Category Archives: gaming stats

gaming stats

My Gaming Year 2021

by the numbers, game challenges, gaming stats, stats

In my previous blog post I waffled on about the game challenges I’d set up in the bgstat app I use, and how I fell just short of achieving the Play 15 New Games to Me challenge.

You may have also noticed in that post and later on in this one the 3×3 or 4×4 image grid of game covers. I used to produce these using an app called Diptic and having to do a Google image search to find each relevant game box image. But now the bgstat generates these for me with out all that extra effort! What a great new (well to me, not sure when it was added) feature.

2021 has been an interesting year to say the least gaming wise. It wasn’t until the later half of the year before world events allowed in person gaming to become a thing again. I have to say I missed playing with others a lot. So it was really great to be doing that again.

Fenland Gamers has grown in size! By that I mean those that attend gaming sessions on a regular basis. This has been amazing, and the new members have been really great to game with. Because of this success we ended the year saying good bye to our hosts The Luxe.

We still live in uncertain times. Who knows what 2022 has in store for us. Hopefully despite what it decides to throw at us we can continue to meet up, play games, and share good times.

As with more recent stat posts I’m not going to attempt to analyse the data. I’m going to just put the data out there and let it speak for itself.

But first for those that aren’t interested in anything other than my top 9 played games of 2021, here is a snazzy 3×3 image grid of those games.

My Top 9 Most Played Games of 2021

And now for those that want more details here are the stats for my gaming in 2021. The only thing you have to ignore from these stats is the time and days figures. I don’t record that data so those figures are basically gibberish. I’d also call bs on the number of players. It’s much much lower than that, less than 20 would be my guess. But this is due to me not adding everyone I play with as a named player. They only usually get added after I’ve played against/with them on a regular basis.

My Gaming Stats for 2021

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.

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 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 November 2017

by the numbers, gaming stats, stats

Well that’s November done and dusted, we are now on the home stretch to 2018. But how did I do gaming wise in November? As you will see this was an amazing month for the number of plays. In fact a record breaking month! But the number of games I played was a new all time low. The reason for that is that there has been no Friday Night Gaming at the White Lion for most of November. I’ve more or less stopped organising these because of lack of interest. But as you will see I have played a few games of Magic the Gathering this month. Most of these games have been against my students, one or two of them seem to have become addicted to the game.

Anyhooo, here are the stats for November 2017…

Here are the different measures for the average. It’s pretty obvious that the plays smashes them all, but the plays is considerably under.

The final section as usual presents the data graphically so we can try and see trends. This big spike is going to skew things a bit I think.

My Game of the Month…

There was only one new game in November and because of the issues I reported with the size of the components and the hard to read numbers on the tiles, I can’t in all honesty make it the game of the month. So for the second time this year there is no game of the month.

My gaming moment of the month…

This will be the first of an “as and when” addition to this monthly retrospective.

Worst Game of the Month…

The board game world breathes a big sigh of relief as once again there is no new entry to the Nantucket Wing of Shame. Although the Barenpark Cellar of over hyped games does take up a lot of room in it.

Hopefully hitting the table in December…

Clans of Caledonia did make it to the table in November. So I have dropped that off the list.

  • 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.
  • Twilight Imperium (4th Edition) – came out earlier than expected. A couple of game sessions are set up to play this, hopefully they will happen.

  • Every second Wednesday of the month we have our monthly meet up. This month that second Wednesday is 13th December. More details on the clubs Facebook page (link at the bottom of  this post).

Click on the image to get a larger view of the gaming sessions planned so far for the month of December.

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 September 2017

by the numbers, gaming stats, stats

I enjoy this monthly opportunity to look back and reflect on the previous months gaming. But when you see this months numbers, holy cow the impact of Dale and I not getting a chance to play Star Wars: Destiny is massive. It’s a very busy time of year for us, new timetables, not a lot of gaps where we are free at the same time. I think we have found a slot one lunchtime we are both able to play a couple of games. We will have to see how that goes.

Incredibly there was only one new game played this month. I don’t think that has ever happened. I’m going to have to review the stats, because if it did then it was in the early days of record keeping I’m sure.

Super happy that Scythe got to the table twice. It’s a great game, and once that new expansion hits will be hitting the table even more. Also two other big games hit the table this month. It’s kind of important to acknowledge the impact these games have on the number of plays for the month. Take Star Wars: Rebellion for instance. That game for Diego and myself on Saturday took four hours to play (including the new setup involved with the expansion). If we had been playing lighter games instead we might have got three or four games/plays in, in the same time period.

I also wasn’t able to attend a couple of gaming sessions this month due to life stuff, other commitments. So that also would impact the stats a little. But not by much.

Anyway enough waffling, here are the cold hard and fast numbers from the BG Stats app for September.


Averages time. I only beat the mode number of plays in September. The others I was not even close. And I repeat this with the number of games played also. Under on arithmetic mean and median, just over on mode.

The final section as usual presents the data graphically so we can try and see trends. After the fluctuating recent highs, September looks like a stock market crash on the plays front. Maybe I should normalise the previous months so they don’t have the Destiny numbers and see how big a drop it is if any?

My Game of the Month…

There was only one new to me game this month. But I don’t like to just give an award by default. Does Broom Service warrant being game of the month? I liked the game, it has some nice mechanics, great artwork. But still I’m not sure it makes the grade to be game of the month. So no winner this month.

Worst Game of the Month…

I’m glad to report no candidates for this award this month.

Hopefully hitting the table in October…

But going to put the ones from the last month back on for October.

  •  Zombicide – I want to get this to the table with the Big Bang Theory characters and see how they do in the zombie apocalypse.
  • Hero Realms with the character expansions.
  • Magic the Gathering Commander (with more than two players)

  • 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 11/10/17.

I’m hoping that if you click on the image you can see what days we have stuff planned for so far in October.

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