Kris -

There are many people that are in agreement with you. The more popular a mechanic is, the more likely it is you’ll see it again (probably with a foreign city’s name on it).

As an amateur designer, I try to keep it in mind. Not every creation is going to be the equivalent of The Matrix or Life Is Beautiful. While one tries to think outside the box, it isn’t always easy to make a good game with the elements you find that you want to incorporate. It’s a mix of mathematics and art that doesn’t come easy… especially if you are lacking in either (or both!). Designers also have to get lucky and have a thick skin for rejection to even get published.

All I can say is that there are designers out there and they hear you. Companies have to be willing to try new things as well, but a good game is a good game. They will publish a good game or suggest a better fitting company to a designer if it isn’t their cup of tea.

Stay strong, play good games, and shoot us some movies that you recommend!

I’ve been trying to invite the more social members of my group and friends over to my house to play games that are a little more social and fun than the latest euroclone.  This has helped somewhat.  I’ve also been playing games with my kids that, although lacking some strategy (think Jamaica) are tons of fun.

I noticed several months ago, when attending my regular group, that I just wasn’t experiencing that thrill of discovery any more when new games were brought.  That thrill was what kept me coming despite my own sense of not fitting in the group that well and getting a little worn out by the week-long online debate about what game to play, usually something with “burg” in the title.

Well, I do think this is a syndrome that all of us experience eventually.  It has, at least, helped me keep down the number of title I acquire every year.

Mike Siggins, of SUMO fame, famously left the hobby for a couple of years.  He seems to have come back refreshed.  I doubt I could bring myself to that, but I now understand the impulse.

...I suppose it is an inevitable process…

I couldn’t agree more.  But I do recommend still being flexible (forgiving?) when playing with newbs to the hobby.  I too have only been doing this ‘seriously’ for 4 years.  Back in 2004, I used to play with some hardcore gamers, and their attitude towards the games you described above, was off-putting.  Now, I can see why they reacted that way, but knowing how I felt back then, I try not to be too critical and instead try to foster their (the newbs’) interest in the hobby (read, focus on the social aspect). 

Settlers of Catan is probably the poster child of this for me: used to love it, now grow tired of it, but would play with newbs.

"But the thought that “I’ve played too many games like this” is crossing my mind more and more frequently when I play new stuff these days.  More and more games seem to resemble other games that I’ve played.”
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Why not just play old favorites for a while then?  That’s my solution when I feel like this.  Just stop learning new games for a couple months and stick to the old familiar favorites.  It does wonders, I think.  I go in cycles or waves between just playing old favorites and learning lots of new games.  Sometimes I think so-called burnout with the hobby is actually just burnout with the constant stream of new games and new rules to learn and frustrating learning games for games that are rarely played a second time.  So my solution to burnout is just to stick to familiar games for a while and it seems to work well for me personally.

I think gaming is like a love affair, Kris.  At first there is infatuation and the thrill of discovering new things every day.  Then comes familiarity and possibly boredom--nothing seems new.  But if the attraction is strong enough, that familiarity brings a comfort level, a different kind of love that can survive the tempests of day-to-day life.  You are now in love for life and have learned to appreciate the best in the objects of your affection.

I also think being able to truly appreciate greatness, as opposed to liking everything that is new to you, is a wonderful ability to acquire.  One also learns to appreciate subtle differences in games, so that a title doesn’t have to be completely different for you to see the craftsmanship in its design.

My experiences mirror yours:  encountering these games at an advanced age, a catchup period, the thrill of new discoveries, followed by a malaise as games started to resemble each other.  But luckily, truly excellent games continue to appear, perhaps not as often as before, but still often enough, and I’m happy that they can still excite me.  I still enjoy gaming as much as I did when I first started and I don’t see my love affair with it ending any time soon.

Without knowing the range of games that you’ve played previously, it may be that you’re ready for a new style of game.

Some possibilities:

1. Heavy Euro (Power Grid, Age of Steam, Brass)

2. Proven Classic (Survive!, Acquire)

3. Small Publisher (Monkeys on the Moon, Get Bit!)

4. Dice N’ Fun [aka Ameritrash] (Nexus Ops, Mall of Horror)

5. Crossover Wargame (Friedrich, Hammer of the Scots, Manoeuvre)

There was a time when I wouldn’t play or enjoy games in these categories.  Now I can enjoy a quality game in any category.

Cody,

I think I can speak for Kris about this. Kris plays with the Appalachian Gamers weekly for the multi-player games and every once in a while has a 2 player session. We even started an Empire in Arms game this year. We play everything but if we play the same game more than a couple of times a year, it is rare. Check out http://sacredchao.cc/wvag/ to see what we have been playing.