Hit 100 games played this year and I still feel like a beginner

So I track my plays on BGG and last week I noticed I crossed 100 games for 2024. That number surprised me because I've only been seriously into board games for like 2 years. I thought after 100 plays I'd feel like I really knew what I was doing, but I still mess up rules all the time and lose to my friend who has way less plays. Is this normal or am I just bad at remembering rules? Has anyone else hit a weird milestone and felt the same way?

2 comments

2 Comments

juliawalker1mo ago

Took me about 200 plays before I stopped feeling like a complete beginner. What helped me was picking three or four games and playing them over and over until the rules stuck in my head. My group played Cascadia and Azul so many times that year. After I knew those games cold, learning new ones got easier because I started seeing patterns in how rules are written. You are probably picking up more than you realize. The brain just takes longer to feel confident than it does to actually know something.

harper_murphy1mo ago

Wait, so you're telling me I need to play a game 200 times before I stop feeling dumb at the table? That's basically a part-time job. I guess I better quit my day job and just start hoarding game boxes.