The Game that made you a ______ Gamer
United States
New York
the difference between a "crowd" and a "mob" is one push
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Every once in a while there comes a seminal moment in one's gaming life when they realize they really like a particular type of game. Or a particular genre. Often this occurs as one is playing a game. Or afterward, when the damn bloody game is the only thing you can think of. So what was that game, or games, for you that made you like:
board games (in general)
PRGS
CCGs
party games
war games
card games
AmeriTrash
Euros
abstracts
other
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United States
New York
the difference between a "crowd" and a "mob" is one push
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Board Games
I realized I liked board games not long after receiving this little gem as birthday present in the early Summer of 1975.
I had just learned the English language; and I was well on my way to earning an A+ in History for my grade school (a fairly difficult achievement). This game was right in my ZOC -- zone of comfort. I also fell in love with the Napoleonic imagery on those pieces, and the color choices -- especially the silver and blue. The map was okay, but its purpose was mainly to drive the action to the center and at the flanks, not to be an artistic masterpiece.
My first board game opponent was my mother, and she was a brilliant woman with unique talents. She played me tough, as we discussed the intricacies of Western History. I learned a lot about tactics, and trying to form strategic plans from this simplified wargame.
What I remember most are not the victories, but those times I got to spend with my mother and learn how to think about things from a teacher with an extremely keen mind.
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David Knepper
United States
Huntsville
Alabama
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I stumbled across an ad for this game in Boy's Life (yeah,I know, wtf is Boy's Life
 ). After that, I searched until I found a copy and that was it!
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Scott
United States
denver
Colorado
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Block wargames. About two turns into HotS I knew these things were for me. I've since acquired 4 more. Blocks Rock!
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Kent Reuber
United States
San Mateo
California
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One of the games that introduced me to Euro games. It was so simple, yet had some depth. Still one of my favorites.
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5.
Board Game: Amun-Re
[Average Rating:7.35 Overall Rank:260]
United States
New York
the difference between a "crowd" and a "mob" is one push
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Euro Gamer
I have always been fascinated by Egyptian mottifs. (Recently I had the following epiphany: It started when I was a prepubescent boy who saw the TV show "Mighty Isis" and that created then and there an imprint of my perfect woman type. It also infected me with a love of this foreign ancient culture.)
I have always played games, on and off, and these were of various types. My game club at the time, while primarily focussed on RPGs, would also play card and board games. Eventually the club got into running Cons.
It was at a small convention and Comics show in Wethersfield, Conn, that we had volunteered our services. The guy running the Con was a longtime friend and so we were eager to help. This was also the beginning of my full embrace of board gaming, and my abandonment of the Dark Side (RPGs).
At this Con one of the people who was to assist us, Carl, had brought a lot of games he liked to play. The Con was mostly a bust; it was its first iteration, so that was a given. But there were maybe 3 dozen RPGers and a double handful of board gamers. Still it was not a total loss.
One of the games Carl had brought was Amun-Re. I was hooked. We played it three straight times. Each of us enjoyed this game so much, that we bought it from the small Dealer's Room then and there.
Since that day I have played this beauty well over sixty times. It has prompted me to go looking for new board games, many with that Euro feel this game practically drips with. It also, directly, led me to BGG. It is the reason that about half the games I play are Euros.
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Scott
United States
denver
Colorado
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I picked up this thing in 2005 and loved it so much that I instantly became a board game freak. A closet full of games later(everything from Cranium to ASL) and it's still one of my favorites. Brilliant design and a great gateway-game.
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Peter Vandenbroeck
Belgium
Sint-Truiden
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As far as I can remember, this was the first boardgame I 've played. It must have been 1978 or 1979. My brothers and me had a lot of fun playing this, an intense game for a 9 year old kid. After a couple of games it got lost somehow (we moved).
6 years ago, I bought my own copy on Ebay, but it seems to have lost the thrill it had back then. One of the many prices you pay for getting older  (and perhaps wiser  )
But I still love the theme and type of game.
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8.
Board Game: Go
[Average Rating:7.66 Overall Rank:121]
Russ Williams
Poland
Wrocław
Dolny Śląsk
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Abstract pure strategy games (Combinatorial games)
Prior to Go I was not really very into abstract pure strategy games. I'd played chess, checkers, Othello, etc over the years, but basically abstract pure strategy didn't seem to be my cup of tea.
I enjoyed SPI-type historical wargames, I like RPGs, I liked Metagaming's MicroGames, etc. Later I got into MtG for a little while, and got into Eurogames.
A cow-orker introduced me to Go, and it was a transforming experience. These days, many of the games I play are combinatorial games (no chance, no hidden information, alternating turns).
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Mark Casiglio
United States
Ansonia
CT
ConnCon 2018 March 23, 24, 25 in Stamford, CT
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Train Games
Yeah sure, I saw all these railroad and railroad themed games here on BGG but I used to thing "big deal ... it's just not for me." I had no particular interest in trains or their history or whatnot.
Then one day someone brought Age of Steam to my game group and invited me to play. "Why not," I thought. "It is a top 10 game so it's probably interesting enough even with the boring theme ..."
Well I was hooked. Within the next few days I found an e-bay seller offering the game up with all the expansions out at the time (the first three, I believe) and never looked back. Whether it's Age of Steam and all it's 34 bajillion expansion maps, or any number of 18xx flavors, Train Games have become my favorite sub-genre.
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Carsten ◄► Wesel
Germany
Pinneberg-Quellental
Germany
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All Board Games (or german, as I am german?
 )
I have played Res Publica on a game night @ one of my friends.
The next day I go out to buy this game to have it on my own.
This game is still one of my "Top 10 games", even if there are 900 games in my collection.
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Hannes Riener
Austria
Vienna
Austria
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Economic Games
No other game then DKT (similar to Monopoly) could be found so often on my rooms floor back then...
Actually: when did I stop playing on the floor? And was Eagle Games' mission to bring us back there?
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12.
Board Game: Risk
[Average Rating:5.58 Overall Rank:14516]
Hannes Riener
Austria
Vienna
Austria
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War Games
The first game that showed me how fascinating it is to demonstrate someones military skill by outnumbering the enemy.
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Taj Mahal, anyone?
Switzerland
Basel
Läckerli State
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Beer and Pretzels Gamer
This is the game I bought a few years before I discovered BGG and the world of meatier board games. And although I now prefer medium to medium-heavy games (T&E and such), I still love lighter fare when I'm in the right mood and if there are some nice drinks and delicious pizzas on the table.
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Taj Mahal, anyone?
Switzerland
Basel
Läckerli State
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Ameritrasher
A friend from the club asked me if I would like to play this game with him over the holidays. We've only played the introductory game so far. But it was quite a fascinating game. We immediately arranged to meet again in two weeks to play the real thing. While my friend is painting his figures, I'm waiting for the collector's edition to come out...
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Pete Belli
United States
Florida
"If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking."
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My nerdy (but cute) Junior High School sweetheart had an older brother who played wargames.
I thought he was the coolest thing since Mr. Spock!
He taught me how to play this SPI classic and I was hooked. The rest is history... or in some cases alternative history!
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Ben Lott
United States
Mason
Michigan
Being a Lions fan is a gift...
...and a curse.
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Party Gamer
After our first game of Time's Up it was a done deal. I have never laughed so hard when simply playing a game. I love lots of other genres of games, but there will always be room for more party games because of the funny times that they bring. It's just nice playing a game from time to time where no one cares who wins and everyone is just focused on the game experience.
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Les Haskell
United States
Tennessee
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Wargamer
My first wargame was Richthofen's War. My parents bought it for me one Christmas because I had had an interest in the Red Baron for a long time. I played the heck out of it and I knew I liked that type of game and I went out and got Kriegspiel and PanzerBlitz. While I enjoyed both new games I was completely intrigued by the historical intricacies of PanzerBlitz.
I was really turned into a wargamer by the Combat Results Chart (CRT), the Weapons Effectiveness Chart (WEC) and the Terrain Effects Chart (TEC).
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James Ridgway
United States
Fairfax Station
Virginia
How much for the little game in the window?
Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
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Card-Driven Game
Wow, I can't believe it took me so long to discover this genre. Wish I had found it back when I still had lots of free time and easy access to tons of gamers.
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Gary Webster
United States
Littleton
CO
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Ah, Othello. I was a Chess geek for a while in grad school, but this became the game we played all the time.
This is the game that made me an abstract gamer.
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20.
Board Game: Torres
[Average Rating:7.17 Overall Rank:401]
Gary Webster
United States
Littleton
CO
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Euro Gamer
I've related the story on this one before, but I found this in a year-end
"games of the year" in GAMES magazine, back around 1999 or 2000, I can't recall which, thought it might be pretty good, and just fell in love with it.
Over a hundred euro games and counting, since this one. Still one of my top games.
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ian morris
United Kingdom
Birmingham
West Mids
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Wargamer
Lived in digs in '84. My fellow lodger was a keen chess player and seemed interested in war, so I suggested that we go down to Skytrex Models and try out one of their wargames. We had a look, and settled on this one more or less at random. Great choice ! I remember puzzling over the 8-page rulebook, but after this, there was no stopping us. Best thing is, that friendship still endures. 
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Dylan Kirk
France
Paris
Ile-de-France
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Lonely Gamer
In Sri Lanka, if you like to read the news, there have been two assassinations of Members of Parliament, a now hot civil war, and several bombs in the capital city of Colombo...
...since the start of the year (under 2 weeks ago).
We're mainly living as home bodies right now, and it's tough to get people together in reasonably large groups on a regular basis. Hard to plan anything, really, when checkpoints can make a 5-minute drive to the store a 1.5 hour wait at an impromptu roadblock because parliament is in session.
So, it was here that I actually officially became a Solo Gamer, and this game is currently my preference.
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