A Downsizing Challenge

Boardgames
#87

It’s been 2 weeks since my original post and I have made some progress. I do not mean I sold games–I did and I am selling more. I mean in my head. Maybe it was a switch that needed flipping in the off position, but for now it seems off. I have even surfed KS the other day and a few shops and checked on 2 christmas calendars just now (one came in per mail… I got lucky one is a uninteresting game and I have the other).

My collection feels lighter. Even though I have only reduced it by about 10 games for now (more are awaiting their leaving–my bundle of 6 player games has not yet found takers). I have managed to get a couple down from my shelf of shame.

I am not yet at a point where I have actual “lessons learned”. That switch can flip back into “buy buy buy” mode. I have yet to figure out how to actually buy a new game in a sensible way. For now there is a full-stop. Full-stops are easier than measured* behavior.

*is that the word one would use in English? I just wrote it out but now it seems wrong.

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#88

Sounds fine to me.

Congrats on the progress.

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#89

“Moderated behaviour” perhaps? To do something “in moderation” is to avoid excess.

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#90

The sentence is fine as is. Alternatives include “gradual”, “incremental”, and/or “tapered”, but measured is fine.

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#91

Picked out a few games to get rid of the other day, with my daughter helping to choose; some HARD vetoes on some games, but some very pragmatic decisions on games that we’ve liked but don’t really play any more.
Having said that, with only about 10 games picked out (and more than a few of them smallish card games) it’s really little more than a wee pruning.

I’ve dropped off game buying quite a lot this year too. I think the only new games I’ve added are micromacro crime city (1 & 2) and neuroshima hex (which I’ve been looking to get for years). With fewer opportunities to actually get together to play with my regular group I’ve pretty much focused any buying to adding expansions to Marvel Legendary because it’s one of the few games my wife, daughter and I regularly play as a family.
Christmas is the same, when pressed to give a wishlist to my wife it’s not got a single new game on it, but only adding content to games I have been able to get to the table pretty regularly.

Think I’m probably going to have a few more reviews of the games I have over the next few weeks and either make a point of getting some lesser played games to the table or moving them on

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#92

It would seem so :wink:

I checked, I have managed to go 4 weeks without shopping new games or backing kickstarters et al.

I’ve been tempted a few times but decided that playing existing games from the collection would be just as nice as getting a new box. And I got a few new boxes from preorders (TGZ and FCM) and Sagani–my lovely Secret Santa surprise (already played twice b/c apparently Santa knows me well and chose a soloable Uwe game)

With less incoming the ones I have feel better. So that keeps me motivated to stick with the no-buying.

One other thing I have discovered played/plays a role in the buying:

migraines help the shopping -.-

I have had bad migraines this year (and previous years but it got worse during the pandemic). My migraines are mostly mild considering the amount of pain. However, they last quite long and even with low pain I cannot think straight or concentrate, so I often cannot play games and so instead I buy them. This has definitely been a factor. When I cannot do much (and feel sorry for myself b/c migraines just SUCK), I tend to browse games online … and add-to-cart. I have found that listening to some of my favorite books instead helps.

The main difficulty now is that I decided to buy Cóatl as a present for my nephew and I haven’t quite decided yet if I am allowing myself a game for Christmas. I need to come to a decision about that so nothing slips into the basket accidentally. edit: I decided against a game for me and ordered just the present.

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Note: The new acquisitions in December are: Sagani and FCM.

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#93

I’m wonder if it’s a good idea to try and sell games just before Xmas. Are people going to be looking for something cool to play at Xmas, or are they going to be busy with other things?

#94

I don’t know. I just put up another bundle.
Maybe, maybe not.

I should probably lower the price on the other one a bit more. Maybe then someone will bite. I had interest for 2 of the games separately for pickup but declined because I am still hoping to get rid of it all together.

After putting up the ad: as far as I can see they are definitely browsing for games…

#95

I should have sold my copy of Tapestry back when people still thought it was good

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#96

I don’t think it is bad :slight_smile:
Mine is still in the keepers list–although I admit if I could go back to that day last year when I bought I would tell myself not to.

I like the optimization puzzle but it could have been a smaller game and as is often the case with Stonemaier: the buildings are a gimmick that makes the game huge. And to call it a civilization game is … generous.

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#97

Maybe I’m just annoyed at being used as a beta tester for their game balance

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#98

Yeah, the different civs–which sold the game to me–are far less exciting than I had hoped for and cause far more trouble because of all the balancing issues.

I have only played solos so far and 1 game against my partner who I think obliterated me accidentally. I don’t quite remember. For some reason I bought the first expansion: not recommended because of new buildings–unless one throws away the insert–the stuff doesn’t fit in the base box which is already huge. I somehow squeezed in there but… meh.

PS: Overall wouldn’t recommend buying the game but still keeping my copy–for now.

#99

People are looking for stuff to play, but also stuff to give as gifts. December is a good time to be selling, but you have to be mindful that courier mishaps are also more frequent around this time of year as well.

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#100

Still no acquisitions and put ~10 games into the post today.

But then today, for a few hours I thought I had lost my data on my laptop. That was very stressful.

The good news is a) I didn’t lose the data and b) my gut reaction was not “oh let’s buy a game to make me feel better”

I noticed the other day that I used to buy a lot of cookbooks but at some point I downsized my cookbook collection, bought a few more cookbooks in digital and then stopped acquiring cookbooks except occasionally.

I hope I am not pushing the consumerism to a new branch of product this time.

In any case, I am eyeing a certain game. But it seems to be easily available in both German and English and it feels like I can wait, study more reviews etc. Maybe maybe talking about this here was just the help I needed to move my collection to a new stage: maintenance :slight_smile:

In any case, thanks everyone for bearing with me!

More than I need to buy any games, I feel a need to write updates into this thread every once in a while just to reassure myself that I am on track to buying less.

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#101

Well, I sold two out of my sale list here. I suppose I ought to go through the rigmarole of GeekMarketing them, or eBaying, or something.

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#102

Now it is officially too late to buy myself a game for Christmas. I did it :slight_smile: I mean I didn’t… you know… buy a game for Christmas.

I thought about it plenty though. We’ll see how this carries over into 2022. I am still not below 200…

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#103

That’s a great achievement! Well done :slight_smile:

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#104

You should be very proud of yourself.

Now… sales… that’s the next hurdle…

But well done!

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#105

So as announced elsewhere I bought a new game the other day: Cryo.
I do not feel like it is breaking my downsizing effort. Downsizing is not going to mean that I do not buy any new games at all. What I mostly want to do is regain control of collection growth and size. For some time it seemed there was no end to my new game acquisitions.

I was curious if buying a single new game was going to change how I thought about other games I am interested in. It didn’t.

I have been watching some of the Dice Tower end of year top 10s. I used to add lots of games to my wishlist when watching those. I think so far I added a single game to my “want to play” list (note: that is a step below wishlist!). The game is Final Girl and only because it is based on Hostage Negotiator which I am interested in but have not played.

There are many interesting games but for now it looks as if my brain goes “oh nice, I’d play that” instead of the previous “oh nice, I want to have that”

Right now I want to purge enough games to get below 200 (I count preorders within the 200. I do not count about 20 games that I marked Nostalgia—either mine or my partner’s). Yesterday, I sent out a list of nearly 40 games to my friends to see if anyone is interested. This list is a little longer than my sell-list because I wouldn’t quite lose access to all those. 30 of those are on the sell list. If I got rid of all 40, I’d be at 198. So… I am getting there.

I have not decided yet, if I want to keep the collection permanently at 200 or if I am going to allow a slow net-growth.

I am also trying to reduce the Nostalgia. My own at least. But that is a different topic which is why I am not counting those as part of “The Collection”.

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#106

I’m the same, and I don’t know if it’s because
a) 2021 wasn’t great for new games,
b) I bought a LOAD of kickstarters and favourites in 2020 and now I have one of most types, or
c) it’s just been long enough since I entered the hobby that I can understand that “hype” doesn’t mean I’ll enjoy it when it arrives and I don’t need to spend money as much now.

But Final Girl is the no1 game from the Top 10s that went on my list, too :slight_smile:

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