We have over 150 unplayed games! What should we do?

[@rahdo]

oddville is lovely. it has survived many culls from our shelf. sarah's vision and the neaderthal games can go for sure. kemble's cascade was fun but yeah needed some house rules. also, if a game is boring half way through, i'd say just stop there and move on. i'd bet you're both experienced enough gamers to anticipate how it may or may not evolve further :)

[@OSB911]

I do this more and more. If I am well into the game and bored or frustrated with it, I ask whomever I am playing with how they are feeling. If they are feeling the same way, I propose we put it back in the box and onto the sell/trade shelf it goes.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

We almost never stop a game half way through, but I do agree with you. With the challenge of going through our unplayed games, if a game is long, and super boring, we might do just that. Thank you for putting that idea in my head!

[@a-c-m]

I have zero unplayed games in my collection and I really like to keep it that way. The only unplayed boxes I have are expansions. I am quite focused on avoiding a shelf of shame and have my rules around that - conscious that most of those won’t be feasible for you to follow as you are reviewers of games and are basically forced to play many more games than ordinary gamers: (1) I do a lot of research abound games prior to buying them, mostly by following KZbinrs like you (thanks again for all your work, it is really appreciated by free riders like me !). No impulse buying. I am very selective and if I have any doubts, it will be strictly “play before buy”. There is no urgency in getting a game immediately post release! (2) I track all games I play on BG Stats, this allows me to get a very good feeling for which games are getting played regularly and which games are hard to get to the table. When buying new games, I am very careful about the latter type of games (which generally share common characteristics, mostly they are big box games or very heavy games) (3) I have a hard limit for my collection based on the following formula: 3 x H-Index. This allows me to slowly increase my collection as long as games in my collection get played (4) I am very cautious about buying games which don’t have a solo mode. A solo mode allows me to at least play a game anytime I want it without being dependent on my gaming group. And some of the games which are multiplayer solitaire I now actually prefer to play solo anyway. (5) I never chase board game offers. Just because a game can be bought at a discount is not a good enough or sufficient reason for me to buy it. (6) I am very selective around crowdfunding. Most of the time good games will be available anyway in retail shortly thereafter. And if not, most of them will get a crowdfunding reprint at a later stage. The ones which don’t are rarely good enough… (7) Whenever I get a new game, I am pushing quite hard with my gaming group to get it played within the following weeks. This obviously only works if the number of new games is manageable… But overall this is all very personal. And hence there is nothing wrong if someone is a collector of games and derives joy and happiness from that !

[@raphaela4149]

Great advice, thanks.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

Fantastic comment! Some of the best tips for this for sure! Yeah, some of it for us is your #1. That we are the way people decide if they want the game or not :P It's hard to be that if we don't play them all :P

[@lohengrindrd]

Why? Why does it matter if you have unplayed games?

[@a-c-m]

@@lohengrindrdIt’s purely a personal preference for me. I don’t like having stuff around me which is not used, clogging up space and for which I have spent money on. Others might look at this completely differently and don’t mind that. Or as mentioned above, if you are a collector you might derive joy from just owning the games (like many other collectors items). The key is that everyone has a healthy relationship with his/her board game collection without feeling any regret, guilt or burden. Board games should bring happiness, however you manage your collection.

[@vincentgaliano]

Your formula is quite interesting! I’ll use it.

[@corinnajuras-tabletopsavants]

We have a pretty large list of unplayed games. Most of them consist of campaigns (we don't like starting a new campaign when we have others going on still), games with a minimum 3 players needed (we are mostly a 2-player household), and games that we are excited to play for the mechanics but they have long rulebooks and no theme to intrigue us. We find it's a lot easier to get our smaller, more thematic, two-player experiences to the table. I like the idea that games can re-enter your shelf of unplayed games if you haven't played them for more than a year

[@teaNgames]

We do a pretty good job of keeping up with playing games as we get them...with a couple of exceptions. Near the end of the year there are sales so we always start the year with unplayed games, and the longer and more complex games are usually played last; they're the hardest to table. Also, the unplayed games that carry over year after year tend to be games that need player counts we have a hard time hitting, and often have themes or mechanics that our friends & family aren't interested in. We try to limit games that can't be played with 2 and quirky themed games🤷‍♀️ We're getting better at figuring out games that no one but us will want to play😆

[@BetterBoardGames]

Gary: „Sell them.“ - Sunniva: „Which one?“ - Gary: „EEEVERYOOONE!!“

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

Hahahahaha :P

[@gilliancooke8799]

The two longest unplayed games in my colledtion is easy - I have exactly two unplayed games - Bullet 💜 and Nusfjord Big Box, both of which I got at Christmas. I hate having unplayed games because it seems like a waste to have them just sitting there. It's the same reason I keep a small collection, I get frustrated if I can't play all my games regularly. If having so many unplayed games is actually a problem for you, the solution is to stop new acquisitions coming in for a set time period, play through as many as you can in that time and cull the rest. If having that number doesn't really bother you, then just play what you're genuinely excited about and buy more shelves / a bigger house / a storage unit. Whatever works for you 🤷‍♀️

[@jeffkouba6521]

the First Rule of Holes... stop digging :) (and yes, I have a similar problem)

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

Hahahaha :P So true!

[@OSB911]

The biggest obstacle for me is time with my gaming group. I can get through solo games and family games without much struggle, but those heavy euros that I love (sadly) sit the longest. Yes, do a marathon. Knock that number out!

[@sspiderwoman7]

Same problem here. My wife prefers simpler/quicker games such as Harmonies, Sagrada, Five Tribes… but I am more on the euro side. Happily I have a friend that has the same preference and is always willing to try them with me. But is more challenging to find the time, of course, and they tend to be less played.

[@mikintosh6111]

No buy year, force yourself to play what you have. One axiom that has seced me well, if it's worthwhile, it will get a second printing. If you're still thinking about that new game next January, go ahead and pick up a copy then.

[@TheSludgeMan]

I'm trying a No Buy year this year. Only a few days in I'm already feeling better. The problem is - and let's be real here - Board Game KZbin depends almost entirely on driving interest in the hotness. The challenge for these guys is they kinda need to post content about the latest thing to generate views.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

I think that our Keep or Cull series actually tells the story of it being possible to make content about older games as well, and it was one of the main reasons for us to start it back in 2021. It's of course easy for me to say, but it's also true: I love experiencing new games as much as I love playing games I know are great. Sometimes we end up playing not that great games, but usually there is something interesting or fun about it anyways. Of course, most channels (especialy smaller ones) do need the "hotness" to get new viewers. :)

[@TheSludgeMan]

@BoardGamingRamblings yes definitely! It's one of the things I love so much about the channel, it looks back as well as forward. I'm just trying to say it's not so easy for a board game youtuber to buy zero games for a year, since so many clicks come from people wanting to know what you think of the new games everyone's talking about.

[@fabianscholz8821]

That isn't really true. There are a lot of great games which Aren't available for a good price and never will be. I missed them and i have to live with it.

[@davidgerlach7932]

I am also doing a no-buy year. I feel already less pressured and stressed…

[@mkitten13]

Back when I was buying a lot of games because they were "good deals" I wound up with games I didn't table at all. I looked at them, opened them, looked at the pieces, opened the rulebook, but never made the full step of actually getting them to the table to play. In the end I decided to unburden myself and let them go. I've gotten much, much better at doing research before buying, so now the games I get I do table fairly quickly after getting them. Even my Essen haul of 27 games got played before the 2 month mark was up (the year before I think it was like 20-ish games and I got them played within the month of October). I made the new games a priority because I didn't want to wind up with a big shelf of shame/opportunity (I actually make it a point to empty that shelf before bringing more in - which I realise is not possible for game reviewers like yourself, but that's my aim as simply a player of games). I also try to get my whole collection played at a yearly basis (not always successful, but I aim for it). Typically I keep my collection around the 100-120 game mark, right now it's around 140, lol. If I find a game's rulebook to be too much work, or I struggle to grok it I try to find a video for it. If that too fails, then I will consider letting the game go. If I find myself not desiring to play a game, then I consider it a lesson to put more research in next time to avoid falling for hype. I once spent 6 hours, taking notes to make heads or tail out of a rulebook for a game that ultimately wound up not feeling worth it. I'm not doing that again. If the game doesn't interest, engage me enough to get through the rules, then it will not be worth that investment of time and energy for me. If the rulebook is doable and I'm still not pulling the game out, I will ultimately just give myself the ultimatum. Either get the game tabled within a time frame or let it go. If I never play it, I will not miss it. I've had kickstarter games that I let go of without playing. Now I don't do many kickstarters anymore. I think it's too expensive most of the time (fellow Norwegian) with shipping, customs, etc.

[@woolvey]

I enjoyed this video! I was at a similar point about 2 years ago. I owned about 500 games and had 148 unplayed. Acquiring during covid lockdown without as much opportunity to play was a big factor in the growing number of unplayed games. Today, I'm down to 33 unplayed, if you exclude 9 unplayed ones in my sell pile. The 2 I've had the longest are Black Gold (acquired in 2015) and Antike II (acquired in 2016). My unplayed games are mainly ones that require or play better with more than 2 players, as (like you) I decided to focus on playing the unplayed ones at 2 player. As well as focusing on playing my unplayed games, I also changed my purchasing habits and rarely back anything on crowdfunding platforms now. My weakness is flea markets and bargain buys (local sales, black Friday, etc.). Returning from cons with a huge quantity of "new to me" games is not at all unusual! I appreciate someone who gets a lot of review copies and feels an obligation to try all the hot games to get reviews done can't be quite as picky as me, so you have limited options to slow your intake. While I'm happy with the state of my unplayed number and the rate at which I'm acquiring and offloading games, I've already started to notice a new problem - the number of games I own that I have only played once, and maybe not for many years. This is the next "problem", which is similar to the unplayed issue, because it prompts the same questions; why do we keep games after we've played them once, if we aren't going to play them again? :)

[@Vic1717]

Thanks for this! I own over 400 board games. My best guess is that I haven't played close to half of those games (at least 175) . I do get much enjoyment from just looking at my games and reading the rules and so on, but I would love to play every one of my games. I think a third of my unplayed games are ones I could play solo, but so far I haven't derived a lot of pleasure from playing solo games. The biggest problem I face is one that you allude to, namely getting new games to the table. Over half of my fellow gamers (eight of us play regularly) much prefer to play games they know rather than learning a new one. I, on the other hand, love learning and playing new games and get a little bored playing any game more than ten times. Over the years (I'm 68), I have culled MANY games I haven't played and will continue to do so - I mostly cull games based on a gut feeling of how likely I am to ever play it (older games generally get culled first). My oldest unplayed game: Dune (1979), a game I have owned for almost 40 years and that I just haven't convinced my fellow gamers (all of whom are under 50) to play. The next oldest would be La Città (2000), a game that really attracts me but I haven't gotten to the table. The unplayed games I most want to play: Lacerda's Inventions and ISS Vanguard.

[@petergiebels467]

I also have some unplayed games that i bought before, they are good games but not enough time, some games are sold out in stores or not coming back anymore after sold out, so sometimes better to have the games before you never can play them anymore. sometimes people say bad about a game but it depends what you like yourself.

[@tberceau70]

I have culled unplayed games before. It usually comes down to either buyers remorse, games my interest has gone away from, or games I really want to play but they are not realistically going to get played. Star Wars Rebellion is an example of one that I really wanted to play but it sat on my shelf unplayed for 3 years and getting one other person to commit to a 4 hour game was a tough sell.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

Yeah, there is always some thing between a game and actually playing it, hehe! We have also culled a few unplayed, but it doesn't happen that often!

[@lithracSolo]

Loved the video, that's a really nice change! I keep my collection small (25-30) with usually less than 3 unplayed games, but I got a lot of new arrivals last month, which means I have now 6 unplayed games (already played 4 of the recent arrivals). The hardest to get to the table is also the oldest one, Mr. President (the American presidency 2001-2020). It's a beast of a game, both in terms of table space and weight. I'm not sure when I'll find the mental resources to play it. I toyed with the idea of selling it unplayed, but I'm pretty sure I'll love that game, so I won't do it.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

We have many games that I am pretty sure we'll play and then cull, but hopefully we'll get some fun out of it before the culling!

[@OSB911]

I started chipping away at my 198 this week. I hope to cut that number in half by the end of the year. As I narrow down what I like and what I don't, it is easier to be much more particular with my purchases.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

That is awesome! Good luck on your journey :D

[@pm71241]

Why I still own unplayed games? Easy: Because I've several times experienced not having a game in my collection when I finally found someone to play them with and then they were out-of-print. So if I think I'd like to play a game AT SOME POINT when I find someone to play it with, I'll buy it and not sell it until I conclude that I was wrong about it being good. PS: 50 pages of (small page) rules doesn't scare me.

[@mindyfranke5279]

I have found that I have been intrigued and fascinated by the sound of a game on review or on crowdfunding that I impulse order. By the time they arrive I have no idea what intrigued me. I am considering culling several of these games that we probably won't play.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

Yeah, that time between buying and getting is sometimes hard. Makes it so that it's usually best to think a little while before buying!

[@eliumeldritch]

A few years back, my collection hit 500. And I had about 30 or 40 unplayed years. I have historically sold games before I played them because the excitement wasn't there for me to get it to the table. And I had to reconcile that it probably never would be. In the case of games with large rule books that made it even harder because not only was I not excited but I also didn't think how it ever be excited enough to put in that kind of work. There are some exceptions. For example it took me 3 years to finally get gloomhaven to the table. If I'm not excited about a game at all, and the barrier of entry looks higher than my interest warrants, I am not afraid to let it go.

[@DarrenHack-k6b]

Thank you for your usual excellent thought provoking video. I appreciate that Phil & Matt Eklund designs (Greenland etc) are not to everybody's taste, but they are some of the best immersive games available. Please, please, please don't dismiss a whole category of games without trying to play at least one, ideally with someone who already knows how to play.

[@fabianscholz8821]

First question: Every game i culled i played before i sold it. The only games i sold unplayed were presents. If i buy a game i will play it. At the moment i only have 5 unplayed games on my shelves because i feel that im getting unhappy with a big POS. I try to keep it under 10 the whole time. Question 2: The games which are long on the POS are complex games for at least 4 people (Hegemony, Twilight Imperium, Procyon III, Dune (2019)). Many people don't have the luxary of having gaming groups for these games. But i love them so i buy them. I can only play complex games with my Girlfriend or at events. My groups/friends are playing very irregular and only play medium heavy games at best.

[@go_golden]

7:29 if you've had it sitting on your shelf for 6 years and still haven't played it, do you really want to play it at all, or are you just holding on to it for the sake of your past self who purchased it in the first place? 🤔

[@dougglug1]

I would find it very difficult to cull without playing. I have at least 60+ non played games and feel the problem arises when you get several new games at once and one is amazing that keeps hitting the table while others continue to sit on the shelf (of opportunity!). Thanks to this video I will try and get a new, unplayed game opened (and learnt) and hopefully to a table somewhere per week. Hmm - that might drop to a monthly exercise (bit like real exercise!).

[@raum1988]

I currently have 12 unplayed games. 2 that have been on my shelf the longest are kings dilemma & tiny epic tactics. 2 that I most want to play are Minos: Dawn of the Bronze Age & Underwater cities

[@roofrecordz]

Around 60 unplayed games in my collection, nearly 50%. I'm trying to learn and play those 1st, which I know aren't staying in my collection and could be sold after 3-4 plays, and I could make some free space.

[@bushibayushi]

Some excellent points to think about here! I've culled a few unplayed games, because I realised the chances for me actually playing them more than once are very low (Jaws of the Lion - I've culled this twice actually without playing it, campaign games are just not viable for me with ~300 games on my shelf). And I agree, heavy games are the hardest to cull. If you haven't played them yet, it's hard to learn them spontaneously, you have to dedicate at least a few hours to do so. If you did play them like once years ago, you know that they might offer a great experience, but playing the again after a long break usually means learning them from scratch...

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

It's important to find out what games just doesn't work for you or your group. Buying games get's so much easier! Thanks for sharing!

[@TateRoberts_007]

We have 25 on our SoS, which is way too many. I can't even imagine 150. I'd suggest taking a break from content creation and get some of them played. Is this a backlog of games that need reviewed? If so, may want to take a break or else you're going to get burned out. I know of what I speak. Content creation can be overwhelming as games keep flooding in that publishers want reviewed, and the joy for the hobby can turn to frustration and despair. I'd get a plan together to mitigate this problem or it will just grow even more out of control. Good luck! :)

[@aba824]

I have BIOS Genesis on my shelf of opportunity and have the same thoughts like you have on Greenland and Neandertal :D. But I have "only" 30 something games on that shelf so they are still safe in my collection but BIOS Genesis maybe will stay there for next 10 years :D. Answering some of your questions - on my Shelf of... I have different kinds of games, from quick fillers to 3-4 h of gameplay games, and I have sell some games still in shrink. The longest on my shelf are 7th Continent and Zerywia and two most wanted to play are Through Ice and Snow and Trickerion

[@pincao]

I can relate to this problem ;) Brass Birmingham, Anachrony and Voidfall are the top games I must get to the table.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

All three are very good, but I understand that they aren't the easiest to table :P

[@Apeshower]

I have become very picky on buying games. I have realised that new games come along so often, not all are great and what I have already I like. I also ensure to keep a small collection fitting in only one cupboard. This enforces a new game to provide something new or better than what I have by some margin or it doesn’t get bought. The FOMO is fading. I also never do kickstarter because the big pledges are getting ridiculous. I also spend time not reading or reviewing games because of temptation to buy! Not at the moment though, I am enjoying the videos again…..

[@talkingshelfspace]

The thing that helped me the most is realise I can re-buy pretty much anything if I really want to. So why keep it in my flat if someone else can have fun with it? 😀 So I more and more adopted a policy of "would I really be missing it if it weren't here?" and "can I get this back if I want to?". Sometimes that even applied to games I just bought. I usually at least set them up and try to get through the rules. But if I notice I don't have a good time and it's been multiple attempts to do so, I just sell it without regrets. Can't remember selling anything without having set it up at least. Not played? Definitely! 😀 What I also can recommend is adopting a policy of not accepting review copies. Makes it way easier mentally for me to just re-sell stuff if I'm not feeling it. I would feel bad if a designer or publisher gave me a copy with the implicit hope of me writing about it and then I wouldn't do it. I'm missing out on a lot of previews, but usually works okay to just write about them early after release and they are still happy if/when I write about them. And finally, I ask myself "do I really want to play this when I could play …" (insert any other game you really, really enjoy). Time - and especially time spent with friends and partners - is valuable. So why spent it on something I haven't even had enough interest in to get to in multiple months? Hope that helps Alex (who is still unsuccessfully trying to get down from 130-ish to a 100 😀) P.S.: Most recent unplayed is Splotter's "Greed Incorporated", finally managed to find a copy a few weeks ago!

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

That is what we do with culling, both with Keep or Cull and also our recent purge. If I look at the game and think "I will forget this ever excisted" then it leaves. I do want to experience unplayed games once. Not because I think it will be great, but because I hope to have some fun.

[@johnyuffels4796]

yes that also mean you can not go out anymore and go to any convetion until then!

[@daveheasman3680]

Clearly as KZbinrs you are in a very different position to most of us, so probably the most helpful advice will come from fellow content creators. But for everyday board gamers, I struggle to understand people with this number of unplayed games who are still adding to their collection. Trying not to judge (and failing) but to me it starts to feel like a compulsive addiction - ‘never satisfied’ type of phenomenon. I know I have these tendencies so I impose a few limiters ie 1) a cap on my collection (150) at which point it is one in one out 2) Not buying new games if I have more than 10 games that I have played less than twice 3) aiming to play every game in my collection at least once a year

[@chrsprkr]

I would run all of these through PubMeeple to create some sort of ranking, cross reference between the two of you, and then keep the top X number of games you feel you could play. Tastes change over time and IMO that should take priority over when a game was received. At the very least, you’d know the survivors would ensure they’d make be a promising time

[@fabianscholz8821]

On Phil Eklund: His Rulebooks are bad yeah. He does 50 pages of rules where 20 pages are rules and 30 are context but they are completly mixed. He should split it up. But his games are so good: Pax Series, Bios Series have great games.

[@ericnickols9471]

No unplayed games, but last year I finally assembled KDM and Shadows of Brimstone after years unplayed. I only have 151 games, but well over 1K expansions since I love CCGs. I have never finished D-Day at Omaha Beach, but I think I’d only like the first 14 turns, which is a long game. My secret is play the games the weekend they first get through your door. A new complex Pax game or Fields of Fire, no exceptions.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

Great to hear! We also usually played games pretty much when they arrived, but the more games coming in, the harder it gets. First world problem of course!

[@wicked8576]

hahaha, those exact two games you put on the table, I backed as well, and I sold both before even playing them, because I could not get myself to read these rulebooks.. 😂

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

Yeah, we'll see what we do. They might just disappear :P

[@windyhillbomber]

Here’s my theory on game management. I want to play a game until I at least get my money back and that generally mean five plays. I equate a boardgame with my partner being a similar entertainment investment to a night at the movies. Given that a night out at the movies including some snacks will cost about $60 for two, then five plays easily “pays” for the game. After 5 plays then I will decide if it’s a game I want to keep or let go as it’s been sufficiently enjoyed. This generally results in 75% being let go which allows us to then tackle unplayed games more regularly and never have more than. 50 games on the shelf

[@alisonwentland3765]

I use a similar calculation using the cost of a movie as 2 hours of entertainment. If a board game gets played a couple of times, it’s already paid for itself in entertainment value. And playing games is better for our brains than passively watching television. But I have a lot of unopened games and am trying to learn them now that I’m retired. And one other thing, there is a game cafe in a nearby city but, by the time we drive there (35 minutes) pay the entry fee, buy drinks and snacks, and have to sit there reading a rule book, that’s a big investment in time and money. It’s a better to buy the game to try it. Sure, not all will be worth keeping, but the majority will.

[@Jessoya]

My challenge for 2024 was to play all games that I had before 2024, and I did it! So, now, there is 11 games unplayed. The older one are two Unlock Games, but it doesn't really count, since they will be played only 1 time (well, 3). I can't wait to play Windmill Valley and Morels!

[@ifnyou]

Instead of buying games, write them onto a spreadsheet of games you'd like to buy. Then, each time you reduce your shelf of opportunity by 5 games (either by playing them or moving them on unplayed), give yourself license to buy one game off the spreadsheet. Also, Eklund's games in general are very interesting but you definitely don't need to play all of them. Pax Renaissance is a masterpiece, but the others are really only worth it if you have a strong interest in the topic.

[@RWonTube]

This feels like an impossible task 😅 My solution would be: of all the games before 2023, pick 5 or 10 each you still want to play. Cull the rest. I know it’s harsh, but those number are just too big. If you keep them, new games will probably come in faster than you can play the unplayed games and you will never make the number smaller. We have about 80 games and that’s too much for us. We need to cull about 10 games, purely for space. Selling the games is an obstacle for me.. it’s such a hassle 😅 But I gonna do it this week! I think we have less then 10 unplayed games which is also too much 😅 I blame it on being relatively new to the hobby and having a bit of a buying addiction 🫣 I should work on that 🤫

[@martinnergidojohansen4983]

Good luck on the quest to shelf space😉 I have 7 unplayed (8% of the collection) and the one I really wanna play is 7th Citadel. One of the newest in my collection, but havent gotten the time yet. Planning to cull some games now that I haven’t played yet also because it wont happen😢

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

The 7th Citadel is fantastic! Hope you'll get to play it soon!

[@susangarey7532]

I don’t have any unplayed games, because when I get them, I try to get them played within the next couple of days or weeks. But I don’t have as many games as you guys do. I can really tell a lot about whether I will like a game by reading the rule book and watching play videos. I am not afraid to get rid of a game without playing it if I know it wont go over well with me or my group. I really think you should consider getting rid of a few of your unplayed games without playing them, because playing time and shelf space is a premium. And if they’ve been hanging around so long, most likely there is a reason. 😊

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

Yeah, we might cull a few here and there unplayed, or just also be ok with playing half a game and stopping if we are having a horrible time :P

[@daveflynn3397]

I've realized I will never be able to play all the games I would enjoy playing. Plus I want to have time to enjoy existing games. Don't stress about culling games you haven't played, you can always reaquire some of them later.

[@Punkve1987]

I learned that more often than not, it is sufficient to just try a game, so instead of buying all games I have started leeching on the copies of my gaming group, just to satisfy my curiosity 😝

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

100% true! I love trying games, and for us that means getting them :P

[@pm71241]

You should take comfort in that you made me feel a bit better about having ~70 unplayed games. Granted... some of them takes +50h to play ... so it's a bit of a challenge... but I _do_ feel better now :)

[@legolasegb]

Unplayed and want to play: Great Western Trail, New Zealand & Earth Unplayed for the longest time: Edo 7 years and Eko, 6 years

[@PamWD]

I won't even say how many unplayed games we have except to say it's more than 150! We do have quite a few of them in boxes to sell, but no one seems to want them! (My husband will sell things really cheap, but he rarely gives anything away for free.)

[@larryjex215]

The struggle is real! I find that I get games that interest me, but I don’t always have others who want to play them with me. Even popular games sometimes. But I want it available to play. Lately I’ve been able to play a few with my family and it’s way more fun to play them than just buying them and putting them on the shelf.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

Yeah, playing games is way better than putting games on shelves! :D

[@55wownow]

Interestingly, I recently bought Neanderthal and Greenland from a charity/thrift shop, both completely unopened. I did return Greenland for the same rulebook reason but have kept Neanderthal as it seems to be an easier learn/teach.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

We'll see how they'll end up hehe!

[@jon-athan-hall]

I'm happy to see you got your Clank hat off the shelf of shame so quickly.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

It's a good hat!

[@mccrispy]

I am in almost exactly the same situation as you (same size collection, same proportion of unplayed games). I have unplayed games for which I have multiple expansions! I'm coming around to a realisation that I don't want to be a collector and that I'm just going to have to let many of my games go, unplayed. My thinking now is that if I haven't played a new-to-me game within 2 years of acquiring it, it might as well go to somebody else who might get it played. As to types of games that I have that remain unplayed for years: yup, games where I imagine a scenario where I will get the game to the table, only to discover that that scenario will never come about. In other words, I make an error of judgement in acquiring the game in the first place. In the main this is because (1) I imagine that I have more time to play games than I actually have, and (2) I imagine that I play games with people whose taste in game is completely different to their _actual_ taste in games. I'd love to sell my unplayed games, but finding a safe outlet in which to do so for a "fair" price is... challenging

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

Yeah, I feel like most games we all have, we have for a reason! We think we'll get to play it, and then something (life) gets in the way of us actually playing it!

[@GameOnBoardGame]

Wow you have as many unplayed games as our entire collection! Haha. 160 sounds like a lot, but when you reframe it as only 20% of all the games you own, it's not so bad. We rarely cull games but if we did, I'd be fine with getting rid of unplayed ones. At a certain point, there's gotta be a reason it hasn't made it to the table yet, ya know? That feels like a sign in itself.

[@kataclis]

Around 50 unplayed with another 40ish backed that should be here this year or next. Find the ones we get to the least but I like a bit is the longer campaign games. Hopefully we'll be able to trim down this unplayed list some. Wrapping up Anno 1800 then on to Vale of eternity

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

So many games, so little time!

[@Copterman]

Well as a content creator, I can understand this being an issue. I have played every game in my collection and would never operate otherwise.

[@kimklisiak6421]

I think my worst spot was about 20 unplayed in 2023. I got it to zero by July 2024. It's only climbed back to 2, so I'm doing pretty well reducing buying only to things I really want. When I started to force myself to play thru all the unplayed, I realized alot of them I just didn't really want anymore, but felt obligated to try them since I spent money, I think 3 of them finally went into the cull pile unplayed.

[@leovincent6461]

I have a few games I own I haven't played - mostly because I play games with an 11, and 17 yr old and with my wife - and I'm into finding cool new games and they are not so much. Not really the same but I get lots of books from the library that I never read - because I'm a very picky reader. We do actually have a toy library nearby that has some board games and our public library has a few games, but I've never borrowed from either place - although I think it's a good idea. I think as you said, in your case you are sort of in the business of buying and playing games and this is why you have this problem - I suppose I would say maybe being more selective in what you buy or having a limit of new games you buy might be a good strategy. I also think it is ok to cull some without playing them.

[@jdesigns3713]

So I have 77 unplayed... out of a 277 collection. My goal is to get it down to 30 unplayed before I get more. Dead of winter is most likely the longest owed without playing it. Most excited to table is Ginkopolis, which I got for Christmas.

[@55wownow]

Agree with Rahdo...Oddville is a really fun card-based game, many good choices to be made.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

Thank you for sharing. We'll get to it soon!

[@pascalcallemien2498]

I make it a mission to play new games as soon as possible but I only buy games at Essen and try to keep it under 30 and back max 5 kickstarters a year. I also have the good fortune that I am not interested in games like Gloomhaven, Primal and all those massive storytelling games that take so much time to play through.

[@beerman2000]

1 per week. That knocks out 50/year. 3 years and the shelf should only contain new titles that have just arrived (this estimate gives some realistic leeway, realizing that every week is probably not going to happen)

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

Yeah, I hope we can get at least 50 played! :D

[@dominiquebelanger1828]

I have 5 and one expansion. I bought a used copy of Power Grid I think about 6 years ago and I still haven’t tried it. The rest are new within the last six months. But Power Grid haunts my shelf of shame lol. But I think having 150 new to you games to play is a good problem to have lol. Would love to see a video of your collection.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

Power Grid is fantastic! Hope you'll get a chance to play it :)

[@pm71241]

Hmm ... I think I have a few unplayed games which I've owned since the 90s Like "Anzio". Every time I've started the game with someone it fizzled out after a few turns. ... maybe because it involves some rather arcane mechanisms for it's genre.

[@jstheoriginal]

A good rule of thumb might be: “if we didn’t have this game right now, would we buy it?” If the answer is no, probably just get rid of it.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

That is a great rule!

[@EltWilder]

Two of mine that I’m actually sad about are Catacombs Third Edition that I backed on KS (when I was still foolish enough to do that). This game looks so fun, but I just don’t have the right people to play with. And I’ve owned a used copy of Tiny Towns since 2019. There’s no real reason when I haven’t played that one as it’s a weight and length that is very much in our wheelhouse, it just keeps getting pushed back by other games.

[@stevewithington1787]

We have a 320 game collection (120 big box games, 200 small box games). Of those we have 95 on our shelf of shame, down from 100 at the beginning of last year. We have about 25 big box games still to play and about 70 small box games still to play. Our rule of thumb is that if we’ve had a game for three years and still not played it then we should move it on (small box games get a pass as they take up less space so it’s not such an issue, hence having a larger number of them unplayed). While we got the number down in 2024, at a rate of 5 reduction each year it’ll be 20 years before we catch up, so I’d like to get the number down by about 20-30 this year. If I can get it to sub 50 over the next couple of years then I’d be satisfied. Sub 20 would be awesome. Because you’re content creators I think you’re allowed way more. I think you should be happy if you get it to double digits. Games we’ve had the longest that are still unplayed are North American Railways and Greenland (lol). Both by designers we like quite a bit and both small boxes (my tip for learning a Phil Eklund game is to get a player aid from BGG and watch a video (Box of Delights is very good)). Games we most want to play are Bus (we just got the reprint) and El Grande.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

Good to know we are not alone! Yeah, getting to double digits would be amazing! Good luck in getting it down to 50-80 this year! Hopefully it'll be a fun journey!

[@family_meeple]

I currently have 44 games on my shelf of shame which is about 10% of my collection. However, 7 of those I received in December and 1 is still in the mail. So, I'm really at 36. There are three games that have been in the SoS since April 2020: Crows Overkill, Herbalism, and Shadows in Kyoto. All of them were part of a set of games from Emperor S4 and I just haven't been able to get them played, typically it's a player count issue. The ones that I most want to play are Campy Creatures and Shadows: Amsterdam. I just need to have the right number of players for those.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

Shadows in Kyoto is fantastic! :D

[@family_meeple]

I've heard good things about it and I really want to try it. But I have trouble getting two player games to the table. Hopefully I'll get a chance soon.

[@sspiderwoman7]

I think that is very easy to develop a FOMO with BGs if you are such a famous KZbinr like you both… that might be the reason why you can’t be more picky. Me advice for you would be to allow yourselves to be pickier and have more fun with your games instead of making them become a problem. The best thing about your channel, in my opinion, is how natural and spontaneous you are. Don’t let this fame change it and make your passion for BGs looks like a work to be done ❤

[@feldmanjb]

I currently have no unplayed games. If I havent played a game in a year, it goes on the at-risk pile, and if it stays in the at-risk pile for a year, it leaves. As a result, I have no unplayed games today.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

That is an awesome system! Thanks for sharing!

[@GORYOUN]

My theory now is to play and then sell or keep. If it is good enough and easy enough to get to the table in the future I will keep it. Others go onto a pile to sell …. however they aren’t necessarily sold yet.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

We have a huge cull pile, and got rid of probably 300+ games last year!

[@GORYOUN]

What do you find is the best way to cull / sell them? I use BGG a lot but in recent years, some of the less well known titles don’t sell very quickly if at all. There is so much choice of new games or second hand games available now and it feels like the second hand market has become saturated. I also use ebay sometimes but that I am not sure that is as good.

[@mariavarjord4320]

I have the same problem with books:)) but they don't take up the same space ofc

[@vincentgaliano]

How is it even possible 😮 ? I have one unplayed game, it’s the Final Girl called Slaughter in the Groves, I bought it a few days ago.

[@RubyRevolution2015]

The designer of Ascendancy posted that it has a 140 page rulebook and now instead of being excited that the big box has arrived - it remains in shrink on the Shelf of Dread.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

That is a wild amount of pages...

[@morgaknightgames]

The majority of my unplayed games are campaign games. I love them, but I prefer to play with at least once other person to share the story and experience with. ... But it's so bloody hard to schedule anything recently. 😭 Edit: ouch. Seafall. 😅 We abandoned that after 4 games. The catch up mechanic was not good so the people further behind just got even further which wasn't at all fun.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

Yeah, I love campaign games as well, and I want to actually finish the ones we start this year!

[@DJPerello]

I have around 1000 games, many unplayed. However, I own 3 from 2020, 0 from 2021, 2022, and 2024, and only 1 from 2023. I made a conscious decision to stop backing anything and only buying games that come to retail and really offer something new and stand the test of time. I'm not suggesting nothing good has come out recently, there are a couple of games I have my eye on, but I do not miss constantly learning new rules and struggling to get the next new hotness to the table. It probably isn't feasible for someone running a KZbin channel to do what I'm doing, but if you can start really appreciating the games you've already got, the allure of the new greatly diminishes.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

I love this, and I also hope that our channel can help find these games that are great for a long time. I'm already excited to look back this year, see what games we still own and love from a few years back. We try to mix our content about new and older titles, and I hope to do this even more in 2025!

[@The-Lost-Librarian]

Have about 20 unplayed ones. Mostly bigger box, some small. Oldest is Five Tribes and Suburbia. I have been better about not buying stuff I know my lighter casual gaming family won't play.

[@ABTOCMEPTb]

I learned it with movies. You need a certain state of mind, mood, maturity and company to watch certain movie. Movie that was unbearable before, might get it second chance under the right circumstances. Same with games. Although, Voidfall was way too much for me. We have a schedule in the family. Tue and Thu are for already played games. Saturdays for new. So all in all we only playing 4 new games a month. But we also very picky in what games we are buying.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

That is an amazing schedule, and makes it so that you'll always get to play your favorites as well. Love it!

[@sspiderwoman7]

I love this idea as well. I have a VERY PICKY collection of 60 games, 1 unplayed and it gives me headaches already because is sitting there for a year! I definitely think that the solution would be to be more picky and better identify your preferences. That are games that look amazing and interesting, but simply don’t work/click for me. The better you learn about yourself, the better you get in selecting just games that you would play immediately!

[@marciapeterson9723]

I have 250 games of which 21 are unplayed. Perhaps my oldest unplayed game is Fresco. The games I most want to play are new to me: Ark Nova and Ezra and Nehemiah.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

Both Ark Nova and Ezra are great! Enjoy :D

[@GORYOUN]

You need to play the shorter games in the biggest boxes. If I sell a big box game, it makes space for two more😀

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

That is so true! We have a few of those on the shelf!

[@GORYOUN]

You’re not the only one. Selling them at the rate I continue to buy them is virtually impossible and giving them away is not easy / practical either. And then there are all the empty boxes I keep in order to package the games I do sell. I ender up selecting better games to sell because there is mor3 demand for them. I have plenty of good board games that people generally aren’t interested in because of the new games that keep coming out. Even putting them on BGG at £10 + shipping for a decent game from 4 to 5 years ago is unlikely to sell🙁

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

Yeah, we end up giving them away or selling super cheap, mostly at local cons! So much better to get rid of them than for them to just sit here. I understand the struggle!

[@lorion42]

Ich reduced my number of unplayed games to 10, of which Macht$piele is the oldest (the game is at least 10 years in the collection) and Ticket to Ride: Legends of the West the newest (as christmas present) and that's the one I'm most interested in, even if I'm not sure what group to play it regulary. But I'm crazy: I started to get rid of games that I won't play in the next time and adding a hard limit of 200 games also worked for me. So I need to remove games before I can get new ones.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

Great way of doing it! Thanks for sharing :)

[@dekrasser86]

Just play 1 every day! One by one you will get there.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

We'll see what we can do :P

[@witorudobrody]

I culled unplayed games several times, it doesn’t hurt so much 😂 ps. Still have 24 unplayed games from 71 total 😅

[@Jagkt]

I try to stop buying new games when I have unplayed board games. Here are my unplayed board games: - Voidfall - Marvel Dice Throne - Destinies - ISS Vanguard - Vindication - Paranormal Detectives - Inventions: Evolution of Ideas - Cthulhu: Death May Die - Fear of the Unknown - Detective : A Modern Crime Board Game The one that I really want to try is : Voidfall

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

Voidfall is fantastic! Detective is still one of my favorite narrative games!

[@davetherave2010]

I enjoyed this video. 160 unplayed games is wild though. Games should be fun - Get rid of any game that's boring (unless you're being paid to play) If you can't get it to the table (cos the instructions are long and/or you've lost interest) you should ask yourself if it's a collectable. Not not, cull it. 🔥 Maybe play the oldest of games first and have a check-in after an hour. If no one is enjoying it, stop playing and cull it. 🔥 The spiel auction would appreciate any of your culled games.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

Yeah, games should be fun, and most of the time they are (in some way or another at least :P) I agree on quitting, and we might do that if we are not enjoying ourselves at all!

[@IvanGrimm1]

105 unplanned games. I have had Merchants and Mauraders unplayed since 2010

[@lohengrindrd]

150 unplayed games isn't even remotely a problem, it's an opportunity. More than 300 is a problem...

[@mllrart]

My biggest fear is to have more and more board games and the number of unplayed board games growing simultaneously. If a new board game won't hit the table within 6-9 months, I consider selling the game again. And sometimes funny things happen, I bought a game and it never made it to the table, so I sold it. And a few weeks later a friend of mine bought that game to play it 😄

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

Yeah, the worst thing that happens is that you don't play that one game. Even if it would have been an amazing game, it doesn't really matter in the big picture.

[@mazman9355]

4:16 feels kinda bad. Bob gets callously fired, and Neanderthal gets agonized over.🤣🤣 Maybe if you visualize Bob's face on the boxes of the unplayed games to get you in the right mood? I decided I needed a war game in my small collection, but Cuba Libre has waited long to be freed from its shrink and dictatorship.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

We hired Bob again! He got so sad!

[@mazman9355]

Yay!! Lets goooooo, Bob!!

[@jurds216]

Everyone saying to cull games… do you follow this channel? They do a series Keep or Cull and they cull many many games 🤨

[@TimYoung1984]

Go back to being just gamers instead of influencers. Play the games to have fun, not post videos. Make videos only about the games you haven’t played as you play them.

[@MarkStamp-o6p]

Nice hat Johannes, I wish mine had arrived ☹

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

Thank you! Did your order miss the hat? :(

[@markstamp3937]

​@@BoardGamingRamblings I haven't got my order yet😢

[@darbyl3872]

20% SOS must be normal for crazy gamers, like us (61/293).

[@RainwaterGames]

I think your goal should be multifaceted. I think the goal should be to reduce that current list of 160 down to 100 or less. Maybe that's playing 30 and culling 30. Maybe that's playing 50 and culling 10. Hopefully that is due to playing them and not culling them but if you know you have to get that down to 100, you'll be inclined to play them so that you won't have to cull them. That's dealing with the current list. Second, I think you should make a goal to reduce the TOTAL number of unplayed games from 160 to 140 by end of 2025, which would include new games aquired this year. While lowering it by 20 may sound easy, keep in mind that this is only possible if your net is playing 20 more games this year than you acquire. It's really easy to acquire more than you play so in order to reduce to 20 by the end of the year, you may want to give yourselves a mini goal such as "play 2 games for every 1 game you buy" as that will help keep you on track.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

All awesome suggestions! Thank you :D

[@RainwaterGames]

@@BoardGamingRamblings Well my other suggestion was for me to take a leave of absence from work, ditch my family, fly across the world, and move in with you guys for 6 months to help you play games every single day. While I know that would be a dream for anyone to have me move in with them, I am sorry to inform that it's highly unlikely. After many many many milliseconds of careful consideration, I determined that would be a non-option, mostly for the reason that Sunniva would probably go crazy with TWO people leaving the toilet seat up. But alas, I have faith that you will accomplish your goals without my assistance. =D

[@dcrbdh]

Okay, serious response. Have a game cull person go through your games with you. Have them ask hard questions. "When was the last time you played this?", "How hard is it to get this game back if you change your mind?", "How hard is it to get to the table?". Keep in mind that NO game is gonna cure your depression/fill a hole in your life/bring last happiness. Are you holding on a particular game memory? How likely are you to reclaim it? If you haven't played a game in last 2 years, then you clearly don't need it. Basically enlist someone to help you make the hard culling decisions. Why hang on to a game because you have not played it? How likely is this unplayed game gunna be the best thing? Take a game, and if there are games you'd rather play, then you don't need it.

[@lukeparnell]

This is the sunk cost fallacy, you have invested in these unplayed games and you feel you need get your worth out of them. But I think you need to think about what your time and wellbeing are worth. I’d say use time as a factor, for example, every year cull unplayed games that are at least 3 or 4 years old. No questions asked. I have around 35 unplayed games, oldest, gloomhaven, want to play the most? Rebirth and Mistwind. Just my opinion I’m not an expert. Love the channel.

[@OSB911]

Thst IS the coolest thing ever. 😂

[@El-gu2hi]

my biggest problem is with overly big games - box size and required table space - so i still have not played anunnaki or expeditions and unconscious mind also wants a big table - must stop buying games that are too big for my space!

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

Yeah, games are getting too big...

[@EltWilder]

Yeah I have about 90! Gotta stop buying more and get these played. We’ll see how that goes in 2025.

[@nirszi]

I look at games the same way I look at books. Would it bother me to have a nice big library of 500 books? Not at all. I don't subscribe to the whole shelf of shame bs. It's a collection of games, some I played, some I intend to play in the future. If I KNOW I will not want to play a game ever, it will go to the cull pile immediately. Will I ever play all my games? I plan to, depends of how long I will live. Does it stop me from buying new games I feel passionate about. Heck no.

[@BoardGamingRamblings]

I love that! I also have always been a collector, and will never have a small collection. I like collecting things that makes me happy, and board games really do. Thanks for sharing!