It all started back in 1994 when friend Peter Sarrett, the editor of The
Game Report, suggested his readers start keeping track of the games they
played. The idea being that at the end of the year, we would all send Peter
our lists and he would compile them into one master list. My best friends
tell me I'm very anal, repeatedly pointing out that my name is an anagram
for Anal Moron. So, of course, I was a ripe target for Peter's suggestion.
How many people wound up keeping track of their games played in 1995. Well,
there was Peter, and there was me, and there was
Oh well. Far be it from a small detail like lack of participation to deter
an anal moron. At the end of 1995 I deluded myself into believing that
it was important for me to keep track of what games I played for more than
one year. My most logical reasoning being that everyone talked about their
favorite games, but were they really playing their favorites? Or more to
the point since I was the only one keeping track, was I really playing
my favorites?
That first year, I kept track of not only what games I played, but the
date, the place, who my opponents were, and the scores or finishing positions.
It was quite a bit of work. Most of the time people were willing, if not
eager, to indulge me by divulging their scores. Six years later, I would
now like to thank my friends for their patience. Unfortunately, the end
of the 1995 brought a horrible realization. What was I going to do with
all the data? Compiling it was going to take way more time than it was
worth. But if I didn't compile it, why had I recorded it. This is an example
of the consequences and tough decisions us anal morons face!
I did compile the information and here are some of the highlights. Total
games played in 1995: 552. Number of different games played: 170. Most
games played in one month was 82 in February, which included a Billcon
weekend (a four day extravaganza at Bill Cleary's house in Baltimore).
Second highest month was April, with 63 games played, 57 at The Gathering
Of Friends. Least games played in one month was 23 in June, probably due
to post-Gathering depression.
I played in 62 two-player games, winning 32. I played in 148 three-player
games, winning 65; 186 four-player games, winning 67; 78 five-player games,
winning 15; 59 six-player games, winning 19, 6 seven-player games, tying
for wins in 2; 7 eight-player games, with no victores; 4 ten-player games,
winning 3; 1 fourteen-player game of Celebrities, losing because
my partner Bill Cleary let me down completely; and 1 thirty-two player
Treasure Hunt at The Gathering. Keeping track seemed to inspire me to play
more competitively. I found myself feeling pressured to improve my record.
But this was good pressure, that knot of tension in my stomach during games
a constant reminder that I was having fun doing what I love most.
I played with 195 different people, including all 88 people at The Gathering
Of Friends. I played the most games with Michael Schloth (180) who lives
about ten miles away. Surprisingly, I played the second most games (151)
with Bill Cleary who lives over 500 miles away.
One very positive aspect of keeping track that year was that it allowed
me the opportunity to look back and remember some of fun times I had. There
was the best-ever seven-player game of Karriere Poker (using our house
variant rules) with the final scores of 51, 50, 50, 49, 46, 45, 45. Everyone
having a chance to win on the last hand.
There was the Robo Rally game on two boards, one of which was The
Maelstrom. Friend Steve Magyar made it to the first checkpoint, then spent
the rest of the game going round and round on the conveyers. I laughed so
much during that game, my throat was raw the next day.
The before mentioned 14 player Celebrities game at Origins, though
somewhat
chaotic and noisy, was memorable because of the mix of players. Included were
both friends and people I'd never met, all of whom seemed totally comfortable
acting foolishly in front of each other. I can still see one of the performances
of Amber Martin, daughter of former editor of The General Rex Martin.
There was a game of Die Siedler von Catan which I won in about 25
minutes.
Five of the first six rolls were 5s and I picked up two cards on each of
these rolls while everyone else got stiffed. On my second turn, I was able
to build a road and a village. The final score was 10, 6, 3, 3. Two other
Siedler games also stand out. In one, Bill Cleary used the strategy of
almost exclusively drawing Special Cards until the last few turns of the
game when he finally built a bunch of roads to take the Road Card and win.
His 10 points consisted of the 3 Special Point Cards, the Road Card, the
Knight Card and 3 villages. Having used up his share of luck for a lifetime,
when Bill tried this same strategy the next day, he finished the game with
the original 2 points!
I got to play my first game of Football Strategy in years in the
tournament at AvalonCon. I lost but I thoroughly enjoyed myself and was only
disappointed that losing meant I didn't get to play another game. The game
was close enough to bring back all the memories of my days in the Avalon Hill
Football Strategy League (1981-1983).
Most memorable game of all was a game of Old Maid with Tony Soltis's
daughter Cara (6 years old at the time) and Mike Schloth. Late in the game, Cara
drew the Old Maid from my hand. She immediately turned to Mike spreading
her hand for Mike to draw from. But with her left hand, she inched out
one card, enticing Mike to choose this one. Amid much laughter, Mike took
the card. I went out on my next turned, as did Cara, leaving Mike the Old Maid.
After that, from 1996 on, I decided to just keep track of what games I
played. Did I just hear a sign of relief? It became such a regular habit,
I hardly ever thought about it as I wrote the game titles down.
So getting back to what I thought was the point of keeping track, it is now
time to compare what games I played with what games I consider my favorites.
My thirteen favorite games are (in approximate order): Spades, Liars
Dice, Magic: The Gathering, Hera & Zeus, Adel Verpflichtet, Drunter &
Drüber, Wildlife Adventure, Medici, Modern Art, Mü, Hearts, Lost Cities,
Wer Hat Mehr?.
Looking at the games played list, you'll see that Spades is ranked 4th,
Liars Dice 2nd, Magic 1st, Hera & Zeus 7th,
Adel Verpflichtet 14th, Drunter & Drüber 15th,
Wildlife Adventure 11th, Medici 9th, Modern Art
13th, Mü 3rd, Hearts 5th, Lost Cities 19th,
Wer Hat Mehr? 8th.
That's a pretty amazing correlation.
In 1996, I became obsessed with Magic: The Gathering, thanks to friends
Aaron Weissblum, Mark Noseworthy, and Mike Zarren. For months, I watched
these guys play and steadfastly refused to participate, stating over and
over that the game was not that good, deck-building was a solitaire activity
and meant Magic wasn't a game at all, and that I wasn't going to play
anything where spending more money increased the chances of winning. (I had
many other arguments, but they were equally wrong.) I was finally hooked by
``pusher'' Mike Zarren who put together a blue/black deck and gave it to
me, saying I should at least try the game once. From that first game, it
was a small step to total addiction. I am only grateful that I didn't keep
track of how much money I spent on Magic cards over the next three
years. Truth be known, I'd probably still be playing 50-100 games or more each
year, except Aaron and Mark, who were my opponents for 75% or more of the
games I played, lost the fever in 1998, having played hundreds of games
with each other before I got hooked. I won't say I'll never play again,
but if I do, I doubt my enjoyment will reach the same level of intensity.
Seven of the top eight games on my list are card games. Your first reaction
to this might be that I play more card games because they are generally
quicker than board games. Actually, games of Spades and Mü
and even Hearts can take just as long or longer than board games.
But game length has nothing to do with the fact that card games dominate.
I just simply find I enjoy playing cards more and more each year. Perhaps the
reason is because I spend so much time working on board games? Maybe. But
friend and fellow designer Richard Borg, in a recent phone conversation, may
have hit on the real answer.
Richard said that there is simply nothing like a deck of cards. You deal
out a hand and everyone gets a limited set of cards, often 13. Sometimes
you get a good hand, sometimes you get a bad hand. But the hand only lasts
5-10 minutes. So even if you get a bad hand, you don't have to wait long
for your next try at a good hand. And every time those cards are dealt,
there is that little rush as you reach to pick them up thinking this is
going to be that best hand ever.
Over the years, I've thought a lot about what makes games exciting. I agree
with Richard completely. I've long felt that there is an elegance to simplicity
in games as in life. A deck of cards is a game in its most elegantly basic
form. And like musical notes, there seems to be no end to the new combinations
that can be composed.
Spades is the perfect example of what a deck of regular playing cards
can deliver. I can't believe I didn't discover this game until late 1999. It
is now easily my favorite game and I can't imagine ever getting tired of
it. It is next to impossible to have a boring hand. Most players complain
when they are forced to bid just one or two, bids of zero (a Nil bid) or
four or more being far more exciting. But every hand is interesting because
of the point system which rewards perfect bidding and punishes for overtricks
(called "bags"), stings if the partnership fails to make their bid (is
"set"), and because of the natural randomness of distribution within the
four suits from dealing cards. To demonstrate this I give the following
as the ultimate contradiction. The most interesting hand I ever played
was a game in which I bid Nil. The first nine tricks were three tricks
of Hearts, three of Diamonds, and three of Clubs. All four of us followed
suit on each trick (I had never seen this even distribution before!). Leaving
me with the last Heart, the last Diamond, and the last Club; and the other
three players each having four Spades. Which, at that point, I thought
was the greatest possible turn of events. Unfortunately, my other card
was the 8 of Spades. My partner's four Spades all turned out to be lower,
and my opponents each had one of the only other lower Spades, so I took
the first Spades trick. In one hand, I had experienced just about every
gaming emotion.
Now don't get me wrong. None of this means board games aren't exciting
too. They are, and in many different ways. One of the highlights of my
gaming life was the Adel Verpflichtet Tournament at the World
Boardgaming Championships in 1999. I got to play seven games one after the
other. I would have played all night too, given the chance. Adel
Verpflichtet is another example of the elegance of simplicity. Klaus Teuber,
who arguably may be the world's foremost designer, basically starting with
the simple rock-scissors-paper mechanic, has made what I feel is the perfect
game. Perfect because as far as I'm concerned there is nothing more you can
add to it and nothing you can take out of it, to make it a better game.
The one game in the Top Ten that I didn't list in my favorite 13 games
is Mystery Rummy. Most of the 82 games of Mystery Rummy
I played were with Aaron Weissblum. Similarly to Magic, the reason
I didn't play it much last year was that Aaron had lost interest and was much
more eager to play newer two-player favorites like Lost Cities
and Hera & Zeus. I'll still play Mystery Rummy anytime
anyone else wants to play.
The numbers in total look like this. I played 552 games in 1995, 576 in
1996, 658 in 1997, 404 in 1998, 575 in 1999, and 384 in 2000. The low total
for 2000 is due mostly to spending more time playing prototypes than any
other year in my life. The average over the six years is 525 games a year,
or almost 1.5 games a day.
I played 52 games at least 10 times. Of these 52, I played only 23 of them
at last year. This stat and looking at the top of the list in other individual
years indicates that many games are flash-in-the-pans. They get played
quite a few times when new only to be relegated to the closet thereafter
forevermore.
I played 549 different games, 272 of these just once, and 107 just twice.
I only played 11 games at least once in each of the six years: Liars
Dice, Mü, Hearts, Wer Hat Mehr?, Cribbage, Wildlife Adventure, Adel
Verpflichtet, Drunter & Drüber, Can't Stop, Was Sticht?, and Poker.
Last year, four games (Spades, Hera & Zeus, Lost Cities, and
Tally Ho) accounted for over one half of the total, 200 of 384.
My good friends and I joke about establishing a Gamers' Nursing Home sometime
in the future. We will take breaks to eat and sleep as necessary but spend
the rest of the time gaming. We will play Spades on a daily basis
and keep a running tally. Is this just a fantasy? I hope not. But even if it is,
it sure makes growing older a more relaxing process.
To sum it all up, what my list of games played really means is that I've
enjoyed myself immensely over the last six years. I am chock full of memories
of good times with friends spent around the gaming table.
By the way, I'm continuing to keep track of my games played this year (12
games of Spades played as of the 14th of January), and I intend to keep
it up till at least the end of 2004, so as to have a record for 10 years.
It isn't easy for an anal moron to change you know!
Rerinted with permission from Counter Magazine. Subscriptions to the quarterly
publication (84 pages in the December 2000 issue) are available for $25 per
year in the U.S., payable to David Kuznick, 41 Lewis Avenue, Arlington,
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Alan How at Alan.How@which.net.
