Story by Ewelina Koper (2nd place in our competition)

Story by Ewelina Koper (2nd place in our competition, congrads Ewelina)

Once upon a time… oh wait it is not a fairy tale…

It all started with one word said by a guy on the boardgame podcast: „Nie lubię osiemnastek” (literally translating  – “I hate eighteens” which in polish can also be understood as “I don’t like girls in the age of eighteen”).

I though “Wait, what? You don’t like whom? Why on the hell you hate young girls? I am not judging but seriously is the boardgame podcast a place to discuss sexual preference? ?

But I couldn’t stop thinking and analyzing. There must be some hidden meaning. I started to search. Uncle google should know all the answers, right? Well, not really. Have you ever tried to search for anything that contains “eighteen” and “games” in one search? You can imagine the results… I really didn’t expect that there are so many web pages for adults.  So I tried differently. Type of games. First, second… thirtieth page. All the same, Euro and Ameritrash. Then finally somewhere it was mentioned “18XX”. Let’s try what google says for it. Bingo! Holy Grail was finally found ?

Oh man, all of those the same looking games, so ugly and beautiful and the same time…

Seriously does world need more than hundred different titles that look alike? What the heck is that? Board gamers are not fools. Come on, even Monopoly does not have that many variations, so…let’s dig in further (Oh, if I only knew, If I only have stopped when there was still time for it)

Which was the first one to try? 1846, of course. What else? It is known for being best for beginners, so choice was obvious. So here we go. It came. I smell paint, unboxing and we were almost there. And I am emphasizing “almost”. There was one obstacle between me and her (18xx’s are females if you haven’t noticed yet. They do not forgive mistakes ?). I mean manual or rather “vacuum cleaner manual” as it was named by my non-playing colleagues. We became inseparable. I treat it as my best friend. Reading here and there, taking every moment together. And finally the “loose virginity” night came. I knew, that something so much different from what I am used to, was in front of me. Let’s give it a try.

It was amazing. It was love from first sight. Eight hours disappeared in the blink of an eye. Stock round – Operating rounds – coffee – Stock round – Operating rounds etc. If you ask me, why I loved it? Hell, I have no clue!

I know I am lousy gamer but still I can’t resist playing it. It is addictive. Once you start, you can’t stop anymore.

Before I have even noticed two of them were already in my collection, two more have been preordered and three more are in the “inquiry for quote” status. I can’t stop it. I have reached a point with no return :-). Do I regret? No! Do I want more? Yes, definitely yes!

There soon will be a “XXholism”  disease and I really hope that health insurance will cover its treatment ?.

XXholic