June 30 is the first ever International Unplayed Games Day – a day that challenges gamers worldwide to grab a board game from their shelf of shrink-wrapped shame, punch the pieces, and get it to the table for the first time. And we suppose there’s nothing stopping you from playing a TTRPG, TCG, wargame, or – whisper it – even a videogame instead.
International Unplayed Games Day is the brainchild of Paul Grogan from the YouTube channel Gaming Rules. As far as I can tell, he just decided that the day was going to exist, and started promoting it on social media. And you know what? I respect the hustle.
It may not be recognised on the United Nations list of official International Days – June 30 is already International Asteroid Day and the International Day of Parliamentarism – but why should the UN have all the fun? And what’s it gonna do to stop him, draft a resolution?
Writing about IUGD on Board Game Geek, McGrogan says the idea is “to try and help people fight against something that most gamers have: a shelf of unplayed games”. Reader, I relate. My main beat for Wargamer may be covering wargames, but I’m always searching for the best board games to review, and my shelves are ever heaving with new stuff to test. That’s my professional excuse, anyway – I pick up plenty of stuff because I’ve heard it’s good, or at least weird, even if there’s no chance I’ll write about it.
International Unplayed Games Day might be a scrappy new international day with minimal organisation, but I’m down for it. Let’s see… I’ve just got the weirdo board game / RPG / wargame / art project Sun Rot through the mail; a gloriously low-budget hex and chit wargame called Psycho Raiders from Emperors of Eternal Evil; a second hand copy of Duel of Ages II that I grabbed at UK Games Expo 2025… what to play?
Will you be blowing the dust off a still-in-shrink title that’s been leering at you from the shelf? Let us know what you play and what you think of it in the Wargamer Discord community!
Source: Wargamer
