Now, being one susceptible to reading into a question more than intended, I had to stop and think about this question. Since I actively participate in more than one group including many one-on-one contests, this question raised more questions. Which group's headcount do I use as a response? Do gamers typically game with multiple groups throughout the year or do they stick to one core group? Do I take the headcount for one group or an average of several groups? Do I total all of the distinct gamers from all of my 2022 games? Perhaps no one else faced this conundrum in answering the question. Next year, the question may need some clarification. Until then, let us forge ahead with a look at the survey responses relating to group size and its association to some of the other survey attributes.
First, the table below shows the tabulation of counts by Group Size. Almost 13% of respondents identify as primarily solo gamers. Given my own experience and preferences, I figured this percentage might be higher. Since gaming and hanging out with friends are always at the top of the list for the best part of wargaming, I suppose the low solo response should not surprise. The largest segment of the population (45%) claims that its group has between one to four other participants.
Primary Game Venue Choice
Gaming Frequency
Primary Interest
Can any insights or tendencies be gained by examining Group Size from only a handful of attributes? A few of my favorites are highlighted below.
Age Group
With the exception of the often under-surveyed 20 and Under cohort, solo gaming tends to increase with age as small group size (1-4 others) tends to shrink. Almost 21% of the 61+ age group primarily games solo. At the lower end of Group Size, does solo gaming crowd out small group participation?
There are several interesting observations when Group Size is cross-tabulated with Game Venue.
First, clubs have a tendency to host larger groups than do game stores. From the survey, about 20% of clubs see groups above 16 gamers. Second, when gaming at either home or a friend's, group size is dominated by the 1-4 category. Private homes seem to be the domain of small gaming circles.
Ignoring the More than once a week gamer, for now, as gaming frequency falls so does group size. With little or no gaming, there seems to be a very tenuous connection to groups. For the infrequent gamer playing less than quarterly, 44% of play is solo and 46% is in groups of 1-4. The More than once a week gamer tends to run in bigger gaming circles but still finds time for solo play.
When examining Group Size by Primary Interest, Fantasy/Sci-Fi gamers show a similar pattern to the Mixed category of gamers. The distinguishing feature between these two groups and Historical wargamers is that Historical wargamers prefer solo games almost two to one.
Remote Gaming
Given the social interaction required for remote gaming, gamers playing remotely tend to game in larger groups than their counterpart. Solo gaming is less than half for those gaming remotely.
Years Spent Wargaming
Finally, a look at a gamer's duration in the hobby suggests that the percentage of gamers remaining in small groups (1-4 others) decreases over time. Excluding solo play, group size tends to increase as the years go by.
A look at group size offered up some interesting and unexpected tendencies and insights. I leave an exploration of these attribute interactions for another time.
What do you suppose some of these interactions might show?
In the selection of charts above, do any particular results draw your attention and prompt reflection on your own gaming experience?
Food for Thought
As we march toward and into retirement, the survey suggests that gaming group size tends to shrink and solo gaming increases as we age. Similarly, solo gaming tends to increase and group size shrinks as gaming frequency decreases. For the Historical gamer, this is especially true. Are these natural tendencies? If remote gaming offers a possibility to reduce solo gaming and increase group size (and perhaps gaming frequency) then remote gaming may warrant further investigation as a means to reconnect with like-minded gamers and overcome this downward spiral.
As often happens I think this particular question can pose more questions than answers as some of the reasons for solo- group sizes can be strongly influenced by period played and figure scale? For example I’m fortunate in that the club I go to meets twice a week and I’m open to playing across a fairly wide range of periods and rules. But I sold most of my 28mm ancients as no one else played that scale, I resorted to 15mm as three other people played.
ReplyDeleteNo one does 15mm Napoleonic (28mm yes) and those that play 28 only play Black powder. The younger club members (teens and 20’s) flit between periods, games etc on a regular basis and are not particular interested in focusing on one thing unlike most of us oldies. It’s nice to see that there’s such a choice but sometimes it’s too much.
But as always your in depth review of the survey is always fascinating
Hi Graham! Thanks for your insights on club gaming. Having never belonged to a club, your perspective is enlightening.
DeleteIn a club setting, is there ever a risk that the club becomes one of self-selection elimination as the choice of collections, periods, figure scales, rules, etc, reduces to all but a small handful of games played? I suppose, something akin to Darwin's Theory of Evolution.
Good to see that you still have a younger generation of gamers entering into your club scene.
Hmmmm....lots of interesting stuff, as always Jon! I seem to be somewhat atypical, as I have never been in a "club", rather playing in a "group", originally in a back room of the casting business Mark ran in Auckland and latterly at a couple of different people's home, HOWVER, the gaming group has always been 6-8 players, except occasionally when I have been the sole guest at Julians or the odd game I have had with Andrew. My recent foray into occasional solo games is more about being able to get a game in when I cant get to someone else's place to play - and also because some the of Pulp stuff I want to try out may not be of much interest to most of the guys I game with! Having said that, I have foreseen a time when my only option for gaming might be solo, at home, with my own figures on both sides, so the gradual slide towards solo gaming in retirement seems a reasonable conclusion to draw form the data. The one finding that surprised me a bit was that sci-fi and fantasy gamers are less likely to be solo gamers than historical players - I would have assumed the opposite, to be honest.
ReplyDeleteKeith, I have never belonged to a formal gaming club either. Perhaps distances between gamers are much too great for us?
DeleteBeing surrounded by an active group of gaming friends, you have no need for a formal club. It is interesting that your group size maintains itself at 6-8 players. As friends come and go from the group, did you find that 6-8 is an optimal number for the type of gaming you enjoy?
Why the slide towards solo gaming in retirement? Is this a preference or are members of your group planning to move away?
Hey Jon, a couple of responses to your queries - group size has remained pretty constant - only one of the guys who used to be a semi regular opponent of mine has passed on so far, so even though two or three of the group have two decades on me, they are still going strong.
DeleteThe solo gaming is a bit of a personal thing, none of the other guys do it I don't think, but it's in my mind that one day when I am on a pension and don't have access to a company car with free fuel, a round trip of 70-100 miles for a game may not be economically viable. Some of my gaming buddies will regrettably but inevitably not be with us in ten years' time and some may have relocated to other parts of the country in retirement - Mark Strachan, I am looking at you! So, I see a day when I may not have easy access to FtF gaming, unfortunately, and solo may be the only option - not yet though!
Interesting. So, your group has (mostly) maintained the same members for all of this time? Amazing. In old age, you may want to consider remote gaming.
DeleteFollowing retirement (and becoming a widower) I now game with more people than ever before. Although I do get a lot of pleasure from gaming the social aspect is at least as important to me and possibly more so. Solo gaming is not for me, but each to their own.
ReplyDeleteDavid, I have followed your tracking of games played and you certainly are playing more than ever. Your game totals are staggering.
DeleteThe social benefits to gaming with friends are great. Keep at it!
As always interesting to see the analysis Jon. Reflecting my own situation and my friends, I see we all pretty much fit into the solo and 1-4 gamers catergory. Why is that? A few thoughts:
ReplyDeleteWe've all pretty much retired and most have moved away from the local area, so it is hard for us to meet up as regularly as we used to do when we were working and only about 10 miles away from each other. Hence more solo games than before.
When we do meet up, space is at a premium in UK houses compared to say Europe or across the Pond, so for myself I could only accomodate 4 gamers chez moi inclusing myself. Physically it would be impossible to get more in for a game. Given that we game at home now or the occasional rented room at a Community Centre, this is what limits game size.
Time is another factor. Long gone are those all day games of 15 odd years ago at the club when we seemed to have more energy and interest in big games. These days 3 hours is probably the maximum time we will spend on a game, bar the odd large game now and then. To achieve this more than 4 players would tend to extend the time beyoned this and of course the physical size of the game, which is limited as outlined above.
When I did belong to a club, most multiplayer games were only around 4 players, sometimes 6, again due to space constraints of the 'standard' 6' x 4 table. The exception was the 40K games that the younger members played, where there were often more than 4 per table, as each player only had a few units, so they joined together for larger games.
Looking ahead I cannot see things changing much here over the next few years due to my regular friends being scattered far and wide compared to pre-Covid. I hope I can get more FtF gaming in though, but we will have to wait and see.
Excellent insights into your gaming tendencies, Steve! Very much appreciated and enlightening to me.
DeleteLike you, long gone are the two-day games with bunkhouse sleepovers with half a dozen friends. We would hold the game throughout the day and night. Ah, those were the days of youth.
One perspective of this analysis that I did not include was how group size tends to vary by location. I thought it interesting that UK gamers are more likely to game solo than either their USA/Canada, Australia/New Zealand, or Continental Europe counterparts.
Thanks for sharing your experience! I hope you get more F2F opportunities.
I've never belonged to a club per say, I did go to a few times to a local club a few years ago (maybe 10+ years?), but just play games with my pals in our group Posties Rejects. Two I met at school, Smiffy and Surj, the rest I just captured along the way. I can't see anything changing in the way we game, predominantly, in Posties shed, but with the dreaded Covid has come a new way for us, via zoom. Firstly just within our group and secondly with a native of Spokane WA, (no names mentioned)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ray! What exactly distinguishes a "club" from a group of friends? You have your own dedicated gaming space, put on demo games at shows as a group, and even have a name! Sounds like a "club" to me!
DeleteThe new way of gaming remotely via Zoom has opened up a whole new world to me. This dark cloud certainly had a silver lining. I do not foresee returning to the days of old.
Ray! Ross (see his comment below) reminded me that the Rejects have their own shirts too. You must be very close to "club" status.
DeleteHa ha. We have no rules, no chairman, no fixed calendar dates or meeting times, no subscription fees. All show games are individual projects. We're just a bunch of friends, and happy to welcome anyone.
DeleteYou are welcoming, for sure, but your bylaws sound a bit like anarchy...
DeleteCurrently I play in a small group about once a month at our houses. I have club, but rarely go there as I'm not keen on transporting figures plus the games I want to play do not happen often. I might do some solo gaming to play the games I want more frequently, but without another player not sure how that will go. Maybe try some online gaming, but I do like the figures "live" and not on a screen for gaming so there is that. Things to ponder.
ReplyDeleteChristopher
Christopher! Great to see your return!
DeleteThanks for a peek into your gaming tendencies. For me, solo gaming offers up much to recommend. I suggest giving it a try and see how it goes.
As for "live" figures, are you describing computer-generated armies and battles, live-streaming views of a physical table packed with figures, or physically being in the room with the table and figures?
Physically being the room. Sorry I wasn't clear enough.
DeleteChristopher
It is not you; it is me...
DeleteMore of a grey area that could be interpreted either way, but the point is clearer so that's what counts.:-)
DeleteChristopher
I can’t recall how I answered the question, but my situation that I solo game, which I am very happy doing and I face to face with one other, who I have gamed with for over 35 years.
ReplyDeleteFor face-to-face, we might expect to meet every Friday, but that can slip with family / social commitment or illness. I would tend to throw up a solo game once a week as well, so on balance my gaming should be around 50/50 between solo and FtF.
Where the split becomes more telling is in what we play. FtF tends to be boardgames that can be completed in 2 - 3 hours, my solo typically plays for longer and is a mix of boardgame and figures.
I’m not sure how the question can be effective in harvesting all of these nuanced responses. The person posing the question is in any case doing so framed within the world they see / know.
Hi Norm! I know your gaming situation very well. Like you, I am comfortable solo gaming and enjoy that avenue very much. I also enjoy hex-and-counter wargaming too. Really too bad we are not close. I would enjoy sitting down at a gaming table with you.
DeleteBy gaming exclusively in either a solo or one-to-one setting, do you ever become familiar with another's tendencies in game play? I would think you could read each other like a book after 35 years of contests at the gaming table.
The question may need some precision targeting to remove ambiguity. As you can see from Graham, below, he wonders why the question was asked in the first place!
I certainly have a good appreciation of my opponents playing style and so assume that must surely be reciprocal.
DeleteOne thing that is really noticeable is that he is ‘budget’ minded, so he would rather try and put two attacks in with judged outcomes, where-as if I want something, I overload the attack and wallop the attack goes in, I would rather get it than miss the boat. He is cautious and considered, which makes longer playing time, I tend to be rash / decisive, which of course doesn’t always lead to success. He likes a tight knowledge of the rules and plays the game, I prefer to just do things with units that I think reflects proper tactics / use, even if it loses me a game opportunity. I don’t really care too much about winning, so it doesn’t matter :-)
Excellent stuff, Norm!
DeleteIt seems that you and your gaming buddy of 35 years have two different approaches to playing a game. To me, this is somewhat surprising that you both have not tended to move towards the other's playing style after all of these years facing each other across the table.
That is cool.
I don't know what the purpose of the question is. Presumably someone asked for it. I've not played in a proper club since my eldest child was born (now heading for mid-30s), but I've usually played in groups on 4 or more as long as I can remember. There's an active club just up the road from me, who have nearly 40 active players on a night, playing Bolt Action, Kill Team, etc etc, and a bit of "To the Strongest". I don't know how they'd get on with me turning up with both sides and trying to get people to play the half finished lash up I'm working on at the time. I guess if all my f2f opponents moved away I'd go and check them out to see what could be made of them. The comment on the size of group in the UK by Steve J is very perspicacious. As I've never lived in large cities I've usually had a garage I could use, and now I have Shedquarters - the best wargaming investment I ever made. In the past, wargaming with a vicar who has access to a church hall or a large vicarage has helped out quite a bit as well.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I suggested it! I am interested in seeing how others game and how they congregate into gaming groups. I am especially interested in solo gamers and their prevalence. Knowing group size, I can tie in a number of attributes to form a better understanding of the hobby.
DeleteI appreciate a look into your wargaming situation and history. We feel the same toward our wargaming spaces. One of the best wargaming investments and a requirement for the Model Major General.
As for your local club down the road, you ought to show up some night with kit in hand and give it go.
Oh, I had to look up perspicacious too. I learned a lot from your response today!
I found this question hard to answer as my gaming habits during the ongoing COVID era have changed, but not always by my choice.
ReplyDeleteI have three times been a member of an official Wargame Club or Association. Two of these were during my college days in the 70's when I was one of the founding members of the Wargame Club at C.M.R St. Jean, Military College along with Simon Macdowall and Perry Grey. At the time our members were all Juniors with minimal opportunity to leave the campus but eventually some of us were able to travel into Montral on weekends to join my other club of Montreal Wargamers who I had joined when home on leave in '73 or '74. Once I graduated I got posted out but for a few decades, managed to get back for a game once every few years.
However, I was also one of the founding members of the Atlantic Sim. Soc. formed in.....79? in Halifax. The group includes every form of gaming and has usually been extremely diverse and completely informal after the first few years when we had a venue, newsletters, tshirts etc. As the years went by it sank into just a group of friends who came and went and almost disappeared but then some of us retired and now their are new logo'd golfshirts and a couple of group games a year with 3-6 players on average sometimes in a home, sometimes at a public venue.
However, most of my gaming until retirement to the country, involved a handfull of gamers meeting at some one's house, Usually 3-8 players but lots of games with 2-4 players inbetween, not necessarily the same group each time! Then came COVID!
As I said, had a hard time answering this!
Well, Ross, you answered my questions perfectly! You have had a very interesting wargaming career.
DeleteHave you dabbled in any more remote gaming since your Huzzah experiment more than a year ago?
An occasional remote game 1 on 1 but remote due to the 2k travel distance..... 4 face to face games over the last year if memory serves, with 3-5 players@.
DeleteThanks. In the remote game in which I participated in the lead up to Huzzah, were most of those fellows from your old Montreal group?
DeleteNone of them. I forget who played in which game. 1 or 2 were Maine gamers who had played in games I ran at Huzzah, a couple were old friends calling in from various places across Canada and the US, one was a complete stranger from Western Canada. A diverse but typical selection.
DeleteApart from one FB friend who is still in Montreal, and 2 who were also Military College friends, I've lost touch with the rest of the living ones over the last 20 yrs.
It just struck me that I am also still a member of the US HAWKS club, one of whom played in one of the remote games. I obviously don't tend regular meetings but for over 20 yrs I've been co-hosting convention games with them in the US, until COVID hit.
Guess in a way I'm more social than I thought 😃
I guess you are!
DeleteI always enjoy these analyses John as, like Norm, I can't remember answering some of these questions. Most of my games are group games and, while I thoroughly enjoy the company of the people I game with, after ten years we have noticed how we can predict each other's behaviour which means our Napoleonic games often grind to a standstill. The thing I enjoyed about clubs was the unpredictability of constantly meeting new opponents, but then there was often a mix of different character types as opposed to the regular smaller groups where we have got to know each very well and the interactions are effortless. Perhaps a few more remote games to mix things up is the answer to instilling more variety.
ReplyDeleteGlad you continue to find enjoyment in these analyses, Lawrence. I try not to repeat the same topic every year to help keep the work fresh. There are some I will revisit this year mostly as an update to the 2020 survey. Maybe a fresh look at old topics might be useful too.
DeleteThere is a lot to be said for having a constant stream of new players with new ideas on how to fight a tabletop battle. Still, seeing the same face year after year is good too even if playing styles remain little changed.
I recommend giving remote gaming a go!
Thanks for you feedback!
I meet at the club once a week but tend to play with the same half a dozen players whether as a group or individually. Once I get my own wargame room kitted out I can see me branching out with solo gaming in order to scratch all the itches.
ReplyDeleteSounds good, George! Matt tells me you are working on a dedicated gaming space.
DeleteI have found that as my working time becomes more unstable, I have to put in more effort to connect with local 'in-person' games. While, at least during the covid isolation, I was able to find remote games - with a little effort - even having multiple players.
ReplyDeleteI look back to the campaigns that I have run before (in the 2006-2017 time frames) and I found that by using email and the then emerging zero cost communications methods (skype back then, now I think I would use Discord) I was able to co-ordinate 8 players in a busy 1813 campaign setup. Games were going on almost very 10 days - though they were on 5 different continents.
By having the larger campaign it was easier to keep the engagement. This is also true for the basement gamers as well, in my view, as I have seen more players at the table in the ACW games, when we were following a historical campaign. There was an attempt at getting the campaign started, it was in the application of the campaign that the breakdown came, not in the action on the tabletop.
It takes effort to maintain local gaming contacts. Good to see that you continue making that effort. Your campaigns sound intriguing but also a lot of work.
DeleteInteresting that you get more interest from a campaign setting than one-off games especially since a campaign requires a bigger commitment.
Although I’ve gamed once in the past year my group is me and typically one other person. (Personal friend Luke or our mutual pal Stew) Never belonged to a club and I don’t think there are any in my area, though I know Stew has one he goes to. I think clubs seem to be more of a UK/European thing, with people here in Norcal playing more at gaming stores. Am hoping that once my current responsibilities ease up after the new year that I’ll be able to game at least once quarterly.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how any of this helps your discussion though.
Dai, I rarely hear of wargaming clubs in the PNW either. Most are content to meet in friend's houses. Most of the local gamers I know all have dedicated gaming space in their homes. As mentioned earlier, space limitations may force UK gamers to seek outside accommodations.
DeleteThis is all good background info to see your state of gaming and all very interesting and useful in painting a picture of the hobby.
Thank you!
I follow the typical trajectory shown in those results, of increasingly small group size with age. School club, and local town club as a teen, then scaling down to one or two as I advanced into my 20s. For many years I virtually stopped social gaming as 'real life', other priorities and logistics got in the way. In recent years I've accepted I'm a solo player mostly. Partly that is because I don't have the motivation to go out and join a club and be the newbie. There are still competing demands on my time (adult stuff and hobby interests), but it's the motivation that's lacking.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the general findings are replicated in other hobbies, and indeed represent something more widely present in life? We sometimes hear how men's friendship circles get smaller with age. I think there is a sociology/social-psychology PhD in this!
Chris, it is comforting to see that the results mirror your own trajectory.
DeleteIf men's circle of friends shrinks as we age with a tendency toward solo play, well, then technology and remote gaming could be the antidote for this affliction. I know my circle of friends has expanded greatly through blogging and remote gaming.
I still have an academic paper generated from the GWS survey predicting motives in miniature wargaming on the basis of personality traits. My plan is to (one day) dive into the study and add-in many of the attributes not covered in this psychometric study. Now, that might be ripe for a PhD study.
Thanks Jon for the interesting analysis. As you know most of my gaming is one to one. A club would be excellent especially now I have a little more time but for somebody living in a small community they are slightly too far away. But food for thought going forward 👍
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome, Matt! F2F and remote gaming suits you well. With many gamers in your wargaming circle, you have little need to join a club. I am fortunate to be counted among those chosen few!
DeleteAlways interesting to see the results of these sorts of surveys. For our small group, we normally have 3-4 for a weekly evening game. But a couple of times a year we organise games for 8-10 players. Those are a lot of fun! But the effort that goes into organising those larger games leaves the organiser exhausted- one of the problems of old age!!
ReplyDeleteJohn, pleased to see that these analyses continue to offer something of interest. Having three to four players around a table for a F2F game seems the sweet spot for most. As you say, organizing and hosting a big game is big work and can be exhausting as we age. Worth the effort in most cases, though.
DeleteThanks for your comment!
I haven't been a member of a club since the early 90's. It came to an end largely because of lack of a place to meet and that key motivators moved away. With very young children at the time, I never really had the time or motivation to pursue an alternative. Now I do have more time, the idea of joining a group of strangers and, as has been said, being the newbie, doesn't appeal, though the nearest club is only about five or six miles away. So, as I now have space in the house for a wargames table, it's solo gaming for me. It does have advantages. I like to write my own rules, so can tinker to my heart's content.
ReplyDeleteOn the wider point of age and shrinking friendship groups, it is certainly recognised as a mental health issue in the UK. I wonder whether connectivity even virtually of social gaming could be a useful tool in that area? Maybe even the basis of a type of "Men in Sheds" group, with figures and terrain instead of tools :)
Anthony, thank you for sharing your own experience with gaming and gaming groups.
DeleteI understand how joining a new group can seem a daunting task. Being the newbie may be uncomfortable for a while as one tries to fit in.
You and I enjoy solo gaming for many of the same reasons. Solo gaming offers tranquility and the time to explore rules, research, writing, and many other activities better suited to solitary endeavors. I wager many solo wargamers are rules' tinkers at heart.
From my own experience, remote gaming has expanded my wargaming circle tremendously over the last two years. I recommend this approach as a means to overcome the tendency for friendship groups to shrink as one ages.
Great to see you stopping by to leave a comment!
Interesting analysis. I think I'm one of the lucky ones with a regular gaming club meeting once a week. Some I've gamed with for over 20 years. I also have friends in other groups that I game with irregularly
ReplyDeleteYou are a lucky one, Neil!
DeleteIn your weekly group, do hosting duties cycle through all of the membership or fall to only one or a few?
It does tend to fall to the same few, though we always encourage others to run games
Delete