Board Game Hobbyists

Julie and I have around 200 board games in our collection. That feels like a lot. I know that there are collectors and hobbyists out there with a lot more, but for us … it's a lot. We don't play frequently enough to even play all of the games that we have in the course of a year. The cool thing is, we like all the games that we have. There are only a few games now that we are thinking of getting rid of. Every game that we have is a keeper, yet we don't play every game that we have.

  

  

So, why do I want more?

That's an interesting question, and it creates a sort of funny mental tug of war. I often bounce back and forth between, "Let's cull half of our collection." And "Let's buy this awesome new game that I found!"

Julie laughs at me for these obviously conflicting points of view. Not because they exist, but because of how quickly I can switch between them. I believe that I had once suggested culling over half our collection and purchasing a neat looking new game, not within the course of a single conversation, but actually within the taking of a single breath.

I meant both things sincerely. I don't mind clearing the decks. I am a strong proponent of "Out with the old. In with the new." So, yeah. I recognize that we have enough board games, and that we may even have too many board games, but I still want more.

We watch videos on YouTube of people who talk about the board gaming hobby and rate their favorite board games. They talk about and review new games that are coming out. Reviewers often get copies of games many months or even as much as a year or more before the games are available for purchase by the average consumer. Those games that they are still talking about, or the ones we can still remember by the time they reach store shelves are the first ones that Julie and I are likely to buy when we make a trip to our local game store.

It's the learning about and pursuit and purchase and playing of board games, it's all of it put together, that escalates board gaming from a past time into a hobby. Clearly, I spend copious amounts of time, reviewing, ranking, regarding, and reminiscing about our own collection. It's why I wrote nearly 50 blog posts ranking my board game Top 100. (And that was just the most recent ranking frenzy.)

I have a birthday coming this month. I want to go to Zeeland to have lunch at our newly discovered favorite Mexican Restaurant and then go to our friendly local game store to get a new board game. I'm not sure what game I will get. We never know what might be available when we walk through the door. It's another reason that we try to stay informed about what's coming. That way we will recognize something that we might like when we see it.

It's fun. Learning a new game is fun. Finding a favorite game experience is fun. Spending quality time with my wife is fun. Sharing this hobby is fun.