The Game Library. It’s why you come right? (other than the milkshakes, candy, beer and friends). Well over the last 6 years the way we handle it has evolved. Initially we created it like this:
Jack’s game collection + Bill’s game collection + 6 months of thrift shopping for the classics = Library
Over time we added more games, then we ran out of space so we put up more shelving. Then we ran out of space and we had to run it like a nightclub…one in, one out! We now have to ask ourselves 2 questions: a) What do we get rid of and b) what is worthwhile enough to get rid of a game in the library.
a) Is the game being played? It can be the best game, but if it’s not being played there is no point having it in the library. This can be because of a number of reasons; it’s too complicated, too long, no-one knows it’s the best game because the box cover art is bloody awful. It can be beacause the game is out of print and become unplayable because of lost pieces or damage and there is no way to replace it.
b) Is the game going to get played? Good 2-player, 4-player and party games with few rules, but lots of variety and replay are our bread and butter. We are more selective when it comes to the complex strategy games. We will sometimes wait a while to see if it’s really as good as initial reviews say before putting it in the library. Some games like Feast for Odin we won’t put in because the table space required to play is so huge it will barely fit on the table, even as a 2-player. A game where losing components will make it unplayable we try not to put in. Also games with a well known license that will attract people to play e.g. Fallout, but are way too complicated for most people to plough through the rules and wate their time.
Expansions we stay away from, they usually just confuse people playing it for the first time and if we keep them in separate boxes, they end up getting mixed in with the original. We now keep a separate version of Catan +5/6 players behind the counter for people to ask for just to stop it getting mixed with the basic version.
We used to keep an accurate list of games in our library online, but I’d occasionaly forget to add a game or more importantly remove one that was destroyed and it became more and more inaccurate and people would come in to play that game and be sad it wasn’t there, so we just removed it.
Initially we just plopped the game in the library, but over time we learned how to protect games to keep them in good shape.
This isn’t about the cost of replacement, but more about the experience of using the game. Playing on a nasty, smelly game is not fun, so we now go to pretty extreme lengths to ensure the game stays in great shape for as long as possible. Here’s what we did to ‘Jaws’ which just entered the library:
- We put tape around the box lid and cover to prevent the corners splitting.
- We sleeved all the cards.
- We sprayed all the cardboard components with Mod Podge varnish to prevent them from wearing out.
- Tape frequently used counters and the sides of cardboard with trackers on them which tear the cardboard when moved up and down.
- Laminated all the rules and then tape them together again.
Some of the classics such as Monopoly, Game of Life, Sorry etc… we pick up at the thrift stores. They get such a lot of use that they get destroyed every 3 months or so. We laminate one set of rules and move them from replacement to replacement.
The little blue and pink pegs in Game of Life…so small, always getting lost…
If you wonder why we don’t have Guess Who in the library, well the stands for the cards are such poor quality that at least one will break in every play and in the end we got tired of people telling us it was broken (which makes it look like we don’t care) and just removed it. Similar games are Mouse Trap (broken pieces again, plus everyone kept playing it wrong, setting it up before they played it, when the setting it up is part of the game) and Hungry Hippos, which we just tossed as it was so noisy you could see a halo of annoyed people around the table playing it.
The game we have the most backup pieces for is Blokus, you lose a single piece and the game is useless.
Things that drive us crazy on a daily basis:
- Games that have the name printed on three sides of the box and people put them away like this (that one’s mostly on HASBRO).
- When someone puts the deck of questions in the box like this and the lid doesn’t close properly.
- Putting monopoly back on this shelf!
- When companies make the box a square, but not quite…
- Putting the rules to one game away in another game.
My favorite question to answer is when 13 year old comes in with his buddies and asks us where D&D is in the library and I point to his mind! Then spend 5 minutes explaining that D&D isn’t really a board game and that……
