As of March 22, 2018 I own 616 games. But just how "good" of a collection is that? Playing around with the Advanced Search function on BoardGameGeek, I looked at the top 100 games in eight categories - Abstract, Children's, Customizable, Family, Party, Strategy, Thematic, Wargames, and Overall. For each category I looked at how many I own and what I think it tells me about myself as a gamer. (Rankings are as of March 22, 2018)
THEMATIC (5%)
12. Star Wars: Imperial Assault
21. Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game
72. Heroscape Master Set: Rise of the Valkyrie
77. BattleLore
96. Nexus Ops
Another interesting BGG category. Should this be called "Thematic" or "IP?" I think I see the intent of the category; games that are reflective of the theme of the setting. Truth be told, I am finding these BGG categories to be too random and unhelpful. I mean, look at 878: Vikings – Invasions of England. Categorized as Educational, Medieval, Wargame, I would argue that it should also be Thematic given how closely it reflects the Vikings theme. Maybe the biggest lesson learned in my By the Numbers posts are that the numbers are actually pretty irrelevant given the broadly (un)defined categories.
In the aftermath of the past few Di$ney Star Wars movies I am turned off to the franchise so games like Star Wars: Imperial Assault just don't grab my attention these days. I love the concept of Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game - a cooperative traitor game - but find it hard to get to my family gaming table. Heroscape Master Set: Rise of the Valkyrie is not played as a game these days but parted out as terrain or figures for other games. BattleLore is a recent rediscovery and will likely land on the table more often. Nexus Ops has seen better days and, IMNSHO, has been surpassed by many more recent games. Frankly, I am surprised to see it ranked on BGG as highly as it is.
THEMATIC (5%)
12. Star Wars: Imperial Assault
21. Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game
72. Heroscape Master Set: Rise of the Valkyrie
77. BattleLore
96. Nexus Ops
Another interesting BGG category. Should this be called "Thematic" or "IP?" I think I see the intent of the category; games that are reflective of the theme of the setting. Truth be told, I am finding these BGG categories to be too random and unhelpful. I mean, look at 878: Vikings – Invasions of England. Categorized as Educational, Medieval, Wargame, I would argue that it should also be Thematic given how closely it reflects the Vikings theme. Maybe the biggest lesson learned in my By the Numbers posts are that the numbers are actually pretty irrelevant given the broadly (un)defined categories.
In the aftermath of the past few Di$ney Star Wars movies I am turned off to the franchise so games like Star Wars: Imperial Assault just don't grab my attention these days. I love the concept of Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game - a cooperative traitor game - but find it hard to get to my family gaming table. Heroscape Master Set: Rise of the Valkyrie is not played as a game these days but parted out as terrain or figures for other games. BattleLore is a recent rediscovery and will likely land on the table more often. Nexus Ops has seen better days and, IMNSHO, has been surpassed by many more recent games. Frankly, I am surprised to see it ranked on BGG as highly as it is.