I\u2019ve been playing modern board games for well over 15 years at this point, and with each passing year my collection grows. Some years it grew more than others, but either way I have been steadily acquiring. For a long time this was never a problem. I had the space and I played a lot of games. Then my life changed pretty drastically three years ago – two kids came along, I\u2019m running out of space, and I don\u2019t play that many games. My neatly organized shelves have started overflowing and I\u2019ve started to realize that I don\u2019t need all these games anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With two young children, the house that used to seem too big has gotten much smaller. Seemingly every corner of my home has been filling up with noisy toys, stuffed animals, and the occasional over-sized gift from a grandparent that we will never have a good place for. Living among the chaos of a young family has put space at a premium, and a board game collection takes up a lot of space. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve also had a shift in my attitude around my collection. I no longer have the desire to own as many games as possible. I\u2019ve played enough games over the years, that not every new game does something unique for me. Now I’m finding that I’d rather identify a few games that do something well and keep those. As I find games that do it better, I can swap them out with something that previously held that spot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking through my collection, I started feeling like Rob from High Fidelity. I\u2019ve had a steady game group since I started playing games, but the group as it exists today is very different than when I started. Some games have strong memories of people and places tied to them. I can look at the Chicago Express box and remember when I played with a friend who was a total non-gamer, who despite my best efforts had no idea what was going on, and bankrupted himself very quickly. Through the Ages was one of the first BIG games I purchased and I remember pouring over the rule book in advance of our first eight-hour game session. Many of my games elicited some sort of memory for me. I knew there\u2019d be some games I wanted to keep even knowing they would never see the table again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n