An oldie, but a good one.
What I've been playing lately in these hot summer months: an old baseball game.
What if I told you I've been playing a board game created in 1961? That's many decades before I was born! I'm not trying to make a statement against the Cult of the New, don't worry about me lecturing you on the topic. It's way simpler than this: I like baseball, and I'm a bit of a stat nerd. Here comes Strat-O-Matic Baseball.
According to Wikipedia, the game was created in 1961 by a mathematician from Bucknell University named Hal Richman. It has been shared or published in various formats since then, the modern version of it having an annual release. Each year, Mr. Richman, and I assume his team, research every statistic in the baseball universe, and if you're not a baseball fan, let me tell you it's a statistician's dream, and produce a card for every MLB player. According to the company, their product is the most statistically accurate baseball game. Based on their proprietary statistical methods, the gameplay should produce results closely matching their real counterparts over a season. Many Strat-O-Matic aficionados will play the game with their favorite team, replaying an entire season, trying to do better than reality. Thankfully, it's even easy to find the exact lineup used in every single MLB game!
A baseball card for each player, a couple of dice, and a few pawns to keep track of baserunners are all there are in the game. If this doesn't sound appealing to you, I can understand. It's a very nerdy type of game. Everything is a dice roll; you can easily play solo. There are three levels of rules (basic, advanced and super advanced) to choose from, depending on how deep you want your experience to be.
I have the set for the 2023 season. I've looked into acquiring more, but it's expensive for a non-American. 57$USD for the base set, 27$USD for the additional players set, plus shipping. Translated into monopoly dollars, I mean Canadian dollars, I'm looking at easily 130 $CAD. Not a lot of money in the world of super-duper-extra-deluxe editions of board games, but still a fair annual chunk.
I had put the game away after a few games last year when I acquired the set but got it out after my vacation. I'm a bit of a weirdo, I guess. I don't replay a single team season but rather play any game from the 2023 season. Furthermore, I bought a digital app to keep track of everything (Digital Diamond Baseball v12, the latest product version is available on Steam), because you go full nerd or not at all with this type of game. 😆
If the general idea of the game appeals to you, but you're not a baseball fan, I have good news! The company also produces a basketball, a hockey and an American football version. Digital versions of the baseball and football games are available too.
