I have one that will cut-down on my excessive game purchasing. If I can stick to it is another story, but I think I can.
I'm only gonna back/buy games that are specifically for 1 Player only, 1-2 Players, and a few for 2 Players only. I realize I'll be missing-out on many excellent 1-4+ Player games, but I have several nice multi-player games already (Dune Imperium, Lost Ruins of Arnak, etc.). Since a lot less low player-count games are released (War Games notwithstanding), I think this strategy can help me.
So far, my recent (and not too long ago) backs and buys have been (in no particular order):
Unsurmountable (and Dual Peaks)
Nuuk (PnP)
Chai: Tea for 2 (2 Player)
Jambo (2 Player)
Pentaquark (with PnP Expansions)
Montalo's Revenge (Expansion)
I'll most surely be backing Wreckland Run and Legacy of Yu, and maybe Infernal Machine: Dawn of Submarine Warfare and Maul Peak (2 Player).
So I said to myself, "See, Self, you have plenty of choices within the low player-count realm, so just stick with those and you'll probably still be buying too many games." 😄
I started the year off pretty good in not backing hardly anything or picking up anything either. Although I have not made any actual resolutions to not buy, I really am trying hard to resist. However, I've had quite a few "backs" turn up and because I've been pretty busy recently my play time has been very limited.....
My pile of pain is still slowly growing.......
Ha ha, no, I'm not one to take "resolutions". I'm a bit of a "Try not, do or do not, there is no try" type of person. So, I don't resolve to do or stop something, I just do or stop the thing.
That said, if I were to take one it would be... "Play! Play as much as you can!". Which I think is the best cure for my well documented tendency to buy way too many board games.
The reasoning behind this? As long as I haven't played it, any game "could" be good, but once I try it, I know whether it suits my tastes or not, and can part with it. I have also noticed that, the less I play my games, the more frustrated I get about it, and the more games I buy to compensate.
But there is more. It helps me refine my tastes, and to know better what I may end up liking or not - so I make more informed purchases, which obviously mean, less purchases (because I always come with a bias "this game looks great I want it!").
Finally, the more games I play, the more I realize that most of them are not that fun, end up being pretty boring, and that the learning rules/making the stuff flow during a play/storing the game/getting through it/learning how to get good stuff is not often rewarded by a corresponding amount of fun. Basically, I slowly learn that board games in general are just not that great, so on a more fundamental level, playing more undermines my positivity bias towards games. In a few years I'll be able to look at any new game in the eyes and say: "Don't fool me, alluring board game, I know you are most likely to be a snooze, because, after all, you are a board game."
So, I think playing games is the best way to limit my purchases this year.
Nice! You're right, there's still enough to choose from. And if most of your plays will be solo or with one other person at most, I think these kind of games will give you better experiences.