JW
- Jun 8, 2021

The Madness that was May

The theme of Solitaire Games On Your Table - May 2021 (1 Player Guild, Board Game Geek) was Challenge Yourself! And I did. It was bonkers. And I started this year doing so well. Motto for my my personal Geeklist was "2021: No goals. No challenges." 😬 But I couldn't resist. I'm a junkie. In one month, I've done the amount of challenges I used to do in a whole year. More! Whatever got into me?

Oh well, it's over and I'm still alive. Time to take stock. Which challenges did I complete successfully 😎, and which ones did I fail terribly 🤢?

TL;DR: ❌✅✅✅❌✅✅✅✅✅

[1.] 10 x 10 Hardcore challenge

❌ In a "hardcore" 10x10 you decide up front which games you are going to play ten times (normally in a year). You are allowed one substitute game, that you also have to name in advance. I have never, ever, in my life, managed to complete a hardcore 10x10 challenge. This month was no different.

I was too proud to take the easy (Desolate) way out and got stuck at 96%. Best hardcore 10x10 score ever though.

✅✅✅✅✅ ✅✅✅✅✅ Aeon's End: Legacy

✅✅✅✅✅ ✅✅✅✅✅ Apex Theropod

✅✅✅✅✅ ✅✅✅✅✅ Jump Drive

✅✅✅✅✅ ✅✅✅✅✅ Legendary Encounters: Predator

✅✅✅✅✅ ✅✅✅✅✅ Marvel Champions

✅✅✅✅✅ ✅⬜⬜⬜⬜ Nusfjord

✅✅✅✅✅ ✅✅✅✅✅ Onirim

✅✅✅✅✅ ✅✅✅✅✅ Pocket Landship

✅✅✅✅✅ ✅✅✅✅✅ Sunset over Water

✅✅✅✅✅ ✅✅✅✅✅ Wipers Salient

Desolate (in reserve)

[2.] Get my H-index from 36 to 38

✅ Oh yeah.

What's a "H-index" in gaming? It's the highest amount of games for which you can say you have played X games X times. For example you've only played three games in your life. You've played one 30 times, the second ten times and the third just once. Your H-index is now two. As you've played two games two times.

Of course I only can check the plays I have logged on Board Game Geek since 2017. So the number is utter nonsense. I like nonsense. Anyway, my H-index went up this month from 36 to 38.

Now it will take me some fifteen plays to get to 40. That is completely doable the rest of this year. outside of this challlenges-month I won't play games with the explicit goal of raising my H-index, but I'm pretty sure this rise will happen naturally.

[3.] Get my solo H-index from 30 to 32

✅ Done.

This one is way harder as for solo gaming I tend to focus on learning new games all the time. I'll get to 33 this year, but anything higher will take a while.

[4.] Get 5 games to 5 plays

✅ Done.

⬛⬛⬛⬛✅ A.D. 30

⬛⬛⬛⬛✅ Astroforce

⬛⬛⬛⬛✅ Crypt

⬛✅✅✅✅ Reykholt

⬛⬛⬛✅✅ Sprawlopolis

[5.] Get 5 games to 10 plays

❌ I'll never admit it, but this was maybe just one challenge too many?

⬛⬛⬛⬛✅ ✅✅✅✅✅ Legendary Encounters: X-Files

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛✅✅ Palm Island

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛✅✅✅ Town Builder: Coevorden

…

I had planned to play Healthy Heart Hospital on 12 May, International Nurses Day. It needed two plays to get to ten and I haven't tried the Nurses Expansion yet.

After that, one play of Fields of Arle or Zulus on the Ramparts would have been enough to finish this challenge. It all sounded so doable. But, I failed.

[6.] Get 5 games to 25 plays

✅ Done.

…… …⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛✅✅✅✅ Orchard

…… …⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛✅✅✅ Pocket Landship

…… …⬛⬛✅✅✅ ✅✅✅✅✅ Underwater Cities

…… …⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛✅ Wingspan

…… …⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ✅✅✅✅✅ Yahtzee

[7.] Get 3 games to 50 plays

✅ Done. What can I say. I'm a machine.

…… …… …… ……⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛✅✅ Coffee Roaster

…… …… …… ……⬛⬛✅✅✅ ✅✅✅✅✅ Aeon's End: Legacy

…… …… …… ……✅✅✅✅✅ ✅✅✅✅✅ Marvel Champions

[8.] Get 1 game to 100 plays

✅ Done. Great!

…… …… …… …… ……

…… …… …… …… ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛✅✅✅✅ Terraforming Mars

This year I aim to win Terraforming Mars once with all corporations - having added the Prelude expansion to the box and using the new "TR 63" win condition. It takes a lot of plays.

[9.] Play 5 unplayed games

✅ I did! Some 30+ to go. 😳 If I ever have no unplayed games left, you'll know there's something seriously wrong with me. Please notify a doctor immediately.

⭐ The Bloody Inn

⭐ Field Commander: Rommel

⭐ La Granja: No Siesta

⭐ Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age

⭐ Valley of the Kings

[10.] Win a game of Underwater Cities, my most recent aquisition

✅ It may have been on the Yucata website, but I'll take it.

BONUS CHALLENGES

Join in on Rixte's daily challenges

Our host of Solitaire Games On Your Table set a daily challenge, to play a game in a specific theme. I'd decided that joining 15 times would be nice, 25 would be great and 31 amazing.

I had to cheat work for it, but finished with exactly 25 thematic plays. Silver medal!

Play a game a day

I did. And I think I even played a solo game every day. Gold medal!