Happy Holidays!

I received a copy of Deflexion from my BGG Secret Santa. Deflexion is a game I've been meaning to add to my collection since the first time I heard about it. It's got lasers! It's an abstract game where each player, using mirrored pieces, tries to eliminate the enemy pieces by hitting them with an unreflected laser beam. I'm not talking about a "make believe" laser here, this is a real "Class 2" laser. The coolness factor for this game is off the chart! The game itself is not bad either, but without the lasers it would just be a run-of-the-mill abstract game. But with the lasers... Wow!

Regarding the BGG Secret Santa Project... This was a great idea. It was great to see so many BGG users respond and participate in the program. Tom Vasel organized the project and I think he was surprised at how many BGG users chose to participate. I expected a big turn out. I didn't have a specific number in mind, but I'm not surprised by the 200+ users that joined the project. I wouldn't have been surprised if twice as many users had participated.

Why was this "Secret Santa" project successful where other similar projects (in other walks of life) fail? Why was I willing to participate in this project and not the many others suggested this time of year? For me, it had everything to do with Gaming. I was giving someone a game they wanted and receiving a game I wanted. There was none of the "what should I get?" and "why did you get me that?" questions. Also, I have more in common with BGG users than I do with most of the people I work with or are acquainted with on a daily basis. For BGG, the success is due, I believe, to the spontaneity of the event. Tom proposed the idea late in the year, in December if fact, and the decision to participate was a "gut" reaction. BGG users just jumped on the bandwagon. If this project had been suggested and organized back in August or September, I don't think it would have been as successful. That would have allowed too much time for thought and too much time for the cynical nature of folks to surface.

There is a general assumption on BGG that there will be another BGG Secret Santa project in 2006. A lot of BGG users are looking forward to next year. I doubt that the 2006 program will be as successful as this year. I believe with a year to plan and organize the event, it will lose all of the spontaneity that made it such a success this year.