DNF - A post to all the board games I’ve loved and left unfinished

I have unfinished business with quite a few board games. 

I don’t mean that I’m going to come back as a ghost and haunt Village Meeple (though that’s not a bad idea, considering I tell people it used to be a dentist’s office where a bunch of patients died). I mean that I’m on a Hot Streak (see what I did there?) of starting board games and not finishing them.

This isn’t a recent thing, either. This streak has been going on for a bit, but there were always mitigating circumstances. Read along to find out why I would ever commit such atrocities on our precious cardboard treasures.

Abandoned Partway Through

The games I’ve started but had to abandon partway through are in this category not because they were bad games, but simply because life got in the way.

I asked Jess to teach me Raiders of the North Sea by Garphill Games, and though I enjoyed the raiding and hiring Vikings and whatnot, our plundering was interrupted by a staff meeting or some nonsense like that.

We only have so much time in the day, but that doesn’t stop us from trying to squeeze in some hefty games. If you’ve ever laid eyes on Galactic Cruise by Kinson Key Games, then you know it be girthy like that. Playing time is 90-150 minutes. Jess and I eked out about 75% of the game in an hour before we were yet again called away. I promise the two of us do occasionally finish a game together.

I was learning Gems of Iridescia by Rock, Stone & Dice Games at Meepleathon last year when the game was interrupted. It wasn’t an official demo, just an evening game while we were killing time, probably waiting on friends to join us. 

Abandoned More Than Once

Speaking of Meepleathon, I had the chance to learn The Dark Quarter by Lucky Duck Games through the Learn to Win program at Meepleathon. I suspected I would love this dark supernatural role-playing game set in 1980s New Orleans, and I was right. 

Alas, I did not win the game, nor were we able to finish it, given the time constraints - our teacher had more sessions to teach. However, I decided to take another stab at it for New Year’s Eve with my husband and some friends.

After investing hours in the game, somewhere after midnight we left it incomplete, but given that it’s app-based and we were able to save our progress, I have the hope that some day I’ll end up being the best witch-detective the Beaumont Agency has ever seen.

The Set-Up and Immediate Panic

I’m not overly proud to admit it, but I am a wimp when it comes to heavier games. Unless someone else is teaching me, I occasionally get one completely set up, promptly panic and then abandon it.

Could I probably figure it out? Yes, I think I could. Game publishers generally make their games with the intent that people can understand them. But sometimes I’m just not in the mood to take on that mental burden, and would rather just play Mountain Goats again. Or crochet and watch “Murder, She Wrote.”

In my zeal to work my way through the Village Meeple library alphabetically, I delved into the wonders of Amritsar: The Golden Temple by Ludonova…but I only delved as deeply as the set-up, and then I panicked, because the game is weighted a 3.33 on Board Game Geek and contains 324 components.

Amritsar uses the mechanism of mancala and is beautifully designed, but the rulebook was difficult to parse. It also appears to be a translation, which may have contributed to my trouble with it.

So, I packed it away, with nary a turn taken. 

Weirdwood Manor by Greyridge Games is a cooperative adventure game that’s right up my alley. I knew it was a heavy-weight (3.39 on BGG), but I set it up anyway. I read the rulebook, hyperventilated, and into the pit it went.

I heard a lot of great stuff about Everbloom by Nerdvana Games, and it was only a 2.83 on BGG, or a yellow in our library, so I thought for sure it would be a banger for me. Animal-plant hybrids and area control? Hello little freaks, come to me.

But you know the story by now - I set it up, read the rulebook, and put it away again. Maybe it was just an off night for me. Maybe I’ll try it again another time.

Tell me I’m not the only one who does this. Does anyone else out there set up a game, read the rules and then “go to the store to buy milk”?