 10 x Unmatched - 10+
5 x Arkham Horror the card game - 3
[X] 5 x Tyrants of the Underdark - 5
5 x High Society
5 x Night of the Ninja
5 x Hansa Teutonica
5 x Star Wars: Imperial Assault
5 x Lost Ruins of Arnak
5 x The Search for Planet X
1 x Unfathomable
1 x Troyes
1 x Kemet
1 x Inis
1 x Five Tribes
1 x Dungeon Petz
1 x Lowlands
[X] 1 x Downforce - 1
[X] 1 x Raccoon Tycoon - 1+
1 x Star Wars: Outer Rim
1 x Exit: the Secret Lab
1 x Star Wars: Unlock
1 x World Monuments
1 x Tigris and Euphrates
1 x Princes of Florence
1 x Lawyer Up
1 x A War of Whispers
1 x Race for the Galaxy
[X] 1 x Mr. Jack - 1+
[X] 1 x Lost Cities - 1+
A number of games played in July, even some new ones, but only two for the challenge. I am hoping that with school starting up again, I might have some solo opportunities on my WFH days.
Curses, none from the list! I did actually get in one gaming day this month (a goodbye event for a friend moving out to Newfoundland), but we played Jaipur, Colt Super Express, Deep Sea Adventure, Wormholes, and then Inis.
I think that was the only time I played games (aside from a few TTRPG sessions I ran over Zoom/Discord). Ah well.
Oh! No, I lie. I also played Oathsworn once, Illusion, and New York Zoo when we drove down to visit other friends in St. Catharines.
But none of those are on the list either. Curses!
Argh. I should’ve suggested Eclipse for the going-away game. But I hadn’t read the rules… but argh. That would’ve been a great excuse to put it on the table!
Silly me, letting Graham pick the games just because he’s moving 40 hours away…
I have finally played some more games. My original 10x10 multiplayer challenge is dead. I am at 19/100. Mostly because this is the year my partner mostly stopped playing games and I stopped asking him to play. And the challenge was made with him in mind.
My dynamic 10x10 challenge looks a bit better at 61/100 games with a bunch of games I got to play on BGA. It won‘t be completed unless I get to play a lot more games in the last 3 months of the year. But it is doubtful.
My best chance are the solo challenges. The one I chose games for looks like a lame duck as well at 33/100.
Spirit Island 10/10
Sprawlopolis 10/10
Railroad Ink Challenge 6/10
But all 7 other games are just 1 or 2 games: Dune Imperium, Imperium Classics, Obsession, Sagani, Ares Expedition, Burgle Bros and Root.
My random dynamic solo looks best 70/100
Factory Funner 10/10 (recent spree on one evening
Spirit Island 10/10
Sprawlopolis 10/10
Terraforming Mars 10/10 (yes I am counting the app)
Planet Unknown 7/10
Railroad Ink Challenge 7/10 (no longer counting the app or I would be at 50 games of this)
Regicide 6/10
Voll Verplant 4/10
Welcome to the Moon 4/10
Petrichor 3/10
I have also completed 33 plays of previously unplayed games in my collection. But I have still 36 unplayed games in my collection. I think the number is shrinking but I also keep buying new games.
I think I‘ll have to play a few more quick roll & writes… I had high hopes for playing the „big solos“ this year. But too much stuff going on did not help. I am glad I got to play more games recently and I am sure Everdell will make an appearance in my solo challenge soon.
While there was a little less KeyForge this month, plays for Tallerpoet the “Mason” were completed. Very excited about the success of the new set Winds of Exchange on Gamefound.
Part 2: Opportunity 50
Month
Plays
Progress
Games
January
2
[2/50]
On Tour, Monarch
February
2
[4/50]
Wits & Wagers, Friday
March
4
[8/50]
Firefly: Out to the Black, Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra, Great Western Trail, Battle Sheep
April
0
[8/50]
May
0
[8/50]
June
4
[12/50]
Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space, Sprawlopolis, Tiny Epic Defenders, Ascension: Darkness Unleashed
July
2
[14/50]
Masque of the Red Death, Word Nerd
August
4
[18/50]
Michael Strogoff, TINYforming Mars, Spring Meadow, Elder Sign
September
5
[23/50]
A War of Whispers, Orchard, Nine-Minute Kingdom, Radlands, 6 nimmt!
Five games played, five winners, hope to play all of them again soon.
Funny I get to play more Railways of the World, which is still a great game. But lost interest on voluntary playing it 10 times. And yet here we are at 7 plays.
I found that I am not learning as much in async games compare to playing them face-to-face.
Ah, November. The Beginning of the End every year (working at a game store has its distinct advantages, but working the “holiday season” is definitely not one of them). Didn’t get any of the games done in October, but did play another game of Oathsworn, as well as Colt Express three times, and introduced some people to some great, lighter games (Anomia, Deep Sea Adventure, Illusion and The Mind).
November is gonna be bad, for the most part… I think I have one co-op day after work scheduled for Oathsworn again, and a couple close friends are getting married and have requested I bring games to the event for people to chill and hang out to play, so I’ll get a few more party games in, but almost certainly nothing from the list.
One of my oldest and best friends wants to play a Battletech campaign, and I am super on board for that… when I have a car and can make the 140km drive out to see him again.
Nothing from this list either, although I did get a running head start at Twilight Inscription twice. Dang it looks fascinating… I’m not sure if it’s good, but fascinating! Also picked up the new/old 2nd Expansion for Galaxy Trucker “Keep on Trucking”, which I can’t wait to pull ouit at some point. Other than that I have tried to slow my crazy roll of game acquisition. Life is getting super expensive (our little almost-broken VW Golf, a 2006, cost $70 to fill the tank from almost empty… yesterday I paid $100 and the tank still didn’t fill), and there are more shinies than I can play. That stated, I am going to bring home a copy of Can’t Stop, and the expansion for Sidereal Confluence. Everything else… will just have to wait and hinge on my Xmas bonus, if any.
I missed September, so this end of October update will include both months.
End of October update:
10 x Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion - 2
10 x Spirit Island - 4
[X] 10 x Marvel Champions - 10+
[X] 10 x Unmatched - 10+
[X] 5 x Arkham Horror the card game - 5 [2]
[X] 5 x Tyrants of the Underdark - 5
5 x High Society
5 x Night of the Ninja
5 x Hansa Teutonica
5 x Star Wars: Imperial Assault
5 x Lost Ruins of Arnak
5 x The Search for Planet X - 2 [2]
1 x Unfathomable
1 x Troyes
1 x Kemet
1 x Inis
1 x Five Tribes
1 x Dungeon Petz
1 x Lowlands
[X] 1 x Downforce - 1
[X] 1 x Raccoon Tycoon - 1+
1 x Star Wars: Outer Rim
1 x Exit: the Secret Lab
1 x Star Wars: Unlock
1 x World Monuments
1 x Tigris and Euphrates
[X] 1 x Princes of Florence - 1 [1]
1 x Lawyer Up
1 x A War of Whispers
1 x Race for the Galaxy
[X] 1 x Mr. Jack - 1+
[X] 1 x Lost Cities - 1+
Only 5 plays added to the list, among a total of 56 played games over the two months (20ish of which was due to SHUX, admittedly). So 43/100 so far. Not looking too good.
If I could get a number of evenings with the kids going to bed on time, I know I could hit most of the games I can solo, which would be 28 more plays. Maybe with the upcoming holidays I can get some of them in, as well as a couple of my x1 challenges.
Missed out on the update last month as I had a corneal abrasion thanks to my savage toddler. October went better though, and I’m over the one year mark on my daily streak
Firefly: Out to the Black, Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra, Great Western Trail, Battle Sheep
April
0
[8/50]
May
0
[8/50]
June
4
[12/50]
Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space, Sprawlopolis, Tiny Epic Defenders, Ascension: Darkness Unleashed
July
2
[14/50]
Masque of the Red Death, Word Nerd
August
4
[18/50]
Michael Strogoff, TINYforming Mars, Spring Meadow, Elder Sign
September
5
[23/50]
A War of Whispers, Orchard, Nine-Minute Kingdom, Radlands, 6 nimmt!
October
9
[32/50]
A Game of Thrones: The Card Game (Second Edition), Pyramid Poker, Biblios, Verdant, Agricola, A Walk in the Park, Decypto, Nytelyfe Solitaire, The Search for Planet X
An excellent month for the opportunity challenge, powering past the pass mark.
Learning AGoT with the Automa was a bit of a brain burner, better try for a two player game next time. Planet X was less taxing than AGoT, but seemed a bit mechanical learning solo, so will also need another go with a human opponent.
Biblios, Verdant and Decypto were all excellent, and I expect will be on regular rotation.
Factory Funner, Railroad Ink Challenge, Spirit Island, Sprawlopolis, Terraforming Mars 10+ each
Planet Unknown 7/10
Regicide 6/10
Cascadia 5/10 (new)
Everdell 5/10 (new)
Voll verplant 4/10
I can probably finish a 10x10 run of solo only games by December.
My initial plan for a solo challenge sits at 40/100 plays. It also includes
Spirit Island, Railroad Ink Challenge and Sprawlopolis at 10+
Sagani 4/10
Dune Imperium 2/10
Imperium Classics: 2/10
Obsession: 1/10
Ares Expedition: 1/10
And no games for Root and Burgle Bros 2
For my generated Multiplayer Challenge I am at 65/100 played:
Hardback, My City at 10+
Codenames 7/10 (no more online game nights with the girls this year)
Die Crew 6/10
Space Base 6/10
A Feast for Odin 5/10
Lost Ruins of Arnak 5/10
So Kleever 5/10
Castles of Burgundy 4/10
Beyond the Sun 4/10
A lot of these have been played on BGA with a couple of friends.
My original “planned” 10x10 included Ares Expedition, Splendor, Flourish, Gloomhaven, The LOOP, Radlands, Rallyman GT and Scape Goat but this year—due to external stress—my partner stopped playing with me almost completely. We feel this is temporary. But the 10x10 was planned with him… and well, I’ve given up on that. Also because of those same factors we did not get to spend a lot of time with friends during the summer and so some games like Scape Goat didn’t make it to the table at all.
My “unplayed” challenge was supposed to have me play 50 games from my collection I had never played before to reduce my shelf of shame. But because of new acquisitions and a dynamic challenge while I am at 39/50, my shelf of shame only shrunk moderately. None of the games that made the list were on my original shelf. The ones that are collecting dust remain on there.
I don’t think I’m going to stretch myself to make the 10×10. Maybe Dulce but probably not; I’m on the last lap of a VektoRace game on BGA, but I feel no enthusiasm for playing more; Flash Point is never a burden but that won’t do much on its own. A few years ago I did set a schedule and play a bunch of solo games to make up the numbers, but I didn’t enjoy the reward of completion enough to make up for turning a fun thing into a slog.
Phew, snuck in one more play of Legacy of Dragonholt last night to not have another completely blank month! That game continues to impress… the writing isn’t consistently great, but it is good and occasionally brilliant. Last night saw us tackling a set of giant spiders in a way that was very satisfying. Also, amusingly, involved me injuring a skill and me saying aloud “Well, I’ll just damage Performance because why would I need that in a crypt?” and then the next three skill checks all giving an option for Performance. Ha.
Other than that, I played a game of Fistful of Daisies (a roll n’ move that might be appropriate for very young children, but even then I’m not sure I’d recommend it), a really quick tutorial game of Galaxy Trucker 2nd Ed (gosh what a great game, and what a great edition!), a game of Decrypto… oh, and at a wedding we managed to play The Fuzzies (way better than it has any right to be), Illusion, Anomia, and Diamant.
Oh, and one game of Oathsworn early in the month, but the 2nd game was cancelled due to weather. Such is life. That game is legit great. Really impressed with it… I need to finish painting my Journeys in Middle-Earth models so I can slap some paint on my Oathsworn ones!
I think that’s it for this month. December is going to be miserable (it’s always miserable), so I think this is probably where I’ll finish the year. Maybe I’ll get some TTS games of Battletech in before year end? Maybe.
Nothing new off this list either, but I only picked up 2 or 3 new games in November… Scout which looks wonderful, and… that might be it? I think? I have a bunch of stuff set aside for December 24th (Xmas bonus plus the bosses tend to do nicer discounts on that specific day), but nothing super exciting. The expansion for Sidereal Confluence and Red Cathedral, a copy of Strike!!, and some RPG books.
Oh, and I did buy that copy of Can’t Stop. So there’s that too I suppose!
Two plays of Gloomhaven: JotL. That’s it for the list, making 45/100 plays with just one month to go. At the same time, I did play Princes of Florence again, and a few games of Marvel Champions, so getting in more plays for them than were on my challenge kinda counts in a way??
I am confident I can get at least halfway through my challenge, on solo games alone if necessary. I’d love to get in at least one or two more of my x1 challenges though. And I’m kind of upset that I have not been able to get simpler fare like High Society or Night of the Ninja to the table over the course of the year. Maybe over the holidays that can change.
Eeks, no progress, better do a KeyForge sprint in December to bring it home.
Part 2: Opportunity 50
Month
Plays
Progress
Games
January
2
[2/50]
On Tour, Monarch
February
2
[4/50]
Wits & Wagers, Friday
March
4
[8/50]
Firefly: Out to the Black, Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra, Great Western Trail, Battle Sheep
April
0
[8/50]
May
0
[8/50]
June
4
[12/50]
Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space, Sprawlopolis, Tiny Epic Defenders, Ascension: Darkness Unleashed
July
2
[14/50]
Masque of the Red Death, Word Nerd
August
4
[18/50]
Michael Strogoff, TINYforming Mars, Spring Meadow, Elder Sign
September
5
[23/50]
A War of Whispers, Orchard, Nine-Minute Kingdom, Radlands, 6 nimmt!
October
9
[32/50]
A Game of Thrones: The Card Game (Second Edition), Pyramid Poker, Biblios, Verdant, Agricola, A Walk in the Park, Decypto, Nytelyfe Solitaire, The Search for Planet X
November
6
[38/50]
Kashgar: Merchants of the Silk Road, Last Night on Earth, Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Herding Cats, The Isle of Cats, Magic the Gathering
Quite a few games played:
Loved Kashgar and The Isle of Cats, both excellent
Learned King Ludwig via the introvert solo mode, such nice art and production
Was given Herding Cats: Zombie Dice with stealing
Joined a Magic learn-to-play at a convention which provided a starter set; it’s not my thing, but was keen to find out how it plays given Richard Garfield has designed some of my favourite games.
