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I Love Board Games: A Personal Obsession Explained by Psychology

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Re: I Love Board Games: A Personal Obsession Explained by Psychology

#21
post #2

Board games are my favorite way to accomplish two things that I find hard to do as an introvert that works from home: 1. Getting off screens 2. Socializing But it still also accomplishes one of my favorite things to do: thinking — specifically problem solving and optimizing. And, as an introvert, socializing actually naturally is secondary in our group, but that’s ok — a good heavy heads-down board game (think 3-5 ho…

As a college student without too much spending money, what’re some board games I should check out? I have wingspan, catan, and azul and wanna expand my collection with other must have games

Also agree with the other great suggestions in the sibling comments.

One thing that would help if you could figure out the types of games you and your group might enjoy — or the type of group you and your friends are.

If you think you’d enjoy deeper strategy games, start with some of the popular games in the “strategy” category on BGG, looking for light to medium weight (1.5-2.5) to start out, working your way up the scale (to 3.0, 3.5, and 4.0).

If you’re more into the social/party type games (those are always more fun in larger groups), look at the party category. I particularly enjoy social deduction games in the right group, and those are usually big hits with older kids / younger adults (though I still enjoy social deduction games and I’m quite beyond “younger adult”). :)

One good example is One Night Ultimate Werewolf.

One tip: if you’re interested in trying out some strategy games that are a bit out of your price range, check out boardgameoracle.com and add price alerts on a few games you have your eye on. Many great board game sites run good deals (gamenerdz.com is one of my favorites), so you can often get good deals on games if you’re patient.

If you ever get to the point where you’re looking for something with a bit more depth, and are ok spending money, but you want the money to go a long way, Age of Steam is one of the best bangs for your buck.

It’s basically a system that has a library of probably close to 200 maps, where each map can change the game quite drastically, by tweaking several rules, in addition to a different map of course.

It’s currently my #1 game, and you could repeat plays with it without it getting old, assuming others enjoy the mechanics of game (route building, auction/bidding, tight economy).

Re: I Love Board Games: A Personal Obsession Explained by Psychology

#22
post #9

I love boardgames too and could wax lyrical about them for ages. Sucks that this article was clearly written by AI.

Man I suffer from this recently. Everything I read feels AI written but because it’s just a guess I get into this loop of questioning myself and then the whole read is ruined for me. I hate it so much.

Was this written by a human?

Re: I Love Board Games: A Personal Obsession Explained by Psychology

#23
post #2

Board games are my favorite way to accomplish two things that I find hard to do as an introvert that works from home: 1. Getting off screens 2. Socializing But it still also accomplishes one of my favorite things to do: thinking — specifically problem solving and optimizing. And, as an introvert, socializing actually naturally is secondary in our group, but that’s ok — a good heavy heads-down board game (think 3-5 ho…

As a college student without too much spending money, what’re some board games I should check out? I have wingspan, catan, and azul and wanna expand my collection with other must have games

Does your school have a board game group? If so, consider joining it to expand your effective collection (and perhaps your social group).

If not, maybe there's an adjacent group that might also be willing to entertain board games, or it's a group you could found. My college had a gaming, anime, and chess group which anchored my social experience.

Re: I Love Board Games: A Personal Obsession Explained by Psychology

#24
post #9

I love boardgames too and could wax lyrical about them for ages. Sucks that this article was clearly written by AI.

Man I suffer from this recently. Everything I read feels AI written but because it’s just a guess I get into this loop of questioning myself and then the whole read is ruined for me. I hate it so much.

For me, the emdashes and the constant use of "it's not just [X], it's [hyperbolic Y]" gives it away.

Re: I Love Board Games: A Personal Obsession Explained by Psychology

#25
post #9

I love boardgames too and could wax lyrical about them for ages. Sucks that this article was clearly written by AI.

Yep: "The tower itself isn’t just a gimmick; it’s a physical presence that creates tension and anticipation the moment it hits the table. Add the Dark Horde expansion and suddenly the game isn’t just something you play—it’s something you engage with." 100% in Pangram, BTW.

But there's enough biographical details and concrete facts that I think he at least wrote the outline before having ChatGPT rewrite it.

Re: I Love Board Games: A Personal Obsession Explained by Psychology

#27
post #2

Board games are my favorite way to accomplish two things that I find hard to do as an introvert that works from home: 1. Getting off screens 2. Socializing But it still also accomplishes one of my favorite things to do: thinking — specifically problem solving and optimizing. And, as an introvert, socializing actually naturally is secondary in our group, but that’s ok — a good heavy heads-down board game (think 3-5 ho…

As a college student without too much spending money, what’re some board games I should check out? I have wingspan, catan, and azul and wanna expand my collection with other must have games

I can recommend Stardew Valley. It really captures the same cozyness as the video game, and it's cooperative.

Re: I Love Board Games: A Personal Obsession Explained by Psychology

#28
post #9

I love boardgames too and could wax lyrical about them for ages. Sucks that this article was clearly written by AI.

Man I suffer from this recently. Everything I read feels AI written but because it’s just a guess I get into this loop of questioning myself and then the whole read is ruined for me. I hate it so much.

This has happened to me so much recently that it’s actually pushing me towards reading proper books. I’m so sick of everything sounding the same.

Re: I Love Board Games: A Personal Obsession Explained by Psychology

#29
post #2

Board games are my favorite way to accomplish two things that I find hard to do as an introvert that works from home: 1. Getting off screens 2. Socializing But it still also accomplishes one of my favorite things to do: thinking — specifically problem solving and optimizing. And, as an introvert, socializing actually naturally is secondary in our group, but that’s ok — a good heavy heads-down board game (think 3-5 ho…

As a college student without too much spending money, what’re some board games I should check out? I have wingspan, catan, and azul and wanna expand my collection with other must have games

I really like "Root" (for the asymmetry) and "Arcs" (for the openness), although they are quite "heavy" in terms of rules and interactions.
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