I’m not a data scientist, but in this year of COVID we all have (hopefully) become a bit more savvy when it comes to numbers and statistics. So here is my look at my 2020 gaming year “by the numbers.”
Important note as you read below; although I consider Root (Leder Games, 2018) a wargame, for the purposes of this post it is counted as a boardgame.
2020 Gaming Acquisitions
Total Gaming Items Acquired in 2020 – 82
- Accessory – 8 (5 Boardgame, 3 Wargame)
- Boardgames – 38 (Includes 30 base games & 8 expansions)
- Wargames – 36 (Includes 31 base games & 5 expansions)
Comment: Did I really buy more boardgames this year than wargames? This is a major blow to my wargaming cred!
Wargames
- Total Wargame Items – 39 (48% of total)
- Base Games – 31 (79% of all wargame items)
- Expansions – 5 (13% of all wargame items)
- Accessory – 3 (8% of all wargame items)
- Published in 2020 – 17 (44% of wargames)
Comment: A good mix of old and new with a fair amount of expansions thrown in too.
Wargame Items by Era
- Pre World War II Era – 9
- 20th Century 1925-1945 (World War II Era) – 18*
- Modern Era (1945 to Near Future) – 9
- Future or Sci-Fi – 1
- Multi-Era – 2
* Includes Amerika Bomber: Evil Queen of the Skies (Compass Games, 2020) since it is really an alternate-ending WWII game.
Comment: Shows that World War II remains far and away my most popular era although Modern Era games are also strong. Whatever happened to sci-fi? (Answer – They went to boardgames).
Wargame Items by Publisher (Base Game-Expansion-Accessory)
- Admiralty Trilogy Games – 3 (1-0-2)
- Command Magazine – 1 (1-0-0)
- Compass Games – 3 (3-0-0)
- Counterfact Magazine – 1 (1-0-0)
- Fort Circle Games – 1 (1-0-0)
- Game Crafters – 1 (0-0-1)
- GDW – 2 (2-0-0)
- GMT Games – 5 (3-0-2)
- Hollandspiele – 3 (2-1-0)
- Lock ‘n Load Publishing – 4 (2-2-0)
- Multi-Man Publishing – 4 (4-0-0)
- PSC – 1 (1-0-0)
- Osprey Publishing – 1 (1-0-0)
- RBM Studio (C3i Ops Magazine) – 1 (1-0-0)
- Revolution Games – 4 (4-0-0)
- US Naval War College (via History of Wargaming Project) – 2 (2-0-0)
- Worthington Publishing – 2 (2-0-0)
Comment: I’m pleased with the diversity of publishers that I purchased from this year. Although I bought more individual items from GMT, I actually bought more base games from two other publishers (Multi-Man Publishing & Revolution Games).
Boardgames
- Total Boardgame Items – 43 (52% of total)
- Base Games – 30 (66% of all boardgame items)
- Expansions – 8 (20% of all boardgame items)
- Accessory – 5 (12% of all boardgame items)
- Published in 2020 – 18 (42% of boardgames)
Comment: Seeing how 42% of all boardgame items were published in 2020 should I be looking for a Cult of the New (CotN) or Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) vaccine? Not really; 10 of the 17 items were accessories or expansions leaving ‘only’ 7 new games from 2020 – 16% of all boardgames.
Boardgames by Domain* – Base Games Only
- Abstract – 5
- Card – 3
- Children’s – 6.5
- Family – 4.5
- Strategy – 6
- Thematic – 5
*Using the BoardGameGeek classification where able.
Comment: Was a bit surprised that Children’s games were at the top here. Then again, I should not be surprised as Mrs. RockyMountainNavy and myself made a concerted effort to buy new children’s games this year for her to use in teaching.
Board Game Stats (Plays)
- Total Game Plays – 257 (223 in 2019 = Up just over 15%)
- Different Games Played – 123 (119 in 2019 = Up ~3%)
- Percentage of Game Collection Played in 2020 = 14%
- Players – 27 [Mr. Solo – 30%, RMN T & RMN Jr. 22% each]
- Locations – 3 (Up 50% over 2019)
- Days of the Week – Sun 22%, Mon 10%, Tue 7%, Wed 9%, Thu 10%, Fri 20%, Sat 22%
- H-Factor =6 (Six games played at least 6 times)
- Game Quarters (at least 25 Plays) = 0
- Game Dimes (at least 10 Plays) = 1
- Game Nickels (at least 5 plays) = 10
Most Played Games
- Here to Slay (Unstable Games, 2020) = 10
- Brief Border Wars (Compass Games, 2020) = 9
- Dragomino (Blue Orange Games, 2020) = 8
- Iron Curtain: Central Front 1945-1989 (Multi Man Publishing, 2020) = 7
- Tri Pack: Battles of the American Revolution – Guilford, Saratoga, Brandywine (GMT Games, 2017) = 7
- Red Storm: The Air War Over Central Germany, 1987 (GMT Games, 2019) = 6
- Elena of Avalor: Flight of the Jaquins (Wonder Forge, 2017) = 5
- Enemy Coast Ahead: The Doolittle Raid (GMT Games, 2017) = 5
- Fury at Midway (Revolution Games, 2020) = 5
- Lonato (GMT Games, 2002) = 5
- NMBR 9 (ABACUSSPIELE, 2017) = 5
Comment: Roughly same number of games played this year but more plays of those games. Reflects the fact that because of COVID I got a slightly larger gaming table which allowed me to keep games setup longer. This resulted in multiple plays of more games.
Incoming Games…Someday (Pre-Orders & Kickstarter)
As of Dec 27, 2020
- Total Games on P500/Preorder/Kickstarter – 20
- GMT Games P500 – 12
- Other Publisher Preorder – 5
- Kickstarter – 3
- Wargames – 17
- Boardgames – 3
- Base Games – 14
- Expansions – 6
- Series Games – 12
- Oldest on List – October 2017 (Panzer: Game Expansion Set, Nr 1 – The Shape of Battle on the Eastern Front 1943-45, GMT Games)
- Average Age on List – 11 Months
Comment: Hmm. Average age (or time on list) is a bit over 11 months. And that’s i the year of COVID which slowed down manufacturing. If this time shrinks appreciably in 2021, could it be a barometer of recovery?
The 2021 RockyMountainNavy Game Collection
According to my BGG Profile…
- Boardgames Owned (Boardgames + Wargames): 782
- Expansions Owned: 247
- Accessories Owned: 7 (Obviously this is not correct as I acquired eight this year)
- Average BGG Boardgames Rating: 6.55
- Average BGG Expansions Rating: 6.71
- Top Rated Game: 9.25 Conflict of Heroes: Storms of Steel, Kursk – 1943 3rd Edition (Academy Games, 2019)
Rocky Mountain Navy Gamer 
What a detailed analysis! You inspired at least one of my posts in January, which will sum-up the 2020. Thanks!