And I don’t think that the one I need is among the Heroes of Tenefyr.

It’s not that HoT is a terrible game. It’s not. But nor is it a great one, and I think that’s pretty much what the bar needs to be for me to keep things these days.

The options for gamers have never been as good or as plentiful as they are now. This embarrassment of riches, coupled with a lack of physical space, means that I not only can be extremely picky, but that I must be so.

HoT is OK. I enjoyed playing with the strategy of it, and there’s more in there than meets the eye at first glance. That’s good. Starting with it in Hard level was an error in the end because I think that’s its weakest setting. For me, this reduction in time simply took away most of the interesting choices as it forced a formulaic approach – you cannot afford to be anything other than perfect with that little time to improve your hand before the Boss encounter. The difference between Hard and Normal modes wasn’t so much that I had time to be sloppy in Normal mode, but I did have time to try different approaches, and that was an area of amusement denied me in the tighter timeframe.

In the end though, I think that I’ve had as much fun from HoT as I’m going to. It’s served its purpose, so I can thank it for its service and let it go.

Going back to the idea that things must be great to be kept, that’s not always going to be the case. Some things are useful for my work, others are kept because they can be played with non-gamers, or because I like the art and can’t get it in a book. I’m sure there are other reasons. However, these are all reasons which make the game great at that specific thing. In theory, I could play many games with my mum, but in practice there is a fairly narrow slice of my collection which she’d really enjoy. She plays so few, why not treat her to the cream of the crop within that narrow window? And, do so by keeping a game that I may never play with my gamer friends.

Some games are great reference examples of particular styles of design, or mechanics. While I can always read up on things like this, there are important aspects to a good design that are really only apparent in play. You have to feel them.

My collection is, therefore, a slightly eclectic and personal one, and that’s as it should be. Yours will be different, but no less personal. And that’s as it should be too.