Sometimes you lose games to a fire, and sometimes you find them
Jon Grantham
United States
Bowie
Maryland
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In which some games are seen for the first time since 1994.
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Jon Grantham
United States
Bowie
Maryland
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I got Arab-Israeli Wars for my 13th birthday in 1985. I didn't play it much, but when I came across this picture in December 2009 and posted it, I was amazed that it received so many thumbs (211 currently) on BGG.
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Jon Grantham
United States
Bowie
Maryland
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As a long-time AD&D player (since before the DMG came out, which if you do the math on the previous entry means I was playing at a pretty young age), I was always looking for a way to do mass combat in the D&D system. This wasn't it, but
Ben Stern
United States
Baltimore
Maryland
and I had fun setting up big battles in my parents' unfinished basement.
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3.
Board Game: Nuclear War
[Average Rating:6.21 Overall Rank:2384]
[Average Rating:6.21 Unranked]
Jon Grantham
United States
Bowie
Maryland
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By 1994, my parents had moved away, but I still had a summer job in the area. Ben's parents kindly let me stay with them. Never having gone somewhere for the summer, I packed way too much stuff, including a box of games. Later, I had a vague sense I had left Nuclear War behind, but Ben never came across it.
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4.
Board Game: Advanced Civilization
[Average Rating:8.02 Unranked]
[Average Rating:8.02 Unranked]
[Average Rating:8.02 Unranked]
Jon Grantham
United States
Bowie
Maryland
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One game I was particularly sad to lose was Advanced Civilization. When my parents moved, I had them put some of my stuff in storage. One box of stuff (containing, among other things, a piñata and a plastic cutlass) never surfaced. I believed Advanced Civilization was in there.
Even though it rarely got played, it was always an awesome experience. Our friend
Martin
United States
San Diego area
California
picked up a copy, but I wanted my own. I paid dearly for a copy of Civilization at Euroquest one year, but haven't gotten around to getting Advanced Civilization.
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Jon Grantham
United States
Bowie
Maryland
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I think I only played Machiavelli once, but I was always fascinated by its similarity to Diplomacy and the hope that it could be playable with fewer than 7 players, in addition to the more complicated rules. After my copy disappeared, I picked it up in a math trade, but now that I'm older, I tend to fall asleep reading the rules.
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Jon Grantham
United States
Bowie
Maryland
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This game
Steven Stolarski
United States
West Virginia
, Ben and I chipped in for in high school. Three-way ownership of a game proved less feasible once we lived in three different states, so I bought them out. Unlike some other games on this list, it got a lot of table time. When it vanished, it was replaced by a more modern version that also saw a good bit of play.
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Jon Grantham
United States
Bowie
Maryland
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Last month, Ben called me with the sad news that his parents' house had gone up in flames. Fortunately, nobody was home at the time, so there were no injuries. After some uncertainty, they found out that the home would not have to be torn down, although they have had to move out while it is being rebuilt. Despite some losses, they are very grateful for what survived and have been going through the un-burnt and less-charred items.
Recently, Ben messaged me the following picture with the note, "Look what was found. In great shape too."
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Jon Grantham
United States
Bowie
Maryland
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I had replaced Nuclear Escalation too, so some of these games are going to eBay or the BGG Marketplace and (indirectly) into the twins' college fund. I am excited to be re-united with the game in my avatar, I'm thinking of getting a lockbox for Advanced Civilization, but generally I'm just amazed at the games traveling as if out of a 17-year time capsule into the present.
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