The Games of 2023

In 2023, I logged 408 plays of 71 different board games. I am surprised how much lower that is than the last two years, but I think it also points to playing more heavy games rather than multiple light games. My youngest son is almost nine, and he will join in any game that we invite him. Just this morning, we rung in the new year by playing Massive Darkness 2, and he did great with one of the most complicated character classes. We can probably unload some of the kids old games and to make room for... well, honestly, the games we already have that just don't have a home on a shelf.

Here are the games that I played at least ten times this past year:

• Frosthaven (54)
• Clank! Catacombs (32)
• Railroad Ink (26)
• Everdell (19)
• Res Arcana (16)
• Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition (16)
• Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood (12)
• Cribbage (11)
• So Clover! (11)
• Ark Nova (10)
• Thunderstone Quest (10)

We haven't had Frosthaven to the table in months, so it was a shock for me to see it so strongly in the top. My son and I have played through practically all the main storyline, though we have not unlocked all the characters. I am a little disappointed that, after the main quests are done, there's not much pull to go back into the game. It's not like the game mechanisms changed much, but once there's no narrative hook to move forward, it just stopped feeling like it mattered if we collected the materials to build the buildings to get more materials to save a settlement that was actually fine.

Cribbage is a game I played a lot as a kid and watched my parents play with their friends. It's a comforting game. A glass of wine and a game with my wife always makes for a good evening.

I did not think we played Ark Nova as much last year as we did. Maybe that expansion is in our future.

As of the start of the year, my game h-index is 33, meaning that there are 33 games that I have played at least 33 times. This will certainly go up this year, as it seems I only need one more play of Castles of Mad King Ludwig to increase to 34, and that's a game I love to play. My player h-index is 19, meaning that there are 19 players with whom I have played at least 19 games. This one seems much harder to increase! 

I'll conclude by sharing the most-played games in my collection, continuing a tradition for this blog series.

• Race for the Galaxy (112)
• Clank (102)
• Thunderstone Quest (102)
• Crokinole (88)
• Kingdomino (82)
• My City (67)
• Gloomhaven (66)
• The Quacks of Quedlinburg (65)
• Arcadia Quest (61)
• Frosthaven (61)
• Carcassonne (60)
• Animal Upon Animal (56)
• Quiddler (56)
• Camel Up (51)
• Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition (47)
• Rhino Hero: Super Battle (43)
• Cribbage (41)
• The Crew (40)
• Just One (40)
• Mage Knight Board Game (40)
• Runebound Third Edition (40)

It may look like Race wins, but if we tally together Clank, Clank Legacy, and Clank Catacombs, the Clank family dominates with 158 total plays (102+17+39, respectively).

Thanks for reading. Happy New Year and Happy Gaming!