I often see people set up arbitrary goals for culling their board game collections. “If I haven’t played it in a year, I sell it”, is one I’ve seen a lot, and usually, I’d agree with that. Some people revel in having a shelf of shame, a list of games that they are obligated to play next. I once mentioned my shelf of dust games, the games that have gotten at least one play, but it’s been years since the last time I played it. In today’s post, I’m imploring you to keep your games. yes, it’s annoying to store a bunch of boxes that aren’t seeing a lot of play, and perhaps selling old games is what enables you to buy new ones, which is great! You should do what brings you joy! What I want to share today, is the joy that comes from introducing the games that were instrumental to your development in the hobby to someone else.

My daughter is 4 years old, and for the last year or so, we’ve spent about an hour each afternoon playing old-school Mario games together. It started one day when she was sick and laid out on the couch. Instead of putting on Bluey, I chose to play Super Mario 64 on the Nintendo Switch, because I bought the Mario 3D All-stars game while it was available. I don’t understand why Nintendo made this collection a timed exclusive, but apparently now this cartridge is selling on the after market for outrageous prices. What I find fascinating was that I bought the 3D All-stars collection in 2021, and never got around to playing it. I bought it with the intention of finally playing through Super Mario Sunshine, as I never had the opportunity to play it during the Gamecube era, but even after I got my copy of Mario 3D All-Stars, it just sat on my shelf. I considered selling it a few times, when I saw someone else list it on Marketplace for $300, but I’ve always leaned toward the idea that a game on your shelf is worth more than its resale value.

And I’m glad I never sold it. Playing Super Mario 64 was a pretty special time with my daughter. At first, she was content to just watch me play, then one day while I was getting her a snack in the kitchen, I came back to see the controller in her hands, and her running Mario around in circles. Over the next few weeks, she went from just running up and down the paths around the castles, to learning how to jump, to learning how to jump and move at the same time. It was fascinating watching her learn these mechanics. Eventually, she’d explore Peach’s Castle on her own, pick a world, and then pass me the controller for the tougher parts. I loved the joy in her face as I showed her the secrets, like the secret slide behind Peaches window, or the Snow Kingdom hidden in a wall. The way she screamed “WHAT?” when the game showed her something new, something she previously couldn’t comprehend, was a joy to behold.

Nowadays, she’s playing through whole Mario games on her own. I think Galaxy is her favourite, although she does still ask for my help on the really hard levels, or to get through the final gauntlet. She keeps restarting her save file in Mario Wonder, because she likes it better when the wonder seeds have colour, and she keeps getting all the way up to Bowser castle. Of course, she’s using the Yoshi character, who doesn’t die from the enemies on the stage, but more and more often, I’m catching her playing as Peach. She gets frustrated when she dies, but she is learning how to persevere.

Years ago, I was working as a cook, and I overheard two servers talking about a game of Catan they had recently played. I mentioned that I really liked board games too, and had just bought a couple new ones. The next morning, Ali and Mary came over, and we played Sagrada and Carcassonne. They were hooked. They continued to come over every other morning before we all went to work at the restaurant in the evening, and over the course of a few months, we played through every single board game in my entire collection. Eventually, they both moved away, and that little game group fell apart, but I still think back to it now and again. It’s a good thing I held onto some of the lighter games that my hardcore game group aren’t interested in playing very much, because those games became the catalyst for two newcomers into the hobby.

I’m not saying you need to keep every single game you buy, but consider keeping some of those games that are special to you, even if they haven’t seen a play in months, or even years. You never know when life will shift, and the right game on your shelf, the one you haven’t touched in years, might just be the reason someone else falls in love with the hobby. Because sometimes, it’s not about when you last played a game, it’s about who you might play it with next.