how many games are too many in your Collection?

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[MonsterX]

Living on a farm, for me, is about self-sufficency. Boardgames are a part of that. They don't require electricity or electronics, just a table and people...

[shadowandson]

I have never sold a game that I didnt later regret.I may never play them all but my son and his children may some day learn to love.

[dmcallahan]

I've grown up a collector. Books, sports cards, toys, RPG's, Magic Cards, comics, boardgames, and now LEGOs. With each new interest I've sold off parts of a previous collection to help fund and make room for the next one. It also helps me keep pieces that really mean something to me from each area.

[matthewrose]

This is such a complex subject, and thank you Rob for bringing this up. I honestly feel that board gaming and other hobbies can be grouped in the same category as addictions. I did a double take on this video because I struggle with alcoholism. My opinion is that everyone's number is different. We all have different financial capabilities and square footage in our homes. I think the problem arises when your hobby/addiction starts to put a damper or interrupts your quality of life. Once that happens, it is not about you or your families happiness anymore, but something selfish. Anyway, knowing what your limits are is the most important thing.

[PublicExecution]

After looking at the shelves in the background of many YouTube board gamer videos, I'd say that 10 are too many for them.

[alexisxiros]

Long time ago I gave away the boardgame "Britannia". I had bought it because of the cover, but never played it. Recently I read about this game and saw a video too, so I went to ebay and bought it again, eager to play it. Some games or books you cannot use, when you are younger. But as time goes by you change and start to like things you didn't like before.

[jonathana]

I don’t have many games, but for the games I like, I usually get everything. I also have a hard cap of 15 games in my collection. If I get a new game, I get rid of an old one.

I’ve cycled through many games since getting into the hobby in 2014. But I’ve also learned which types of games and what type of gamer I am. I don’t need or want every single new release on Kickstarter/Gamefound.

15 doesn’t sound like a lot compared to other people on BGG, but I’ve literally spent thousands of dollars on Kingdom Death: Monster, and I count that as 1 game. I also don’t play as often as many other people out there.

[jyabha]

Such a relatable topic, for this hobby especially, but applies to so many things. The big problem I see with having too much is that all the lesser things crowd out the time, space, and energy for the things that we truly enjoy (and for the things that often truly matter).

Thanks for the interesting video Rob and for sharing your thoughts.

[raymyers]

Commenting on you with FOMO: you have a great self assessment of that. You've never sounded like a hype up guy...or one that "I LOVE EVERYTHING AND HAVE TO HAVE IT ALL!". You love what you love and that's it. Great video!

[thebrewgeek]

I’m blessed with disposable income but cursed with a lack of space.

[jkadisak]

I have been struggling with this as well. I have a dedicated game room with walls, floor to ceiling and under the table, of games. My reflection started because of space issues. I have finally decided that I will be giving away some to friends and family. That way they can enjoy it and maybe I can still play it with them, but it’s stored at their place. If I need to purge more, then I will need to be honest with myself on if I will ever play some of these. I have favorites that get played often, but some (that I love the idea of) that have never seen the table.

I think I may need to adopt the strategy of capacity is limited by shelves in the game room only (no more on the floor, under table, in the hallway closet), so something has to go if I bring in something new. It will be hard because I enjoy collecting too, but it needs to be practical.

Good topic to reflect on Rob.

[foxtayle]

You have too many games when your house isn't large enough to house all of them 😁

[thomassawicki]

We definitely make sure to play everything we buy, so we might have unplayed games for a couple weeks at most. When I got heavily into the hobby several years ago I became aware of how big some peoples collections were and told myself I wanted a logical limit. As time went on I decided that limit would be enough variety that Id never get bored of my collection, but also that I wouldnt have to completely relearn every game. For me that feels like around 200 games which is pretty well where Im at now. Space is the other factor, as my game closet is packed full and not super user friendly. We do plan to do a media storage room in the future to make our collection of movies, books, and games much easiwr to organize and access, but that will be designed to only allow for minimal additions.

[thomasblaine]

Room and memory are the biggest deciding factors in keeping a game for me. I have almost 600, and it's too many at this point. I have piles around my game room and I just don't want that anymore. More importantly, I cannot keep all those rules in my head, so many games just don't get played because I'd have to make a special effort to relearn them, and unless we plan ahead to play that game, we just won't play those games on a game night. I'm in the process of culling my collection.

[nydaloth]

I remember when I was a kid with just one or two games that I played and played again. I wonder if I was happier having less. In the 90’s I played only 40k for years! I was an expert. Now I see my collection and my problem is deciding what to play! The way I deal with this is to compare with the toy collection I used to have. Collecting was everything. Games, at least, have the potential to be played. Just don’t burden yourself with self imposed tasks, like playing all your games. Just enjoy your hobby. If you think you have too much, just try to stop buying for a time, or set a goal of buying a fixed number of games a year. You can also pick a number of games as your very favorite games and play only those for a while. Remember that we all love our collections because of the happiness it give us, but don’t loose the perspective of what is really your collection, it’s just “stuff”. No matter how much you love your stuff, just don’t get too attached to it. Having said that, if looking at your pile of games give you happiness, then it’s worth it. The moment it give you stress something must be missing from the equation. I don’t recommend to let go of your stuff, if you don’t want to, just try to control your need of acquisition a little bit to a level that you feel confortable. If you sell your games to buy a car or more cows, or whatever, it will just be changing one kind of stuff for another. So don’t worry too much unless you are in the need of money for a more “immediate” reason. Happy gaming, and thanks for your videos.

[ericbortega]

I like gaming because it encompasses so many little hobbies. Everything from writing, building, painting and organizing games with friends. I pick up many games myself because I like to share the gaming experience with others so sometimes that means going all out and getting everything involved. Other times all I need is the base set just to have the game and enjoy it when the mood and time strike. I also have my video game collection in storage too :)

[charliep]

I'm sitting at 510ish right now and I need to cull it down a bit because it is spilling off my shelves. I had over 1500+ at one point and I did two culls to get it down to where it is now.

A good portion of what I have is LCG related - all the stuff for Marvel Champions, Arkham Horror the Card Game, and Lord of the Rings the Card game. I have slowed my purchases way down for now.

Keep up the great work Rob!!

[rochedl]

I have 230 game in my game room, my wife loves to see me play them because it relaxes me. I rarely buy games, my collection has taken ten years to get to this point and I would say I have about 20 games that I have not played in my collection of of those 20, 10 are ones that I bought to have and not play. Situation 7 is a much loved game from my youth and when I saw one for a good price I bought it, not to play but to have.
This collection also includes tabletop miniature wargames and RPGs. SO for Straight up board games I would say I have around 200.

[Kili]

Interesting topic Rob. At 65, I have about 65 games and thinking I will limit my purchases to 4 a year for a few years, then only 1 or 2 a year. Yes I will sell a few without a second thought. You know when a game just doesn’t click.

[tomlindgren]

I have the same dilemma Rob and still justify most of my purchases etc... but, scratch my head at the volume of games and ask myself "will I live long enough to play them all"