Cached:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:QnHbzVY...German-style boardgames are my favourite hobby. I've played probably 300+ different ones now. Perennial favourites include Agricola, Dominion, Ora et Labora (relatively new), Age of Steam and Titan (played this to death in the 90s, not so much now but I still love the game).
For me these games are a sweet spot between traditional family games (which tend to be largely luck-based and not very "deep") and the truly deep games of Go, Chess and even Bridge, probably even Poker. The former group is (for me) unfulfilling. The latter group is (again, for me) a massive time sink.
You can play a lot of games online now but honestly I don't like that. For me, it is both an intellectual and a social activity.
German style boardgames have been around for many years but they saw a renaissance that probably began with Settlers of Catan in the 90s that then exploded in the 2000s with Carcassonne and Puerto Rico and what came after.
It's a great hobby, particularly if you can find people to play with (physically) in your area, which doesn't tend to be a huge issue in urban centers.
EDIT: to clarify what a "German style" game is (commonly just called a "Eurogame"), it's basically a set of principles. Eurogames:
1. Tend not to be elimination games (all players generally are in the game until the end);
2. Tend to de-emphasize or eliminate direct conflict where your side or units or whatever directly attack those of other players;
3. Tend to minimize luck to varying degrees. Some games (eg Caylus) are perfect information games; and
4. Tend to take 1-2 hours to play;
5. Typically have a central board and a bunch of brightly coloured wooden pieces; and
6. Are often played by 3-5 players but can often be played with 2, occasionally 6, rarely more.
These are not hard and fast rules. Contrast this with what are called "Ameritrash" games (which isn't as derisive as it sounds).