Do I like older games better?

Looking at the way I purge my game collection, it sometimes feels like I'm keeping a lot more older games. It makes me wonder if I'm letting nostalgia be a major factor in what I'm keeping.

And nostalgia has helped some games hang on. My box of most Cheapass Games catalog speaks to that. It doesn't hurt that they take up less space than my Ticket to Ride collection :D

But older games like Catan or Ticket to Ride or Through the Desert or Ra or Bohnanza all have a firm place in my collection, not going anywhere, and my oldest cat is younger than the youngest of them. (To be fair, neither of the two tabbies who came from the same litter are that old)

However, to be fair again, I've also gotten rid of a couple hundred games that are that old. I think that what I'm really looking at are games that have really proven their staying power. They're games I've played lots of times and want to keep on playing.

I used to be part of the Cult of the New, trying every new game I could. However, these days, I'm part of the social club of the tried and true. (It's a fair bit less formal, really)

At the same time, I have to admit that I do prefer what some folks call German Family games, as opposed to Euros. And sometimes it feels like there was a golden age for German Family game about ten, fifteen years ago and it's more of a golden age for Euros. I bet there are brilliant German Family games being made right now and I just don't know where they are. Like Bigfoot, only with meeples and cards.

In the end, I'm keeping games that I want to keep on playing. And if I've kept on wanting to play them for years, I've kept them.

Game storage solutions

In addition to flat out getting rid of games as part of making room in my son's closet, I've also gotten into the habit of just getting the boxes. That does kill the resale value so I try to stick to games that I'm not planning on getting rid of.

Let's face it, some game boxes hold a lot more air than game. One of the more extreme examples for me is Augustus. Definitely a game that I want to keep but it took up a fraction of its Ticket to Ride-sized box. It now shares a box with Blue Moon City and Paris Connections. Three games I know I want to keep on playing that take up a third the storage space.

The downside is that I have to consult a chart to find some game :D

The single biggest boon was buying a couple of cases of photo boxes. Carrie  originally for me as a storage solution for Dominion but Dominion spread out over a whole bunch of little boxes proved to be a logistical pain. However, each individual box works just fine for individual games. You know, as long as they can fit.

Which is a surprising number of games, quite frankly. I've filled two cases with games, which has made for a dandy storage solution, not to mention a fairly portable game library. Although, at the moment, my plastic case of Pack O Game games has been my traveling library, since it'll fit in a large pocket.

Of course, a side effect of this is I have to be careful where I store these games. Condensing makes the boxes a lot heavier!

Thoughts on winnowing my game collection

For maybe have of my time being into designer board games, I was a compulsive game buyer, borderline game hoarder. For the second half, I've been winnowing and purging my collection.

A huge reason I needed to purge my collection was just for the room. Getting a family meant just having enough for the cats to squeeze by was not nearly enough room :D

Before our son was born, I remembering hearing a coworker's husband complain about his basement den. It had been a shrine to his favorite baseball team and, after the kids, it had shrunk to one pennant on the wall. He kept asking when he would get his sports den back. The answer was never.

At the time and still now, I don't view that as a cautionary tale as much as I view it as a realistic way of viewing the world. Your home has to reflect your priorities.

But game purging is about more than just square feet. Back in the day, a game would be lucky to get one play before it got shoved back into the closet so I cold try out a new one. 

Some of my friends did say they got the most amazing crash course in game mechanics imaginable but you definitely don't get your money's worth out of a game that way. You also don't get to really to explore or understand a game very well. 

And I'm pretty sure that hoarding is never a healthy mindset unless it's after the apocalypse.

Game purging has been a fascinating journey in and of itself. Plus, it definitely feels healthier than the hoarding phase. 

I'm getting ready to do another push because we want to give our som more closet space. (Yes, I annexed the closet in my son's room. I'm a terrible person :P) Every time, it's an interesting process.