Dallas Petersen » Inspiration

Most-Played Games, 2010

Dallas — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 15:50:26 +0000

Here are my top twenty most-played games for 2010:

Title	Plays	Notes
Dominion	80	Some online plays included in this total. I have all the expansions, and it remains my favorite, most-played game four a couple of years in a row now. I’ve liked the game since Jay Tummelson, owner of Rio Grande Games, taught me the game at the 2008 SLC game con, Gathering of Strangers.
Neuroshima Hex!	41	iPhone app. Chess-like game. I’d suggest buying the iPhone version rather than the board game.
Long Shot	18	Fun family race game. Plays up to eight, and has been widely popular with the non-gamers in my extended family. Quite the luck fest, but fun.
Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age	18	Nice and quick CIV game. Can’t see spending the $25 for the real game, but enjoy my iPhone app and homebrew copy.
Poison	17	iPhone app. A Reiner Knizia-designed game that is a math-y, balanced set-collection type of game, a common trait of his games. Not necessarily bad, just sayin’…
Cribbage	14	Mix of iPhone and real plays. Love the new Copag cards I bought for Cribbage and other traditional card deck games.
Hive	13	Mix of iPhone and board game plays. It is a great, short, chess game. Worthy of anyone’s collection.
Ingenious	11	iPhone app. Ditto on my Knizia comments above. It is a good game, but gameplay feels same-y and just rethemed.
Knights of Charlemagne	10	iPhone app. Knizia again… why do I keep doing this? Games 5, 8, and 9 should just be one game.
5ive Straight	9	Picked up a mint condition, cards-still-shrink-wrapped copy from the American Fork DI. Considering it was made in 1970, it was pretty cool to find a great copy. I’d never heard of it before, but it had decent ratings on BGG. It is a precursor to “Sequence,” and a lot better.
Summoner Wars: Phoenix Elves vs Tundra Orcs	7	Good, fast, tactical war game. Really like it. My son likes this one, so it gets played.
Finca	7	Great family game. Simple, but strategic enough to keep it interesting. Great bits. My wife likes it, so it will stay in steady rotation and continue to get more plays. Was up for SDJ but was bested by Dominion—bad luck for them. It really could have won if Dominion hadn’t been in the mix.
Incan Gold	7	A classic that my kids like to play.
R-Eco	7	Great, relatively unheralded card game. Simple mechanics but well-executed. Definite recommend for any collection. It will appeal to gamers and non-gamers alike. Card quality sucks—like shuffling cardboard—so I’d love a new edition to come out with better quality cards.
Word on the Street	7	Fun word game.
Pandemic	6	Ground-breaking co-op game that gamers and non-gamers seem to enjoy.
Qwirkle Cubes	6	Way better than the original Qwirkle, and a favorite of my wife’s.
Small World	6	I have all the expansions for this one. It’s a lightweight Risk type game, but lots shorter and better theme. My son likes this one.
Carson City	5	An improvement of Caylus, IMO. I’d like more plays of it, but hard to get to the table in my house.
Dixit	5	A wonderfully, surprisingly good family game. Reminds me of Apples to Apples, but much more creative. SDJ winner for 2010, and well-deserving of the honor.

“My Burdens Were Made Light”

Dallas — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:43:28 +0000

This is great.

“My New Life”

Dallas — Tue, 04 May 2010 06:06:56 +0000

I love this video.

Finding Hope: A 9/11 Story

Dallas — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:35:56 +0000

This is a great video about one man’s experience during 9/11. He talks about how the events of 9/11 changed his life.

Change, Gratitude, and the Present

Dallas — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 13:39:35 +0000

“Every exit is an entry somewhere else.” —Tom Stoppard

What a joyful, hopeful thought. Stop mourning for the past and start rejoicing in the now. Look around you and find the opportunities in the present.

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That is why they call it the present. —Eleanor Roosevelt

And here I thought Master Oogway from Kung Fu Panda made this up by his own, enlightened, animated self. A tip of the hat to Mrs. Roosevelt—I didn’t know she was a Kung Fu First Lady.

Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful…. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at this moment. —Eckhart Tolle, “A New Earth”

Destiny… divine providence… good/bad luck. Depending on your philosophy/religious beliefs, you’ll choose one of those as the origin/cause of your current situation. You can rail at the situation you may be in, or you can accept it and be at peace—your choice. Regardless, it simply is what it is. What are you going to do about it?

This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now. —President Thomas S. Monson, “Finding Joy in the Journey”

I love and respect Thomas Monson. He is a good man and a worthy example to me of a life well-lived. I believe him to be a prophet of God.

If you have children who are grown and gone, in all likelihood you have occasionally felt pangs of loss and the recognition that you didn’t appreciate that time of life as much as you should have. Of course, there is no going back, but only forward. Rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today, of the here and now, doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future.

If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will—to your surprise—miss them profoundly.

Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. Wrote William Shakespeare, “They do not love that do not show their love.” We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us.

Send that note to the friend you’ve been neglecting; give your child a hug; give your parents a hug; say “I love you” more; always express your thanks. Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved. —President Thomas S. Monson, “Finding Joy in the Journey“

Yesterday I expressed my gratitude to numerous co-workers for what they have taught me. Honesty. Responsibility. Integrity. Humility. Respect. Thanks to them—the lessons learned and examples shown—I’ll move forward… better.