Working on my favourite gaming moments piece for the year. Rather than telling you about the best game I played, I like to talk about the experiences I have had around games. What's been your best gaming moment this year?
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Airecon was great this year, I'm happy to see it high up your list too. That game of Broom Service was just fantastic, the switch up from slight skepticism following the rules to the table immediately getting it once we started playing. 1/?
I also enjoyed playing Faraway for the first time with such a large group there, 36 players playing 6 games in a tournament. It was really exciting to see so many people learning how to play and having a great time together. 2/?
This was the year I got into trick-taking games in earnest with friends, we loved diving into Seer's Catalog, Seas of Strife and Kings: Tricktakers, to name a few - seeing how much design variance there is in the genre. But they are wonderfully social games, full of collective cheers and groans. 3/3
Another one was playing the original Junta untill the early hours. If you scrutinise the game is has many design flaws. But in that moment with those people it was one of the most enjoyable game experiences I’ve had. I’ve always said, “the best game depends who you are playing it with”
Realising I was about to log my 10,000th play, having it be the brilliant So Clover on a video call with BGG friends and then managing a perfect game. Joy!
That’s a great idea. For me, it’s less of a moment, but still an experience. It’s getting my game group into 18xx games. I never thought they’d enjoy these games, but they do. 😃👍
Yeah I've really enjoyed doing it the last couple of years and it allows me to talk about everything from attending conventions, to playing arcs, to writing for TTGM. Very different things, but all gaming related experiences that have made me happy over the year.
Lots to choose from! Genuinely feel like Airecon offered a lot of them - Wind the Film! & Broom Service being two games that just felt very fun & *interesting* to play. I thoroughly enjoyed my first game of Votes for Women at Airecon too - really thrilling from beginning to end, & edifying.
Nah those are perfect. The thing about asking this kind of question is it gives people permission to talk about all sorts of different experiences. Airecon and those games are high on my list of wonderful things I have done this year!
That's always nice. I just spent some time with a friend I only get to see once or twice a year. Although we didn't play many games, it was gaming that brought us together in the first place.
Flying to Pittsburgh to attend the convention dedicated to the small publisher Winsome Games.
Many highlights, but playing Riding Through England was a stand out. Only 50 recorded owners and 16 recorded plays (including duplicates)on BGG, so it felt all the more special.
This experience was less about the game, but the bizarre play experience it creates. A 5 hour long economic crayon rail game which forms a unique rail network for the ultimate party game pay-off: a 40 minute blind-bidding auction to win the routes; quiet study transformed into cheers and gasps.
Sounds fascinating. My 'Gaming Moments' aren't just about actual games but experiences. I realised one year my games of the year were not that useful as I wasn't on the 'new games' treadmill. Doing it this way lets me talk about all sorts of cool stuff that aren't necessarily game play
Yes, analysis is one thing, but how a group transforms those rules into a living experience is very important. It gives a game its soul.
This game was also elevated by a group of Americans relying on my knowledge of UK geography which I realised was severely lacking in necessary detail 😆
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What followed was a hilarious 5 minute debate about Scrooge McDuck. The sort of thing that just doesn’t happen outside the gaming space.
And this kind of high octane intellectual debate is why I love the game!
If you even have one.
We started during the pandemic and have played weekly ever since.
It inspired the #SpielMas ⛄️ festival, which celebrates the privilege of playing with family and friends.
Many highlights, but playing Riding Through England was a stand out. Only 50 recorded owners and 16 recorded plays (including duplicates)on BGG, so it felt all the more special.
This game was also elevated by a group of Americans relying on my knowledge of UK geography which I realised was severely lacking in necessary detail 😆