September Solo Boardgaming Challenge

It's been a ROUGH year for boardgaming, so I want to start turning that around. I'm going to attempt to not only play at least one game per day in September, but they're all going to be either solo games or solo variants of games I currently own. Historically, I've never been one to play solo games because I really enjoy the camaraderie social aspect that board games naturally bring. Instead of playing a solo board game, it's significantly easier to just play a game on my phone or fire up a game of Age of Empires against the AI on my PC. However, I have shelves of games that aren't getting any love. Why have such investment in something that you're not going to use? 

My mental health has suffered greatly from not having the outlet of gaming for the better part of the past six months. Now that the school year is starting and we're getting back into our normal routines, it seems like a perfect opportunity to incorporate something small and manageable in the afternoons, either before or after dinner instead of just screwing around on my phone. Part of my New Year's Goals is reducing screen time and I've done pretty well by using time restrictions on my go-to time wasting apps. Attempting this challenge will kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. I get to play board games and I work towards one of my health goals for this year.

Using BoardGameGeek's advance search function, it shows that I've got enough games that can be played solo for all 30 days this month. There are also unofficial fan made solo variants for nearly all of the games I own, so I won't be left wanting for options. Then there are also dozens of solitaire games that only use a traditional deck of cards. I thought of making a schedule that listed what I was going to play each day as a part of this post, but I feel like making it that strict would take away from the fun. Instead, I've done my research and pulled all of the games I may want to play solo. I probably won't get to them all, but just looking at the pile of opportunity has me excited to get back to doing something I enjoy so much.

Ideally, I successfully get in at least one game in everyday and find more enjoyment in playing games solo than I have before. Even if I find solo gaming really isn't for me, at least I'll have engaged in one of my favorite hobbies. If you want to follow along with the challenge, I'll be posting a picture of each game that I play on my twitter account. If you're a solo gamer, please post some of your favorite games to play.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cribbage with Grandpas

Image
Cribbage with Grandpas is a Cribbage app you can play on mobile devices. There are plenty of free cribbage apps out there, but I like this implementation a lot more. It's available on both  Android  and  Apple  for just a few dollars and gives you the ability to make custom Grandpa avatars to play against. Besides just the way your grandfather looks, you can also choose personality traits, the setting in which you play, and the snack that he has sitting near him. He'll tell jokes and make comments throughout the game, which makes it just that much more immersive.  Is it necessary to pay to have these things? Absolutely not. Does it add a lot to the experience? Absolutely.  As with other Cribbage apps, there are different difficulty levels so even if you've never played before you can get better and still have a challenge. One thing I really like is that you have to score your cards yourself by selecting them. If you happen to miss something, Grandpa will let you know that
Read more

Social Media Break

Image
I'm struggling right now. I'm searching for direction, trying figure out what I want to do in my life. I'm working on being a better person and want to get more fulfillment out of the work that I do. Instead of focusing and creating a plan, I spend way too much time on social media. It's easy to get lost in the lives of others, hilarious memes, constant "breaking news" updates, and the seemingly non-stop political coverage that is this time period's blood sport. So for at least the month of February, I'll be taking a break from Twitter and Facebook (they're the only platforms I use). I've already deleted the apps off of my phone in an effort to help break the chains, so to speak. The hope is that I better use the time that I used to spend just mindlessly scanning through those feeds. Other than using that time towards working out whatever it is that I'm going through right now, there are a bunch of other things that will easily fill
Read more

Buying and Selling: A Real Estate Story

Image
We've been in Delaware going on 8 years this August. Roughly a year after moving to Dover, we bought a new build townhouse in Smyrna. Our current home has served us well, but since moving in our family has more than doubled in size. We have more than enough room for everyone, but the set up of living on three floors is less than ideal. Coupled with not having a suitable yard for the kids to play and the congestion of the streets in our community, we felt the need to look for a single family home. Not only did we want a single family again, but I even suggested moving out of state for a change of scenery. After some very serious discussions and looking at the costs to leave Delaware, we ultimately decided that we'd stay...for now. Christine and I would like to move when the kids get out of school, but that's a post for another day. For the past two months we've looked at homes in Smyrna online and even went to see some in person. I wasn't really that interested
Read more