(board game) Much ado about board games and my board games experience 桌遊二三事

 Still cannot type Chinese, so I just save it here as a record:
8/21/2024編輯: 因為電腦還是無法打中文,大部分用英文,加上中文簡短註解

1. play droughts (right) and on the positive side (left), play streaks: 目前為止最長是連續玩19天，最久是81天沒玩

Long droughts typically occurred when a semester was in session, which is not surprising. But what happened during 7/18-8/11/2021 and 8/15-9/9/2022, especially the former? It is right in the middle of a summer! 

The longest drought is from Feb 14 to May 5, 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic. This is kind of sad and to my surprise as I started to consider board gaming a hobby, more than just searching for teaching aids, during that time. I started so to cut down the screen time too. Obviously, it didn't quite happen in the last semester of Covid shut-down.  

Last summer, I was able to play for 19 consecutive days! Many of them I played with parents. This is by far the longest streak, outnumbering the next longest streaks (5 days) by 14 days/2 weeks. This summer has been busy and stressful, and therefore, I/we didn't get to play as much as I wanted to. 

2. favorite game mechanics: as we try to build our game collections, I started to look for games that use mechanics that we don't have yet. So far, what interests me most are listed below. They are not in any particular order. (目前為止我喜歡的桌遊機制. 其實先前介紹的桌遊文裡陸續提到一些,這裡是個整理.　大致上拼圖類，工人擺置，路線連結或移動，模組板塊或和地圖相關的機制，找出規則等都對我很有吸引力)

• tile placement, and/or layering:
• worker placement:
• network and route building, pick-up and delivery, and related to these two the "connection":
• mechanics involve moving, such as grid movement, point to point movement, three dimensional movement:
• modular board:
• mechanics related to map, such as map reduction: 
• pattern building: 

3. favorite game themes: similarly, I started to look for games that are developed based on some contexts that we don't have. At the same time, games with certain themes easily catch my eyes. Here are some of the them. Again, they are presented in no particular order.  (目前為止容易讓我腦波弱的遊戲主題，像是飲料酒類製作經營，藝術相關，旅行相關，歷史或歷史人物為背景，自然或園藝主題，還有各種寓教於樂的遊戲主題)

(edited on 8/202/2024)

• Liquid and beverage production, promotion, trade and/or consumption: which has two sub-streams:  
  
  
• Wine/liquid production and sales promotion: from beer (Brew Crafter) to champagne (Dom Pierre) to wine (Viticulture, Vinhos, etc.) 

• Tea/coffee production, trade and/or consumption: similar to the last one, tea themed (e.g., Alubari: A nice cup of tea; Formosa tea) and coffee themed (Coffee Trader, Coffee Rush, Viva Java: the coffee game, etc.) games easily catch my attention too. 

• Art and related: all forms of arts would count, so it could be music, art, literature, fashion etc. Games can be about making and experiencing/consuming a certain art form (e.g., Lacrimosa; Canvas), or to play as art management (e.g., Gallerist), or even as an art destroyer such as a art thief (e.g., Art Robbery) or forge (e.g., Belratti). 

• Travel related such as city/region/country exploring: national parks-themed games (e.g., Trekking the national parks) easily attract me. Games that let players relive some great historical journeys (e.g., Darwin's Journey) or in that sense (e.g., Encyclopedia) also look appealing to me. Or games that allow players to explore a city as if they are sightseeing there (e.g., French Quarter, Let's Go! to Japan). City building games (e.g., San Francisco) may be related but are with a different focus on building, as opposed to exploring, a geographical location.  

• History, which I define it as a series of historical events, and/or historical figures: game contexts can be loosely built upon some historical figures (e.g., Catherine: The Cities of the Tsarina; Carnegie; Einstein: His Amazing Life and Incomparable Science; Lovelace & Babbage) and/or (a series of ) events (Tesla vs. Edison) that allow players to understand how (a series of) events changed the world (e.g., Pax Emancipation), or to understand what happened to shape the current world and even try to find an alternative ending (e.g., Twilight Struggle; Undaunted: Normandy and most of the Undaunted series; 1500: The new world). Games in this category are often educational, especially those flavor texts on cards/boards. 

• Nature and gardening: I find nature- or gardening-themed games soothing. Even they are competitive games, or not cooperative games, the artworks often comfort me. Cascadia, Fjords, Herbaceous, Bonsai are just some examples. 

• Educational: history related themed games are often educational. However, educational games are not necessarily about history or historical figures. Game titles like "Cellulose: A Plant Cell Biology Game," "Genotype: A Mendelian Genetics Game," and "Periodic: A Game of the Elements" are just some examples.   

What are your favorite game mechanics? What are your favorite themes?