David Fair: Cthulhu only had the munchies; I know what real hunger is.

I was asked about a year ago by an acquaintance at work if I had any hobbies. I had just transferred to a new division in the same company, and no one knew me very well in my new office. My off-the-cuff reply was, “No, I long ago traded them in for an addiction.� I really didn’t know how true that was.

This morning, I am preparing my gaming space for a (much-needed) change. I am moving out a desk with a computer, and moving in a bookshelf. Or, I should say, “Yet another bookshelf�. The shelves I currently have in here are Billy shelves from Ikea. I really like them, and the size is great for my games. I have 3, 32-inch wide bookshelves that are just over 6 foot tall. I also have one the same width that is around 4 feet tall. Then there is a corner shelf unit of the 6 foot size, with one foot extension wings. Oh, and on the other side of the room is a built-in shelf that houses most of my 2-player games and smaller box games. And on my staircase I use the top of a shelf unit for storing my dexterity games.

All told, I have 1,247 linear inches devoted to game storage. Oops, forgot the top of the closet, make that 1,277 inches. Adding another bookshelf gains me another 210 inches. It will also open up the gaming room a bit so we can add another table when needed on game night.

Now, there may be some of you out there thinking that this is a bit excessive. There may be some of you who are completely sane who are thinking it is entirely overboard. There are some among you, including my gaming friends who have been to my house and seen the games that have no shelf on which to sit, who are thinking that it’s about time I faced facts and dealt with what is clearly a problem.

I have 900 games or so in my collection. I am sure that whatever number I have as I start typing this, I will have more by the time I finish. This is, however, not the only or even the largest sign of my affliction. It gets worse.

At work, I have access to high-quality color laser printers, and I can get chipboard stock from our printing department (it’s a big school system) before they throw it out. I also have access to a poster-size laminator. At home, I have a special work area, outfitted with straight edges, paper cutters, rotary cutters, xacto-knives, spray adhesives, spray finishes, electric staplers, markers, pens, tape, spare game parts and bits, card stock, chipboard, poster board, labels, etc. It has, essentially, everything you need to assemble paper and cardboard into great-looking player aids, rules booklets, to assemble print-and-play games, make boxes, and more. Most nights you can find me sitting here making something for a game while my kids do their homework nearby. Right now I have 8 different gaming-related projects in various states of completeness.

I am very lucky to have a great job working in IT for the public school system in my area. This is great because I get paid well, but am not in the time-sink world of most IT workers. I have no pager, and gave up my cell phone a while back, rejoicing. I work Monday-Friday from 7-3:30 and don’t have to worry about being asked to be on call or to work overtime. Sweet. This gives me plenty of time to work on all of the above, except…

I have too many other game-related activities. For example, I subscribe to Counter and Knucklebones (I wanted to subscribe to Games International, but it seemed a little risky of an investment), and I have a wireless network and a DSL connection (soon to be fiber, Zooom, baby!). With broadband access to sites like boardgamegeek, boardgamenews, eBay, GameSurplus, and the myriad blogs, vlogs, and podcasts on gaming I have access to gaming information, purchasing opportunities, opinions, reviews, thoughts, strategy hints, session reports, and more. In fact, it might even be more information than I can handle. I never imagined when I bought my first computer that we would be able to share this much information this easily.

Every month, I host 3-4 gaming sessions at my home, I host 2-3 gaming sessions at a nearby Borders Bookstore Café, and I attend 2-3 game sessions in local game stores or the homes of friends. I also play games with my family, usually one or two nights a week. I play games on a variety of play-by-web sites, including Spielbyweb, Boiteajeux, Brettspielwelt, and MaBiWeb. About 6 times a year, I attend a game convention. Most of them are 3-4 days, but there are longer ones as well.

Just a few weeks ago PrezCon was held. It is one of my favorite game conventions. It is near my home (about 3 hours distant), it has lots of space, vendors, publishers, an auction, and there are a lot of gaming buddies I get to see there every year. I had to miss it this year, however, due to other commitments. The next week I got a last minute invite to a convention that was a lot further away but that would have a bunch of gaming buddies in attendance, promised to be a great deal of fun, and the whole family could come! I had to miss that one too. Missing them both practically sent me into a depressive state.

This week, I played games with my kids several times, played at a not-very-nearby game store one night, and played games here in my house just last night (there were 12 people in attendance, and we played San Francisco, Citadels, Fettnapf in Sicht, Alhambra, Settlers of Catan, Diamant, and King of the Beasts). Monday will be another game night at Borders (where we are trying an experiment – this week will be all 2-player games). So over 7 days (Tuesday-Monday), I will spend part of at least 5 of them gaming, and I will spend a lot of time and money working on my game room the other 2.

Even so, I still want to play a game right now. My wife and kids are home. We could play a nice game of Hare and Tortoise, or a game of Crokinole with the wife would be fun. I’ve been meaning to teach the older son to play Railroad Tycoon, maybe today would be good for that…

Nope, got to get to work, got to get that desk out of here. Must make room for the shelves. Must make room for more games. Must feed the hunger later. Right now, I have to set the table so that the meal will be that much more enjoyable.

© 2006 David Fair

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Comments:

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Dave, First off, I love the title of the post.  Absolutely love it!  Brilliant, really; kudos to you for that. Secondly, it’s good that you recognize your addiction.  That’s the first step; take it from me.  The second step is to rid yourself of the temptation.  I’ll be over on Saturday morning with my station wagon; I’m sure I could make a big dent in your problem.  Heck, I’ll even make two trips—that’s what friends are for, right? Missed you at PrezCon, our first year down there.  We had a good time, and met some great new people.  I hope we’ll see you in 5 weeks or so? Game on! joe Posted by Joe Casadonte on Mar 24, 2006 at 10:40 AM | #

Great column Dave!  I think it is safe to say that read your column, then we feel your pain. Looking forward to seeing you in a couple April.  Just think - a whole week where you don’t have to worry how to organize your shelf space.  Of course when you get back home........ Posted by Craig Massey on Mar 24, 2006 at 11:51 AM | #

that should be see you in April.  Ignore the bad job editing… Posted by Craig Massey on Mar 24, 2006 at 11:56 AM | #

When you’ve got it bad, its always good to hear from someone who’s got it worse!  Thanks for that, David!  ;) Posted by Thomas Pancoast on Mar 24, 2006 at 11:26 PM | #

Nice! I game with him at least once a week and I can tell you ... he only has room for about another 75-125 games maximum. I have been trying to convince him that since the townhouse next door is empty that we should cut a doorway between the two units.  Nobody has lived there for more than a year certainly squatters rights have some merit eh? Any legal opinions? LOL Posted by Scott Fisher on Mar 25, 2006 at 09:57 AM | #

Not-very-nearby game store?!?!?! I guess we have gotten spoiled on the East Coast. Great job and better yet, great life! Posted by Tom McCorry on Mar 25, 2006 at 09:58 AM | #

Joe - Thanks for the comment on the title. I knew there would be some ex-Arkham residents out there that would appreciate it. Missing PrezCon was a big disappointment, but I *will* be at GameDays! Craig - How is it that we can never fit the games back on the shelves they came off of? I already have Andrea bringing me a copy of Hossa!, and then there is the prize table… How will it all fit. Maybe another shelf on this wall? Tom P. - Sorry i missed you at PrezCon, Hope you can make it to GameDays. Scott - I have decided that when the game collection reaches 1000 (only 90 shy right now) that the kids are moving in with Grandma & Grandpa. That will get me a lot of space. Tom M - GameParlor is nice, but it is at least an hour and a half from my place. When I have 2 game stores that are about 25-35 minutes away, well, 90 minutes don’t feel very nearby. Still, it was worth it. Thanks. Posted by David Fair on Mar 25, 2006 at 10:12 AM | #

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