And a birthday for me.

 Here's to 8 straight years without receiving a birthday present except for the socks and candy my mom is sure to stop by and bring me. 

If the day goes right, here are my plans:

1) Go to work

2) Dairy Queen for a peanut buster parfait

3) Board game night

If that's all the happens today I'll be a jolly man!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Happy Birthday Mom!

 She's wonderful in every way!

She taught me about hospitality, kindness and patience along with several other qualities that make me who I am today. 

She never asks for anything, she cooked, cleaned and took care of us without a single complaint. And I know how hard that is since I'm the one who cooks, cleans and takes care of the kids on my own 6 days out of the week!

But she did it a million times better than I'm doing now. : )

Happy birthday Mom!!

Board Game Cheaters

 Since I've been in the hobby I've only come across 2 people in the gaming group who've done it and they were both banned for life. 

I don't see why winning is so important to you, that you cheat to win. It doesn't seem right to me and I don't tolerate it.

Thankfully for the most part my gaming group is just like me and enjoys playing for the fun of it. Of course we play to win but even if we don't a good time is had by all. 

There are nights where I win them all and others where I don't win a single game. I'm happy either way as long as I have the chance to play. 

Would I ever let any previous cheaters come back? Maybe. But the 2 I banned were over a decade ago and I really don't keep in touch with them anymore. 

But I stand firm that its just not the way to play. 

Pac Man Energy

 

I saw the can and instantly had to check it out, 

Sadly it tastes horrible. Like cherry flavored cough syrup. 

I was bummed. This is PAC MAN folks!! DO BETTER!

This drink made me want to gobble up a Ghost Energy drink shortly thereafter. 

: )

Happy Memorial Day!

 Fingers crossed I'm playing board games today!!! This happens to be one of my favorite holidays of the year for that very reason!

Final Purge (14)

 Every time I played this game I liked it less. It's a very popular game with the a lot of folks but as I kept playing it I felt the game is very overrated and I'd rather be spending my time playing other games in my collection. Again, it's a good game but in my mind, not good enough to stay. 

I thought long and hard before releasing this one. It was my nephews favorite game and I kept it at first for that reason.....then I remembered that same nephew hasn't played games with me in over a year now so I was keeping it for no one. 

Fun little money management game that I just couldn't bring to the table more than once a year. By eliminating games like these from my collection, it's my hope I can play others more often. We'll see if this sacrifice makes it so. 

Super hard to let go but I did. For this one and the 2nd game. Trade value was through the roof and I really felt as though I'd gotten everything out of these games over the past few years. They weren't moving up on my list and coming out less and less. 

Ok folks, next week I'm switching topics and taking a little refresher before finishing this topic off. See you later!

Survivor 46: What a Dud

 Ugh.... whinners, cry babies, 5 idiots who had idols in their hands when they were voted off and one of the most unlikable cast ever. This season was SUCH a dud!

They really need to turn things around but with season 50 being so close, they're instead settling for 3 more seasons of mediocre until finally delivering us a good season. 

This show now fails completely in comparison with Australian Survivor in my opinion. 

Final Purge (13)

 

Another good game but it was just turning into "more of the say" the more I got to play it. 

Not much of a strategy when playing, just goofy fun. I decided to let it go though because it's only good for one play a year and the designer turned out to be a very toxic person and someone I don't respect. 

Great little puzzle game that I just wasn't playing more than once a year over the past 3 years so that told me what needed to be done. 

I had a hard time letting this one go. Because of all the promos I'd collected for it the past year. But on a recent play of the game I noticed it's very frustrating trying to get more than 3 or 4 plants completed in the game. I know that's the point but it feels so restrictive when you don't have that many actions to take in a round and the game is over before you know it. I love the theme but like all these other games it was only getting played once a year and I'm trying to cut down on having too many "one and done" games in my collection. 

Final Purge (12)

 Another good game that just lost its luster over the years in my self. I love the rondel player board but this only came out once a year and was kindly forgotten from then on out. Since I'm culling, I wanted to keep the "best of the best" and this just didn't fit that category. 

Another game that surprised me when I first played it but what got this game booted was the instructions on some of the cards were not clear at all. It was aggravating having to toss some of the goal cards out of the game constantly but that's what we did. So I decided it wasn't worth the trouble keeping after that. 

At this point I've completely given up that my wife will ever play board games with me. This simple yet delightful worker placement game has a beautiful circus theme but was meant to grab my wife's attention. It'll never reach  my top 100 and I know it. So I released it from my collection. 

I've had this game for years in my collection and every year its slipped further down the list due to lack of plays. It's a good game but it's runs its course and the trade value alone was good enough a reason to let now be that time I finally let it go. 

Final Purge (11)

 

My favorite and final Haba game in my collection is now done. My gaming group finally found the broken aspect of the game and exploited it to the max. I love this game but it makes no sense to only gain bonus cards each round. They're so powerful you really don't need to go anywhere else on the board. I knew this but kept quiet on it in hopes no one would pick it up.

Well they did. And the game is forever ruined. 

Oh boy. WHY didn't I listen to myself the first time around! Yes folks....this is the second time I've let go of this game. I traded it years ago after getting it and thought it was a mistake. I bought it again and realized I was right all along. It's a good game. But not worthy enough to stay on my selves. The game is the same in a lot of ways because you're building up influence the same way. EVERYONE is doing the same thing. 

Though what nobles you grab afterward make the game different I couldn't stand the fact that we were all just going through the motions until that time came. Making it ultimately not worth keeping in the end. 

REALLY hard decision to let this one go. I've had a lot of fun with it but my nephew made a good point that the end game points for contracts aren't really worth that much in the end and I tend to agree with him. At least when it comes with the price you have to pay for them. It really is a waste of turn which ends up not being worth it. That led to my final decision to let the game go. 

I love worker placement. This is a good one with a lot of point salad in the end. But it wasn't much different from other WP games in my collection which is why it kept falling down my list. I decided to let it go because it just wasn't unique enough to separate itself from the rest of the pack.  

Final Purge (10)

 My gaming group bought a copy and the last time I brought the game out they asked if we could play something else because they had a copy of this at home. This games been on and off my top 100 for a while but I knew it wasn't going to hit the table much anymore after that. And if I ever want to play it again, I'll just have them bring it over. 

This was a hard one to let go. But the strategy is the same no matter who I play with. EVERYONE wants a giant stone. They're all obsessed with getting one and when they do? They want another. Nothing else in the game mattered. Either I win big at this game or get smokes because they were able to get the big stone early and take a huge led. So due to that, another Queen Game sadly leaves my collection. 

Beautiful looking game but my strategy was the exact same every time and I KILLED at this game. But on my last playthrough I realized there really wasn't any other way to play the game and each time would be just more of the same, so I made the choice to cut it. 

The reason I let this go is two fold. One is this becomes an individual game quickly, which NO ONE wanting to help others (even though it leads to points) they'd rather suffer and build places on their own. Which is harder and makes the game drag on longer. The game looks awesome but if no one wants to interact with the others than I might as well bring out a deck of solitaire. 

Final Purge (9)

 

Another great game sailing away from my collection. The reason was simple, like "Homesteaders" there's the same stack of buildings to choose from and because of that, people kept going with the same buildings they got every time. Fighting over some of the more popular ones in prior games. Making games the same over and over again. 

Only ONE thing wrong about this game. Not enough VP tokens provided in the game. Even with 2 people we kept looking for substitute stand in tokens. And that sucks. I was so disgusted with the lack of forsight when making this game, I decided to cut it from the collection. 

Great coop game but just like Pandemic, we got so good at it that even at the hardest level, it wasn't much of a threat anymore to lose. Shame. Good game. Just without a real threat its not worth keeping anymore. 

Congratulations to my gaming group for breaking this game! Someone discovered the easiest path to victory and it made so much sense I knew we'd never play it any other way again! It wasn't mean spirited either, they were just trying to find the most efficient means of winning and they did it without utilizing half the spots on the board. I'm shocked after so many years playing the game that I never saw it either but now I can't unsee it so it's now gone from my collection!

Have a good weekend folks!

Final Purge (8)

 

After years of owning this game it wasn't getting enough plays to justify keeping it on my shelves. The game was fun but I realized I wasn't thinking about it anymore while choosing games for game night, hence its release from my collection.

Hard one to let go but I just don't have a need for "filler" games anymore. If someone is late we simply start without them. If we finish early we end the night early. Simple as that. I no longer feel the need to squeeze "one more" game in for the night. No matter how simple/fast/fun it is. 

My gaming group hated it. No one wanted to play but me. I loved this game but playing it only once a year to the frowns of everyone around me just wasn't worth it anymore. If I ever get a new group I can always go to Ollie's and pick up a new copy for $8. At least that's nice to know. 

Here we go again. Fun game. Queen Game! But it became a little repetitive over the past few years which is why it departed from my shelves.  

Final Purge (7)

After years of being in my collection I finally decided to let this one go. I love the game but after so many years, it's lost its luster and as I keep telling myself during these purges, I can't think with my heart. 

With only 6 combos of cupcakes to make and the same meeples every game (though in different neighborhoods) the game didn't offer enough replay-ability and no one ever requested it. I was only getting it to the table once a year, so the choice was pretty clear after that. 

Another game that's been in the collection for some time and finally I parted ways with it. Another victim of the "once a year" games that couldn't be avoided. I knew in my heart I wouldn't be bringing it to the table anymore than that a year so I let it go instead. 

Great theme. Simple dice placement which was fun but didn't offer much in strategy overall. Curious to see how much the trade is worth on it. It must have been picked up quick because I never saw it hit their site. 

Santa Bowl III

 This month's update is a special one! Since the adults are now the ones who have trouble putting a team together, the decision was made to lower the "adult" age down to 24 for this year. Almost exactly what it used to be at the very first Santa Bowl (it was 23 back then) 

Hopefully this will even out the team a little more for this years bowl game. 

At least, that's what I hope!

See you in 2 months for another update!

Final Purge (6)

 

Great game about waiting in line but it never came to the table that much. It's trade value was excellent so I made the hard decision to let it go. 

I really did give this one a try. For a moment, I even considered keeping it for this year and playing it solo. But after a few solo plays on my own....I threw it in the box never wanting to play this deck builder ever again. 

HIGH trade value for such a simple racing game. I enjoyed it but have plenty of other racing games I enjoy more. Regardless of its worth on the secondary market, it didn't mean as much to me to keep.

Fun tile placement game but I have so many others that do this mechanism better that I decided to cut the lower games like this from my collection. 

Final Purge (5)

 Oddly enough, after YEARS of losing this game, I finally won one. But the game is very repetitive as the tiles you get are always the same causing people to play the same strategy over and over again. Fun for a few plays but once people get into the same groove of what they want to do, the game becomes the same. 

My biggest complaint about the game led to it's release from my collection. It needs more tiles to expand the parks with. Seriously, I feel it needs double the rides too. The game leaves you feeling shorted, thinking "If I'd only had more room to expand!" 

In one year and out the next. Why so fast? My nephew figured out how to break the game and I was done after that. 

Lovely game but only came out once a year. I kept holding on to it in hopes of getting it to the table more but that day never came. And a few years ago when the reprint came out, this all but lost ALL of its lovely trade value, so I dumped it in hopes someone else will have the chance to play it.  
 

Final Purge (4)

 Trade value too high and I never play it anymore. There was a time where my gaming group came from the local theatre, now is not that case. So this once popular game gathers more dust than plays these days. I enjoy the game but when no one's playing it, reality of the situation starts to set in. 

Thus begins the "Queen Games" purge. Once I was their biggest fan, but ever since my last kickstarter experience with them, my feeling for them have cooled. A few years back I never would've let any of these games go, but now I'm seeing things in a different light with them, so I'm more open to cutting their games from my collection now. 

To be clear, there's nothing wrong with this game (when you have the queenies) I was only re-evaluating games that only were played once and for how many years. This was one that's been hanging on the list far longer than others. But in the end, it had to go. 

This is the 2nd time I've let go of this game. I should've trusted my gut the first time around when I traded it. But since it was from one of my favorite designers I thought I should have it back in my collection. Now I realize that even if they are one of my favorites, it doesn't mean I have to get every game they ever made. I also think I hate Egyptian themed games since I no longer carry any in my collection anymore. 

I'm proud to have the ONLY video review of this game. But it plays best at higher player counts. Something I will never get the chance to experience, so I cut this fun auction style game out of my collection.