Saturday, January 30, 2016

Obligatory End of 2015 Post Part I: Final Statistics from 2015


Hey everyone, welcome back!  Another year has passed which means another year of a ton of “best of 2015” lists from prominent reviews and boardgame media personalities.  I quite enjoy going through these different lists and seeing what people have enjoyed but to be honest I don’t have the funds to get so many of the new releases right when they come out. 

That being said, much like last year, I am going to be doing a series of “End of 2015” posts where I will take a look at a few different things.  This post will focus on my 2015 final gaming statistics.  The second post in this series will be the “Late-ies.”  That post will be awards and “best of” categories from the year gone by.  After that post I will do a few on my top interests of the games I haven’t played from 2015.  Lastly I will do a few posts on my top interests from the games coming up in 2016.  I’m looking forward to the series and I hope you all enjoy the read! 

Sometimes you just have to rip some cards...

Final Statistics from 2015:
Total plays in 2015 – 467
Total unique games played in 2015 – 64
Total new unique games played 2015 – 38
Most total plays in a month – 75 (December)
Most plays of a unique game in 2015 – 34 (Coup)
Most unique games played in a month – 25 (September)
Most plays of a game in a month – 22 (Codenames/September)
Most months a unique game was played in 2015 – 8 (Imperial Settlers/Star Wars: Imperial Assault)
Total designers (recognized by BoardGameGeek) played in 2015 – 77
Most unique games by a designer played in 2015 – 7 (Antoine Bauza)
Most plays of all games by a unique designer in 2015 – 42 (Antoine Bauza)
Total publishers (recognized by BoardGameGeek) played in 2015 – 40
Most unique games by a publisher played in 2015 – 6 (Asmodee)
Most plays of all games by a unique publisher in 2015 – 44 (Portal Games)
Games acquired with a 2015 release date (recognized by BoardGameGeek) – 20
Total Quarters (25 plays, or more, of a game) in 2015 – 2
Total Dimes (10 plays, up to 24, of a game) in 2015 – 15
Total Nickels (5 plays, up to 9, of a game) in 2015 – 19

Sean & Em give Pandemic Legacy 4 Thumbs Up

Quarters in 2015 (total plays in parenthesis):
Coup (34)
Codenames (30)


Dimes in 2015 (total plays in parenthesis):
Roll for the Galaxy (24)
Patchwork (23)
Rhino Hero (23)
Imperial Settlers (18)
Viceroy (17)
Star Wars: Imperial Assault (16)
Tides of Time (14)
Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn (13)
Bottom of the 9th (13)
Shadowrun: Crossfire (12)
Red7 (11)
Samurai Spirit (11)
Paperback (10)
Seasons (10)
Trambahn (10)

Family Game Night Pics (throughout the year)
Nickels in 2015 (Total plays in parenthesis):
Hanabi (8)
Munchkin Loot Letter (8)
Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Rise of the Runelords (8)
Welcome to the Dungeon (8)
Elder Sign (7)
Onirim (7)
Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island (7)
7 Wonders (6)
7 Wonders: Duel (6)
Brew Crafters (6)
The Builders: Antiquity (6)
Carcassonne (6)
Diamonds (5)
Dice Brewing (5)
Forbidden Island (5)
Ghost Stories (5)
Quarriors! (5)
Rattle, Battle, Grab the Loot (5)
Tokaido (5)

And there we have it!  Those are the final statistic from my (also most of them with my wife, Em) gameplays in 2015.  I found this to be a pretty interesting experiment and look forward to doing it again next year to see what things are at the top again.  What were some of your statistic for the year?  Is there any statistic that I missed that you want to know?  Just let me know in the comments either here or on BoardGameGeek where I cross-post my blog.  My handle is LateToTheTable.  Keep an eye on the blog as I’ll have quite a few posts for this series going up in the next month.  After my “End of 2015” series my wife and I will revisit our top 10 (for me) and top 5 (for her) lists to see where they are now.  Until next time, game on!

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Obligatory “What I Played In…” Post Part VI: December 2015

Hey everyone!  We’re back for my “What I Played In…” series and this time we will take a look at the games I played in December of 2015.  I was actually surprised with how many games we were able to get to the table this month.  It actually ended up with the most plays of any month we’ve ever had!  With some of the holiday time off and some family in town we were really able to have a great month gaming.  Enough preamble, let’s begin!

Statistics:
Total plays in December 2015 – 75
Total unique games played in December 2015 – 24
New games played in December 2015 – 9
New games acquired in December 2015 – 10
Most plays of a single game – 12



Designer – Rikki Tahta
Publisher – Indie Boards & Cards
Last play before December 2015 – 9/13/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 12

Sadly it had been a couple of months since we got this lovely little game to the table.  Due to having a few game nights and multiple people over we were able to break this out and play it a total of twelve times this month!  It is always a popular game when we break it out and we have yet to find anyone who doesn’t enjoy the experience.



Designer – Carl Chudyk/Chris Cieslik
Publisher – Asmadi Games
New to me
First play – 12/24/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 11

This was a new acquisition this month and we only got it at the very end.  In the final six days of the month we ended up playing this one eleven times!  Had we gotten this game earlier in the month I’m pretty sure we’d have passed the twenty mark in plays.  We are loving this game and I can’t wait to get it to the table even more!



Designer – Scott Frisco/Steven Strumpf
Publisher – HABA
Last play before December 2015 – 11/1/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 11

This wonderful family/children’s game has hit the table eleven times this month and never seems to get old.  Everyone who plays this has a ton of fun.  Due to the holidays we ended up playing this one with both my parents and my wife’s parents and they all had a ton of fun playing!  Never a dull time playing Rhino Hero!



Designer – Darrell Louder/Mike Mullins
Publisher – Dice Hate Me/Greater Than Games
Last play before December 2015 – 11/24/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 8

We got in a bunch more plays of this wonderful little two-player game this month.  We find ourselves unable to play this game one time when we break it out.  We always play once and then switch roles and play again.  I love this experience that we get with this game as it really feels like playing in the bottom of the 9th inning of a close baseball game!



Designer – Klaus Miltenberger
Publisher – HABA
New to me
First play – 12/26/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 4

We bought this game for our three-year-old daughter and we have already gotten four plays out of it!  My wife and I are totally enjoying this quick and easy children’s game.  It has actually been one of the most fun games we’ve played this month!  I can’t wait till my little girl really starts to get the game…although she does really enjoy playing with the little ani-meeples!



Designer – Uwe Rosenberg
Publisher – Lookout Games/Mayfair Games
Last play before December 2015 – 11/29/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 4

Another month, another handful of plays of this fantastic abstract game!  This is really making its case for breaking into my top 10 list!  My wife and I completely fell in love with this game and I’d be surprised if we didn’t get in at least one play of it every month!



Designer – Violetta Kijowska/Marcin Senior Ropka
Publisher – Bomba Games
New to me
First play – 12/9/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 4

This is a new game that we got just this month.  It is a card drafting, set collection game with a speed element.  Em and I have played it just the two of us and also with a couple of friends.  It is a fun, quick little game that is pretty decent with two players but is definitely better with more.  If you have a couple of bucks left and need to fill a cart to get free shipping then this game is a good way to go.



Designer – Vital Lacerda
Publisher – Eagle-Gryphon Games
New to me
First play – 12/12/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 3

Oh wow, this is one heavy game, both literally and figuratively!  This is a “heavy” style Euro game where you control a gallerist in an attempt to become the most successful gallery in the area.  This is decided at the end of the game by the player who has the most money.  This is a brilliantly designed game by the creator of Vinhos, CO2, and Kanban: Automotive Revolution.  These are all considered weightier Euro games and are all widely popular with both the Euro crowd and the critic crowd.  I love this one so far and can’t wait to keep digging into the strategies of it!



Designer – Vlaada Chvátil
Publisher – Czech Games Edition
Last play before December 2015 – 11/1/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 2

We got two games of Codenames in this month with a couple of friends and as usual this one goes over really well!  To be honest, I’m not sure why we didn’t get more plays of this one in with more people around as it goes over so well.  This is always a fun time even though I still don’t really consider it a “party game.”



Designer – Antoine Bauza
Publisher – Funforge
Last play before December 2015 – 9/20/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 2

Em and I realized that this is the perfect sized game to take with us to our weekly coffee dates!  We got in two games where we won one and lost one.  We still haven’t taught anyone else this one and I’m not sure why not.  We’re going to have to remedy that soon!



Designer – Ryan Laukat
Publisher – Red Raven Games
Last play before December 2015 – 11/25/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1

Due to the high amount of games we’ve gotten in December we were sadly only able to get this game to the table once.  Don’t let that dissuade you however, this game is fantastic!  It is a fun Euro style game with a story telling element that is weaved into the gameplay.  This is an absolutely beautiful game and fun to boot!



Designer – Maxime Rambourg
Publisher – IELLO
New to me
First play – 12/26/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1

Finally!  We finally got this game!  Em and I have had this one on pre-order since Gen Con and it has been pushed back this long.  Now, it is in our hands and we played our first game of it in December.  And let me just say, wow!  I have a ton of fun with this game.  It is quite difficult (which I enjoy in a co-operative game) and has some very cool deck building mechanics weaved in the experience.  Along with the fun gameplay is a very cool theme with amazing art by Naïade.  It was a cheap game and I think it will go over really well with other players.  Can’t wait to get a ton of plays of this game during this year.



Designer – Frédéric Henry
Publisher – Bombyx/Asmodee
Last play before December 2015 – 10/31/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1

We got a single play of this game in December during our coffee date.  This is a quick and fun game that doesn’t take long to set up and doesn’t take much to play.  Not much else to say about this fun little game.



Designer – Mike Fitzgerald
Publisher – Stronghold Games
Last play before December 2015 – 9/26/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1

This was a Christmas game for us this year.  We broke it out and played it with Em’s parents and with my parents.  This is a beautifully designed, modern trick-taking game by the fantastic Mike Fitzgerald.  This game went over great and my dad actually eked out a win.



Designer – Matthew Inman/Elan Lee/Shame Small
Publisher – (Self-Published)
New to me
First play – 12/28/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1

Oh what to say about this one?  I sat down and played this with my nephew during our Christmas with Em’s side of the family.  They got this game for Christmas and my nephew wanted to play it with me.  I agreed and we sat down and played a round.  This is only a game I’d play with people who aren’t interested in the hobby at all.  It is not a difficult game and it quite a bit of take-that gameplay.  Not my style of game but I could see it being popular with the mainstream and I can understand why it did well during its Kickstarter run.



Designer – Kevin Lanzing
Publisher – Indie Boards & Cards
First play – 12/28/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1

We bought this game for my nephew for Christmas and he wanted to break it out and play it.  We did so and after a short rules reading we played the basic game.  It was a fun game with a Pandemic feel to it.  I could see having fun with this with Em and with Fiona as she gets older.


Designer – Antoine Bauza
Publisher – R&R Games
Last play before December 2015 – 10/9/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1

Em and I broke this game out at a game night with a bunch of friends and played a five-player game.  We did fairly well.  I love that Em seems to be enjoying this game much more than she used to!  Everyone did well and we ended up with a respectable 16 point score.



Designer – Jerry Hawthorne
Publisher – Plaid Hat Games
Last play before December 2015 – 9/16/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1

Em and I continued our campaign through the campaign mode.  This is always a fun game and I think it would really go over well with any kids and families.  I look forward to when Fiona is a little older and she could handle this game.



Designer – Tim Fowers
Publisher – (Self-Published)
Last play before December 2015 – 10/3/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1

We broke this game out when our friends came over from England and hung out with us for a couple days.  This is a great deck builder that uses that mechanic with a word game in a wonderfully fun game.



Designer – Samuel Strick
Publisher – Laboratory Games
Last play before December 2015 – 11/11/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1

We got one play of this “micro-Euro” game during one of our coffee dates.  I love that I can just throw this is a bag and it takes up next to no room.  This is a quick and fun little Euro that is going to be getting a deluxe, Kickstarted version sometime this year.



Designer – Samuel Strick
Publisher – Laboratory Games
New to me
First play – 12/16/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1

This is a small game by the same designer (Samuel Strick) as Province.  Their company (Laboratory Games) has become a group that takes a game genre (CCG, Euro, Ameri-trash, deck-building) and makes a “micro” game that is styled after these games.  I love what they’re doing.  So far their games I’ve played are quick and fun.  Hopefully they are able to continue making good stuff!



Designer – Gordon Lamont/Fraser Lamont
Publisher – Renegade Game Studios/Fragor Games
New to me
First play – 12/28/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1

My wife’s parents got me this game for Christmas.  It has been one I’ve had my eyes on for some time and I was super-pumped to get it!  This is the first racing game that we have in our collection and from all of the research I’ve done it seems to be the one that is best for us.  The art is good; the components are great and fit perfectly in the theme.  We’ve only gotten the game to the table once so far but I foresee that it will be a mainstay in the collection and get many plays in the future!



Designer – Helmut Ohley
Publisher – Lookout Games/Mayfair Games
Last play before December 2015 – 11/24/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1

This is another game (like Patchwork) that I think my wife and I will get at least one play in of it every month.  We love the card play in this one and while it is thin, I like the theme (at least the card art) as well.  It is an absolutely wonderful two player game!



Designer – Adam West/Dan Schnake/Abe Schnake
Publisher – CrossCut Games
Last play before December 2015 – 11/26/15
Total plays in December 2015 – 1

This game is one of our successful Kickstarter acquisitions and it has been a fun one to play.  Em and I really enjoy a good dice-chucker and this one does a good job with a Yahtzee style mechanism and wonderful art.  I look forward to what Adam and crew do next.

And there you have it.  That was a look back at our extremely busy (but fun and game-heavy) December.  We acquired ten games this month and were able to get six of them to the table at least once.  Most of these were gifts for Christmas so I just go them too late to be able to start.  Hopefully they will all be played at least once before the new crop comes in for our Christmas celebration with my side of the family.  Below are the ten games we got in December.

New acquisitions in December 2015:
Animal Upon Animal
The Big Book of Madness
The Gallerist
Mysterium
Nyet!
Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
Red7
Snow Tails
Tail Feathers
Taste of Poland

So what games did you get for Christmas?  Anything I should take a look at?  As always, thanks so much for reading and feel free to leave any questions or comments in bottom and feel free to message and/or friend me on BoardGameGeek.  You can find me under the name LateToTheTable.  Until next time, game on!