July 2021 roundup

In July, I managed to play 84 games of 18 different titles with 3 of them being new to me.

== NEW GAMES ==

Shut the Box – 6 plays –  7 
First Published 1750

It might seem surprising but I’ve never played this dice game before. Very quick to play and some light decisions on which numbers to flip but you’re pretty much at the mercy of the dice rolls. This was a birthday gift and it was good fun.

Data Boxing II – 1 play –  7 
First Published 1976

This is a solo boxing game simulation using cards for real-life fighters allowing you to pit boxers from different eras against each other. Not easy to get into but, once you understand the many small rules variables, it works quite quickly and I enjoyed my only play quite a bit. Rating may go up as I get more used to the system.

Pro Golf – 4 plays
First Published 1981

This isn’t the commercial game but a promo game based on the original title which allows you to play a 36 man 4 round tournament in a couple of hours. I had fun rolling dice and seeing what the result of the Open Championship should actually have been. (Not rated as it wasn’t the full game).

== OTHER GAMES PLAYED THIS MONTH ==

14x Pocket Tennis
13x Pocket Sports Surfing Tour
9x Flamme Rouge
8x Pocket Cricket
7x Fastcard Soccer
6x Pocket Golf
3x Pocket Basketball
3x Completto
2x Rummikub
2x Harry’s Grand Slam Baseball Game
2x Formula D
1x Verflixxt!
1x Win, Place & Show
1x Powerboats
1x Dominion

Continuing my solo sports gaming splurge, this month saw me finish my Euro 2020 football tournament, the NBA playoffs and my baseball league. Also played some tennis during Wimbledon, continued the Tour de France, T20 cricket and Formula 1 season – as well as testing some ideas for horse racing, power boat racing and boxing. Otherwise, Jan and I got a few two-player games of Dominion, Verflixxt and Completto none of which we’ve played for a while and were as good as ever.

== YEAR SO FAR ==

499 games of 120 titles.
31 new to me.
1 x 90 plays; 1 x 37 plays; 1 x 35 plays; 1 x 34 plays; 1 x 18 plays; 1 x 17 plays; 1 x 16 plays; 2 x 15 plays; 1 x 12 plays; 1 x 11 plays; 1 x 10 plays; 1 x 7 plays; 2 x 6 plays; 2 x 5 plays, 6 x 4 plays; 14 x 3 plays; 11 x 2 plays; 72 x 1 play.

== STATE OF THE COLLECTION ==

I added 10 new titles to the collection which were Eiyo, 15 Days, Golems, Space Lunch, Rebis, Mint Works, Mint Control, Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective (thanks, Nick), Metric Mile and Shut the Box. My total collection now stands at 710.

At the end of July, I have ten unplayed games (two at the start of the month) and my Game of the Month was Data Boxing II.