u/ExpertgamerHB

I've been involved in the hobby for about 14-15 years, with a 4-year hiatus in between after my ex moved out and I was left with friends which didn't really like boardgames or hadn't enough free time to dedicate to them.

I met a bunch of new boardgame enthusiasts in February of last year, with whom I meet up regularly to play games with now. And that pulled me back in. About 45% of this collection has been added to my collection between then and now. I am now part of two separate boardgame groups and I also run my own D&D campaign for yet another group.

The only two games in my collection that are not in this pic:
- Gloomhaven (2e), which is currently stored at a friend's house since we play bi-weekly at her place and I don't want to lug such a heavy game box around each time.
- I'll tell you about the other game not pictured further down.

• Which game in your collection would you say is your favorite?

I love Betrayal Legacy. I've actually played the legacy version twice with two different groups years ago. It's really fun, and I love Betrayal for its mechanics and replayability. Too bad the box is too big to display in a separate section of its own. And when it comes to the classics, Catan is a game I always enjoy playing too.

• What would you change about your collection if you could?

I'd like to get rid of some smaller games that I am no longer interested in, but I'm frankly too lazy to put them up for sale or donate them.

• What makes your collection special to you?

A bunch of my games have been gifted by friends and family. I can recall from each game where it came from and if applicable, who gifted it to me.

As far as my games go, the other game not pictured is the true collector's item in my collection. This game's the Pokémon TCG Rumble game, which is a standalone spin-off from the main Pokémon TCG. I don't play this game since the set of Pokémon cards that came with this game which are exclusive to this game are worth very serious money nowadays.
This game came out when the TCG's popularity was at an all time low, so no one really cared about playing with and damaging the cards back then. That makes this card set extremely rare and hard to find in good condition nowadays. I just never found the crowd to play this game with, so my cards are still in near-mint condition. This game and its cards are in safely in storage somewhere else. (No, I'm not interested in selling).

Other fun facts:
- I occasionally use the puzzles from the EXIT and Pocket Escape Rooms for my own D&D campaign. One of my friends keeps gifting me the copies she finds at the thrift stores after we have solved them.
- Though I am Dutch, I don't really like to play games in my mother tongue. I always go for an English option if one is available to me.
- Gloomhaven 2e is my most expensive game (that I paid for, at least), and it was an impulse-buy!
- I'm more of an impulse-buyer when it comes to boardgames, so my wishlist is pretty small.
- The treasure chest next to my D&D books belonged to my late grandma. She used to store her jewelry in it, I use it to store my dice and use it as a dice tray.