2006 Gaming - A Year In Review

As it is the last day of 2006 today I thought it would be interesting to take a look back at the year and the games I've played. I first started keeping records of games played at my BoardGameGeek site in July 2005, so 2006 is the first calendar year I actually have stats for. Board gamers use a terminology for the number of times a particular game is played equivalent to the nicknames for US coins. Nickels are 5 plays, Dimes are 10 plays and Quarters are 25 plays. Here are my Nickels, Dimes and Quarters for 2006.

QUARTERS (25 plays or more)

Shocking Roulette - 46 Plays
This is not really a game as such. Players simply put their finger in one of the four slots, the start button is pressed and after much beeping and flashing of lights a random person receives an electric shock. Simple, mindless, silly fun. The reason this has so many plays is because it is fast and I use it as a device to determine the playing order in other games.

Memoir '44 - 42 Plays

No surprise here as this is one of my top-rated games. Memoir '44 is a light wargame designed by Richard Borg and published by Days of Wonder. Played on a fold-out hexagonal board, it simulates WWII battles using a version of the excellent Commands and Colors system of card-driven game play. Units are represented by plastic miniatures and terrain by cardboard hexagonal tiles. Memoir '44, although designed as a 2-player game, can be expanded to an 8-player game by adding an additional board and playing the larger 'Overlord' scenarios. The game plays in under an hour and gives me the feeling of commanding troops in battle. I love this game! Main opponent this year was Steve W, a long-time friend and gaming buddy. As we both have full-time jobs and young families, to co-ordinate days off together to play this game was a feat in itself.

Hive - 30 Plays

Hive is an abstract game played with no board. The hexagonal playing pieces are placed in a pattern that becomes the playing surface (ie. the pieces become the board). I have the 2nd edition with the lovely bakelite pieces. A fast, fun game. My main opponent this year was my 5-year-old daughter.


DIMES (At least 10 plays)

Gulo Gulo - 19 Plays

I bought this game as a family Xmas present last year with the first play recorded exactly one year ago on 31 December 2005. It has proven a family favourite in 2006 with 19 plays. It is essentially a racing and dexterity game. Players are wolverines (Gulo Gulo's) searching for Gulo Junior who has become lost in the swamp while looking for Swamp Vulture eggs to steal. Players move from tile to tile through the swamp by selecting a wooden egg from a bowl that matches the colour of the next tile they wish to move to. The eggs are brightly coloured and of differing sizes and sit together in a lovely wooden bowl in which stands a stick with and egg on the end of it. If, while attempting to grab an egg from the bowl, the stick (the Swamp Vulture alarm) falls over your movement is penalised. This is a really fun game that adults and children can play together and as kids have tiny, dextrous fingers they usually win! Main opponents this year were my wife, my mum and my 5-year-old daughter.

YINSH - 14 Plays

YINSH is an abstract game and part of the GIPF Project by designer Kris Burm. The players each start with 5 rings on the board. Every time a ring is moved, it leaves a marker behind. Markers are white on one side and black on the other. When markers are jumped over by a ring they must be flipped, so their colour is constantly changing. The players must try to form a row of 5 markers with their own colour face up. If a player succeeds in doing so, he removes one of his rings as an indication that he has formed such a row. The first player to remove 3 of his rings wins the game. In other words, each row you make brings you closer to victory - but also makes you weaker, because you have one less ring to play with. A really fun game and my main opponent this year has been my 5-year-old daughter.

Battle Line - 14 Plays

A card game where you and your opponent face off across a 'battle line' and attempt to win the battle by taking 5 of 9 flags or 3 adjacent flags. Flags are decided by placing cards into 3 card poker-type hands on either side of the flag (similar to straight flush, 3 of a kind, straight, flush, etc). The side with the highest 'formation' of cards wins the flag. Designed by the amazing and prolific Reiner Knizia and published by GMT, Battle Line is a tense yet extremely fun game. My main opponent this year has been my mum.

Cartagena - 14 Plays

This game takes as its theme the famous 1672 pirate-led jailbreak from the fortress of Cartagena. Each player has a group of six pirates and the objective is to have all six escape through the tortuous underground passage that connectes the fortress to the port, where a boat is waiting for them. Each card bears one of six symbols (dagger, pirate hat, etc.), and you move a pirate forward by playing a card and moving ahead to the matching symbol in the tunnel, leapfrogging over those where another pirate already stands, but the only way to get more cards is to move backwards. Cartagena is a simple but smart game of patience and opportunity and my main opponent this year, mainly playing the cards face-up 'Tortuga' version, has been my mum.


NICKELS (At least 5 plays)

Travel Blokus - 8 Plays

A fun, fast abstract game and actually my most-played game in 2005. It has slipped somewhat this year due to all the other new games I've played. My main opponent this year was my wife.

Gobblet - 8 Plays

Another fun abstract game that plays quickly. This one has nice wooden pieces. Main opponents this year were my 5-year-old daughter and my mum.

Pick Picknic - 7 Plays

A fun game of fowls trying to eat corn. Main opponents this year were my 5-year-old daughter and my mum.

Amazing Labyrinth - 7 Plays

A fun game of collecting objects from an ever-shifting maze. Main opponents this year were my 5-year-old daughter and my mum.

Cloud 9 - 6 Plays

Players attempt to rise to higher-valued clouds in a hot-air balloon. Played with several people this year.

Elefun - 6 Plays

More a toy than a game. Catch floating butterflys shooting up from an elephant's trunk. My main opponent this year has been my 5-year-old daughter.

For Sale - 6 Plays

A fun card game of bidding for properties and then selling them for the most money. Played with several people this year.

Buckaroo - 6 Plays

A simple dexterity game of attempting to unload items from the back or an 'ornery donkey before it bucks. My main opponent this year has been my 5-year-old daughter.

Commands & Colors: Ancients - 6 Plays

Another of the excellent Commands & Colors games designed by Richard Borg and this time published by GMT. One of my top-rated games that I would have loved to have played more often in 2006. The only game on my list which I don't own. My one and only opponent this year was Friendless as he owns it.

Ingenious - 6 Plays

An excellent abstract game designed by Reiner Knizia. Main opponents this year were myself (solitaire), my 5-year-old daughter and my mum.

Madeline's House - 6 Plays

A kids game racing game based on the Madeline book series. Main opponent this year was my 5-year-old daughter.

ZERTZ - 5 Plays

Another of the excellent games in the GIPF Project. An abstract game with gorgeous playing pieces. I plan to play this more in 2007. My main opponent this year was my mum.

Guess Who - 5 Plays

A kids deduction game. My main opponent this year was my 5-year-old daughter.

Bratz Passion For Fashion - 5 Plays

Groan! A kids racing and set-collection game. If this doesn't appear on my list next year I won't be sorry. Still, for my daughter, an important training game for Daddy's grown-up games in the future. Yep, main opponent this year was my 5-year-old daughter.

DVONN - 5 Plays

Last, but not least, is another of designer Kris Burm's GIPF Project games. If this doesn't appear on my list next year I'll be surprised. My main opponent this year was my mum.