January 2018

  • Game Sessions: 2018 Preview – Ten by Ten(ish)

    Playing Games Blog Icon
    John Parker
    Jan 25, 2018

    Setup

    It is probably a good thing that I didn’t set any specific gaming goals for 2017 – I played the least in several years by pretty much all ways of counting plays (sessions, games, times per game, etc.). I started the year with the simple, “I will get more organized, pare down, and do and share more in 2017 in a way that increases the enjoyment of the hobby for my friends, my family and myself.” Since this goal isn’t quantifiable, it is hard to measure my success, but I think I can say confidently that I failed. However, I did get a lot more D&D played, which was a good thing.

    This year I am looking at a “Ten by Ten(ish)” goal, which last year I knew I couldn’t commit. Although I don’t ever cheat at the game table, I will cheat on this goal right off the starting space.

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  • How do Spiel des Jahres Winners Rate? – Part 3

    Industry Analysis Notebook Icon
    John Parker
    Jan 18, 2018

    Setup

    Considering the statement made in Part 1 regarding the relevance of the SDJ to the BGG audience, let’s take a look at how the games considered for the SDJ rate on BGG. This rating begins with the Average User Rating, which drives the BGG Rating (which considers the number of User Ratings), and ultimately the BGG Rank (which stacks the BGG Ratings up against each other). Although, BGG Rank is ultimately the most interesting and will have the greatest focus in this article, we will look at some statistics about the SDJ and KSDJ games in the order that the BGG Rank is built: User Rating –> BGG Rating –> BGG Rank. All graphs have been derived from data obtained from BoardGameGeek.com in June and July 2017.

    Note: If you are starting your reading with this article, you might want to jump to the introduction here: Industry Focus: Spiel des Jahres & the BGG Community Part 1

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