One of my favorite things to do at the start of every year is to set for myself some board game challenges for the upcoming year. It’s not something to which I ever stick too closely, but I always find it a fun exercise all the same.
If I ever am not sure what to play, it can be a nice bit of inspiration. It can also be a good opportunity for me to set out some personal goals, and a challenge is a great way to see those out. I may not reach the challenge I set for myself, but the spark is worth the hassle of tracking.
Of course, with all of these, I’d easily recommend the BG Stats app, which links plays with Board Game Geek and provides some great tools for tracking challenges. I track all my plays, which really does take less than a minute for each play. (It helps that I love the idea of capturing data about my daily life.)
Here are the challenges I’ve planned for this year. I haven’t included any that span multiple years, and I have just one of those: Play 2,020 cooperative games in the 2020s. I don’t think I’ll reach that, but I’m not as far behind as you might think. (I’m 18% of the way there, and we’re through something like 25% of the 2020s.)
Replay 20 old favorites
I’ve played a lot of games over the years, and I like the idea of this challenge quite a bit. This has me playing 20 different games that I haven’t played in or after 2021, and that’s a pretty extensive list. Some highlights include:
Bohnanza, the game of trading beans, which I apparently haven’t played since 2019 at a work game night — a shame, if you ask me, although I guess it makes sense that I’ve played fewer large-group games since 2020.
Cosmic Encounter, which combines negotiation and wild alien powers. I haven’t touched this one since a work game night in 2018, when four of us tied for a win.
Power Grid, a bidding and network-building game that really captured me when I first dove deep into gaming.
Star Realms, a breezy deck-builder that’s always fun to pick up and play for a good 20-to-30 minute experience.
And there’s a lot more here, too. I’m excited to report back.
10 games from the year 2013
I love the “from a decade ago” gaming challenges, and I think this one’s pretty feasible to complete. Some games on that list for me:
Eight Minute Empire, an empire-building game that takes just eight minutes to play, as you might have expected from the name.
Forbidden Desert, a Matt Leacock-designed cooperative game that has players roaming an ever-shifting desert looking for parts of a crashed craft.
Sushi Go!, which remains one of my favorite drafting games to introduce to newer gamers.
There are many other games that could make my end-of-year plays, but I suspect I’ll try to focus on this a little sooner. I like writing a “10 great games from a decade ago” list, and 2013 was the first year that I really dove into tabletop games, when I knew what games were being released and actively wanted to explore them. It’s also the first year I tracked any plays in BG Stats — maybe it would be fun to go back to games I played a decade ago, regardless of their release.
10 games from the year 2018
See the description above, but this one’s a bit more recent.
Architects of the West Kingdom, a worker placement game with some very interesting mechanics I’d love to revisit.
Roll to the Top, a roll-and-write game I haven’t played — but it’s one I’m excited to get to the table. It’s a math-filled game with polyhedral dice, sums and strategy.
Tokyo Highway remains one of my very favorite dexterity games, and I’m always happy to play. This will be a fun one to revisit.
The first time I wrote about board games for any publication was 2018 (an article for Deseret News) and it’s also when I first wrote about games for my own publication, too, back in the first iteration of Don’t Eat the Meeples. It’s hard to believe it’s been five years!
20 games from the year 2022
When I wrote about some great games from 2022, I acknowledged that there were a huge number of games from last year that I still wanted to play and haven’t. I’m sure I’ll write more about this topic later in the year, but here are just a few I’m hoping to get to the table.
Carnegie, a Euro strategy game that attracted a lot of positive attention last year.
Dandelions, a two-to-three player area majority game in a delightful little box.
Now or Never, the latest storybook game from Utah-based Ryan Laukat and Red Raven Games. I like this series and look forward to playing the latest iteration.
I’m really looking forward to diving into this challenge, and I know I won’t get as close as I’d like until closer to the end of the year. Still, expect regular updates along the way as I’m able.
The alphabet challenge
The final challenge I’m focusing on today is the alphabet challenge: Play a game from every letter in the alphabet. This might be a little tough later in the year, but I’m excited to see how I’m doing here halfway through the year. Again, expect reports.
Thanks, as always, for reading Don’t Eat the Meeples. I’ve been writing this newsletter for two-and-a-half years now, and I’m excited to continue in 2023. If you want to share this with a friend, please do — it’s always nice for me to know that something I’ve written resonates with you.
What weight, if any, do you give to playing board games online (if you ever do). I had set a loose goal of playing 100 board games last year, and I made it to around 50-60. My wife and I started playing games on BGA occasionally and I didn't want to count those as games played for my list because the two experiences are just so drastically different to me. In the end, it was inconsequential and I still played a very enjoyable amount of games, but seeing your goals made me curious.