Topic of the Week: The Shelf of Shame

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I only noticed a new week had started today (it‘s Wednesday)… so here somewhat belatedly a topic.

Discuss :slight_smile:

Okay, a few pointers but please feel free to write your thoughts about this freeform.

Is it even shameful? Do you prefer calling it Shelf of Opportunity?
Is it a literal shelf or have you dispersed the games into your collection?
How many games are on there?
For how long on average?
Which has been the longest? Why?
Any trends you notice?

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Just one game, Kero, bought as part of a set of three second-hand games. The other two I wanted, and I have little interest in playing Kero.

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This is what geekgroup.app has to say about my shelf. I care about those stats enough that I went and logged a single game for each of my older games that I played before ever logging plays.

Seeing these numbers is scary. So what‘s on the shelf?

Full List but filtered a little to reflect my personal take on what is on the shelf (removed games marked as Collector’s Items which I own to own them, games already on the sell-pile and games I marked “not a game” like Touch It and Sefirot which is actually a Tarot deck)

Unplayed according to me

Aegean Sea, Anomia, Condottiere, Whitehall Mystery, The Resistance: Avalon, The Estates, Firefly: The Game – 10th Anniversary Collector’s Edition, Food Chain Magnate, Great Western Trail: New Zealand,
The Great Zimbabwe, IKI, In Front of the Elevators, ito, Jekyll vs. Hyde, Lacuna, Mille Fiori, Modern Art,
Mori, Nine Tiles Extreme, Ninja Master, Nokosu Dice, QE, Ra, Raid, Reavers of Midgard, Shamans, Sidereal Confluence, Sol: Last Days of a Star, Startups, Tichu, Time’s Up! Party Edition, Tournament at Avalon, Viking See-Saw, Yamataï

Note: obviously I am always to blame for buying games I don’t play. But there are various sources that I learn about games from and some make games sound very enticing and then I don’t think as hard as I should about wether I should buy them… I have got better resisting over the years but occasionally I will still fall for some hype.

The Top 5 Longest

  • Longest: Dune. I blame SUSD. That review with the worm. It was great. It was one of the first reviews of theirs I ever saw and next SPIEL I went and bought the game before realizing that I would have a hard time getting this played. I probably could, I know some people who would give this a try if I organized a gamenight around it. But would it shine? I doubt that. And so I hoard it and the expansions (yes all of them) on my shelf, every once in a while taking out the board, staring at it with some longing and regret that I didn‘t have this back when I had the group for it (university). It has been on there 1714 days.
  • Runner Up: Whitehall Mystery also one I „blame“ on SUSD. I saw the reviews of this and its big brother (which I sold on). We played 1 game of Letters from Whitechapel before I sold it on. But this one is smaller in all aspects and I keep thinking I‘ll play this with my partner. It goes in and out of print so I cannot let it go. But the hard truth is that it seems like we just don‘t like hidden movement games. We like the idea of them. But not playing them. This one should be easier to get rid of but I can‘t. 1664 days.
  • Izayoi At the time I had some FOMO about obscure games from around the world that were hyped up on some of the Dice Tower Top Lists. So I really wanted to discover the „next big thing“ on obscure crowdfunding projects before they became unavailable and … yeah no. As an added obstacle this one requires 3 players and has fiddly pieces. This is a stand-in for a bunch of small obscure games I backed everyone of which was a disappointment in some way. One of those Kickstarters didn‘t even deliver… I am over that phase. Why I still have it: it is quite tiny, unsellable and I keep tagging it as „collector’s item“ so I can ignore it better. 1401 days.
  • Battle for Rokugan this one I blame on forum hype. When I had just got here the game was popular with a couple of people (like the recent surge here in plays of La Granja) and I fell for it because I believed I really liked area control games (and the pretty cover and small box). And I like area control–too an extent. But nobody else around me does. This one is out of print. But it keeps inching towards the sell pile because I won’t play it over other games that more or less do the same thing for me if I ever convince someone to play such games with me. 1384 days.
  • Spicy another SUSD review. I liked the title, the idea, the art, the shiny box. But card games… we play card games but mostly I don’t propose those. That’s someone else’s job around here. And it’s a 3+ player game and see the theme? Can’t learn and retain the rules. I also have Anansi + a third of the shiny games on my shelf but they are further down. As they are small, they can stay. I haven’t given up on finding the opportunity to get one or all of them played one day. Or maybe I’ll just give them away in a fit of “cleaning up”. 1366 days.

Games I want to comment on

Other notable games on the list that I still hope to get to the table eventually:

  • Sidereal Confluence–we played a double 2 handed learning game and decided it was good. Obviously I bought it because of the SUSD review. And the immensely beautiful cover of the 2nd edition.
More games and reasons why they aren't on my table
  • 18DO–I played a 2 handed learning game and then I was going to teach my dad who was interested because it is about his hometown and he likes trains…
  • Pandemic Legacy Season 0: The only game of mine that is still in shrink. We’ll get to that one eventually.
  • Condottiere: Italian rulebook, area control and very unavailable small box game. Should explain its spot. (bought because it kept coming up in rec’s here in my early days)
  • Food Chain Magnate and The Great Zimbabwe. I could get those played. I have friends who would play those and probably even repeatedly. But those friends also want to play Spirit Island, Revive and Federation and… both games would need some dedicated effort by me and to tell the truth: these days I feel I am not up to the task of learning, teaching and the playing them after organizing an event specifically to play these. But the boxes are reasonably sized. They keep going OOP and … when one day things settle down… I almost convinced my partner to play TGZ one day and I almost took it on our gaming vacation where it would have been played so TGZ especially is not an impossible proposition.
  • Nokosu Dice It is only a proxy copy not the actual game. But still it is on there. Because as mucha s everyone here says this is a great trick taker. I am slowly realizing… that I have a big stack of card games that doesn’t get played. Most card games cannot be solo-ed. Trick taking least of all. And my rules printout for this needs to be redone because it was bad. I have trouble retaining the rules from one missed occasion to the next.
  • Weimar: a 4 player only game that I would need to study solo to be able to teach it. This is bought for the historic theme. If I ever get to play it that would be a huge bonus. This is one I want to own more than play I freely admit. If I play this when I retire… I am fine with that. If it is earlier than that: great.

I could analyze all 68 games on the list (there are a few games that aren’t supposed to be on there because I played them but logged the wrong edition eg Caverna Cave vs Cave) and find a reason… but I think I’ve written enough.

Regrets

There is also a whole bunch of games that I probably shouldn’t have bought and a whole bunch I sold on already. Here are a few that just shouldn’t have been added to my collection

I shouldn't have
  • Anomia: I don’t like speed matching games. Why did I think this one would be a good idea?
  • Reavers of Midgard: it was cheap. It has dice. my partner likes dice. okay but still: Why did I buy this?
  • Touch It: SPIEL sometimes makes me buy stupid stuff. This one is stupid. But I cannot resist those gimmick games sometimes. I also still have Die Knuffies (that one gets played occasionally at least). We kind of played this one once and I didn’t log it. It’s a “not really a game” game.
  • Assault on Doomrock: I should be very careful when listening to SVWAG. I know this now. It was on my table and I played 2 sessions… so maybe it is not on the shelf. But I never completed a campaign of it.
  • QE : I blame All Play for running there crowdfunding so well that I keep going back but mostly I blame Tom Vasel … not I really blame myself for not recognizing that this is absolutely not a game for me. I liked the idea when he presented it but I have since learned that I only like a very narrow band of bidding games and even those I find hard to get to the table. And QE is not on that band at all. Freeform bidding with any given amount? Crazy…

There are a bunch I expect to play “shortly” but then I expected a whole bunch more to be played shortly and I didn’t happen.

The Unplayed Challenge of 2024

So far I have played 7 of 31 games I selected from my shelf of shame to get them played this year:

the 7 i played
  • Bloc by Bloc: still here but inching towards the sell pile. It feels just too punishing and I am not Spacebiff to appreciate it for the things it is trying to say. I need to be careful with his reviews.
  • Chomp I keep looking for the next Sprawlopolis and not finding it. I might pick this one up again or I might give it away. Didn’t have enough tension
  • Hoplomachus Victorum I want to like this. I really need to play soon again. I plan on houseruling the empty die faces to make the game less prone to me cheating.
  • Mottainai played 2 games with a friend. Really good. But a bit difficult to wrap your head around. If we met for games more regularly I think this could be a staple.
  • Pollen played on vacation. It wasn’t bad but it also wasn’t good and the artwork is pretty but distracting. Inching towards the sell pile.
  • Sail 2 player cooperative trick taking. I wanted to see that premise on my table and I did. It’s fine. But my 2 player games rarely see the light outside of the box. Sadly.
  • Star Wars The Deckbuilding Game this was supposed to be a replacement for Star Realms. We played it on vacation. We love Star Wars and we love Star Realms. Why haven’t we played this again?

Some of the other games in the challenge I have already mentioned. But most don’t stand a chance. Not with how the year has been going. I expected things to settle down more than they did.

Some Trends I see and my take-aways

  • Obscure games nobody knows: I am not a reviewer. I don’t discover new obscure games, I wait for others to discover them for me and then I wait for a reprint or suffer the FOMO.
  • Games for 3-5 players: I am (mostly) unable to learn 3+ player games of a certain complexity, so I don’t buy them (anymore)
  • Cheap games: games I bought because they are cheap … are not worth the savings when they won’t get played
  • I need to beware reviewers (especially Spacebiff, SUSD, SVWAG–not there are other reviewers I watch/read that I am less prone to falling for the wrong games: NPI, Zee Garcia, Tom Vasel. I have also developed Radho-immunity), forum hype and BGG hotness and be realistic about what games I can get played
  • I am fine with owning a few games to own them.
  • Solo-games don’t linger on the shelf. Solo-modes are good and help rules retention
  • I don’t really need more card games
  • I don’t play games I bought used

Most of my games get played pretty fast. I often unbox and setup on the day they arrive. Especially games that allow solo or easy 2-handing.

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Thanks to a substantial clearout of games over the past few years, and belatedly adopting a policy of only buying games I’m as certain as I can be that I will love, and which also have a solo option, I am happy to report that the number of unplayed games in the house is now down to…

Zero!

There are plenty that have only been played solo and are awaiting the opportunity to share their joys with other people, but that’s a different thing.

Zero! None! Zilch! Nada! Niente! Diddly-squat!

(I am happy about this.)

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I don’t get to play any of my games nearly enough. That includes Dune which is best at 1) many players, and 2) the right kind of players, but I regret nothing! I was trying to own it for yeeeaars so it can sit there now and I’ll be smug that I own it.

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Our shelf of opportunity currently has 13 games on it. Quite a few of those were purchased at our FLGS’ garage sale, so at substantial discounts, so that stings less, as they were “might as well” purchases anyway.

The game that’s been there longest, by far, is Ghost Stories. Had a bad experience in my learning game and my interest has cratered.

For the most part, though, the issue is time. Learning a game takes time and we don’t have a ton of that. But we do manage some. We’ve played 5 new games so far this year.

Next up is likely gonna be my birthday gift, Everdell Farshore, since I figure it’s gonna be pretty easy to learn, since we’re already familiar with the original.

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Interesting, I don’t track plays but games I own but haven’t played (I count playing another persons’ copy as played. Now there’s a poll!)

  1. I don’t see it as shameful, but when it comes to it I’ll likely get rid of unplayed games first

  2. They’re just ‘unplayed games’ - no need for a cutesy title.

Unplayed stuff

  • 18EU, theres a nice PnP and I like making PnPs from time to time

  • Nokosu Dice, just haven’t had the group yet. Falls into slightly too long for 20 minutes at the end of games night.

So two games I currently own. It’s fewer than I’d thought. Oh. Wait. Expansions.

  • Almost all of Power Grid, I usually end up playing the base map or Benelux. I have all the current maps, new power plants 1 and 2, stock markets and the fable expansion.

  • Dual Gauge the new maps. I’ve played Portugal exactly twice

  • Ride the Rails, both expansion packs. Same as above

  • The expansion for Harvest. I only foudn out it was a thing two days ago. I had the cubes to PnP it.

  • Quest for El Dorado: Dangers and Musica, I barely touch the first expansion.

So I run a pretty tight ship on main games, but if I love a game I buy expansions that I never play. Most of my Power Grid stuff has sat there for a very long time.

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Hmm, what’s on my shelf … I can probably break these down into a few categories.

New stuff I haven’t had a chance to play yet: Courtisans, Damask, Kiri-ai: The Duel, Robin of Locksley, Unmatched Adventures: Tales to Amaze, Wyrmspan

Ryan Laukat games I haven’t got around to yet (after deciding I wanted everything that wasn’t a campaign game): The Ancient World, City of Iron, Empires of the Void II, Klondike Rush

Needs a high player count but then we just end up playing party games (or stuff that’s familiar): Bristol 1350, Captain Marvel: Secret Skrulls, The Dragon & Flagon, The Great Dalmuti, Quest, Shadows: Amsterdam, Written in the Cards

Just keeps losing out to better options (but I don’t want to get rid of them): Cutthroat Caverns, Find Your Seats, Jabberwocky, Jigūan: The Eastern Mechanist, Mint Cooperative, Mystery of the Temples, New York Zoo, Sanctum, Skulls of Sedlec, The Witches: A Discworld Game

Solo stuff but I’m bad at actually getting solo games played: Food Chain Island, Legacy of Dragonholt, The Maiden in the Forest (Also all the Red Rains expansions for Ashes could go here)

Want to play with my partner, but that happens infrequently and we also have lots of Exit games to play: Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective (all 4 boxes)

Gifts I’m not really interested in but feel I can’t get rid of yet: Funkoverse Strategy Game: Jurassic Park, Tiny Epic Dinosaurs

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For me I have 5 currently unplayed.

2 of them 18CZ and Steampunk Rally Fusion are never to be played by me and I’m trying to move them on after ending up with copies from trades.

3 to be played one day probably.

Primal the Awakening turned up in new baby time. I’ve been painting a bit on the minis. I’m really excited to play this one, hopefully if the boy starts sleeping through at some point I may get to play games again. This will be first on the list.

18GB I tried to cancel my preorder too late so couldn’t get a refund. It arrived just pre life changing event so no chance to play yet. @lalunaverde was very enthusiastic about it being a good title so I’ll try it at some point.

1856 got an unpunched copy. I just didn’t sort of play it as I think unpunched it would hold more value. Need to see how things shake out for playing these long games in life now. Not sure I’m old enough that I could save it for retirement yet. It is one of the 18xx I’m most intrigued by so stays for now.

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My list of unplayed games and expansions surprised and concerned me in equal measure. A few I know I will almost definitely get to the solo table before the end of the year, or at least by mid January 2025, but group gaming looks a long way off for now.

Games bought for solo play

  • Carnival Zombie
  • Legacy of Dragonholt
  • One Deck Galaxy

Lighter games bought for social/party groups

  • Confident?
  • The Mind
  • Pitch Car
  • Ransom Notes
  • Scotland Yard: Sherlock Holmes Edition

Unplayed expansions (mostly for solo play)

  • Arcadia Quest: Beyond the Grave
  • Architects of the West Kingdom: Age of Artisans
  • Concordia: Roma/Sicilia
  • Dungeons & Dragons: Ghosts of Saltmarsh
  • Final Girl: Frightmare on Maple Lane
  • Lords of Vegas: UP!
  • Maracaibo: The Uprising
  • Viticulture: Tuscany Essential Edition
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Yes. It’s a shame pile because they are stacked on my floor.

I have done well on culling my shame pile:

  • Bajillions of trick takers/shedders

  • I’m not sure if I wanna bother with the Key series. These are:
    1.) Key Flow
    2.) Keyper
    3.) Key Market
    4.) Key Harvest
    5.) Keydom’s Dragons

  • Trade on the Tigris - it’s a trading game that I heard from SUSD podcast

  • Ora et Labora - the last Rosenberg farming game I haven’t tried yet.

  • Gloomhaven: Buttons and Bugs - newly acquired from UKGE. Recent item so I am forgiving myself with this

  • Kaivai - designed by the Ostertag duo (Terra Mystica fame). It is also heavy on shared incentives. I’m sure @EnterTheWyvern would like this gmae.

  • Argent the Consortium - same as Gloomhaven. Acquired from UKGE

  • Quest - social deduction from the designer of The Resistenace/Avalon

  • Small Railroad Empires - another game from the small empires series

  • Across the United States - another Hisashi Hayashi game

  • Kansas Pacific - Cube Rail from the old Queen Games series.

  • Lokomotive Werks - same as Kansas Pacific

  • Bear Raid - Allplay party game about buying shares and shorting them

  • Brick and Mortar - economics game with player driven supply-and-demand. I heard people call it “light Splotter”. I’m curious.

  • City and Guilds - good feedback from Geekbuddies

  • Dinosaur Gauge - yes. The Holland game that excites me the most yet unplayed

  • Reef Encounter - Richard Breese game with strong shared incentives

  • Sunrise City

  • Daybreak - @yashima 's fault. I heard it’s a nice co-op but I liked what I read from her post. And someone was selling it 2nd hand!

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I like to think of it as a the Localest Friendly Gaming Store. I often go back and forth between “Opportunity” and “Shame”

It’s all mixed together.

O_O

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Not entirely accurate because I didn’t track/log plays for a portion of my BGG data… but it’s more accurate than not.

Years. Years and years.

Until my season of life drastically changes. Parenting is demanding (but I’m not complaining Yes I am. Send help just kidding???)

Well, technically, it’s probably Rook , which I bought back in the early 2000s because I had a friend who enjoyed playing Oklahoma 10-point Pitch with me and I saw that there was a boxed Rook game (rather than using a standard playing card deck), but the two of us never managed to wrangle a 3rd and 4th player (even though it supports a 2-player mode, we weren’t interested at the time). This was long before I would discover boardgaming as a hobby.

Skipping past that, it might be Khet 2.0 now called Laser Chess. Shortly after I get interested in boardgaming as a hobby, my mom went a bit crazy at a game store for Christmas and I received, essentially, an entire starter collection for Christmas that year. Among the titles was Khet 2.0, but also IOTA which I haven’t played either, but I have read the rules, and Gubs which I think I also read the rules of; so both of those are closer than Khet, I guess.

I’ve slowed down tremendously on new acquisitions. And now I’m mostly only looking at solo games.

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Oh boy, do I feel a bit called out by this topic.

According to the geekgroup.app, I have 98 games on my Shelf of Shame (SOS…somehow appropriate…). I am not necessarily ashamed of my unplayed games, but it does make me a bit sad or disappointed. The games are scattered around, so there’s not a dedicated space for them or anything.

Some were gifts that I did not ask for, some are prizes from contests, but most are things I actively did purchase or ask for and received as gifts. Also note that I am not counting BGA plays, as I want my copy to be played, so I’m having to add a few games to this list since those games have BGA plays logged on BGG.

Complete list

Purchased or requested (72):
The Resistance
Exploding Kittens: NSFW Deck (Came with the standard game through the Kickstarter)
Five Tribes
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: Jack the Ripper & West End Adventures
Battle Line
Catacombs & Castles
Citadels
Survive: Space Attack!
Lowlands
Masque of the Red Death
Decrypto
Shadows: Amsterdam
Star Wars: X-Wing (Second Edition)
Shadows Over Camelot: The Card Game
Mesozooic
Hokkaido
Disney Villainous: Evil Comes Prepared
Bruxelles 1897
Risk: Star Wars Edition
Small World
FUSE
Dungeon Lords
The Crew
Star Wars: Rebellion
Il Vecchio
Cutthroat Caverns
Once Upon a Time
Black Fleet
Renature
Maharaja: the Game of Palace Building in India
Tournament at Camelot
Dutch Blitz
Undaunted: Normandy
The Mind
Space Alert
Kemet: Blood and Sand
Unfathomable
Stronghold: Undead
Brian Boru: High King of Scotland
The King is Dead: Second Edition
Troyes
Night of the Ninja
Gugong
Vast: The Mysterious Manor
Betrayal at House on the Hill: 3rd Edition
Horizons of Spirit Island (to be fair, I count this more as an expansion, but it is technically a standalone game)
Deep Sea Adventure
Mage Knight: Ultimate Edition
Knight Fall
War of the Ring: the Card Game
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood of Venice
Fall of Rome
Star Wars: Episode 1 - Clash of the LIghtsabers
China
Cthulhu: Death May Die
Targi
Floating Floors
War of the Ring: Second Edition
Deal with the Devil
Dune
Stephenson’s Rocket
Fief: France 1429
Furnace
Tash-Kalar: Arena of Legends
Android: Netrunner
Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn
Age of War
Raiders of Scythia
Fortune and Glory: The Cliffhanger Game
Batman: Everybody Lies
A Game of Thrones: B’Twixt
The Wolves

Non-requested Gifts (14):
Pairs in Pears
Codenames: Marvel
World Monuments
Exit - The Secret Lab
Evolution: the Beginning
Star Wars: Empire vs. Rebellion
ALIEN: Fate of the Nostromo
Godzilla: Tokyo Clash
Bohnanza
Saboteur
Pandemic Legacy: Season 2
Pandemic Legacy: Season 0
Tokaido Duo
Disney: The Haunted Mansion - Call of the Spirits

Prizes or Giveaways (11):
Exploding Kittens: Recipes for Disaster
The Few and Cursed
A Game of Cat and Mouth
Lawyer Up
A Little Wordy
Maximum Apocalypse
Tacocat Spelled Backwards
Throw Throw Avocado
Noxford
That’s a Question
Tusk!: Surviving the Ice Age

Math Trade (3):
Majesty: For the Realm
Detective Club
echoes: The Microchip

So the oldest game on here, according to the app, is The Resistance, though I think it is actually Once Upon a Time, which was purchased by my wife at a random game store we looked at when we were in a different section of town. Either way, both have gone unplayed for probably close to a decade. Why? Well, for the Resistance, I think it is because of player count. You need at least five players, and I don’t often have that many, and when I do, the fifth is usually my brother-in-law and I don’t think this type of game would appeal to him. Once Upon a Time, on the other hand, is just a bit too unstructured and requires a lot of creativity to play, which not everyone is comfortable with, including me from time to time.

What’s really hard to see is the average number of days on the SOS is 1,038 days. So almost three years! I should really get those older games played, that should help this statistic a lot!

I had a bad habit during the pandemic of indulging in retail therapy. I ordered a number of games online, and once our FLGS opened up again, I started purchasing a used game every couple of weeks. That definitely did not help my SOS. I used to also purchase games just because they were on a good sale, as long as I had the slightest interest in it. I have gotten a lot better at resisting this urge, but still fall victim to it occasionally, as some of my latest purchases can attest (Raiders of Scythia, Batman: Everybody Lies, A Game of Thrones: B’Twixt).

Overall, I find myself purchasing games that really interest me, even if there is doubt that I really have a group that will get it to the table. I have gotten somewhat better at this as well, recognizing that a given game will, for instance, not interest my wife, or requires too much time investment to be realistically feasible considering my kids, etc. If these issues change further down the road, I’ll either be able to pick up those games of interest then, or ones that have been released in the intervening time that are similar.

EDIT: And now I see @pillbox’s post and feel better about myself :stuck_out_tongue:

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Should probably name the games, huh? Aside from the two already mentioned (Ghost Stories and Everdell Farshore, for those who don’t want to scroll back up), we have:

Altiplano
Aquatica (actually learned this one, but then the opportunity passed and now I’ll need to re-learn it)
Cryo
Earth
Imperial Settlers Empires of the North
La Granja Deluxe
Lacrimosa
Reign of Cthulhu (the Pandemic re-skin)
Spirit Island
Yellow & Yangtze

In a bit of a special case, there’s also Detective, which we bought, along with the LA Crimes expansion, specifically for Maryse to play solo back when we didn’t know if her treatments were gonna leave her super drained and basically trapped in the home.

THAT situation hasn’t happened, so she hasn’t played it. Unsure if she ever will.

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So do I, and I made the topic :wink:

What I noticed recently with a bit more time on my hands that I began playing games that had been lying around for quite a while. My frustration (more than shame) has turned into a bit more hopefulness that I did not buy all these games in vain, but that it has indeed been life circumstances preventing me from getting them played. Sure it‘s been years and years for some of those games but …

And I have also made a few mistakes. Buying games that are definitely never going to see my table.

I have a few ways to deal with the mistakes:

  • sell them on (I think geekgroup says I sold on about 55 games „unplayed“ which may include older games however that I never logged, so that stat is not correct)
  • declare them „collectibles“ ( see Dune)

There are really a few games on my shelves that I own to own them—getting them played would of course be a nice bonus but is not a requirement. And personally I am fine with that.

I plan on eventually getting rid of a few more games from my collection especially those I more or less know will never get played and that hold no sentimental value or are from an IP I love… (guess what: Dune).

PS. 20% of my current collection is unplayed. I wonder if percentages are closer together or still far apart. Because I know that those with the bigger number of unplayed games also have pretty big collections. Also, I have 486 different games that I played at least once—obviously quite a few that I do not own (anymore). Probably 500 if I count everything I ever played but didn‘t log.

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One of us! One of us! Get in, the water’s nice and drinks will be ready when you’re done. You’ll love the stay.

I hope you don’t move it in before I can play games again in that case. Still want to play Primal first but always up for trying something interesting

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I read the rules only but it feels like a game I want to keep

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Shelf of shame… Ooofs, tricky topic

Is it even shameful? Do you prefer calling it Shelf of Opportunity?
It is shameful, and it wasn’t before I saw this and recounted how many games I have that I own and remain unplayed. I thought I had done quite well this year playing a few of them, but solid data proved me very wrong.
Is it a literal shelf or have you dispersed the games into your collection?
Not literal. My games are dispersed between two shelves in my garage.
How many games are on there?
Ehmmm, before counting I thought, maybe half a dozen? Then I did the check and… they were 13.
For how long on average?
I see games there that I must have owned for two or three years.
Which has been the longest? Why?
Maybe Android. I have come to see that mostly the games that remain not played in my collection are due to:
1-not being new games. My guild suffers from a big case of “cult of the new”
2-not feeling like learning them after reading a tricky manual (Mind MGMT I am looking at you)
3-being games that I cannot dream to try and play with the family yet.
4-Complexity (see above)
5-Length
6-Being too confrontational. Most of the people I play with don’t like that.
Any trends you notice?
Oh, see above. Plus I think I have a couple of games that I bought more for the “want to have” than the “want to play” i.e.: GOT 2nd editon, Android, Rex: Final Days of and Empire or Tindaya.

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I’m really looking forward to trying it. It looks gorgeous and fascinating.

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I actually don’t have many games on my shelf of shame (although there’s loads I’ve played exactly once).

I got Unmatched Adventures: Tales to Amaze and Vaalbara at Christmas because my partner will like them and they haven’t been out of the box yet, but that’s about it.

If we’re talking about books then my multiple shelves of shame are much more serious, but then buying books and reading books are two entirely separate hobbies.

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