Review - 2024

31st December 2024 (Tuesday)

Year In Review:
2024 Review

This Year Was… … :

A lesson in managing uncooperative persons, in that money can be a surprisingly potent cure all or be as useful as a rubber ducky in peace negotiations. The edge is in figuring out what is just the right amount or the speed in realizing that no amount will move this mountain. Interestingly, the hardest lessons are learned from the uncooperative little humans, the unmoving non-adults, where offering money is neither an ethical nor legal alternative. The most formidable ones are when the tiny ones are driven by the illogical, emotion-filled and sometimes incoherent rationale of "just because", that is when true ingenuity and sometimes prayer is required. Oh and this was also the year where I seemingly could not go anywhere without bumping into one of the tiny humans from school.

Most of the time it results in a pleasant encounter rather than an awkward one, no one has caught me trying on new swim shorts… … yet

If the government can be believed, the land of my birth continues to prosper through stronger exports, stable inflation and appreciation of the Ringgit against the US Dollar. This despite the lifting of diesel subsidies which saw diesel prices jump 50%, as well as the initial nosedive of the currency into historic depths. It is the same old, same old in politics, politicians decrying against political persecution and pardons, just with different players who are now playing for different sides from the previous election. It almost feels like a conviction is a necessary qualification in any senior politician’s resume in this country. Instead, more attention needs to be paid to our social ills, with the police force having to come to the rescue of more than 600 victims of neglect and abuse in children’s homes of one single corporate entity. It is unbelievable that legal, villainous corporations can actually exist in this day and age.

Life imitating art or art imitating life?

Padawan Minigeek completed the first phase of her training this year and graduated from primary school education. Thankfully she inherited her parents’ brains and managed to achieve reasonable grades despite her modicum level of effort, which she thinks I, her all knowing Jedi Master, is ignorant off. Nevertheless, Padawan Minigeek is my pride and my joy, simply because she is. If there is any area of improvement I would comment on specifically, it would be her self-assuredness in that I never need to double check her decisions or question her rationale more than once, she is always certain about what she wants. Padawan Minigeek is also calm in the midst of a storm, able to decide and act rationally even when the world is turned upside down, which was literally on a banana boat ride gone wrong in the middle of the sea. If Padawan Babygeek is my duelling buddy then Padawan Minigeek is my intellectual buddy, sharing music, food, books and like mindedness. Next year, she enters the formative years of her training to become a Jedi Knight, these are the years that will forge the type of person she will become and the duties that she will assume in Knighthood.

Another milestone for Padawan Minigeek!

Padawan Babygeek is at a perfect mix between Youngling and Padawan. He hasn’t grown shy to ask for hugs and physical acts of affirmation and is also kind and understanding towards others. His palate tends towards "old man" and disdains typical children’s joys such as ice-cream, chocolates and cola. And yet he lives life as if he were imbued with immortality, continuously chasing the highs of death-defying feats and the adrenaline rush of speed demons. His biggest weakness remains, where the concept of responsibility over material possession is a vague and fleeting precept of his Padawan training. Nine tenths of the house is covered in Padawan Babygeek’s possessions and he needs to be constantly reminded to pick up after himself. It is as if God placed Padawan Babygeek on this Earth purely to enjoy as much of His creation as possible.

Another uncle on the streets of Hanoi recognizing a kindred spirit in Padawan Babygeek

Padawan Minigeek continues her quota of one single play a year with us. This time choosing her favouritest boardgame – Castles of Mad King Ludwig, and winning in the process. Padawan Babygeek on the other hand transitioned into more challenging boardgames such as Gloomhaven, Pokemon TCG and thoroughly enjoyed Just One with our extended family. Altogether Padawan Babygeek played 22 sessions in 2024 and enjoys his time at the table.

Here we find Padawan Babygeek admonishing his uncle (correctly I might add)

And now, a little something about me from this year. This year brings to a close my small experiment in accounting teaching. The mirror after school class which was then followed by the accelerated class were both successful in its implementation and outcome but we have decided to discontinue these extra classes so I can bring my efforts to bear on other aspects of the school. I also made a conscious effort to work together with others rather than tackle things on my own, except in emergencies (the Superman complex doesn’t go away easily). Perhaps in addition to old age, or physical degradation, letting things fall flat occasionally not only provides good opportunities for staff review but also an understanding of my place in the organization.

I personally have no wisdom but we can all learn from Master Oogway

With all that out of the way let's talk about some boardgame statistics for 2024 using the very handy Board Game Stats app, with a side-by-side comparison to 2023:

2024 vs 2023 in numbers

That’s a huge jump from last year and a big reason behind it, is that I resolved to play at least one boardgame a day for the entirety of 2024. There was one caveat, the Tuesday game night plays would not count towards the one play a day total. As you can see from the list of boardgames, these were my top 5 most favourite boardgames to play on BoardGameArena (BGA). Not that I got any better at some of them, for example my ELO for Race for the Galaxy still sits at a dismal 105 (100 is average). Surprisingly my highest ELO on BGA is Downforce, which I don’t even really enjoy. On top of this completed resolution (very proud if I do say so myself), the total plays on Tuesday game nights jumped from 200 plays in 2023 to 330 plays in 2024. Mainly because there were some weeks where it was Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday game night.

BGA is getting to be worth every penny with the amount of boardgames now available on the website. 2024 was once again my year, making this my third season title (2021, 2022 and 2024). Again, very proud of myself, especially since I only took one quarter champion this year compared to Hardi winning two quarters. So, for the record, I have three season titles, Dr Tan has one. Dr Tan has four quarter titles, Kyle & I have three and Hardi has two. Keeping records of these things is what got us into this weekly commitment in the first place. And for the second year running, our most played boardgame on BGA continues to be the ever popular – 7 Wonders, of which Hardi has the most wins and highest score. Again, records. We continue to search for our long awaited “5th Player”, so again, if you are interested, don’t be afraid to hit us up.

Gotta keep counting your rings

2024 was a quiet year in terms of acquisitions. There were some great new boardgames released in 2024 but ultimately nothing really sang to me. At the end of the year, I had collectively added one new boardgame, one of its expansions and two boardgame accessories.

Boardgames Added / Dropped / Staying on This Year's Wishlist:

For the first time ever, last year’s wishlist ended up being a complete dud. Nothing made it into the collection and in point of fact, almost everything ended up being removed from the list with nothing new added to it. I actually had a few opportunities to pick up some of these boardgames but ultimately decided to forgo them. I will cover the changes in my thoughts on these boardgames briefly. I dropped Ryan Laukat’s Sleeping Gods, Near and Far and Garphill’s brand new Ezra and Nehemiah for the same reason, that it does not play as well at low player counts. Taking into account the change in my social group, I do prefer boardgames that are equally enjoyable at one or two players. Apiary whilst interesting, is just not different enough to add to my collection. Expansions for Viscounts of the West Kingdom are not worth the effort to chase down due to the prohibitive costs.

So in the end, Feast for Odin and its expansion remains on the wishlist for the 7th year running! I think I am just waiting for a publisher to release a collector’s edition of this boardgame where I will pick it up at whatever ridiculous price they will ask for.

Wishlists – one is the loneliest number

Boardgames Added To THE SHELF:

So, I did feel a little guilty about getting a big boardgame like Andromeda’s Edge even though I didn’t actually pay anything for it in 2024. When a FLGS announced a store wide discount, I couldn’t resist and snagged these two together at one go.

Dune: Imperium – Uprising

Dune: Imperium – Uprising
I had previously picked Lost Ruins of Arnak over Dune: Imperium but the sale plus the movie (oh so good) plus the new “perfected” edition made it too difficult to resist. At the same time, I picked up the expansion Dune: Imperium – Rise of Ix which I am not sure is best to be added entirely to the base game, I need to experiment with different modes of play to be sure.

HHG Battlemat – Grasslands

HHG Battlemat – Grasslands
I was eyeing the game mats being sold by game topper and decided to look for something that was available locally in the same size. Lo and behold these Horus Heresy Battlemats were available at a fraction of the cost. Sure, I’m not a Warhammer player but nothing says I can’t cross universes when it comes to boardgame accessories. In fact, that mat ended up being even bigger than I had expected and rolls off ever so slightly on the biggest table in my house.

GeekUp Card & Bit Holders

GeekUp Card & Bit Holders
I have had my eye on these ever since resources started rolling off the table and onto the floor. I finally decided to bite the bullet and pick up five of them in red, blue, purple, pink and green. This is one of those grail purchases for me and I’m actually quite happy about it.

Boardgames NEW to me in 2024:

Once again, BGA has introduced me to most of the new boardgames that I had come to experience in 2024. For the sake of conciseness, I will only cover those boardgames that I ended up having multiple plays of over the year.

Faraway - Always a head trip and wishing for the right symbols to show up

Faraway:
Every time we decide to play Faraway, we take a minute to reorient our brainwaves before starting. It’s like preparing to drive on the other side of the road in a different country, everything is exactly just the same, only opposite. I have contemplated picking up Faraway but the boardgame is trippy enough as it is with the help of programming to work out the resources and the scoring. I can’t imagine how much longer each play would be if we had to do it manually.

Lost Cities - Like playing two player solitaire in versus mode

Lost Cities:
Lost Cities was recommended to me aeons ago when I was brand new into the hobby. My impression of it was that it seemed a bit simple and the theme was not particularly interesting. All of that is actually true but it is a very fun 1v1 boardgame which Hardi and I can quickly get through if we have to wait for the two others on Tuesday game nights. Surprisingly I am actually quite a bit better at this boardgame than Hardi but he keeps suggesting it in the downtimes.

The Vale of Eternity - Perpetual hate drafting

The Vale of Eternity:
What a fun boardgame! Looking for combos to build an engine is basically half of the boardgame, then looking for ways to disrupt other Players’ engines is the other half. It is a MTG Johnny’s dream come true and one of our favourites on BGA. This was another strong contender to join the collection but I already have Seasons and it does not get enough love as it is so I will just partake through BGA for the moment.

Mountain Goats:
Mountain Goats took Can’t Stop, reduced the number of rerolls, added a drop-kick your opponent down the mountain move and a set collection mechanic, and now we can’t go back to Can’t Stop anymore (mostly because of the drop-kick move). A very fun boardgame that takes a filler 0.5 levels higher.

Red7:
Asians familiar with the card game “Chor Tai Ti” or “Big Two” will feel quite at home with Red7, except it has seven suits and seven rules. The premise remains the same, on each Player’s turn, they have to have played a card(s) that is of higher rank than the previous Player. To facilitate / complicate the process, each Player can change the rule that dictates the type of hand that ranks highest. For example, “Most even cards” or “Most cards below 4” would be some of the rules out of the seven available. It is definitely a longer game as some Players struggle through the rules to find ways to be the highest hand and can definitely be too long at the 4 or more player count.

Just One:
I grew up in a family that enjoyed boardgames like Pictionary and Taboo. So it came as no surprise that they took to Just One like a duck to water when I brought it along for our annual family holiday. Just One rewards ingenuity and spreads a miasma of double think amongst jumpy participants. It is also great to play with kids if you just do a little house-ruling. In fact I suspect that we had such a fabulous time because of the diversity of player ages across three generations.

Harmonies - 3D terrain building

Harmonies:
Harmonies has you populating a landscape with mountains, buildings, trees, water and fields. By also taking cards, Players can score points by claiming specific landscapes that are depicted on these scoring cards. The landscape itself will also give points, such as the height of mountains and trees or the length of your river. It is actually a very solitaire experience and I haven’t gotten the hang of focusing on the two aspects of scoring. Most of the time I tend to focus on just the scoring cards as much as possible. Harmonies is a relatively easy boardgame that is very visually appealing, but not particularly interactive and so may not be for everyone.

Closing Thoughts On 2024:

As mentioned earlier in this article, 2024 was a challenging year of working people to work with people. Whilst there were disappointments, we did the best we could with the circumstances (it reads like such a management cop-out but sadly that’s what anyone can do most of the time). And every year I wonder if I can finish this year in review article by the new year and each year I’m blessed to be able to accomplish this successfully.

Padawan Minigeek is stepping into teenage hood with all the terrifying changes that it entails, particularly for the Jedi Master and parent. At this stage, direct instruction from the Jedi Master becomes less effective than instruction from the world, its events and the people that will surround her. Like Anakin Skywalker, Harry Potter, Miles Morales and yours truly, they challenge the perception that they are still children, let their hearts rule over their minds and need friends who enable more than parents who restrict. The best thing that I think I can do for Padawan Minigeek as her teacher is to influence her environment and do my best to surround her with the right people. I’m just glad that we have not reached the stage where my goofiness causes her to roll her eyes instead of eliciting a childish laugh from Padawan Minigeek.

Padawan Babygeek changed a lot this year. His caring side is more pronounced and demonstrates stronger discipline with his school work. The trail of clothes, drinks, wrappers and tissues continues to mark his passage, like the wormsign of the Shai-Hulud. He has also gained an appetite for sushi although he tends to still stay away from the raw fish. At least this makes Japanese a common meal choice for the family, albeit an expensive one. All in all Padawan Babygeek is a good padawan and I really could not be any prouder.

Padawan Minigeek (left) and Padawan Babygeek (right) growing faster than bamboo shoots

Not all my boardgaming initiatives worked out for 2024. The planned monthly rambling of boardgame adjacent topics petered out at six postings. Maintaining a monthly production was more difficult than I had planned, especially in the busy months of the year. However, the one play a day on the other hand was a resounding success and was actually not very difficult to accomplish with the help of Race for the Galaxy. With the help of my brother and Padawan Babygeek, we also managed to reach the unofficial ending of Gloomhaven and called in the OG gang to stomp the final boss into the Void, from whence he came. It is so typical that at the end, we were more concerned about Moses getting his battle goal than finishing off the final boss (fun fact, his own summon killed the final boss and prevented his battle goal). And thus after 6 years of adventuring, our Gloomhaven campaign has reached its conclusion. There is still a LOT to uncover in Gloomhaven, having only unlocked four of the eleven unlockable classes (we became overly attached to our characters), I plan to one day return to uncover the remaining secrets of Gloomhaven.

So it begins and so it ends - Rincewind

So what's next in 2025?

My guesses for 2024 back then were quite spot on compared to the year before.

I managed to complete the express accounting class satisfactorily within 8 months instead of the standard 20 months. Admittedly two students decided not to sit for the final examinations but I am very confident that the remaining students will achieve the grades they really deserve.

Unfortunately, still no boardgame retreat for me as the retreat I wanted to take part in coincided with the annual family holiday. However Gloomhaven has finally been completed! What an epic journey it has been.

2025 is going to be yet another year of new and exciting things. I am planning to start the long awaited Frosthaven campaign. I suspect that it will be Moses, Padawan Babygeek and myself or occasionally just Padawan Babygeek and me. I am hoping that it will be a fun bonding time for us. I have continued to consider running physical sessions, but sadly it would appear that I have to find new members in the play group as many of the old members have moved on to other pursuits or have heavier life commitments. There is a group that meets at a McD’s drive through nearby that I have thought of joining and might eventually take up in 2025.

I also hope to go on a nice holiday this year and see the world a little bit. I think it will be a last chance to have a quiet holiday before the government academic calendar aligns back with our school then I would have to take holidays together with the entire population of Malaysia.

Oh and as a follow up to last year’s geeky contribution, I actually finished FFXII AND Persona 4 AND Persona 5 in 2024! What an eventful year. So for this year’s geeky contribution…

A future where the boardgame is virtual

The United Nations has named 2025 as the “International Year of Cooperatives”. Apparently it was so successful in 2012 that they decided to repeat the Year of Cooperatives again in 2025. Perhaps this is a sign to try out the cooperative genre of boardgames or finally give in and bring back The Crew: Mission Deep Sea to the rotation on Tuesday game nights, after it was officially banned following the sinking in 20 October 2021. In any case, this is me wishing you a blessed 2025 and may you come across loads of cooperative people in your life in this new year.