Are we also implying that, because I haven’t played Village in the 3-4 years it’s been on my shelf, that I should not buy the Big Box that went on sale today?
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Dennis Lohausen’s art is better anyway.
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Ha! I certainly wouldn’t. I really like Village. Then I went and bought both the expansions, ending up with so much Village that I didn’t play it for ages because the box was so full of expansion stuff I could never sort out what was what.
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When in doubt: just play with the Inn and Brewery spots. Ignore the Port module and Goal cards. When you feel braver, play with the Goal cards and just ignore the Port.
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Disclaimer: I am not counting games kept as collectibles or games I can‘t get rid of because I am forbidden from selling them. These take up space but might end up in an overflow eventually. I am counting preorders because well, they count. I am not counting games marked „to sell“ because I do sell games. Also I count games from the same franchise as a single game. All Zombicides are 1 game. All Pandemic Legacys are 1 game. (Gloomhaven and Frosthaven are 2 games though). With this in mind geekgroup app says I have 272 games.
I now have a fixed space with a more or less fixed size for games. I have filled this up with my collection when I moved. Since then SPIEL has happened, Kickstarters have delivered and… now games are stacked elsewhere.
Ideally, my collection fits into that space. It did and if I stack a little better it still does. I could also expand the storage a little there is some wall space left. But I also have an ideal number and that is still 200. I feel 200 fits into my headspace as well. 200 seems to be a number for me where the shelf of shame can be kept small (remember I solo a lot).
200 is a lot. I realize that. But I play and I collect.
There are several distinct reasons for owning games and 3 of those make up my collection:
- the weakest one: games I can‘t ditch because they seem to be collectibles or may partner would get mad. Those are the ones that don‘t count anyway but they take up space and annoy me. This includes a couple of games that are unlikely to ever get played but because they are signed or some-such will remain here indefinitely.
- the most important one: games I love (also known as reverse Kondo games). It would be cool if I could reduce to that but I do play with others that may have slightly different tastes hence:
- the occasion games: games that are there for certain occasions or certain friends I play with. Often these are games that are unique in some way (often a combination of mechanic, player-count, length and weight) and would come in handy in a scenario I think could happen. This group is huge. Due to the number of occasions one can imagine as previously mentioned.
- the maybe games I haven‘t made up my mind about—this group is far too big as well but way smaller than #3.
- the going-going-gone pile: stuff I am planning to sell.
Unless I am in the middle of a move, I regularly check my collection and try to get games out of group #4 and reduce group #3 while always hunting for more for group #2. We don‘t talk about group #1.
I have one segmentation that I check for a lot to see if something is getting out of hand: weight. I classify games by feather / light / medium and heavy which is analog to Filler and the German „Familie / Kenner / Expert“ levels. Group #2 mostly resides at the Kenner level. Expert shouldn‘t grow too much and neither should filler which also includes a number of weirdos from the occasion games (#3). We do not play a lot of fillers anyway. And the friends who enjoy them often have their own favorites…
I used to think that I needed to have certain types of games or mechanics but this is no longer something I think a lot about. Occasionally, I check that I have enough cooperative games. Solo-ability is an important criterium that bumps games into the #2 group. I have favorite mechanisms that are overrepresented like tile laying and route/network building and deck building. But I don‘t feel a big need to have something from everything. Weight and player counts are much better indicators for me these days when looking at my collection as a whole to see if there is too much or too little of something and I need to curate better.
Sometimes I look at stuff like tile-layers and notice that I have way too many of those and then I might try to prune those specifically. Or I play MLEM Space Agency and it reminds me that I don‘t have a lot of push-your-luck games and this is a new one that is cute and fun and so chances are I am buying it to fulfill that role in my collection and it might bump out something else that didn‘t quite hit that same level of fun.
200 seems to be a number I might realistically remember the rules of. Or mostly remember them anyway. Games with bad rules retention land on the sell pile faster than I can read the rulebook. Some games that languish without plays for a long time also go on the sell pile.
For now I need to do some pruning. Because 272 is definitely more than 200. And that is already not counting the sell-pile.
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I have 38 games (or so) and I could double that EASILY and still only cover the basics and classics.
I actively want 5 more right now and they’re not even “the one you’d get of this genre”.
It’s definitely above 60.
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I think 100 is both a lot of games, and not too many games.
The first time I went over I panicked, culled 40 odd, didn’t buy new for a year and that was ok.
I gradually acquired more again, had a few good things happen that meant a purchase or two was celebratory and some bad things that meant ‘add to cart’ was a way to cope.
My recent dive into tricktaking games has seen a lot of new stuff because they’re small and cheap so they probably don’t count! I’ve also started collecting decks of cards
I have a thing for buying high player count games for get togethers and conventions which is probably not sensible.
I am pretty much the game owner for our group (apart from when I play with @mistercrayon). That means, like others I like to have things to fit various player counts, weight and length.
I’m trying to make sure I only buy games that are good and not because they’re cheap (apart from Ankh). Circumstances have meant I’ve stopped listening to podcasts and I rarely watch video reviews so I’m better at not buying the hotness. I don’t like having games I’ve not played at all.
In reality anything more than 30 is probably a bit much but I’m so far past that there is little point in mentioning it! I think I’m at 140 including expansions.
Also (and most importantly) Kate is a bad influence!
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I conciously started avoiding boardgame media a few years ago. BGG is now mainly a handy games I own spreadsheet and maths trade vehicle. I have fondness for SUSD but don’t often watch. The only one I still engage with is SVWAG but it helps I don’t have similar taste in games but I enjoy their conversation. The thing I do find chimes is that I’m much happier being hotness oblivious and really not filling my head with recommended games to one day own. It helps so much in keeping the ‘correct number’ of games owned value much lower. The only one that’s really twisting me right now is Tindahan after playing @lalunaverde 's copy. I won’t unsubscribe from games with him though. Games with Verde are worth more than not buying 1 trick taker.
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I am slightly above average. It is too much. And yet I still buy more?
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I am on the over 80 bracket, and I have not bought anything for a while other than crowd funding games that I payed for a while ago. My last few games bought that were not crowdfunding were second hand, and I feel I have too many games that I don’t play, and too few that I want to play.
Considering these days I play mainly games that the children like, or at a friend’s house, there is a bunch of games on my shelf that really should be culled, but I don’t feel like going through the trouble of advertising, sorting out delivery, etc.
So far, the local convention (we had it this last weekend, at the same time as Essen, that’s how we rule here in the Bay) hasn’t got a “for trade” or “for sale” section, but now that I am thinking it could be a good idea. I believe our FLGS is starting some trade offs, so it could be good for me (now I work right above it, in particular) to take the opportunity and make some space on my shelf.
After that ramble, I believe I am close to the right number, maybe slightly above it. 60-80 of games that I solidly like (meaning I give them at least an 8 on BGG) plus a few fillers and party games should do the trick. But you have to consider that I live close to people that have plenty of games, or a guild with easily 300-400 games on the shelf that I could access to weekly…
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I have waaaaaaaay more games than I need. Too many games that only get played once a year (or less). Good games still of course, I play them and think “yeah, that’s good”.
My main problem is that I’m lazy about selling games. Even now I’m looking at 50+ games stacked up in my lounge room, about to post them on FB.
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The correct size for a game collection is exactly the number of games I own at any given time. 
In all seriousness, I have too many games, but I hate the idea of getting rid of a game I have not yet had the opportunity to play. Despite this, I have managed to math trade away a couple of games that I knew I would never play, but had been gifted or picked up very cheaply.
I do have a box of games that I intend to sell, but I have found that it is pointless trying to sell to my FLGS, as they offer pennies on the dollar, and I want to get some value out of them. This leaves selling on FB or Craigslist or similar, or possibly a consignment sale which pops up a few times a year around here, and I just haven’t taken the time to follow through on any of the options.
All that said, I just tend to keep games that I like to play, even if they don’t hit the table often. I have quite the stack of games that have not yet been played, so I can’t judge whether or not they should go on the sell pile, but I bought them in the first place because they look fun and interesting. I hope they will be, but if I do get to try them and they flop, they will be added to the sell pile.
There are some I have that I know will work well with some people, but maybe not my wife (she does not enjoy hidden movement games, for example), which limits when I can play them. I have a few of those “big event” games, like TI4, which gets to keep their place in my collection for those rare occasions I get to bring them out. There are a few I have for nostalgic purposes, and I know they may never see the table, but just looking at them brings back fond memories.
My wife and I have jokingly agreed to a limit of 365 games, one for every day of the year, and figure they are what we will do in our retirement years.
Looking through the Geek group app, I have what I count as 244 games, though this includes things in the sell pile, as well as games I won in some giveaways so did not actually purchase. In all honesty, this is way too much, as I am not realistically going to be able to play all these regularly. Still, I like having (most of) them, so until space becomes too much of an issue, I am not going to worry too much about it.
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This is fair enough. These aren’t actually games at all, these are heirlooms. Which is a different discussion entirely.
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I’ve had some more thoughts. So we talked of our personal collections which just need to fit into the available (head-)space …
But independent of those, is there possibly a size that is “correct” for a broader number of people?
What counts as a collection?
- it has to have multiple games
- it has to be curated in some way
- 10 Trick Taking games are a collection.
- 20 “Whatever was on sale at Target” is not really a collection.
- 15 random SdJ winners are not a collection
- The 5 best 18xx games are a collection, possibly the smallest one though (they are so heavy that a small number suffices, right?)
Discounting the special collections of 10 so-and-so games what is the ideal size for a playable collection? By that I mean a collection where every game gets played regularly and if it doesn’t a new one comes in. A collection where you know all the rules and can teach all the games on the spot.
I say 50.
- 10 fillers (~ small boxes)
- 5 of the heaviest games either by weight or by weight (big rulebooks and/or giant boxes of stuff) for those big gamenights
- 15 family weight games (~ midsize box)
- 15 midweight games that don’t take all night (~ square box)
- that leaves room for 5 favorites, nostalgic collector’s items or weirdos (boxes that never fit right)
The collector also needs to make sure there are a few solo modes, most should be playable with 2 but not exclusively. There need to be a few that can play 5 or 6 in the non-filler segments and a few party games for bigger groups.
This is a number people that play regularly will be able to get played, know the rules for and keep in a 2 x 4 Kallax (possibly with the weirdos stacked on top). Segmenting by weight and having an eye on the player counts makes sure that there is always a right game for almost any occasion.
Before I got deeper into the hobby my collection hovered just above 50 for quite a long time. It wasn’t curated and was definitely lopsided on the Kennerspiel side of things… and that is the reason when I got deeper into the hobby I felt the need to plug the holes and ended up with an ever-growing monstrosity of well over 250 games…
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I think if I was going to cut my collection down using these categories, I’d end up with:
10 fillers
- Just One
- Skull King
- Coup
- A Fake Artist Goes to New York
- 6 Nimmt
- Skull
- Coloretto
- High Society
- Scout
- Kluster
5 Heavy Games
- Cuba Libre
- Food Chain Magnate
- Eclipse
- Gaia Project
- John Company
15 family weight games
- Wavelength
- Tiny Towns
- Taluva
- Kingdomino
- Detective Club
- Codenames
- Isle of Cats
- Cryptid
- Railroad Ink
- Flamme Rouge
- Azul
- Magic Maze
- Potion Explosion
- Colt Express
- Quacks of Quedlinburg
15 mid-weight games
- Wingspan
- Letters from Whitechapel
- Three Sisters
- Everdell
- The Red Cathedral
- Blood Rage
- Ginkgopolis
- Altiplano
- Iki
- Sidereal Confluence
- Hansa Teutonica
- Scythe
- Age of Steam
- Brass: Lancashire
- Root
5 Misc.
- Pax Pamir
- Crokinole
- Antiquity
- String Railway
- Cathedral
That was difficult!
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Having all the SdJ winners (and nothing else) would be a collection, but it would be more into the collectible/heirloom space than I personally feel comfortable going.
Using BGG, exclude expansions, Own: yes, Trade: no, I get 153 (and I haven’t put in the Essen acquisitions yet). That’s a bit more than is ideal for me but I think trying for 100 would make me unhappy.
One problem is that by the time I don’t want a game any more probably nobody else does either…
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The categorisation is arbitrary. It’s inevitable
I have 26 heavies + mids, which is alright.
Heavy
| Number | Item |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Great Zimbabwe |
| 2 | Indonesia |
| 3 | Food Chain Magnate |
| 4 | Imperial |
| 5 | Dominant Species |
| 6 | Pax Renaissance |
| 7 | Pax Pamir |
| 8 | Pax H+ |
| 9 | Ur 1830 BC |
| 10 | Root |
| 11 | Feudum |
Medium
| Heavy | Item |
|---|---|
| 1 | Stephenson’s Rocket |
| 2 | Cthulhu Wars |
| 3 | Railways of the World |
| 4 | Container |
| 5 | Cosmic Encounter |
| 6 | Guards of Atlantis II |
| 7 | An Infamous Traffic |
| [8 | Age of Steam |
| 9 | Hansa Teutonica |
| 10 | Tigris & Euphrates |
| 11 | Inis |
| 12 | Sidereal Confluence |
| 13 | Terraforming Mars |
| 14 | Puerto Rico |
| 15 | Eldritch Horror |
And I am over 10 on the 15 limit lol.
Everyone-in-the-club-can-play
| Light | Item |
|---|---|
| 1 | Chicago Express |
| 2 | The Estates |
| 3 | Innovation |
| 4 | The Rich and the Good |
| 5 | Ride the Rails |
| 6 | Irish Gauge |
| 7 | Through the Desert |
| 8 | Impulse |
| 9 | Glory to Rome |
| 10 | Evolution |
| 11 | German Railways |
| 12 | Tash Kalar |
| 13 | Whitehall |
| 14 | Mechs v Minions |
| 15 | MarraCash |
| 16 | Bridges of Shangri-La |
| 17 | Orongo |
| 18 | Fresh Fish |
| 19 | Strozzi |
| 20 | Taj Mahal |
| 21 | Samurai |
| 22 | Santiago |
| 23 | Bus |
| 24 | El Grande |
| 25 | Res Arcana |
Might cull some of these, but these are more collection items
Misc
- 1817
- 1825
- 1846
- 1860
- 1862
- 1870
- Seasons
- Quest for El Dorado
- Pax Porfiriana
- Summoner Wars
- Napoleon’s Triumph
- Acquire
- People Power
- Ashes
- Netrunner
Basically, this is me on the home stretch. Nearly there. I need to play this more to decide
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Looks like a very nice playable collection that as a wide range of different games for a lot of different occasions.
Which games almost made it but didn’t?
We will all have different opinions on what exact weights make “heavy” or “light”…
It also depends on whoever we play with…
I just feel segmentation by weight is a good tool to get a grasp on how your collection fits your occasions.
That would quite a collection but I agree more collectible than playable. Some of those old ones are children’s games primarily and not everything aged all that well.
My current collection size is also due to me saying “after the move, we’ll have time and so I’ll keep it until then”
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My current metric for the correct size of collection is “One Wall.”
My current collection is 1.25 walls, and therefore is too big. In my defence, about 18% of that 25% is Oathsworn and Frosthaven, so I’m willing to give myself a little slack.
The other 7%, though…
Usually I stick to a pretty firm “One In, One Out” rule with my current collection (about 285 games total). The pandemic caused that to pause, but now that it’s… well, I can’t say “over” but I can say “not likely to kill anyone I love more immediately than other factors” I can get back to it. We finished chapter 11 in Oathsworn, which means we are officially halfway through… but the inertia for it is waning.
Ramble ramble ramble.
I once shrunk my entire collection to 13 games (I was aiming for 10 but couldn’t quite get there). Let’s see if I can still list them:
Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition, Dune, Game of Thrones 2nd Ed, Carcassonne, Skull, No Thanks, Galaxy Trucker, Codenames, Space Alert, Mage Knight, Escape from the Curse of the Temple, Space Hulk 3rd Ed, Descent 2nd Ed
I still have all of those in my collection except Descent 2nd Ed… I gave my copy to a buddy when I got 3rd ed. I have also purchased TI4, obviously, but haven’t been able to bring myself to get rid of 3rd just yet.
I am happy with my collection, but yeah, it needs to fit in the space I have allocated for it, and it currently doesn’t. I’ll have to fix that this holiday season… purge out some of the bigger games that I don’t play (goodbye TI3…) to fit stuff in that I actually want to keep.
Either that, or get more shelves for my 1 wall… I mean, the ones I have are only 2m tall. There’s at least another 1m of height I can use…
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This is exactly opposite of the prevailing wisdom? Consensus says that goals are good for newcomers, since they give direction in what is otherwise a disorienting sandbox. And they say that Travel and the Inn aren’t worth the squeeze and should be ignored, while the Port makes the Travel section worthwhile again. I have the Inn but not the Port and getting the Port is pretty much the impetus for any upgrade.
I like the art style of the new edition better but definitely the implementation of the original is better. The board is so much clearer with salient areas.
And it’s got a literal big box. Can’t we have more metaphorical big boxes like Hansa Teutonica? I don’t need a badger coffin on my shelf.
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