When I first discovered Euro-games in 2003, I was totally enthralled. Here was a different breed of game that wasn’t long and boring, that offered a different experience each time you played. I found that I couldn’t get enough of them and thought about them constantly.
Like most new game geeks, I bought games at a rate that amazed not just my family but myself. A new game would get one or two plays before the next shipment would arrive but still the hunger persisted. I wanted to experience all there was of these amazing games.
In the last month or two I’ve felt that enthusiasm waning until the bonfire has burned down to a few coals. I can’t believe it, but I have no desire to buy or learn a new game, or even play an online game. I realized that I hardly think about games now except to try to find something worth sharing with you, and I don’t feel that I’ve been very successful at that lately. Obviously my brain felt the need for a vacation and made reservations without consulting me.
Summer is actually a good time to take a vacation from the gaming scene since any free time my husband and I have will be spent doing home improvements like painting the house (phhtt!) and repairing the sidewalk (double phhttt!).
I hope I’m able to find my “groove” again but until then Yehuda told me not to stop writing so I’ll try to put some thoughts in my personal blog even if it’s just day-to-day activities with an occasional nod at something game-related. I hope you all will drop by once in a while and talk to me.
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Until next time, place your bet on the Colossus.
Mary
4 comments:
Enjoy your vacation, Mary. We'll keep the fires burning.
I'll give one more piece of advice, which you seem to already know: take all but ten of your games, lock them away, and start the slow and enjoyable process of becoming good at the games you already have, instead of chasing after the latest sparkles and components.
Some suggestions:
Puerto Rico with variant buildings
El Grande
Any GIPF game or similar
Go or Chess
Bridge or other card games
Torres or similar
A light wargame, such as Memoir '44
A party game or dice game
Any similar games with multiple levels of strategy that you enjoy.
Rotate slowly.
Yehuda
Hi Mary,
While I'm sorry to hear that the honeymoon period is over, it must be a natural feeling after playing so many games for such a long time.
I've often wondered *why* people react this way - if the sudden immersion in a new hobby requires an eventual withdrawal for balance, if the "sameness" of a single hobby becomes slightly boring over time, or if the smell of a new spring pushes us to new and different endeavors - but I've learned never to worry about stepping away for a well-deserved vacation.
Enjoy the summer! Get outside and try something you've never done before - whether that means frisbee, rock climbing, gardening, or even lying on the beach reading.
If you get the urge later on (and my guess is that you probably will) the games will be waiting for your return. If not, hopefully you'll have found a new passion in the meantime! :D
I am sad, but you have to follow your passions...or lack thereof. I suspect you will find your "old self" long before the end of summer. Could it be due to lack of equally passionate opponents?
Keep in touch, and have "fun" on the repair work.
We'll miss you, Mary. Enjoy your summer of home maintenance, leave those games around and one day the call of the dinosaurs, or of the Hanseatic league, will be too much for you and you will *WANT* to play again.
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