Games we acquired after trying someone else’s copy: 3
Beyond Baker Street
Just One
Tiny Towns
Change in our game collection: +11 to 75
Games we removed: 19
New Games: 30
Bargain Quest
Beyond Baker Street
Blue Lagoon (gifted)
Carcassonne
Catan
Century Golem
Chocolate Factory
Concept
Dream Home
Just One
Love Letter
Papillon
Root
Rubik’s Cage (gifted)
Rubik’s Match (gifted)
Santorini
Scythe
Splendor (gifted)
Takenoko (gifted)
Terraforming Mars
The Faceless
Ticket to Ride
Tichu
Tiny Towns
Topiary
Ultra Dash (gifted)
Vadoran Gardens
Villagers
Wingspan
During the year we owned a total of 94 games and I played 53 of them 56%
Full list of games I played in 2019
Rummikub 2
Sushi Go Party 10
Azul 3
My first Carcassonne 2
Ice Cool 2
Drop-It 10 (gifted)
Queen Domino 2
Linkee 1
Hero Realms 5
Tsuro 10
Dream Home 5
Grabolo 9
Timeshock 10
Code Names 1
Scrawl 5 (goodie bag game)
Staccups 4 (game I won)
Photosynthesis 2
Pursuit of Happiness 1
Magic maze 1
Grimm Forest 1
Scythe 1
Exit the secret lab 1
Rising 5 1
Pandemic 5
Rhino Hero 4
Kingdomino 2
Dobble 9
Playing cards 8
Animal upon animal 3
5 second rule Jr 1
Sagrada 6
The magic labyrinth 2
Reef 1
Tokaido 1
Architects of the west kingdom 1
The Faceless 3
Cluedo 1
Patchwork 2
Clank! 2
Gizmos 2
Colt Express 1
Beyond baker street 2
Jenga 1
Dino Hunt Dice 2
Phase 10 2
Villagers 8
Dixit 2
Pandemic Legacy 1 6
Slam it 1
Just One 6
Adventure Mart 1
Victorian Masterminds 1
Shadow Amsterdam 1
Sushi Roll 2
Team3 1
Maiden’s quest 6
Vadoran Garden 2
Concept 3
Carcassonne 2
Yeti in my spaghetti 1
Harry Potter trivial pursuit 1
Blue Lagoon 2 (gifted)
Takenoko 3 (gifted)
Splendor 10 (gifted)
Topiary 7
Castle panic 2
Tsuro of the seas 1
Century 3
Passtally 1
Santorini 10
Throw Throw Burrito 1
Tiny Towns 3
Dinosaur Island 1
Kana Gawi 1
Wingspan 2
Abyss 1
Love letter 1
Ultra Dash 1
Chocolate factory 3
Ticket to ride 2
Rubik’s Cage 3 (gifted)
Rubik’s Match 2 (gifted)
Celestia 1
Lotus 1
Code name pictures 1
Dead of Winter 1
Forbidden Island 1
Champions of Midgard 1
council of four 1
Grimm Masquerade 1
Quadropolis 1
Mission: Red Planet 1
Papillon 1
Articulate 1
*Disclosure – this post includes affiliate links which means if you buy something after using it I will earn some money from the seller for suggesting you visit them. However, it will not cost you anything extra.
I was very excited when my friend told me about the 10×10 game challenge for two reasons 1) it would encourage me (and hopefully the family) to play more games and 2) I could create a spreadsheet to analyse the data. And I admit that may have been more exciting than the prospect of playing games as I do love creating spreadsheets!
What is the 10×10 game challenge?
According to BoardGameGeek, where I believe the challenge originated, the challenge is to play 10 games 10 times each in a year. This challenge encourages people to play each game several times to explore and experience them in depth. There is normal and hardcore challenge depending on whether you want to choose the ten games as you go along or define them at the start of the challenge. As I didn’t know what I was letting myself in for I did the normal challenge.
Did I enjoy the 10×10 game challenge?
Yes I did, in fact I really enjoyed it. It added a new interesting dimension to my gaming; and not just because I had a spreadsheet. I’m very pleased that I completed the challenge, although it was tight because I played the tenth play of the tenth game on New Year’s Eve! I’ve enjoyed
finding out more about the type of games I like to play
watching the children develop their game playing abilities
spending time with family and friends
However, it was also frustrating at times as my fellow game players were not always as keen to play the games on my list. At times it actually felt I was playing as many games as possible instead of focusing on playing a small number more.
It was also difficult to decide what counted as a play. As different games have different play lengths is one play actually equal? The rules on BoardGameGeek say “If you play a game multiple times in a row, each completed game counts as a play.” I disagreed. Some of the games I play with the children are very quick such as Grabolo and I could get to ten plays in one day, which didn’t seem very challenging. Therefore I counted the number of days I played a game, no matter how many times I played it.
The ten games I played ten times
In my quest to get ten plays of ten games I actually played 69 games, a total of 253 plays (an average of 3.6 plays each). I’ve put the full list at the end of the post. But here are the ten games I played ten times; it is an interesting list as it is pretty different to my favourite games of last year. Links with * are an Amazon affiliate link.
Although on average I played 21 games each month, I didn’t have my 10th play until September. It wasn’t looking good that I’d complete the challenge, but managed to get five games to ten plays in December.
I enjoyed the normal 10×10 game challenge so much I am doing it again this year.
What I learnt from doing the 10×10 game challenge
As well as playing lots of games and creating a spreadsheet I also learnt a lot more than I expected during the challenge.
The games I played don’t necessarily reflect my choice
I play a lot of games with my children and often let them chose the games. So my list of ten games is more of a reflection of what they enjoy playing than what I enjoy. For example I’d like to see more puzzle games e.g. Azul and fewer dexterity games e.g. Grabolo.
Playing a game more often with children helps them develop their own strategies and start winning
Children often don’t have the experience to be successful on the first few plays of a game. However, the more you play a game, the more they can see what works and doesn’t and can try different strategies. Hero Realms is the first game I played ten times and that was mostly driven by B who discovered it and loved it. She got better each time so it wasn’t long before she started beating me and I had to get tips from my husband to have a fighting chance!
It is quicker to set up a game you’ve played several times
When you’ve played a game a few times you don’t need to refer to the instructions as often. This means it is easier to set up the game and you get down to playing quicker. Or, in some cases the children have set up games when I’m doing something else so we start playing as soon as I’m there (they’ve learnt this also means we play the game they choose).
It is possible to find more time to play games
The challenge provided enough encouragement to find more times to play games. And I was surprised how easy it was to find pockets of time. My favourite was organising game night; although this sometimes backfired as people would bring their own games which didn’t help me get ten plays! But I also played games with one of my children while the other was in a dance class, and any other children in the waiting area.
Recording the games we played over a year means we have a very good record of which games we play and which we don’t. This means we’ve been able to consider why we haven’t played the games and get rid of the ones we know we don’t enjoy. This means we now have space to get more games, which is very convenient just before UKGamesExpo. It has also helped us question whether we’re ready to get expansion set. For example we were planning on getting the Magic Maze expansion, but realised despite having played the base game 10 times we still had lots of scenarios to work through.
Good to have quick play games
It is great to have games which are quick to set up and play because it means it is possible to fit in a play during a short period of time. I think our children are ready to move on to Carcssonne from My First Carcassonne but we’ve decided to keep it. Although it is simple, it is also fun and can get competitive, so is a game we frequently play when we get in from after school activities.
The games we play go in phases
I was surprised how hard it was to reach ten plays of a game. We’d enjoy a game, play it a few times and then decide to move on to something different. One exception was Grabolo, which I got in a conference goody bag, which we played lots because my son LOVED it. It took 69 days to get to ten plays of Grabolo, compared to 191 days for the next quickest game, Animal upon Animal. The average duration to get to ten plays was 257 days and the longest was 339 for My First Carcassonne.
There were times when I wanted to play games, but couldn’t tempt anyone to join in. So it is great that an increasing number of games have a one player option; we have two: Magic Maze and Sagrada. I still prefer to play games with other people, but it is nice not to be reliant on them.
Well that depends on whether you enjoy playing games. If not, the challenge is unlikely to change your mind. But if you enjoy games and want to encourage yourself to play more than yes I do recommend it. And if you love analysing data then absolutely yes because you can collect lots.
Have you taken part in any game challenges? Do they add to your gaming enjoyment?
Full list of games I played during the 10×10 game challenge
I’ve marked a few of these games as gifted as I’ve been given them to test, however, please note all my comments are honest
*Disclosure – I was given some of these board games free. This post also includes affiliate links which means if you buy something after following a link I will earn a percentage of the sale but it will not cost you more. All the plays were honest choices by myself, family or friends.
2018 was the first year I kept a record of the games I played, as part of tracking how I was doing for the 10×10 challenge. Here’s a look back on my year.
After the success of attending UK Games Expo we decided to visit our local board game cafe for the first time, Thirsty Meeples in Oxford (the original UK board game cafe).
We played:
Drop It
Dream home
Azul
Junk Art
And once we got home some neighbours came round, and we played:
Playing board games is an important part of our family. As well as sitting down to spend time together games help us talk to each other. For the children they also teach fair play and, depending on the game, new skills such as times tables. We play a variety of games and we all have our favourites, but there is enough overlap to ensure we are happy to play games other people suggest.
Our favourite board games*
I challenged everyone to pick their top five games. These are the five most popular (in alphabetical order). I found it surprisingly difficult to pick just five games and could easily have picked 10, which I suspect is the same for everyone.
In Animal upon animal you stack wooden animals on top of a crocodile. It is a quick game and we often play around or two straight after dinner. Obviously, there is skill in positioning your pieces, but a dice roll may mean you can place two animals or someone else has to take your turn.
Catan Junior
Catan Junior is about trading resources so you can build ships and lairs. Dice rolling dictates what resources people get each turn. I did wonder if trading resources was too complicated for my five year old to understand. However, he recently beat me for the first time so I think not!
Kingdominio
Kingdomino is one of the games my husband brought back from Games Expo UK this year. It involves selecting and placing dominoes to build land around your castle. You get points for the number of squares of the same land type touching each other. This introduces spatial awareness and thinking ahead. The scoring uses multiplication so another great learning opportunity.
Magic Maze
We struggled to buy Magic Maze game during summer. It was obviously in high demand as it was out of stock everywhere. However, it was worth the wait as we’ve had great fun playing this collaborative game. The concept of a dwarf, elf, mage and barbarian trying to escape a shopping mall is amusing for the children. You have to work together to move the pieces around the mall because each person can only move each piece in one direction. It can get both amusing and frustrating as you’re not meant to talk or gesture to each other! There are large number of difficulty levels and we’ve only done the first four so far so there is plenty of development for us.
Tsuro
Tsuro is another quick playing game where you lay tiles to move your dragon around the board. The aim is to be the last dragon standing by not flying off the board or flying into another dragon. It sounds simple, but once your flight path intertwines with other flight paths you are not in control of where your dragon goes.
The votes broken down by person
Here are the favourite games by each person. Again these are in alphabetical order as it is too difficult to select a favourite, let alone list five in order of preference.
This selection led to a conversation about what is a board game. Do X wing and Deadzone count as board games and if not should Animal upon animal and Exit which do not have boards? We went with the definition of what games would he like to play most if he was choosing the next game.
Do you play board games as a family? What are your favourites? Which would you recommend we try?
*Disclosure – this post includes affiliate links which means if you buy something after following a link I will earn a percentage of the sale but it will not cost you more. These games are genuine choices by me and my family.
