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I was going to say 6 Nimmt as well. The no writing of scores is the toughest part of their requirements...

Agree about the trap.

One thing that I find interesting about Bohnanza is how the question "what is the current market value" isn't always "what am I getting for it" (as in receiving a bean card) and that changes by player count and groups to encompass "sometimes I'm getting out of a jam." For example, at 3p, I'm more likely to find that I have to offer something else out of my hand (and I would argue, for flow purposes, probably have an incentive to) to sweeten the deal, or even just give it away and offer something to get someone to take it. That leverage fades as you add more players to the point where at 7p, I find it's more of an auction as there are multiple people interested in the beans on offer courtesy of so many fields being in the game.

how was Avignon?

We've played a snot-ton of 6 Nimmt, so much that we've worn out two decks and are on our third...

I stopped by the Amigo booth at Origins this year and said that we play a lot of 6 Nimmt, and what would they suggest to diversify. They pointed me to 2Can and we played a round and I can see the potential, especially at player counts under 4 or 5. I haven't gotten it to the table yet at home, but it's on the agenda for July.

I'm predominantly vertical, but it depends on the game and where it's going more than anything else. Those Ticket to Ride type boxes that are large squares almost exclusively get set horizontal because I don't want to move the brackets on the shelf up. My Agricola/euro game boxes are all stored vertically. Regardless, I bag everything inside anymore which largely solves the pieces moving around aspect for me.

Ngl... That Twilight Struggle app got me through a large chunk of covid. (edit: whether it's currently on sale or not is unknown to me at the moment)

I can understand that line of thinking. In this instance, I think I'm w/ @bionicjoey on this one. If it was a choice of use their app or pay, I'd have paid. I refused to use New Reddit on the PC. I know folks that have gone to using the new app though (even knowing what we know now) and I guess that's ok. Their choice and all that.

Light weight: 6 Nimmt

Medium weight: Ginkgopolis

Heavy weight: Fire in the Lake

Your most played game of all time: Wizard (we've worn out 3 sets, and everyone in the family has sets. There was a solid decade where we played it constantly)

Your favorite game of all time: That's a decent question. I have games that I'm quite fond of, a bunch of 9s on BGG but no 10s. There is nothing I have with over 10 plays right now that I'm of the opinion "wow, this is both a game I really like, and one in which I see as a clear first among equals."

Big week for me given it was Origins:

Dien Bien Phu: The Final Gamble (2p) - This was my first game due to a confluence of events preventing me from playing earlier in the spring. I'd read the rules and sort of gotten prepped and did pretty well. The French suffered from terrible rain and thus has trouble countering my VM offensive on the North. In 6 hours we finished 1/3rd of the game. It's just sort of a monster. I have a copy, and I'll get it played some more, but because it's as much a sim as a game, I don't know that I'll end up keeping it.
Fire in the Lake (2x 4p) - Annual long scenario game with friends. Last year we squeezed in two in the 8 hours we had allocated and this was no different. My VC won on the first coup card cause everyone else screwed around and I triggered appropriate events. Second game I wasn't so lucky and the ARVN took it after a slog on a late 3rd coup. I think there are some real downsides to the COIN structure (bottlenecks of information planning, how the deck functions with initiative, etc), but we sit and shit talk and otherwise catch up (cause none of us live in the same area currently) so the time isn't bad.
Mushroom Eaters (4p) - this was my one weird contribution to the con. I go to Origins most years because I want to play games I otherwise can't play at home. I had a copy and few people do so I brought it. This was less like watching a tribe go on a spiritual journey, find enlightenment, and then select a new shaman (which is the thematic victory), and more watching Ren & Stimpy take drugs and get lost in the woods.
Container (5p) - This is my other annual obligation but this time it's with people that, at one time, all lived in town but many have moved away and we only get to see them at the con. I won by about $30. Newbies and rusty players almost always overpay at auctions and thus just hand victory margin to the shipper(s).
Two Rooms & A Boom (11 iterations) - The best game I had was the one where we helped (through an informal lieutenant system) everyone except for MI6 and Red Team all met their victory conditions. I love playing this at cons (because it's more about information trading than about raw deduction), but I'm tired of effectively babysitting a bunch of <10yr olds cause the parents deposit them there and then go play Werewolf or watch the Smithee awards.
Virgin Queen (6p) - TLDR: Abysmal start and then a slow climb out to what we all thought was a T5 victory, only to re-read the rules (after the fact) and someone else won a domination victory on T4. I like the story it makes when we play, but damn if the game isn't slightly overwrought...
Gardeners (2p & 3p) - Met up with another friend I only see at cons and we did the this and the two Japanese games which were new to him. Gardners is a cute riff on Magic Maze. I think it's best at 3, and cromulent at 4.
Madrino (3p) - This is borderline an activity but it's hilarious to play. We rolled 4 toilets the entire game for fixtures, so I plunked them all in the same room with one on one side and the rest all facing it and named my house the Evil Plumber Lair.
Izayoi (3p) - New to both my spouse and our friend. I lost it near the end of the game when I realized that I would get stuck with one of the trinkets which pushed me over my master's point limit. I really need to sleeve my cards for this if it's going to stick around.

I skimmed the review looking for the answer of "but why this over Crokinole" and then got to the end and laughed.

Crokinole is our favorite dexterity game, and my recommendation is to go to a convention and play it and see if it's worth it to you. I know at Origins and Gen Con in the US that you find some nice boards available for use and people to teach. I think the Mayday boards are acceptable for learning and futzing around, but not for competitive play because of how they are finished and setup (IIRC, they sand, apply poly, and then paint the lines on, you should be doing it the other way around). If I was on a budget and could get a cheap Mayday board, I'd be willing to do it and then look up how to work on the board's glide.

I'll keep an eye out for Menara now though, thanks for the heads up.

It's definitely possible Meta could try to warp the Fediverse so that it kills all instances other than their own.

This is my primary concern; if smaller instances say "we will block them on sight and anyone who federates with them as traitors" then it's a matter of getting the largest instances to go along with it and suddenly you've blocked a large chunk of users due to the fracture of smaller ones trying to defederate their way out of the problem and into a different issue.

I think @JakeBacon has a reasonable take, there are some upsides, and some downsides. I don't think there is anything that is gained by pre-emptively doing anything though. If they run their own instance, see what it does and then decide accordingly.

I paid my stuff, but only if I know I'm keeping the game/minis. For example, I have an Arcadia Quest set and I paint those cause I know I could repurpose them for other games if need be. Conversely, I'm not painting my Cosmic Frog set yet cause I don't know if it's staying or not.

The hassle of getting that green goo stuff to strip paint turns off a lot of buyers, and there is something about accepting your own mistakes vs mistakes of others...