Walt Mulder

Walt Mulder is retired, retired, retired (and not getting any younger).  I’m currently married for over 43+ years now to a part-time gamer and full-time Texas gal that tolerates my obsession, barely. I’m a lifelong board gamer and game collector which probably started with my brothers’ hand-me-down games back when I was 8 years old. I’m an eclectic board game player, reviewer, collector, rules tinkerer, rules translator, and general BS'er on the subject of games and all things gaming.  For me, board gaming is all about the journey, and not the destination. A win for me is doing better at a game than the last time I played it.  I’ve contributed hundreds, if not thousands, of game photos, rule translations, geek lists, files, and more to the BGG database. Over the years I’ve been on the board of a few, now defunct, game clubs and magazines.

Over the years I transitioned from being an avid gamer to an avid collector of games. The hardest part of collecting games is having a place to store them all. The challenging part of building a quality collection is separating the wheat from the chaff. Truth be told, someone's worst effort in creating a game is probably more worthy than my critique of it. I currently possess the world’s largest private game collection though I haven’t codified it yet in Guinness. So when I die with the most games, I guess I’ll win. 

There isn’t a board game genre that I’m not willing to try, though I do have preferences when it comes to themes and mechanics.  Still, the range is very broad.  I’m most particular to historical and wargames games, and also dudes-on-a-map style skirmishing. I love games with splendiferous table presence, but beefy Euro’s, pop-culture, racing, soccer, deck builders, and most Sci-fi and fantasy themed games tickle my fancy as well. I’ve been to Essen about five times but it’s been over ten years since I was there last.  I should probably get out there again being retired, but excuses and body aches always seem to get in the way.  I’d love to hit the UKGE one of these years and possibly GENCON as well but until then you can find me yearly at Portland’s GAMESTORM gaming event which I haven’t missed attending now for over twenty years.

Oh, and I’m probably the only person crazy enough to have built a “house” for his game collection (The ULTIMATE game storage solution. Or, 20 steps to making a dream come true. | BoardGameGeek). 

Cheers and good gaming.