I was always curious how well my BGG blog (which is basically a cross-post of this website minus the reviews) is doing. Granted, it’s a bit childish and this isn’t a competition, but putting hours upon hours into writing makes you wonder if anybody is reading it. So far, there hadn’t been a good way to measure it. As the creator of a blog, you don’t get any analytics like view count or how many people actually read until the end of a post. There is only subscribers, and that info was hidden in the author’s dashboard. So I could see my subscriber count, but I was wondering if that was “good” or not.
Now that BGG has rolled out the new blog styling, subscriber count can be seen by all as part of the blog feed … and so I did some quick data collecting 😀
Disclaimer: I was too lazy to code a script, so I just clicked through blogs that posted in the last couple of months (=still active) and did a rather arbitrary cut off at 40 blogs (which is ~200 subscribers). So I might have missed your favourite blog, sorry.
1. BoardGameGeek News (5.26k subscribers, 5469 posts)
No surprise here. This is prominently featured on the BGG front page. And it’s even blog number 1 in the database.
2. All the Meeples of the Rainbow. (1.49k subscribers, 927 posts)
I didn’t expect this to be this high up, but Steph’s “New to me list” posts are something that often shows up on the BGG front page and enjoy reading myself.
3. The Geek Weekly (1.4k subscribers, 545 posts)
This is also part of the BGG front page. I enjoyed this more a few years back when they would also feature reviews and other outstanding things. I remember the first time one of my reviews was featured there and how honoured I felt.
4. Thematic Solitaires for the Spare Time Challenged (1.29k subscribers, 422 posts)
Big surprise for me. I of course knew Morten because of his solo design work for the Automa Factory, but I had no idea he had one of the biggest blogs on BGG! This just went on my subscription list.
5. The Dyslexic Gamer (1.06k subscribers, 1126 posts)
Well, anyone who watches the front page blog section knows how prolific Caroline is. So no surprise she has one of the biggest subscriber bases on BGG. Caroline’s style is very personal, like you definitely read it because of her, not only the games she mentions. Also always great in picking some of the most beautiful pics on BGG for her posts.
6. Board games that tell stories (1k subscribers, 419 posts)
A blog that was unknown to me, but its author of course wasn’t. You might know Ignacy Trzewiczek as designer of Robinson Crusoe or Imperial Settlers.
7. Everyone Needs A Shed (988 subscribers, 4916 posts)
Aaaah, Tony! Of course he had to be in this list. Besides Caroline probably the person I see most featured on the front page. Met him ages ago at SPIEL when he was there with Surprised Star Games, super nice guy. I actually at one point worked on a 3D iOS version of his game Totemo but that project never saw the light of day. You might know him as designer of Snowdonia and many other lovely games. He also has a board game museum!
8. The Tyranny of Small Decisions (680 subscribers, 1685 posts)
The fun part about doing this post is that I learn about new blogs I swear I have never seen before! Still, 680 subscribers is impressive!
9. The Secrets of Great Games (606 subscribers, 138 posts)
Didn’t know Anthony’s blog either, but I briefly read a post from him and he now has one subscriber more. Immediately liked his style of writing.
10. QWERTYUIOP (571 subscribers, 265 posts)
Don’t know Martin, but he seems to use a “playing, reading, listening” format to share what he has been up to each month.
11. All for your games ❤✩♛ (469 subscribers, 225 posts)
12. Hans and Carl take over the Nakatomi Plaza (460 subscribers, 508 posts)
13. Too Many Games!!! (435 subscribers, 1730 posts)
14. Drive Thru Blog (431 subscribers, 249 posts)
15. Diary of a Quizmaster (388 subscribers, 206 posts)
16. Everything that sucks! And some things that don’t. (385 subscribers, 2375 posts)
17. Everything old is new again.. (354 subscribers,95 posts)
18. RPGG News (319 subscribers, 3077 posts)
19. Surya’s game blah blah (303 subscribers, 807 posts)
20. Browsing Games (302 subscribers, 2887 posts)
21. The Semi-Amateur Gamer (299 subscribers, 382 posts)
22. Games for Two (283 subscribers, 129 posts)
23. Following the NorthStar: (273 subscribers, 82 posts)
24. Don’t Play Gray! (272 subscribers, 1510 posts)
25. Sneaky Meeples (272 subscribers, 452 posts)
26. Solitary Soundings (252 subscribers, 316 posts)
27. Rahdo Talks Through (250 subscribers, 136 posts)
28. Shelf Wear (249 subscribers, 194 posts)
29. Scott’s Corner (240 subscribers, 95 posts)
30. Actualol (235 subscribers, 156 posts)
31. Gaming Pond (229 subscribers, 68 posts)
32. Meepleonboard (222 subscribers, 2645 posts)
33. Thematic Colors of Gaming (219 subscribers, 354 posts)
34. Silver Duck Reviews (216 subscribers, 418 posts)
35. The Ross-on-Wye Boardgamers (210 subscribers, 577 posts)
36. Talking Shelf Space (203 subscribers, 61 posts … hey, that’s me 😀)
37. russblog (200 subscribers, 431 posts)
38. Superfluous Somethings (200 subscribers, 140 posts)
39. This Board Game Life (197 subscribers, 310 posts)
40. Photo Impression of …. 195 subscribers, 189 posts)
Shout out to Martin Fowler’s Martin’s 7th Decade who despite only 24 posts already came in on position 42. He’s got an even better subscribers per post ratio than me 😂 I quite enjoy reading his posts, so I thought I’d mention it as well.
And here comes the big question for you in the comments: are you reading blogs on BGG? How do you find new blogs there? Honestly, the way BGG is structured, I’m always surprised when someone manages to find and subscribe to my blog. I have the benefit of writing reviews and being able to put links in there, but how do you find other people’s blog? Let me know in the comments!