It's starting to get to me again: the lack of board games being played, no time to play them or with others. And while I've come to terms with this arrangement, justifying that personal life tops all else, I still feel there's possibly another reason for this dry spell. I may be grasping at straws here, but hear me out: what if my body's self-preserving my hobby by reducing its intake?
Not the intake of games being played, but the information ABOUT board games itself? I surround myself with board game news on a daily basis, keeping up-to-date with the yearly cons happening around the world to industry buzz articles to people in-the-know about anything and everything board games. For every moment I DON'T spend playing board games, I nearly lap up 10 times as much information for games I WISH I could play. It's a wealth of knowledge I'm proud to wield, but at the same time it's causing a mental imbalance in my head.
Even the daily consumption of board game news has started to take its toll. Half the time, I gloss over what's "the new hotness" that people are raving about, and only seem to care at 1-2 things a day. It's very possible I'm just getting tired of learning more new things that I can/will never play ever. It's like my drive has died down. I need a recharge, I need to be restarted. And I think my body's preparing myself for that.
Like having your favorite food over and over again, too much of a good thing will make you weary of it, and I'm weary now. And it's no way the fault of board games, I just need a...break. I don't need to know the latest news about some game that is coming out next year, nor 20+ reviews of a game that just came out yesterday. Even being selective of the data is exhausting to a point, and I've now reached a state of board game hibernation.
Renewing Oneself
Maybe the weariness is from being just engorged with all this information. I have too much of it processed that I can recite probably 10 different games for every gameplay/theme/mechanic out there, and maybe about 1% of those I actually played? It's factually accurate that that fact makes me sad somewhat. But in the end, this is probably a good thing to do. My focus lately has been more on myself and my family's health, both mental and physical. And Super Mario Odyssey. Okay, maybe a LOT of Super Mario Odyssey.
In fact, that's the PERFECT example of how to sum up my board game feelings at this moment. Super Mario Odyssey is a brilliant game that has received many accolades, and revives much of the same feelings one had (if you're as old as me) back with Super Mario 64, playing Mario in three dimensions for the first time. While we've had our share of 3D Mario Games since (Sunshine, Galaxy), but something about Odyssey invokes more similarities with Super Mario 64 than the rest.
THAT'S the feeling I want to feel again. Remembering how good board games were (so good today), and getting that sense of discovery again where everything that's released in the past 6 months is all brand-new to me. That's what I want to feel again, and I think a break from board games can do that for me. Hopefully.
Gimme A Break, Gimme A Break...
I think a break is all I need to feel proper again. And it's not like I'm avoiding board games. I still want to play them, now more than ever. I just need to enjoy and appreciate what I have in my collection. Maybe I need to participate in another flea market and cull my collection further. Maybe make a better attempt at reviving game nights with friends. All I know is, continuing to feed on new information is not helpful much to me at this point, and only furthers my hobby frustrations.
No comments:
Post a Comment