These games of ours...

No matter what our origins to the World of Designer Boardgaming, there's one affliction that few of us seem able to avoid: The purchasing of huge quantities of the objects of our affection. You see it here, on BoardGameGeek, and everywhere. Husbands sneaking delivery packages past their wives, girlfriends hastily explaining checking account expenses... Yes, Virginia, we have BoardGameGuilt.

It starts small, insidiously. You log into the websites to look up the game your friends introduced you to, or you saw at your Friendly Local Game Store (FLGS). Your jaw dropped, your eyes opened wide in disbelief at this Hidden Kingdom of Games. Into this Undiscovered Country you must fly. You must make up for lost time; buy Out of Print games before they become even rarer, buy all the games of past years you've missed before they go Out of Print, search eBay for fantastic deals, and get each and every one of the years hyped games.

You wish to have the best Board Game collection possible. You need card games, exploration games, tile-laying games, abstract games, civilization games, connection games, hand management games, etc. You need games for 2 players, 3 players and even those extravagant 8 player games. You need filler games that play quickly for entertainment, you need medium weight games to engage a group for an hour or so, you need a monster game or two to fill those day long extravaganzas.

Admit it, there is no hope for your condition. He who dies with the most toys does win in the long run; they've had the most fun and experience getting their. So, get back and put all those games in the 'played' column and have a guilt-free time.

While you are doing that, remind your significant other of the alternatives. There are, after all, much more destructive and anti-social ways to spend our disposable income and time.