Entry 29: Logging Plays & Analytics

        This week we have a friend from Utah who flew up to spend some time with us. The first evening during discussion after dinner at my parents’ house she had said “You know that game we played when [her now ex-husband] and I visited four years ago. That was fun, I enjoyed that game.” Umm… yeah like we really remember what we played fours years ago one night. 

        When we returned to our place, she and my wife started going through some of the games we think we had at the time (our collection now is 100+ times larger). We then searched our Facebook logs from back then to see if anyone had taken a picture or mentioned the game at all…. NOPE! 

        So that got me thinking about the importance of keeping data and a record of what was played. Because this year we decided to do a 10 x 10 challenge and we challenged ourselves to play at least one game every day keeping a log has made a world of difference. From January 1st until August 31st I have played a total of 487 times with 116 different games (July 1st was the only day we missed). How do I know this, I have logged each day that we played a game. 

        I just use the BGG database for my logged plays. I record what we play, where we played it, and who we play with. For this year I just wanted to keep track of the basics to get into the habit of logging our game plays. Maybe next year I will add length of time, scores, etc. I am sure there is a way I can export all the information and run more statics on it if I really wanted to that is. 

        There are other programs out there that you can use to track game plays. I encourage you that if you want to start keeping stats, find the one that works for you. 

        I had asked the ladies to give me a few dates from this year and I could tell them exactly what, where, and who played that day. It was nice to review some of those dates and see what we play “back in the day.” 

        By the way... we think we found out which game it was and while we were in Leavenworth (a Bavarian town in the Cascades) for a day trip with our friend, my wife and I stopped at the local game shop Krampus Kave and bought the game we think it was that we played four years ago with her. Or maybe was it….. oh well, too late now.