Intro
Welcome to this week’s gaming post! This week I’m taking a bit of a break from reviews to talk about my year in 2024, including highlights, my most played games, and goals. So without further ado, let’s talk about 2024!
Highlights
Starting off with the most recent highlight: PAX Unplugged. This was my first time attending a large board game convention, and it was a ton of fun to wander the expo hall, demo a bunch games, and meet some designers over the three days. I also wrote two posts about my experience at the convention that you can check out here and here. In my first post, I talked about my overall experience, and I even mentioned a few of the delicious nearby restaurants and some tips and tricks I learned along the way. In my second post, I discussed the range of games I played, from the favorites to the disappointments. Overall, the trip was a blast, and I’m looking forward to attending the convention again this year.
From a personal standpoint, there were also quite a few milestones in 2024. I finished my graduate degree, bought my first home, and even got married to my wonderful wife.
Most Played Games of 2024
In 2024, I managed to play 85 different games, and my most played ones are listed below:
Arkham Horror: The Card Game – Arkham Horror LCG was by far my most played game in 2024 thanks to my friend and me completing both the The Path to Carcosa and The Forgotten Age campaigns. Both were loads of fun, and I previously discussed both campaigns on the blog here and here.
Lost Ruins of Arnak – I’ve already discussed at length how Arnak is one of my favorite games of all time here, but this game saw an increased number of plays due to the excellent solo or two-player cooperative, six chapter expansion: The Missing Expedition.
Scythe – in early 2024, I played through the outstanding Rise of Fenris campaign expansion. Fun fact, this was one of the first games I covered on this blog, so if you want to see how far this blog has come, you can check out that post here.
Flip 7 – I picked this game up at PAX, and it has already managed to become a fun, light filler game. I enjoy these type of push-your-luck games, and it helps that games of Flip 7 are lighting quick.
Wayfarers of the South Tigris – this game was new to the collection as of 2024, but it’s already become my favorite of the Garphill Games’. I covered the game earlier here, and it also made it into my Top 5 Heavy Games.
Earth – another new game to the collection. Earth is an excellent tableau, engine builder with simultaneous turns. This was also one of the first games I covered on the blog, and you can check it out here.
Nucleum – this was one of the games I picked up during the Nerdz Day sale. I discussed the game at length here, and while it doesn’t replace Brass for me, the tile system in the game keeps drawing me back in.
SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence – the latest game I reviewed on the blog here. It’s also one of my favorite games that I discovered last year. The theme, production quality, and multi-use cards are just a few of the many highlights. Along with Arnak, I imagine this game will continue to be one of my most played games for years to come.
The White Castle – a game that feels like it’s more than just the sum of its parts. I wrote a review of the game here, but it’s managed to fill a void for me – a medium weight game with a shorter runtime than most of its peers.
Goals from 2024
In 2023, I had a goal to play each of my games in my collection at least once, and I’m happy to report that I largely completed that goal. In 2024, I had a much simpler goal, just play more games in 2024 than I did in 2023. After 174 plays in 2024, I smashed that goal out of the park by almost doubling the number from 2023. Playing a bunch of games at PAX obviously helped, but I also played a lot more games solo than in the past. While I generally enjoy playing board games multiplayer because of the social side of board gaming with friends, I’ve found that I’m able to get a lot more games to the table if I’m willing to dive in solo. When I’m covering a new game, if the game comes with a solo mode, I am usually down to give it at least one go. One of my favorite solo experiences from 2024 was playing through a campaign of Sleeping Gods: Distant Skies, as it was similar to playing through an open-world video game.
Another goal I had was to start a board gaming blog. I’m not even sure when I initially came up with the idea, but I know I was looking for an outlet where I could talk about my love of board gaming, my experiences, and what I like and don’t like in games. I also really enjoy ranking things, so the Top 10s have become a favorite of mine to put together. Finally, along with starting the blog, I had a goal to post at least once a week, and I’m proud to say that I have not missed a week’s post since I started more than six months ago. Even during the busy times and all the ups and downs throughout the year, the blog has remained a constant for me. From a content perspective, outside of the lists and Top 10s, I’ve transitioned away from covering multiple games in a single post, to instead focus more on a single game. I’ve found that this allows me to go more in-depth on my feelings about a game, both positive and negative.
Goals for 2025
Obviously, the number one goal I have for the blog in 2025 is to continue posting content at least once a week. I’ve also started posting unboxings to my Instagram account, and I plan to make those a more regular occurrence. In terms of upcoming content for the blog, I have a lot of games I want to cover, including reviews of Black Forest, Arcs, and Darwin’s Journey in the near future. In terms of lists, I am also planning to cover my Top “New to Me” Games from 2024, and I imagine a few of the games I’ve talked about in this post will make the list. Finally, while this may be harder to accomplish in 2025 than in 2024, I’d like to again aim to play more games this year than last with 174 plays being the number to beat. I’d also like to give a shout out to all those who have been following my journey, whether you started with me on Day 1 or are joining now, thank you for such a wonderful year! I’ve really enjoyed hearing all the feedback I’ve gotten from the community, and I look forward to what 2025 will bring!
Closing
With that, I’ll wrap up my review of 2024! Let me know what goals you accomplished in 2024 and any goals you have for 2025. And as always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of the games I’ve mentioned, future content, or format in the comments section below. Happy gaming!
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