Spiel : Boardgames in the UK

2009 saw me play 229 games of 157 different titles. 

My most played game was Tumblin’ Dice which saw 12 plays. I ought to be getting better with each successive outing but that doesn’t appear to be the case. Good job it’s just a really fun game that can be played with virtually any group.

My only other games that saw 5 or more plays were Weykick (8), Hamsterrolle (7), Finito (6), Fits (6) and Dominion (5) although it seemed like I played more Dominion + variants than I’ve recorded.

2009 didn’t seem to produce any outstanding game although there were several really good ones. My six picks for the year were a mix of good gamers’ games (Peloponnes, Diamonds Club and Endeavor), a couple of really nice family games (Roll Through The Ages and Tobago - the second of which we’ve still to play at a games club night) and one party game (Tumblin’ Dice). A lot of the games this year appeared to add complexity and time to previously elegant game mechanics in the expectation that adding another layer to a previous design would make for a more fulfilling game. Generally, not for me it didn’t. I see me preferring those designs that distill lots of decisions into short playing time. Let’s hope 2010 can come up with more of those.