Now, there are plenty of things that we can start as a new nerdy hobby, maybe you want to start playing Dungeons and Dragons, get into board games, or read more Sci-Fi books. But where you jump into them can be pretty tricky for some of them. So how do you pick that starting point of joining into a hobby that already has a lot of people in it?

Let’s use, what I know well, board games, as an example. In 2019 there were thousands of board games that were published, and that’s just last year. And in that, there were thousands of bad board games published, so if you are getting into the hobby, what should you be looking for? Is there some proper starting place?

It is going to be overwhelming to jump in, but thankfully, there are a lot of articles out there about good starting places for board games. So to start with board games or any hobby, I’d use Google and simply research, “Introductory…” and it’ll give you some good options. Now, that might seem off, because you want to play the best board games, so maybe you would go to somewhere like Board Game Geek, which will probably come up in search results, and just buy games in the top 10, but a lot of those are much bigger and heavier games, and the same with picking the most popular Sci-Fi or anything, it is going to lean more into what those who are already steeped in the hobby like.

The other reason that you want introductory is that while the games aren’t always cheaper, they are going to be teach you about the hobby. So something like Carcassone teaches you tile placement, how games can have various ways to score, and generally gets you to a point where you can understand board games better, and the different introductory games are going to be good at teaching different things. Catan can teach you about probability and resource management. Ticket to Ride is about set collection, route building, and there are so many other intro games that teach other things.

But, maybe you won’t like all of the introductory games, so should you really go out and get all of these games? You will probably find some that you don’t love, so did you just waste money? Thankfully, if you’re in a larger town/city, you might have a couple of options. A lot of larger cities are going to have gaming stores. These places often has games that you can just try or the employees should be willing to open up a game and teach you how it’s played a little bit so you have an idea before you purchase the game. Also there are other spots that you can try and game. A lot of breweries are going to have some games, and while you might mainly find Cribbage and Cards Against Humanity, I’ve seen Catan at a lot of them as well. And who knows what gems you might find there. Also, you can look on Facebook or other places used to schedule Meetups (again Board Game Geek could help) and you can find a public one in your area that you can join. I’m in a city, so there are more options, but in more rural areas, you might be able to at least connect with people who are already in the hobby. But use these ways to start playing the introductory games and then when you have a better idea of what you like, you can get some.

Now, that section seems fairly specific for board games, but it works well for D&D as well. For something like Sci-Fi, this would be the library. Get a library card and check out books that are different types of Sci-Fi to see what sort you want, maybe you want the hard core scientific Sci-Fi, or maybe you prefer one that focuses like on the science aspect and is more a grand space adventure. Who knows, maybe your library even has a Sci-Fi book club or would have up a poster for one. There are always groups around for various nerdy things, whether it’s in person or an online forum that you can join as well and ask questions. Now, it’s the internet so there will be people who get annoyed because you aren’t already into the hobby like they are so you’re stepping on their turf and wasting time by asking questions, and while it’ll seem like they stick out more than anyone, it is really less people than those who want to grow the hobby, so ignore the trolls.

This is all a good way that you can start and it helps get rid of some of the chafe that might be less than ideal stuff to dive into to start. But any hobby, unless it’s something with technology that is brand new, is going to have a lot to dive into. So it’ll seem intimidating when you’re jumping. And you’re going to run across games or books or DM’s or whatever it is that you don’t like. Don’t let that drive you off and don’t let those people who feel like it’s their hobby and because you’re just joining keep you from joining the hobby. It might take you time to find the area of it that you like, so the last piece of advice is patience. And with that, if you don’t like part of it, move on and try another part of it, if you don’t love heavy Sci-Fi, go and try some more adventure type Sci-Fi, if you don’t like deckbuilding, try area control games, if you don’t like playing a wizard try playing a fighter. Experiment until you find something that you like more. And maybe the hobby won’t be for you, but there is so much diversity in all of these hobbies now in different types of things that hopefully there will be something for you.

I could talk more about this topic, but I don’t want to overwhelm someone who wants to get into a new hobby. To summarize, try and find an existing local community that can help you or a good online community. Try a wide range from the hobby you want to join, and while everything might not be for you, find what is for you.

If you’ve already gone through this process, what other simple tips do you recommend?

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Talkative Groups

For this sort of group, you are really looking for more party games. You want turns that can take a while so that conversations can happen, and you want games that are simple enough for people who might not be familiar with the game so they won’t forget the rules in between their turns. Party games are ideal for this. A couple of my top recommendations would be Cards Against Humanity (or Apples to Apples if you are feeling tamer) or Stipulations. Both of these have quick rounds where people either play cards or write something down, and whoever is “it” picks the winner out of the different ones. They are good because the rounds are fast, everyone is involved in the rounds at once, and if you get into a conversation between rounds, there is no confusion as to where you pick up again.

Let’s Work Together Groups

There are a couple of reasons for having this sort of group of game players. The first is that while this type of players like games with story and depth to them, everyone isn’t on the same level of game playing, so if that group was playing a trickier game, the same people are always going to lose. The other reason is that if someone in the group tends to lose poorly, it can ruin the experience for everyone else. So instead of not inviting certain people depending on what games you want to play, for either reason, you are able to play games that are more cooperative. The best examples of this, in my opinion, are the Lord of the Rings Board Game and Pandemic. Both of these offer a number of different strategies, so if someone wanted to play it one way, they can, and it allows for a lot of discussion and working together at the table. If you get tired of games where people purely work together, games like Betrayal at the House on the Hill and Dead of Winter are great options as well. While the team is working together, someone is randomly chosen to become a traitor — it’s a whole lot harder to have hard feelings when it is a random card or roll of the die that determines the traitor.

Casual Competitive

This group is able to handle games that pit players against each other, and that one player can work on their own to win instead of letting it be based on someone else’s decision (or even partially based on that). As a casual group, it still focuses on faster and simpler games, though. You wouldn’t sit down and play the Battlestar Galactica board game with this group, but instead, you’d play Carcassone or King of Tokyo. A lot of the Euro-style games fall into this category. While something that another player might do could stop you from doing what you wanted, everyone is actively trying to meet their own conditions to win the game, not (most likely) stop other people from winning.

Serious Gamers

I was thinking about putting this group and the next one into the same group, but I think, at times, there might be a reason to differentiate. Serious gamers are people who love very in-depth games. They want to spend the time to work through a long game of Marvel Legendary or Arkham Horror, and they don’t  mind so much if the game is cooperative or competitive. If the game is challenging enough and different enough and really allows them to flex their game logic muscles, they are going to enjoy the game. These are the people who try and figure out the optimal strategy for Dominion, and probably own most of the expansions for it. They take their gaming seriously, and when they play, they expect the other people in the group to do that as well.

Cutthroats

These people play Risk and are out for blood. They make and break alliances with no concerns about who they beat down in the process. They also aren’t going to have a qualm about knocking out a player early in a long game and just letting them sit there. A cutthroat group is going to want to play long and challenging games, and while they may have hurt feelings in the game, they are able to get past that once the game is over. A player for any group besides the Serious Gamers group isn’t going to be able to hang with a cutthroat group, and even the serious players are going to have more fun elsewhere. I do want to clarify: I’m not trying to say that this group is a bad group. If you play this way and have friends who do as well, more power to you. But often, it’s hard for cutthroat gamers to mix well into other groups and vice-a-versa, probably more so than any other combination.

Just to close up this topic: a lot of these groups work well together; people who are part of a talking group can easily play games that cooperative and casual groups like. And serious gamers can enjoy playing cooperative games and casual games as well. However, it is important to be aware of the dynamic of your group and know how they play. If you have people who are expecting to play serious and challenging games and all you have is party games, some people won’t be having as fun a time, for example. But if you know the type of group you have and what type of player you are, you can always have a fun board game night for everyone.

What type of player are you with board games?

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