It’s another New Year

Repeating last year’s thread.

What were this past year’s gaming peaks and valleys?

What are you looking forward to this coming year?

How did you do on last year’s gaming resolutions (check here )? Any new resolutions?

My gaming valley was a general lack of gaming. Between a new baby and my wife being absolutely slammed at work since June, neither of us have had much energy for gaming after the boys’ bedtime.

This coming year I’m looking forward to more competitive gaming. I’ve enjoyed plenty of Arkham, Bullet and Fox in the Forest Duet with my wife lately but do miss going in guns blazing on another human. My old Game of Thrones group is organizing a draft in a few weeks, and I keep hoping to find time for some Star Wars CCG tournaments.

Hopefully the first post-MJ Arkham campaign drops this year. I’ve enjoyed Edge and Keys, but neither has been as scenario ambitious as anything preceding.

Did okay on my resolutions. Only managed one Arkham fan campaign (Crown of Egil) but have three standalones and two campaigns printed and waiting. Fair amount of gaming with the boys. They enjoyed King of Tokyo, ICECOOL and Klask and have dabbled in Dungeon Scrawlers and Unlock. One attempt at FATE failed at character creation.

This year’s resolutions are more of the same. Game more, play different games and be more active inviting friends to play.

2022 peaks: For the first time since the pandemic started, I hosted my annual Halloween gaming event, and it was good. Sea Evil lived up to my hopes, and I won a really tough 4-player game of The Gothic Game. I managed to talk two different non-gamer dates into playing board games with me. Despite doing mostly social distancing up until the fall, I managed to do a surprising amount of face-to-face gaming with either one or two friends at a time. Got to play board games with my childhood best friend, who is in town for a months-long work project. Continued to play Marvel Champions solitaire at least once a week, and played through both of the new campaigns this year.

2022 valleys: Still not ready to resume playing Vampire/Jyhad with my old group, because they were playing in public in a small gaming shop. Despite gaming only one-on-one or in very small groups for much of 2022, I got exposed to Covid twice by friends who should have known better. Fortunately I didn't catch it. Got dumped by two different women who were willing to play board games with me.

2023 goals: Hoping to rejoin the Vampire/Jyhad group, assuming the pandemic finally dies down. Hoping to start up a new Call of Cthulhu campaign in the spring, and maybe run the deluxe version of the classic Masks of Nyarlathotep campaign. Might get around to selling off some games that I don't need anymore. I hope to play some more Magic Realm, though the odds are good that my new kitten will jump up on the table at some point between sessions and mess up the layout. Will start to cut back on Marvel Champions for a while, and likely skip the next two cycles of cards that will be heavily focused on the X-Men.

2022 goals and results: I did receive Sleeping Gods in early 2022 and played the campaign twice with friends, though I found the euro portion of the hybrid mechanics to be somewhat fun-murdering. Played through the Spider-man themed Marvel Champions campaign Sinister motives twice, once solitaire and once with a friend. Didn't play any Magic Realm, despite taking the time to re-read The Book of Learning.

Peaks: Played a lot of Escape game type stuff. Got to finally play a proper game of the Phantom Division prototype and that was a super high point.

Valleys: I wanted to play way more miniatures games. I played almost none. That makes me sad. I didn’t even break out any terrain in 2022, I don’t think.

Looking Forward: I’m hoping to rekindle a love of Heroscape. I’ve got COMMITTED folks an hour away and I have every other week with no kiddos so why not. I’ll probably do a con as well. I hope I can get Dave Denton to come out!

SuperflyPete wrote: I have every other week with no kiddos so why not.

I can’t believe what you have been through in the last year.

2022 was a ride for me. In January I had only been playing games for a couple months since taking 18 months off. I got into BGA hard and went nuts on it learning new games and playing old ones. I got divorced and moved out and that changed my gaming dynamics. I started seeing someone who isn't much of a gamer and was spending a lot of time with her. And I got banned from posting on BGG. So gamewise, it was all over the place.

Here's how it all broke down.

419 total plays
205 unique games played
92 new to me
199 new to me plays
Number of plays:
10+: 5
6-9: 10
5: 3
2-4: 59
1: 128

Most played: Rallyman GT, LLAMA (12)

New to me games:

GAME OF THE YEAR
Gaia Project

REST OF THE BEST
A Feast for Odin
The Guild of Merchant Explorers
Targi
Radlands
Maglev Metro
Brian Boru
Hellboy: The Board Game
Rallyman: GT
L.L.A.M.A.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
Omen: Heir to the Dunes
Star Wars: Outer Rim
Bloc by Bloc: Uprising

DISAPPOINTING
Lost Ruins of Arnak
Pax Transhumanity
Plutocracy

WORST OF THE YEAR
Wild: Serengeti