No, this isn’t becoming a “thing” again, but there’s a few stray ideas at my fingertips so maybe a few weeks to start off the year.
This question is straightforward - give us five games on your shelf of shame/opportunity that you will get to in 2026. What’s the forecast?
Second, how about 3-5 games that you have played, but haven’t gotten to in at least a year. And will bring back in the new year.
Tales of the Arabian Nights - the rework makes this a “new” game for me. It’s unfulfilled yet, but it’s the one I’m excited to try this year.
Greenland/Neanderthal/Bios: Origins - a few more Eklunds that didn’t get played as I’m burnt out on playing new games. From Geekbuddies responses, it seems that Origins is the only one worth playing.
Maria - 3 player about the Austrian War of Succession.
Playing these 5 should be done by the first half.
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The only games in my collection that I haven’t played last year were:
But I’d like to play these games this year:
Unplayed but will (hopefully) get to the table this year:
Not played in a year but back to the table:
I have too many good games languishing on my shelves. And last year was a really bad year for gaming for me. This year is at least starting out better.
Shelf of shame (unplayed) :
Bohnanza
Fungi
Rebel Princess
Vaalbara
Unmatched: cobble and fog
Played at least once but neglected:
Chronicles of Crime 1400 (need to do the last one)
Star Wars Outer Rim
Obsession
Forgotten Waters
Sea salt and paper
I could put that on my list as well. But I have hopes that this is the year of Firefly
The most significant games/expansions on my shame/opportunity stack that I should get to this year are:
The first and last of those have been lingering on the shelves for maybe two years, maybe more, but the others were only bought in the last 12 months, I think.
The revival pile is much larger, but among my most anticipated returns will be:
My plan to play one game per weekend should be sufficient to get through most of my current solo collection this year.
I can’t give you five. My shelf of shamportunity consists of Flip7 and Fate of the Fellowship, and I shall be surprised and disappointed if they don’t both get played this year.
As for things I haven’t played for too long but really should - there are loads of these, but I’ll pick a few to aim for:
Orléans (solo scenarios. Nobody else likes Orléans as much as I do, so solo it is!)
Galaxy Trucker (confident we’ll all still enjoy this)
Alhambra (we were surprised by how much we enjoyed this, with two players, but haven’t got around to it again. We should.)
And 7 Wonders (some people disparage this at two players; we love it! And maybe we’ll get round to including leaders and cities, which have been in the box for many years, so far unused…)
As you can see, I’m aiming to get even further away from the cult of the new than I already am. Although I may well buy Skara Brae this year and if I do I shall certainly play it. Solo.
I posted my bought-but-unplayed list in 2026 challenges, but here it is here too:
I had such ambitions at Essen 2024.
Looking at games I haven’t played for a while…
To be honest my unplayed list is foreverlong.
It took me a few years to realize that certain games won’t get played easily…
And that is without considering games on my sellpile or games I bought more or less as Collector’s Items where I want to own the game more than I want to play it(I know it must be weird to a lot of you, in most cases this is probably just FOMO)
And then there are various reasons games don’t get played:
OK, games I want to get to the table
The White Castle, tried to learn this once or twice, it seems straightforward enough
SAS Rogue Regiment, part of the problem is having to adjust the scenario to suit the number of players we have. I would like to tackle the scenarios in order.
Dawn of the Zeds, co-op, which always goes over well
Finding Atlantis, app driven deduction, which should be right up my alley
Imperial 2030
Games I haven’t played for a while:
Nokosu Dice
Big Top
Snow Tails
Mombasa
Kraftwagon
Ooh yeah, definitely less Nokosu recently than when it was shiny and new.
My list of unplayed games is actually relatively short, but I have put a fair amount of time and effort in shrinking it:
I think that’s it…
As for games that I own and haven’t played in yonks:
It is a fun little campaign (but I played it solo, too lazy to get my not-so-enthused partner playing a long thinky game)
I picked it up early in my boardgaming career, played a bit and moved it on. Now with more experience at the interface of boardgame and skirmish wargame I might like it better.
Ooh, that’s another one I’ve thought about as a PBF. (That’s one of the design goals, no simultaneous decisions or hidden information so no ref needed.) Hapoy to give that a go here if you fancy it.
Yes. A thousand times yes.
Ah, I’m not going to keep squishing this down into 5:
Condottiere is the award for “most often in the bag without ending up on the table.” Eclipse has seen app play but I’ve never gotten the cardboard set up. Kemet 1e came and went without every being played and now Blood and Sand has always fallen to Inis and Cyclades. It’s really time.
I was super impressed with Brux1897 and want to play the big mama. Pan Am should be easy to table, I just need to give my family time to recharge before teaching a new one.
Games that it’s been too long?
According to the geekgroup app, I have 108 games on my SoS, though I know that’s inaccurate, as I own games I have played digitally and recorded plays on BGG, but have not played my physical copy. So actual number is probably around 115 or so.
As for top 5 I intend to play this year, those would be:
Alien: Fate of the Nostromo
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood of Venice
Exit: The Secret Lab
Sky Team
War of the Ring: the Card Game
As for games I have played but would like to get back to:
Betrayal Legacy - I think we are on either the last or penultimate scenario, so it’d be nice to finish it.
7 Wonders - My wife was just mentioning wanting to get this back to the table last month, so I bet it could happen sometime in 2026.
Cthulhu: Death May Die - Played this on my birthday in 2024 and liked it enough to buy the 2nd season when it was going for a good price. Really should justify that expense by playing this more.
Orleans - It’s been a hot minute, not counting the BGA play I had last year. Got the Plague expansion that I want to try out.
Mansions of Madness: 2nd edition - I keep wanting to play this with friends around Halloween, and it keeps not happening. Really hoping to get it to the table at some point with them this year, Halloween or otherwise.
I have 4 games unplayed.
Innovation Ultimate I have played 3rd ed a few times so is this a half unplayed?
1856 will maybe never play. It’s unpunched and I have it listed for sale. Pandemic madness purchase.
Red7 could get played this year. It seems to be winding down availability so I bought one as long wanted to try and I consistently hear more good than bad about it. I hope it’s as playable as Uno for young people and more interesting for me.
Iron Forest I won this in a maths trade. It seems very cool. I had an eye out after hearing SVWAG wax lyrical. I doubt I will play this year. At least in part that’s because I don’t have adequate storage in my new place for it currently.
Games I would like to get back to the table are any one at all. Just to play a game will be amazing. The youngest is 3 months old and I don’t yet feel it would be fair to leave my wife with the 2 of them just yet. We need a bit more wakefulness, sitting up and independence from the littlest before I’d be able to fully relax in to a game. Hopefully when he’s 6 months it’ll be more feasible and B will have bounced back fully.
Shelf of opportunity is 10 deep:
Altiplano
Aquatica
Cryo
Ethnos
Kutna Hora
Reign of Cthulhu
SETI
Skymines
Spirit Island
Yellow & Yangtze
Of these, I really want us to play:
Ethnos - Specifically bought so we have something new to play with our friend who really only plays TTR, dang it! He seemed quite keen!
SETI and Kutna Hora - They look SO GOOD!
Skymines - I’d been intrigued plenty but hesitant, pounced when I found it new for $40 (it’s normally $80).
Spirit Island - I got this YEARS ago. We really should! We really want to!
Time is, of course, the enemy.
Of the games we haven’t played in a long time, I’d pick:
Beyond the Sun and Bitoku - Actually quite liked these two. We just have better games, but they’re always nagging at me. I want to play them again.Maryse is willing, too. I just need to re-learn them.
Wingspan - Maryse REALLY wants to try it again, she feels like with as popular as it is, we might be missing something
Qacks of Quedlinburg Duel - Played at the board game café, liked it a lot, bought it, never touched it. What the heck, us?
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective - We’ve finished boxes 3 and 4, time to get started on 2! And then on 1!
Yeah, that’s it.
Shameportunity Games
1 Compile 1 Feels like the most likely candidate
2 Nicodemus Bought it in Carcassone, learned the rules last year, didn’t get played
3 The Game of 49 Have been trying to get this played forever to see if it stays or goes, surely this is the year
4 Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island Have played Dieson Crusoe many times, surely that will help with learning this one… won’t it? 
5 An unplayed acquisition from the Wil Wheaton TableTop list: Steam Park or Flash Point: Fire Rescue seem the most likely candidates, I hold out less hope for Betrayal at House on the Hill, Mice and Mystics, Star Wars: X-Wing and Formula D, while Fortune and Glory and Fiasco feel nigh on impossible
Five games not played in a year or more
1 Lovelace & Babbage Love it, but somehow missed playing last year
2 Res Arcana Likewise
3 Azul Unplayed since 2023, what the…!
4 Steampunk Rally Played once in 2021, enjoyed it, then it’s languished on the shelf ever since
5 Radlands Unplayed since we got lured into Trivia, which replaced games at the pub. Time to bring it back.