Category Archives: by the numbers

by the numbers

So close

by the numbers, game challenges, gaming stats

I think it was a couple of months back I set myself some gaming challenges within the bgstat app.

It’s not something I do a lot of. However I thought why not?

Over the period covered by “lockdowns” and various restrictions belatedly introduced by our Tory overlords as some sort of token gesture towards dealing with world events, I had added one or two games and expansions to the collection.

It’s not as if I needed much encouragement to get any of those purchases to the table once gaming in person was once again a thing that we did.

Remembering what had been added during that period however would be more of a challenge.

So I set up a challenge to track those plays and to remind me what games and expansions had been purchased. Apparently there were 25 additions of one form or the other in that time.

One or two of those purchases would be considered for big boardgames. For example the Prophecy of Kings expansion for TI4 or the Mother of Dragons expansion for AGoT. They would be much much harder to get to the table.

But there are some big boardgames in my collection that I’d also like to see return to the table. So I set up a second challenge to encourage me to get some of those bigger games to the table.

Both of those challenges I have given myself until November 2022 to complete.

However I needed a more immediate challenge to aim for as well. Something achievable by the end of the year. So I set up a third challenge, to play 15 new to me games by the end of 2021.

With 2021 fastly coming to an end and no more gaming sessions planned before the challenge deadline. It does indeed look like I will have failed at this third challenge.

I’ve come within spitting distance of achieving it.

As the image above shows I’ve played 12 new to me games since August of this year. Two of which belong to someone else! Who happens to be the same person, Jonathan.

I think I’ll set up a similar challenge in the new year. At the moment my gut is telling me to set the target to 20 new to me games.

Oh and finally I got caught up with the reduced to clear section at Tesco and ended up getting a poker set for half price.

2019 Gaming Stats Summary

by the numbers, stats

It’s Boxing Day and I hope you all had a great Christmas.

I think everyone and their dog who creates content for the internet are producing their end of year lists and GOTY stuff. Plus they are “spoiling” whoever consumes their content with their moment, list or game of the decade as we move out of one decade into the start of a new one.

I’ve not done a game stats post in a long time, but I’m not one to miss a band wagon. So I thought I’d do some posts sharing my stats for the year, my GOTY and my game of the decade.

Naturally I’ll start with the stats for 2019.

These stats come straight from the big stats app where I have been recording my physical game plays since December 2015. I don’t record any digital games I play like Star Realms, Jaipur and Lost Cities (although I do play these in real life from time to time and those do get recorded).

I’ve blanked out the time and days stats because I never record the duration from when I play the game. So those figures where very very inaccurate and not relevant.

I’ll start off by correcting the new games figure, this should be 35 not 38. The list of new games that I played in 2019 includes games that I had played but not recorded in the app previously. Which is a poor way of saying I played them before December 2015 when I started recording game plays.

My top 10 played games of 2019 are:

That concludes the stats for this band wagon post. Next post my game of the year.

2018 Gaming Stats Part 3

by the numbers, gaming stats, stats

I’m not sure as I write this instalment of the 2018 retrospective if it will be the third and final part, or if I’m going to be cruel and do another one after this has been finished and posted.

In this post I’m going to steal the top 9 games meme, and use it here as others have elsewhere to share with you my top 9 new games to me of 2018.

I’ve not put them in any particular order, so their position in the grid should not be taken as having any significance or indication of a ranking. Nor was this process as scientific as my Top 100 of All Time that I did a couple years back.

The process I used this time was more gut feel. There were some games I really did enjoy playing that belonged to friends. But a deciding factor was, did that game make it into my collection? One or two that made this list were initially friends copies that I played. But they made such an impact I almost instantly added them to my collection.

So for your torture I present my Top 9 New To Me Games of 2018 meme…

2018 Gaming Stats Part 2

by the numbers, gaming stats, stats


Continuing the look back at 2018 that we started together yesterday. Today we look at the oddly chosen top 14 boardgames I played in 2018 ranked by the number of times that they were played.

I don’t think it’s any surprise that the top slot is MtG. I was playing a ridiculous amount casually during the first quarter of the year.

What I find interesting is that so many (approximately 5 of them) were added to the collection in the last quarter of the year. And so many of the top 14 were new to me games.

Charterstone is a game that needs completing, we got to the half way point before life got in the way. Our group that was playing it needs to find a common time slot that we can finish the game off in.

Did you play any of the above games? What did you think of them? What was your most played game of 2018?

2018 Gaming Stats Part 1

by the numbers, gaming stats, stats

It’s a well known fact I love a good bandwagon to jump on. It’s the only bit of exercise and excitement I get these days.

Earlier in the year I stopped putting up a monthly summary of my gaming month, and it was met up with a loud roar of indifference and silence. It seems that no-one missed it. A bit hurtful. But then I have to remember only a couple of my friends read this, possibly my attack chihuahuas, and my mum definitely doesn’t (she doesn’t know how to use a web browser and even if she did, she wouldn’t).

Naturally this time of year the Facebook boardgaming groups are clogged up with people sharing their top 9 games of 2018, or their gaming stats for 2018. It’s been going on for a week or two now.

Not to be left out I thought I’d resurrect for an end of year post, and belatedly jump on what is fastly becoming a cliche and crowded bandwagon, my gaming stats for 2018. Especially now that I have actually had my last gaming session of the year. But more importantly because people loved this type of post so much in the past and miss it dearly. It’s almost like a late Christmas present to those people.

So here are the headline figures for 2018…

NB. I don’t record time spent playing a game so the time and days stats are total b.s.

I had 81 more plays in 2018 than 2017 (962). However I played 48 less games in 2018, somehow I played 124 games in 2017. I played in 4 more locations in 2018 over 2017, but with less people that I know. I played with 6 less of my friends in 2018. That’s a shame. I should put the effort in to see who they are and make sure I share a game with them soon.

Ok time for some pretty pie charts.

How did you compare on the headline figures?

BTN February 2018

by the numbers, stats

OMG I’ve just realised I haven’t done this post yet! What they heck have I been doing? I’ll try and keep this one very brief. I better get on with it then…

February was a dire month for games played. Apart from MtG, I played 3 games! But with illness taking me out of action for 2 weeks or more, bad weather and life events hitting some of those I play with. It’s possible to think it’s amazing that I managed as many as I did.

The final section as usual presents the data graphically so we can try and see trends.

My Game of the Month…

No new games this month, so nada for this most prestigious award.

Worst Game of the Month…

Yep you guessed it nothing qualifies for this either.

Hopefully hitting the table in March…

One more attempt to get these three games to the table before moving onto something new. ▪ Suburbia – I really need to get this to the table. It’s been sitting in my collection for a while now. It’s shameful I haven’t played it yet.

▪ Ghost Stories – another classic that has been sitting in my collection. About time this saw the light of day also.

▪ Tao Long – I like abstract games, and I really need to get this Kickstarter to the table.

  • The fortnightly Friday Evening Gaming at The White Lion (or FEG@WL as I call it). The next one is next Friday.
  • Every second Tuesday of the month we have our monthly meet up. This month that second Tuesday has been and gone.

There is a MtG Commander event (if enough people sign up) next weekend.

If you are in the area and want to attend one of the events, please visit the Fenland Gamers Facebook page for further details about the event. Hope to see you there.

BTN January 2018

by the numbers, gaming stats, stats

Wow am I late in getting this post out. Better get on with it…

January is that one month of the year that seems to drag on. I think the blindingly obvious thing from last month is I played a lot of Magic the Gathering. This won’t be the case for much longer. From May onwards it will drop considerably, I’ll still be playing it. Just not as often because the opportunities to play won’t be there.

Two legacy games (Gloomhaven and Charterstone) started last month. I enjoy that style of game, I like the way actions have an impact on future plays. It gives them extra meaning.

Three new games got to the table. One of them a legacy game.

Sadly I only played seven games all month. I think due to scarcity of funds, the start of the legacy games, being able to afford the other meet ups has been hard. So it’s meant I’ve not attended those and thus the opportunity to play more games has been less.

Anyway here are the stats…

Here are the updated measurements of my averages.

The final section as usual presents the data graphically so we can try and see trends. As you can see MtG has been distorting things a lot recently.

My Game of the Month…

This can only be Charterstone. Lovely art work (which I will go into a bit more in my next game report for it), worker placement (a mechanic I really like), legacy element, great components, once finished as a legacy game can still be played, a recharge pack allows the legacy side to be played a second time using the flip side of the board. Yeah delightful legacy game, and well deserved winner of game of the month.

Worst Game of the Month…

Yep there is a “winner” of this infamous award this month, and it’s down to its butt ugly awful artwork. Yep Escape the Dark Castle despite being an ok game, has dire art that puts me off wanting to play it. So for the art alone it’s getting this award.

Hopefully hitting the table in February…

I failed miserably last month to get these two classics to the table. So let’s see if I have better luck in February with them.

  • Suburbia – I really need to get this to the table. It’s been sitting in my collection for a while now. It’s shameful I haven’t played it yet.
  • Ghost Stories – another classic that has been sitting in my collection. About time this saw the light of day also.
  • Tao Long – I like abstract games, and I really need to get this Kickstarter to the table.

  • The weekly Friday Evening Gaming at The White Lion (or FEG@WL as I call it)
  • Every second Wednesday of the month we have our monthly meet up. This month that second Wednesday is next week. Which I’m not sure will be well attended by people in relationships. Their partners might get upset.

If you are in the area and want to attend one of the events, please visit the Fenland Gamers Facebook page for further details about the event. Hope to see you there

BTN 2017 Edition

by the numbers

It’s been an incredible year of gaming. But I think 2017 will be remembered as a year of big box and epic games. And big boxes do present a storage issue, let alone getting them to the table. Which to be fair I haven’t done too bad at doing.

I think it’s also been a year where I have been a little “flat” when it has come to getting excited about new games coming out or being announced, especially round or at big gaming conventions. At the UK Games Expo I went along with no shopping list, or I’ve got to see that game. Gencon and Essen nothing was grabbing me and getting me excited. To be honest in the list of games for 2018 I’ve seen on The Dice Tower nothing is really grabbing me for the up and coming year either.

Kickstarter has been busy this year, and I have to admit when it has come to the fulfilment stage of backed projects that my “reward” for the project has been the last one out of the warehouse. Which has been very frustrating. But there have been some great Kickstarter projects delivered. I don’t think any have been duds yet. Although Clans of Caledonia has been close with its production quality, and graphic design.

Right let’s look at the headline numbers for 2017…


I played 124 games!!!! That’s amazing. I can’t believe that. If you’d asked me to guess before hand I might have gone 70 – 80. The number of plays is super high thanks to two games. Mid year it was Star Wars: Destiny and the last quarter Magic the Gathering. Two games that exploit the addict side of me, but also allow me to do something I enjoy a lot, deck construction. The number of new games played is actually 70, because 6 of those games the BG Stats app counted as new were ones I had played before, but before records began with the app. But 70 new games played is incredible. I didn’t actually buy or own 70 new games! 23 of those games were owned by some-one else, and some of those new plays were games I’d already owned and finally got to the table.

Here are in no particular order my top 9 most played games of 2017.

Ok let’s look at the two challenges I set myself for 2017. The first up was a challenge to get my city building themed games to the table. I kind of bent the rules on this one and included plays for the later half of 2016 as well. Still not managed to get Suburbia to the table.

The second challenge was to encourage me to get my bigger games to the table. To be fair this challenge should have been updated to include Twilight Imperium 4th Edition (TI4). There are at least three on the list that I really want to get to the table, and need to try harder to achieve this. But I got Star Wars: Rebellion to the table three times in the year, A Game of Thrones hit the table five times, Xia twice, plus TI4 twice in the month it came out. So it’s not as if I’m not getting the big ones to the table.

I’ll be setting a couple of new challenges for 2018 in the next couple of days and I’ll share what they are on here.

And there you have it, that was my 2017 in gaming.