In 2021 I set up a 10×10 goal for board games. It was fun, but I didn’t actually complete the goal of playing 10 specific games 10 times over the year (made it to 72). I still had a successful gaming year (played 174 games, many of which were not on the 10×10) but I didn’t like the fact that I “failed.” In reviewing my gaming history for the year, I realized I had a lot of games I played 4-6 times. Hm. A 10×10 results in 100 games being played. A 20×5 also results in 100 games being played, but with more variety. I decided to try that for 2022. I thought I made the concept up. I didn’t. 🙂 There are plenty of different configurations that people use; a 10×10 just seems to be the most popular.
How did my 20×5 go for 2022? Fantastic! Not only did I finish, but I had my best gaming year ever since returning to the hobby.
I attended BGG Spring and BGG Fall (both for the first time) which gave me a nice boost to gaming sessions for the year. I got connected with several local gaming groups (the Wednesday nights at the micro-brewery, the Saturday or Sunday sessions at local game stores). By the end of the year I had averaged playing over 1 game per day! Of course I didn’t actually play one game per day, I just had lots of gaming sessions where I played multiple different games…
Here are the specifics of my 2022 20×5.
| Game | Plays | New to me |
|---|---|---|
| Azul | 9 | * |
| Wingspan | 9 | |
| Cascadia | 20 | |
| Quacks of Quedlinberg | 27 | ✓ |
| Merchants of the Dark Road | 7 | ✓ |
| Tekhenu | 9 | ✓ |
| Village | 6 | ✓ |
| Chess | 8 | |
| Scythe | 6 | |
| Fae | 9 | ✓ |
| Stone Age | 8 | |
| Everdell | 7 | ✓ |
| Bumúntú | 6 | ✓ |
| Tsuro of the Seas | 10 | |
| Whistle Stop | 5 | ✓ |
| Chai | 9 | ✓ |
| Downfall of Pompeii | 7 | ✓ |
| Under Falling Skies | 5 | ✓ |
| Dwellings of Eldervale | 5 | ✓ |
| Verdant | 8 | ✓ |
| * For Azul I counted all of the family of games, so while Azul was not new to me this year, Azul Queen’s Garden was, so this was a bit of a hyrbid. |
Everdell and Quacks of Quedlinberg were both added to the list because they were highly popular games from previous years that I had never played yet. I enjoyed both, and as you can see Quacks became a family favorite and was played more than any other game during the year. Scythe and Stone Age were favorites from previous years that I included. Merchants of the Dark Road and Verdant were both published in 2022 and I enjoyed them both. Bumúntú was an impulse buy at a used board game sale, and it turned out to be very fun!
Overall I played 95 different games a total of 391 times in 2022. Of those 95 games, 55 of them were brand new to me (had not played them in previous years). Of those 55, 4 were released this year (Endless Winter, Merchants of the Dark Road, Return to Dark Tower and Verdant). One game I received last year via Kickstarter (Dollars to Donuts) finally made it to the table this year and was quite enjoyable. I played by first game of the venerable Catan early in 2022 as well! (Yes, late to the party, and yes, I enjoyed the game.)
Wrap Up
I really enjoyed working towards my 20×5 as compared to a 10×10 in previous years. Changing the configuration meant more games got played fewer times, and that made a huge difference for me. I am currently planning the contents of my 20×5 for 2023. I seriously doubt I will play close to 400 games again this year, but then again, who knows? 😎