Playing Board Games in 2021
I've always enjoyed board games, but it wasn't until 2017 that I really got into the hobby. It has since become probably the most important social activity that I have. A container for having good time with friends.
When the pandemic hit in spring 2020, I started keeping track of the games I played. This was mostly to remind myself that even though we were not playing face-to-face as often as before, we were still enjoying games together, thanks to Tabletopia and Tabletop Simulator. And even though in-person gaming has since returned, I never stopped tracking my plays of different games.
Playing Stroganov on Tabletopia.
All in all I got to play 193 games in 2021, consisting of 88 unique titles. Meaning individual plays of a game, with the exception of some family games where a single play is so short that it makes more sense to track sessions instead. Only 16 of these plays were online.
The above figures do not include board games I play as mobile apps. I usually have at least one asynchronous game of Through the Ages and Yellow & Yangtze ongoing any given time. I've also played quite a few games of Root this way, and some games of Scythe and Terraforming Mars. The latter two I wouldn't mind playing even more, but unfortunately the matchmaking for asynchronous gameplay works so poorly that it could be considered broken.
When it comes to my most played games of 2021, I keep track of the time spent playing a game, and not just how many times it hits the table. Based on this, the games I've played the most in 2021 are:
Twilight Imperium 4th Edition (2 plays, 15h 55m)
Dune Imperium (6 plays, 12h 50m)
Stroganov (5 plays, 10h 15m)
Excavation Earth (4 plays, 9h 50m)
Lost Ruins of Arnak (7 plays, 9h 10m)
Kanban EV (4 plays, 9h 5m)
I thought I’d finally be done with Twilight Imperium 4 after this summer when we had to look for one edge case after another in the rulebook, making the game grind to a halt a little too often. But no. There is just nothing else like it.
Dune Imperium and Lost Ruins of Arnak are the clear "winners" of 2021 as far as I'm concerned. I've played both games solo and with other people, and I am looking forward to playing both more in 2022 with the upcoming expansions.
Stroganov is a game that is not even out yet here in Finland, but I took a liking to it and played it quite a bit on Tabletopia last spring, when its Kickstarter campaign was running.
Half of my plays of Excavation Earth are solo. I think there is something counterintuitive with how it plays, which makes it hard for new players to grasp. I almost put it for sale at one point, but eventually decided against it. It's a fascinating game and plays differently from anything else I have.
Soloing Excavation Earth. Such a gorgeous looking game!
For some reason it is really difficult for me to grasp how to be efficient in Kanban EV. It is also a beast to set up on the table. I ended up selling my copy, but have played it online since, and wouldn't mind playing more of it. It's not my favourite Vital Lacerda game (that honor goes to Lisboa), and The Gallerist has found its way on my table more times this year too.
Looking purely at how many times a game has been played, the following titles stand out in addition to the ones already mentioned:
High Society (8 plays, 4h 20m)
Babylonia (7 plays, 3h 45m)
The Gallerist (5 plays, 7h 45m)
Pax Viking (5 plays, 7h 30m)
The King Is Dead 2nd Edition (5 plays, 1h 55m)
I’ve played almost all Vital Lacerda games and owned most of them. Only The Gallerist (above) and Lisboa remain on my shelf.
High Society is probably the most fun I've ever had with a board game. Pretty much all the plays this year took place within a week with my relatives. They just wanted to keep playing it and nothing else.
Babylonia is a fantastic game that replaced Samurai on my shelf. It also received a lot of plays during the summer with my relatives.
Pax Viking was enjoyable but after 5 plays I felt I had enough of it and sold my copy.
Restricting the data to a calendar year means that some games are at a disadvantage. Due to this it's worth also mentioning Fort and Yedo Deluxe, which have gotten a lot of plays, and would have made the list had I extended the time frame by a couple of months. Gaia Project has also received a lot of attention from me, but mainly as a solo game.
Lastly, the games that get played often are not necessarily the most memorable gaming experiences of the year. Some of the highlights of 2021 have been Pax Renaissance 2nd Edition, which I played 3 games in a row with a friend. We just wanted to keep at it game after game. Iki proved to be an absolute delight that I got to experience in November for the first time. Calico, which I bought on a Black Friday sale, has become a surprise hit that our 4-year-old also likes to pretend-play alongside us.
The new edition of Pax Renaissance looks absolutely stunning!
When it comes to 2022, I am looking forward to the expansions to Dune Imperium and Lost Ruins of Arnak, as well as some new releases and Kickstarter deliveries including Carnegie, Nemesis Lockdown, The Transcontinental, and Stationfall. I also hope to get at least a semi-regular group together for playing Oath, which I got on the table only once in 2021.
And maybe when we move to a new apartment in March, we can finally fit a big enough dining table for playing Coffee Traders...
Have a great 2022! ;-)