Are you a 1EGAD-Gamer or a GAMAPPIAD-Gamer?

What type of gamer are you?  

When you go to game days do you you prefer to play 1 huge epic deep game that takes 4+ hours, or play as many games as possible?   

Does it depend on the mood/the group? 

Are you a 1EGAD-Gamer (1 Epic Game A Day)  

OR

in the spirit of the 2012 Olympics, 
are you a GAMAPPIAD-Gamer (Get As Many As Possible Played In A Day) ?

Since I'm relatively new (1 year and still going)  to board gaming compared to others, I find that when it comes to the length of games on offer during a board game day, I tend to choose games that play in around the 45-60 minute mark.  Whether it be a Euro game, a party game, a storytelling game, an American-style game...or any other game.  Even when it comes to RPG'ing...if there was a toss up between playing a lot of games in the same time it takes to run a session of AD&D...I'd probably choose - playing lots of games.  (Sorry, my D&D group...hopefully one day you'll see me again...sorry, sorry...sorry)

Yes, I sit in the GAMAPPIAD (Get As Many As Possible Played In A Day) side of the fence.  After a fun day of attending/hosting a board game day, I get that Euphoric feeling of "Yes! I played 6+ games today, woohoo!".  I feel a huge sense of accomplishment and satisfaction after playing a myriad of games. But, occasionally, when I attend a board gaming day and only get 2-3 games played, that sinking feeling hits, and for a short while I fall into a pit of despair....Noooooo....   It might only last a minute or so (give or take a few hours), but it's there.  Have you ever felt that way?  Is it the collector within, the voice that says "you must own everything, you must play everything...everythinggggggg...my precious..."? 

Even though I am very interested in playing "Mage Knight" and "Eclipse" , even "BSG - Battlestar Galactica", I find my taste in games are more towards the 5min - 90min game mark.  I love Agricola, but for games that take maybe 45 minutes to setup, and 1 hr of rules, and 3 hours of play...anxiety hits.  "4-5 hrs in a game day...oooh that means I can only play maybe 1-2 more games. Noooo..."

So as my board gaming knowledge and play experience grew, I took a step back and looked at my collection.  Lo' and behold, there are no games that play over the 90 minute mark sitting on the shelves.  The longest game I probably  have is "The Princes of Florence", "Invasion from Outer Space" and "Dragon Rampage" which all have an estimated game time of 90 minutes.  All of which I've only played The Princes of Florence once & Invasion once. 

When I buy a new game, I feel the need to get it played as many times as possible (I really should stop buying so many games hehe).  It's probably to get my money's worth, but also to get a good enough understanding of the game to know whether to keep it in my collection or not.  At the moment my collection is near max capacity.  The single gaming shelf I own is stuffed and overflowing.  I've tried to cram games onto that shelf, and have even added storage boxes onto of the shelf to add more space.  Due to practicality of living a semi-nomadic lifestyle in Japan, with the chance that we will probably move again, some of my games sit inside the huge shipping boxes they came it. 

Being able to play the game multiple times to ensure that this is the game I can get the most replay value out of and that I really, really must keep in my collection is important.  In the case of an epic 4 hr game...the chances of being able to get that played multiple times in a year might be slim.

In my various gaming groups, it's easy to tell which gamer prefers what.  There's  a nice mix of gamers who want to play the long, in-depth, half-day games, and those that enjoy "shorter" aka under-90minute games.  Our board gaming days are also separated into the various styles of gaming.  I lean towards having a GAMAPPIAD day, so that's the style of game day I try to organise.  That way people that show up in the middle of the day don't have to wait long to jump into a game.  Those that wish to play the epic games are also welcome, and they usually pre-plan their epic adventures beforehand, which is great.  The more gamers the better I say.  The beauty of inviting many types of gamers is that, depending on the gamer's mood, and day, and group of people, everyone is able to play what they want.

One day I may end up on the other side of the fence and become a 1EGAD-Gamer.  But for now I am proud to be a GAMAPPIAD-Gamer.  Up for another game? because I am :)

Riddle me this:
 Are you into the COTN (cult of the new) or are you into the COTO (cult of the old)?
Are you a Euro Gamer or do you like American-style games?
Do you have gamer OCD or NOCD (non obsessive compulsive disorder, - there's no such acronym I just made it up)?

Disclaimer: The majority of the acronyms are fictitious, feel free to adopt them into your gaming vocabulary.