Kris Hall: What’s In Your Trunk?
I’ve read several essays recently on BGN and elsewhere about games and shelf space. If a game owner doesn’t have room on his shelves for all his games (and what real gamer does?) then you can tell what he or she really likes by which boxes are front and center on the shelf, and which get stuck in a closet or the back of the garage.
I have a few favorite Euro-games on display in a shelf unit in my sun room, but the rest of the collection is scattered around the house: in my office, in the garage, and in a back storage room. But when I was cleaning out my car the other day, I realized that there may be one place of honor even more prestigious than front and center on a shelf. I mean, the trunk of my car.
The trunk is where the games I really want to play (or think that I can get others to play) really go. Most of my gaming is away from home so putting a game in my trunk means I expect (or at least hope) it’ll get played soon.
What do I have in my trunk at the moment?
Brass. This Martin Wallace game has been around for a few months now, but I’ve played it only three or four times. The Appalachian Gamers don’t play games to death. The new drives out the old, and there always seems to be some classic or near-classic game that one of us hasn’t played and wants to try (for me, that game would be St. Petersburg). So Brass comes with me to game night in the hope this week it might hit the table again. I will bring it until it gets played, and I will play it until I win. At least one game.
Ticket to Ride. This is a game that I can play with my in-laws. And my wife likes it because she can sometimes beat me. Okay, okay, I like it too.
Manhattan. Same reasons as Ticket to Ride. Except that my wife can usually beat me.
I may put Shogun into my trunk today; it’s another game that got played once and then set aside as new stuff came in.
What’s in your trunk?
Comments:
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Far too many games live in my trunk. At any time there are usually around 30-40 games there. Running by memory the currently list is roughly as follows: In the Winsome Games case (yeah, they have their own case):
Dutch Intercity
Anybody see the incongruity? Yeah, Lords of the Spanish Main is the new love. We finally played last Wednesday and I’m going to be doing my damnedest to get into fast rotation for as close to 2-3 plays per week as I can. It seems more than worth it. The Winsome Games are otherwise the games I’ve been trying to play most lately. Recently that has mostly meant Lokomotive Werks and Wabash Cannonball. My largest interests given the well establishe dplay history for the others are however are Landerbahnen, and Pampas Railroads. I know of no other games like them and they hit solid nice-length sweet spots for me. In the casrd-game case:
Hornochsen
These mostly get left in the car these days, not through any grat fault of their own, but rather just that a 3rd game case along with a case of poker chips is a wee bit too precarious and fiddly and I just can’t be bothered. In the case of Mu this is a particular shame. In the main game tote:
Kaivai plus expansion
Kaivai is still hoping for frequent enough play to establish a local player base equipped to play the expansion in fast rotation. All the rest are either games in various stages of my fast rotation life-cycle, or are there to fill a specific player count hole (Medieval Merchant with 5 or 6, Clippers with 5, King of Siam or Billabong with 4, Wayfinder with 3 or 4, Through the Desert with 3 etc) etc). Oh, and lastly in the 18XX case are the three 1825 Units, all the kits and all three regionals. They get fairly steady if low-rate play and are such nice little games. Posted by J C Lawrence on Jun 20, 2008 at 01:53 AM | #
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I keep three large plastic tubs with lids in my trunk and one satchel for smaller games. The games in the tubs change around. Keep in mind I have a Dodge Dakota Quad Cab with a bed cover on it. Posted by Terry Bailey Sr. on Jun 20, 2008 at 06:54 AM | #
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I don’t know if keeping games in the trunk is a good idea, especially here in Michigan. But I keep a gym bag and a small carry-all by the door at all times. Currently the carry-all has my latest purchases - Tinner’s Trail, Confucius and Airships. The gym bag has Oregon, King of Chicago, Monastery, Uptown and room for a couple more spur-of-the-moment grabs as I leave. I play in several diverse gaming groups, so sometimes I have to add party games, sometimes Warfrog longies and sometime oldies like PR, T&E, PoF. BTW, Stone Age will get here today, says FEDEX, so it will go in the big bag for tonight and tomorrow. Posted by John Daniels on Jun 20, 2008 at 10:26 AM | #
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Kris, just try the PC version of St. Pete’s http://www.westpark-gamers.de/index.html?/download/sp_pc_e.php it’s free, and you’ll get all the experience you need of the game in the comfort of your home dale Posted by Dale Yu on Jun 20, 2008 at 11:17 AM | #
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In my car is Jambo (with expansion) and Kahuna, in case my wife and I go somewhere and want to play a game. There’s also a few Hex board printouts for paper and pencil (crayon actually) play with my son. My wife’s car actually has a lot more. She has Mr. Jack, Shazamm, various Mystery Rummies, Al Cabohne, a Chess/Checkers/Backgammon/Dominoes/Playing Cards travel set and many Haba tin games, including Rabbit Guessing, Jump-a-Sheep, Baren Blues, Monkey and Mouse Acrobat. The Haba tins and the Chess set are to keep the kids occupied in restaurants when crayons and paper fail. I usually keep a big leather tote bag (given to me by my wife especially for the purpose) by the door filled with games. The games in it rotate, but right now usually include Wabash Cannonball, King of Siam, Railroad Tycoon (with Rails of Europe), Brass, Cowpoker, Fairey Tale, Masquerade, Condietierre (sp?), No Thanks, and Brawl. Posted by S. Deniz Bucak on Jun 20, 2008 at 11:34 AM | #
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Terry, you drive a Dodge Dakota? A cosmopolitan gentleman like you? I’m shocked! :-) I think the super-protective gamer in me would rebel at storing games in the trunk of my car. Too much jostling, too much exposure to the elements. I usually only take a few games to game day (which is always at a house well stocked with other games), nothing that I can’t carry in by hand in one trip. Driving to the Gathering is another story, as I’ll fill up the back seat with boxes. But even then, what I bring pales in comparison to most of my peers; I’ve yet to have to resort to a plastic tub and probably never will. Posted by Larry Levy on Jun 20, 2008 at 01:10 PM | #
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Now I know the reason why SUV are that popular over there ;-) Posted by Klaus Knechtskern on Jun 24, 2008 at 02:02 AM | #
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