PLAAY Connect: 12.27.21

Happy New Year! It's been a whirlwind holiday season for us (probably for you, as well!), so we're taking these last few days of 2021 to catch our breath a little bit. This edition of the CONNECT will be a little lighter than usual, but rest assured we'll be back at full-tilt once the new year hits, starting with...

What's New in '22?

We'll lay it out for you in our first YouTube stream of the new year, January 3rd. We'll talk about the basketball game, of course: final details, pre-order information, including dates, prices and what season card sets will be available, along with the "official" release date(s). Plus we'll give you an overview of what else is in the pipeline for the new year. There'll be a few changes to the way we do things in '22, we'll outline those as well. The stream starts at 6pm MST, 8pm EST--Don't miss it!

PLAAY-Dot-CON 2022

The last few days of 2021 are your LAST chance to get the Early-Bird rate of $57! After January 1 your two-day PLAAY pass will go for the normal price, $79 (still a great deal, though!). This amped-up in-person experience creates lasting memories, friendships and fun—it’s why people keep coming back year after year! Your PLAAY pass gets you access to ALL of our convention activities, including several ALL NEW events! PLUS an awesome swag bag, complete with not-yet-available goodies, a raffle of sports board game stuff (free with your PLAAY pass!) and MORE! We'll be putting together our first draft of the convention itinerary in the next few weeks, so you haven't missed anything--yet! Read all about PLAAY-Dot-CON 2022 here...

Top Ten Lists

Being a former radio disc-jockey, I've always been partial to "top ten countdowns." For the last several years, I've prepared "Top Ten" lists for games, card sets, etc. You'll find all these lists and my thoughts about them, below.

Last year's ranking (where applicable) is in parentheses. For a recurring set, the number in parentheses refers to the comparable set from the previous year. (NR) means there was a comparable product the previous year, but it was not ranked in the top 10. (NEW) means there was no comparable product last year.

So without further ado, let's get on with the countdown!...Cue the jingle singers: "number TENNNNN..."

Top Ten Games of 2020

[ 1 ] Dodgeball World Tour (NEW)

[ 2 ] Second Season Pro Football (3)

[ 3 ] History Maker Golf (4)

[ 4 ] History Maker Baseball (1)

[ 5 ] Second Season Express (8)

[ 6 ] Red White & Blue Racin' (3)

[ 7 ] Soccer Blast (10)

[ 8 ] Hockey Blast (9)

[ 9 ] Face to the Mat Pro Wrestling (6)

[ 10] Let's PLAAY Jai-Alai (7)

Well, there it is--the most popular game of 2021 was Heroes & Heels: Dodgeball World Tour! Thanks for all the support, we'll be introducing the boxed version of the game this summer. This is the first year since its 2013 release that the baseball game was not number one or number two on the list. However, the numbers are a bit deceptive. The top four games were very close in numbers, and with a few sales either way, any one of them could have been number one. Second Season Express remains strong, it actually moved up this year from last. The other PLAAY NOW game (besides Dodgeball) was the jai-alai game, which continues to draw fans. Spoiler alert: pretty sure that next year's number one will be basketball!

Top Ten Card Sets of 2020

[ 1 ] Corporate Expansion, DBWT (NEW)

[ 2 ] 2020 Pro Season, SS (1)

[ 3 ] 2021 Baseball America (8)

[ 4 ] 2021 SCRAM Season, RWBR (5)

[ 5 ] 1961 Continental League, HMB (NEW)

[ 6 ] 1986-87 Pro Season, HB (NEW)

[ 7 ] 2020-21 Pro Season, HB (NR)

[ 8 ] 2020 Pro Season, RWBR (2)

[ 9 ] Course Collection SIXTEEN, HMG (NEW)

[ 10 ] Cooperstown Hopefuls, HMB (NEW)

Just as the base game topped the game list, the dodgeball Corporate Expansion set was at the top of the card set list! Noteworthy also was the continued ascent of the Baseball America and SCRAM racing franchises, both of which had best-ever years, out-pacing the real-life pro seasons for their sports! Two of our holiday card sets ('86-87 hockey and the '61 Continental League for HMB) made the list, both will be released as printed card sets in 2022.

Top Ten 2021 PLAAY Space YouTube Streams

[ 1 ] Hoops Development (February 18)

[ 2 ] 2021 Holiday Game Reveal (November 22)

[ 3 ] Hoops Update (September 16)

[ 4 ] 2021 First Look (January 7)

[ 5 ] Fast-Drive Football In-Game Switch to SSX (July 29)

[ 6 ] PLAAY Update (May 24)

[ 7 ] Pro Hoops Playoff Demo (June 24)

[ 8 ] New Website Tour (February 6)

[ 9 ] Game Lab Lightning Round 5 (October 18)

[ 10] PLAAY HQ Tour (August 16)

Not surprisingly, basketball streams accounted for three of the top ten streams (four, if you count the 2021 First Look, which featured hoops content as well). It does feel like the community is ready for basketball! The "PLAAY HQ Tour" episode at #10 was a suggestion of PLAAY gamer Jay Williams, we kind of did it on a whim and were VERY surprised at how well-received it was! Thanks for watching!

Top Ten Live Events Moments

Once again, because of COVID we weren't able to do any out-of-town events, but our live in-person convention provided a lot of great moments, as did our weekly YouTube streams!...

[ 10 ] NEW formats we tried in 2021! Examples, the Cooperstown Hopefuls game where we gave every player one at-bat, and the "'80s vs 90s" golf match, with each golfer playing ONE hole!

[ 9 ] Our PLAAY Gamer Kart Race Final on Mt. Evans Scenic Raceway, with all but eleven drivers falling off the side of the mountain! Survival of the fittest!

[ 8 ] "Let's PLAAY Jeopardy" convention game show, if you haven't watched the video, you should! Super fun!

[ 7 ] Steve Tower singing the Army theme after Army beat Navy in our '63 football game! (I hardly ever defeat Steve in our online match-ups!)

[ 6 ] Commissioner's Edict YouTube series, especially the opening episode "one-on-one" meetings! EXAMPLE: "I’ve been waiting a long time to say this to you: GET OUT.”

[ 5 ] Fury Hardball tournament, PLAAY Dot Con, playing against Dale Buckingham. I thought I had the game in the bag, recording eight outs and no runs. But then, needing only one more out to end Dale's inning, I suddenly lost my mojo and allowed seventeen runs before getting the final out! (I lost, 17-9!).

[ 4 ] Ethan Muslins LIVE Fury Football game during the pre-con picnic, kids vs. adults! (Adults won--one of the few adult victories of the weekend!)

[ 3 ] Fury Football Re-charged LIVE draft! Al Wilson, Cooper Gilbert, Paul Salzgeber and Ethan Musulin participated, we had a special stream set up that allowed us to display each player's card as he was chosen. Felt like draft night in the NFL!

[ 2 ] White Elephant Gift Exchange during the Christmas Party. It was SO much fun opening the packages as they arrived to see what cool sports item had been sent! And, of course, the exchange itself was GREAT fun!

[ 1 ] Jay Williams closing out PLAAY-Dot-CON '21 with a group prayer for my then-upcoming cancer protocol. Really touching and meaningful moment!

PLAAY Games COOP PROJECTS

There's plenty of opportunities to plug in to the community with on-going cooperative projects!...

• James Cast is staring a cooperative History Maker Baseball project with the '61 Continental League cards that were offered during the holiday sale. It's an 84 game season, you're welcome to pick up a series or two, or more! They're expecting to wrap this project up before summer. Reach out to James directly on the PLAAY Games Community Facebook page, or contact us and we'll put you in touch.

• Our long-running Canadian football co-op league, the Interprovincial Pro Football Conference, is gearing up for its 2022 season soon--it usually runs from March to August. Once again, Lenny LaFrance and Peter Stevens are co-commissioners. Currently, all eight franchises have PLAAY gamer coaches, but they are creating a stand-by list for possible expansion, and will keep you in the loop for league happenings via e-mail. Let us know you're interested, and we'll connect you with Lenny and Peter.

FREE STUFF

• The 2021 Japanese Pro Season (NPB) for HISTORY MAKER BASEBALL was created by Brien Aronov, and includes both leagues (Central and Pacific), all twelve teams presented in team colors, plus season info and development/game notes.

• The 1982 Pro Season for COLD SNAP Canadian Pro Football is another awesome historical creation from the keyboard of Joe Pritchard. '82 was an extremely interesting and well-balanced campaign, with six of the league's nine teams finishing with winning records. Includes individual player ratings, highly detailed notes on actual starting line-ups and an instant results table.

• 1964 Jacksonville for RED WHITE & BLUE RACIN' is an historical scenario from PLAAY Gamers Don Weed and Tim Lowery, re-creating Wendell Scott's historic win at Jacksonville's Speedway Park. You get driver cards for each of the 22 participants (two cards for Scott, one based on his season-long performance and a second one for his performance at the Jacksonville race) a track card and liner notes. Read more about the historical significance of the race here, and review the actual race results here.

• 2022 Pro Football Showcase for SECOND SEASON is an all-new idea for springtime pro football! It's not a league at all, but rather, it gives pro football fans an exciting month-long extension of the pro football season. And YOU can experience it on your own game table! Read all about the 2022 Pro Football Showcase on the PLAAYclassic.com blog page. AND here's the eight-team download of our 2022 Pro Football Showcase for SECOND SEASON Pro Football!

2021 in the Rear View Mirror...

What a year it's been, right? THANK YOU for being part of it with us! I've greatly appreciated all the encouragement, support and especially the prayers in 2021 and am hopeful they'll continue as we begin another new year. We're excited for what's ahead in 2022, and eager to have you join us for the journey. Be sure to join us if you can for our "What's New in 2022" look-ahead stream on the PLAAY Games YouTube channel, Monday January 3rd, 6pm MST (8pm EST).

Photo Finish!

“Millie the Super Dog” (nickname coined by Mark Zigler) certainly provided a contrast to our holiday busy-ness! On this particular day, just after the holiday sale, Sam and I were working like maniacs getting all the packages put together and out the door, while Millie stretched out on the PLAAY HQ floor! I couldn’t resist snapping a photo. One of the regrets of 2021 is that we didn’t remember to include her in the PLAAY HQ video tour! We’ll try to get her on camera in 2022, she is a very important part of the PLAAY Games crew!…