How to keep your game collection manageable, redux

Daniel Karp dakarp) United States

Rockville

Maryland Developin' Developin" Developin!! "The raised fist logo may represent unity or solidarity, generally with oppressed peoples." Patron Badge for 2004 through 2020 Recommend 580 73.65 geeklist with a guide to keeping your game collection from growing out of control. I came across it today, and decided it was worth updating!



If you are trying to keep your collection from growing out of control, I have some recommendations that have helped me. After nearly 20 years of collecting, I have about 300 games now, but would have many more if I hadn't adopted the following policies. (I might have even fewer if I stuck to the policies more strictly.)



This list is not for everyone. It only applies to people trying to keep their collections from growing too much--let's call them "efficient collectors." If what you want is a HUGE game collection (and you can afford it), full of games you are unlikely ever to play, go for it! For the most part, I buy games to play them, and collect them so that I have the games I want to play.



None of these are hard and fast rules--just general guidelines, and I break them all from time to time. I repeat: these are general guidelines, and don't always apply--break them at will, but be aware that you are breaking them, and think about why you are choosing to do so. Loosely following these guidelines has kept my collection under control better than it would be otherwise--the total number of games in my collection has grown by only about 10 games a year since I first posted these guidelines, almost 12 years ago. While there is substantial room to reduce, my collection now consists mostly (well at least > 50%) of games I truly enjoy, and hope to continue playing.



Oh, and all of the examples are only my opinions--I've purposely chosen game other people tend to like for these examples to emphasize rule #8.



Have any suggestions for more guidelines? Feel free to suggest them in the comments, and I'll add them if I think they belong.