I've decided that a BGG rating (Bayesian rating) below 6.5 means the game is Bad. This is becoming a hard and fast rule for me.
If a game I'm interested in has a low rating (near 6.5), I consult the average rating. If the average rating is below 7, it is a virtual certainty that the game is Bad. Bad means I wouldn't want to own it and would rarely want to play it. That's all I really wanted to say. The rest of this post is a result of having way too much time on my hands. If anyone has any idea what this little analysis says about my game preferences, I'm all ears... *************************************** I have exactly two games in my collection that fall into the category of (BGG < 6.5, AVG > 7): The Settlers of Zarahemla and Boggle Master. I keep the first just because I'm Mormon and I keep the second because I loved it as a kid, excel at it, it's impossible to trade away and impossible to replace. (Settlers may be growing on me, but I'm not interested enough to find out. My last play was enjoyable, though.) Here are the Bad games that I own or have owned: Pick Picknic 6.48 Money! 6.47 Quo Vadis? 6.45 Boggle Master 6.43 The Settlers of Zarahemla 6.42 Pickomino 6.38 Gavitt's Stock Exchange (aka Pit) 6.34 Cave Troll 6.29 Goldbräu 6.29 Winds Of Plunder 6.28 Loot 6.27 Oshi 5.87 Oriente 5.74 Reiner Knizia's Amazing Flea Circus 5.73 Covert Action 5.58 DareBase 5.51 Vantage 5.42 Skip-bo 5.16 Checkers 4.81 Of these, there are 3 games with BGG < 6.5 + AVG < 7 that I *might* miss if I were the victim of a fire: Cave Troll, Money!, and Loot (only good with teams (6/8 players)). I got rid of Cave Troll because I couldn't stomach the theme (I like fantasy, but it embarrasses me). Settlers and Boggle have AVG > 7. * I brought Checkers back from a visit to my parents' because it just seems like something gamers should have (like a Chess set, which I don't own and probably never will, so go figure). It's a nice-ish wooden set that my dad's bank gave to him. Last time I played Checkers was with my niece 2(?) years ago. Before that, who knows. * I was introduced to Skip-bo on the mission and bought it at some point, but have probably never played it since then. * Vantage is a throw-back to when I was 10 or something (yes, my copy is that old). I've never played it. It's inconceivable to me that this rates higher than Skip-bo. (It's from the makers of UNO!) * DareBase was a gift from the designer. I've never played it. * I bought Pit, Oriente, and Covert Action to try to accommodate large groups, but have since decided that the goal is silly (and these games pretty much suck anyway). I really would like to design a decent game for use with the Oriente materials though. * I got Amazing Flea Circus and Pickomino to play with my nieces, but they were too young. * I bought Quo Vadis? knowing I don't like it because it was a good deal (and regret it anyway). Here are the Not Bad games that I've (played) and have traded or would rather not own: Tigris & Euphrates 7.96 (4) Race for the Galaxy 7.90 (3) Pandemic 7.70 (2) Taj Mahal 7.46 (3) Citadels 7.26 (5) Thebes 7.25 (7) For Sale 7.17 (4) Vegas Showdown 7.17 (1) Tinner's Trail 7.16 (1) Caylus Magna Carta 7.07 (4) China 7.04 (4) Arkadia 6.99 (1) Hansa 6.97 (5) Meuterer 6.96 (2) Odin's Ravens 6.64 (4) Phoenicia 6.61 (2) Gheos 6.51 (4) The odd-ball of this group is Taj Mahal, which I'm not a fan of, but seem to be developing a soft spot for. If I have another enjoyable play of it, it'll almost certainly come off this list. And on that same note, Lost Cities would have appeared on this list right up until my very last play of it. Most of the rest on this list either started badly (Citadels, Pandemic, Arkadia) or seemed to get worse with each play. Of this group, there are 4 that I more or less like as games (don't seem to get worse anyway), but rarely make the cut at play time: Thebes (too random), Hansa (too chaotic), Odin's Ravens (two players and too long), and Gheos (too hard to explain/remember rules). And here are the Not Bad games that I have played and am happy to own: Brass 7.88 Ra 7.68 Imperial 7.67 Steam 7.49 Struggle of Empires 7.48 Hollywood Blockbuster 7.18 (The presentation really bothers me.) Lost Cities 7.18 Nexus Ops 7.11 Hacienda 7.02 In the Shadow of the Emperor 6.95 No Thanks! 6.94 Perikles 6.87 The Ark of the Covenant 6.85 Oltre Mare 6.73 Scripts and Scribes 6.72 Die Sieben Siegel 6.71 Risk 2210 A.D. 6.62 (I'm happy to have this only as a hook for people who know Risk, but I never really want to play Risk for its own sake. I think I'd rather have Risk Revised to fill this niche, but whatever, my timing was off.) King of Siam 6.62 (This one is borderline and hard to get played, so I may trade it anyway.) The Battle for Hill 218 6.55 And finally, here are the Not Bad games that I own and have not played (but expect to like): Memoir '44 7.50 (I may like this, but I expect to trade it anyway unless it's super duper) Tower of Babel 6.69 After the Flood 6.61 Here are games I've played and would like to own: Automobile 7.22 Vikings 7.20 Snow Tails 6.90 Stephenson's Rocket 6.83 League of Six 6.65 And here is a rundown of games I have played taken from the first 4 pages of ranked games on BGG, separated into two groups. I think the best way to interpret this is to say that if these games were gifted to me, I'd be inclined to keep the first group and trade the second group. But I'm not in a hurry to own any of them. Notre Dame In the Year of the Dragon Medici The End of the Triumvirate Chicago Express Puerto Rico Twilight Struggle Dominion Goa Stone Age Age of Empires 3 Small World/Vinci Samurai Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation Acquire Amun-Re Battlestar Galactica Roborally Yspahan Cuba Bohnanza Santiago Domaine Keythedral Coloretto Ys Manila Aladdin's Dragons Showmanager Survive! (nostalgia) Roll Through the Ages Ubongo Nefertiti Can't Stop Witch's Brew Tumblin-Dice Jamaica A Castle for All Seasons (borderline) Cold War: CIA vs. KGB La Citta Colosseum Shogun/Wallenstein Space Alert Eketorp Princes of Florence Mr. Jack Agricola Power Grid Caylus 1960 Reef Encounter Saint Petersburg Hive Antiquity Ticket to Ride Battle Line Modern Art Through the Desert (borderline) Blokus Thurn & Taxis Louis XIV Last Night on Earth Antike Kingsburg Manoeuvre Alhambra Attika Hamburgum Formula Dé Zooloretto Wits & Wagers Ingenious A Game of Thrones Leonardo da Vinci Dungeon Twister The Settlers of Catan Card Game Winner's Circle Metropolys Ricochet Robots Edel, Stein & Reich Container Conquest of the Empire Wyatt Earp A Touch of Evil, The Supernatural Game High Society Fairy Tale Ca$h 'n Gun$ Bang! Diamant Cartagena Turn The Tide Mall of Horror Age of Conan: The Strategy Board Game O Zoo le Mio --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "utah county boardgamers association" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/ucboardgamers?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
