Fail Forward

I love a good challenge. But most of the time I don't have the discipline to complete them. I enjoy making plans so much more than acting on them. Playing games according to a plan feels restricting. So people tell me to stop joining challenges. And I tried. But it's no use. I love them too much. That's why in 2024 I'll just have it both ways. I'll join every challenge that looks like fun. Then I'll play whatever I feel like anyway and fail them. Sounds like a win-win strategy to me.

I'm a member of the Gaming Challenge Community on BoardGameGeek. Most of the members there are way more serious about the challenges, but they don't mind me hanging around. They have an overview of 70+ challenges for 2024. I've picked 8 so far.

Hardcore 10x10

One that has been running for 10 years or more and probably is known even by people that never do challeges is "Play 10 Games 10 Times Each". It's easy for me to do the normal challenge (where you just wait which games you'll end up playing 10 times) but I have never managed to complete the "hardcore" version, where you pick the 10 games in advance. I always choose wrong. Halfway the year I want to play other games. But, I'm stubbornly going for this one again. I've picked some favourite games (GI Joe, Hallertau, Marvel Champions) and some that haven't been to the table for years (Glass Road, Maximum Apocalypse). Plus a few campaigns (Earthborne Rangers, Roll Player Adventures, Aeon's End: Legacy) as those are inviting you to have 10 plays.

Play your owned games more

I'm hosting a challenge myself: the Five and Dime Challenge. This is how I advertise it: "Sometimes our owned games end up underplayed. They stay on the shelf after one or two plays. The Five and Dime Challenge encourages you to play them a few more times, so you'll have less trouble remembering their rules and they will feel more like a 'real' part of your collection."

Someone made a follow up, the Deep Dive or Quarter & Century Challenge, where you go for 25 and even 100 plays.

Those challenges will help me play my owned games more, something I strive for every year. My "H-index" is 43 (which means that I have played 43 games 43 times since I started logging 7 years ago) and I think somewhere between 25-50 plays of every game should be the norm for me personally.

Well, not every game. Some games have a "weight" that is too much for me. Let's say above 4, on the BGG scale. I love some of those heavy games, I just don't get them to the table. So I created an unofficial, strictly personal challenge this year: play six of these games at least three times each (I own ten of them). I'll start with Voidfall this month.

Especially for You, My Fans

I joined two challenges, just for you:

• Print and Play Challenge

• Play 52 games with a 52 standard card deck

This way we'd have some posts again in the PnP Picks and Jokers and Fools sections of our website again this year. Nice, huh?

Then there are some thematic challenges (like play Space themed games etc.). I made a GeekList over on BGG to track my progress in 2024, but to tell the truth I suck at bookkeeping. So though you're very welcome to follow along over there, you're probably better off just reading the occasional reports here on Solitaire Times.