The Non-Euclidian Staircase

To Indy, I'm hoping to manager room for Santiago, Beowulf, Shadows over Camelot, Louis XIV, Tutankhamen, and Dungeon Twister. Also a tightly packed blue "game saver" box that holds Axis and Allies D-Day, Paranoia Maximum Bonus Fun, Formula Motor Racing, Battleline, Relationship Tightrope, Kingdoms, and Citadel.

Meanwhile, to Raleigh, I can add the games I can fit in the back of my friend's van (which I'm not going to be in myself, this year, since I'm flying to Indy and from there to Raleigh, then taking a train to Greensboro for a week there before flying home)... Run For Your Life Candyman!, Niagara, Einfach Genial, Parthenon, Amazonas, Buy Low Sell High, Caribbean, Fist of Dragonstar, Queen's Necklace, Ticket to Ride Europe, Pirate's Cove, and Fearsome Floors fill one tub. Empyrean Inc, My Dwarves Fly, King's Breakfast, Saboteur. Carcasone the City, San Juan, Attika, Blue Moon (with expansions), Battlestations (with expansion), Arkham Horror (new edition), Kung Fu Fighting, En Garde!, Baloon Cup, Cloud 9, Cthulhu 5000, Coloretto, Wooly Bully, Cargo, Mare Nostrum, Flea Circus, Wheedle, and Magna Grecia fill the other. Descent is too large to fit into the tubs, but I can't see it being left behind. so it'll find its own way. And, yes, there's a fair bit of repackaging that goes into this process, since many games are more than 50% air thanks to attempts to fit product into similar box sizes even when it's far from necessary (for example, the first 4 games listed in the 2nd tub are all comfortably nestled within the box of the 5th).

How does a game make this list? Well, being a game I really want to play with the folk I'm visiting is a major part, but another is being small (or easily re-packaged; Axis and Allies D-Day looks huge but is actually quite compact when necessary), having been popular at previous gatherings (I'd be lynched if I arrived without Formula Motor Racing, for example), or simply being intriguing (I really want to try out Battlestations, for example, and the Raleigh crowd is a nice blend of board and RP gamers that should be perfect for it.)