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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
, 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.
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."
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.