A year and a half ago, I followed the lead of Jason from the Point 2 Point podcast and declared a “Summer of Victory.” At the urging of my dad, I kept a spreadsheet of all games played between Memorial Day and Labor Day to see if I could declare victory by the summer’s end–and I did, winning 57% of the games I played. Eventually, the spreadsheet became known as the “Margin of Victory” record, and the fun I had keeping it updated eventually led to this blog.
I managed to keep a record of games played throughout all of 2009, and after a bit of number crunching, now present my 2009 personal retrospective:
Games played: 158
Wins: 73 (46%)
Losses: 86
Average time between games: 2.3 days
Best game month: August with 24 games played (due to the WBC)
Worst game month: March with 7 games played
Two player games: 50
Two player wins: 28 (56%)
Multiplayer games: 108
Multiplayer wins: 45 (41%)
Most regular two player opponents
1. Russ (13 plays, 10 wins)
2. My brother Mike (12 plays, 8 wins)
3. My wife Sara (7 plays, 4 wins)
4. Joe (6 plays, 1 win)
5. My dad (4 plays, 2 wins)
Most popular games of the year
1. Cribbage (18 plays, 12 wins)
2. Manoeuvre (17 plays, 6 wins)
3. Twilight Struggle (13 plays, 10 wins) and Catchphrase (13 plays, 6 wins)
4. Small World (12 plays, 3 wins)
5. Here I Stand (9 plays, 2 wins)
Games played for the first time: 15 (9.4%)
Having crunched all the numbers, a few things surprised me. First, my overall win record is better than I thought it would be, especially considering I won only two games at the WBC! Also, I was astounded at how much Manoeuvre I’ve played, especially against my brother Mike. Last, I can’t end this post without mentioning how Russ needs to bring his “A” game this year!
Tell us about your gaming breakdown in 2009 in the comments.
Margin of Victory 
I have some practicing to do as well. Though I do think we are still equal in Manouevre.
Actually, you’re beating me by one. You’re 5 and 4 in Manoeuvre against me.
Awesome!
The (relatively) meaningless tracking of numbers is one of my favorite things. My 2010 list has started and so far so good.
I think a players defeated number/game should be tracked. For example: you play a 5 player game of Small World and come in second. Sure you lost, but you defeated 3 people.
I’ll be tracking number of players beat this year. That struck me as a critical thing I missed last year (though winning 41% of my multiplayer games is still a decent track record!).
It’s funny how my example came true two nights ago. You took second in a 5 player game of Small World. I won’t mention who won… (starts with “R” and rhymes with “stick”)
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