And within 12 hours, have forgotten 90%

See, there’s a huge different for me between “people” and “my people” - they can be two separate groups of strangers, but I can tell them apart in seconds.

In the rare times I want to socialise, my quest is to minimise contact with the former and maximize the latter.

I love seeing people stand up to these mandates. I flat out ask the purpose for my physical presence, and unless it’s an objectively good reason AND everyone else required will be present, I’m staying away. I’ve too often arrived at an office to sit on a Teams call.

I’m not contributing to traffic pollution and seeing my kids less to satisfy someone’s whim or real estate investment. As far as I’m concerned, that ship has sailed. Virtual whiteboards exist. Welcome to the future.

Tell us what you end up cooking!

I’m frying a burger patty, and then some diced potato which I’ll heavily spice with paprika, chillies, cumin, etc, and fry once the patty is done. Bit random, but I’m tired and want some flavour.

Ah that’s a great story, I had the same experience early on, got heavily into video games for a long time before wanting something more tactile and social. I enjoy Slay and Monster Train, maybe I should check out Dominion. I’m not very good at them…

If I start dating again, board games will be an essential requirement :D

I do really enjoy Wingspan now, the artwork and production quality is a huge appeal, I also use the Wingsong app when my son’s around, as he enjoys hearing the birds.

I love Cascadia, it’s not deep and I feel I’ve maxed out my strategy, but it’s such a pleasure to play, especially with non gamers.

I was looking at Parks last week, do you have either expansion? Was hoping for a big box, but there aren’t any plans.

I’ve not come across that, but I’d probably just stop playing, it’d drive me nuts. My crowd tends to turn up with laminated rule sheets…

On taking back turns, I’m lenient once or twice if done quickly, or if it’s a genuine mistake, but otherwise, no chance.

Love the sound of that, I’ve always wanted to try Mah Jong, and those tables look very cool.

Yeah it’s a shame so many people associate board games with boring roll and moves, or family arguments.

Tell me about it, they’re so hard to resist, especially when you’ve got a gaming partner. I love the nature themes like Meadow, Wingspan, etc.

I took Cascadia over to a mate’s, who expected something like monopoly, and he was blown away.

Love it! I hope I’m setting my kids up to enjoy gaming. Been playing chess with one since he was 6, have enjoyed watching him discover strategies and understand how to defend.

I’ve still not played Catan, but I’ve converted a few friends with Cascadia. Catan is the most controversial game I’ve come across, plenty of lovers and haters in equal measure

I feel the same way about the people, in my case anyone who takes it too seriously, takes ages every turn or doesn’t like losing can cause me to lose interest.

Are there specific genres you don’t like, or is it a light/heavy weight thing?

My family always played the standard 80s/90s board and card games, I picked up Carcassonne in 2012 but it didn’t really click, plus my girlfriend wasn’t into it.

It wasn’t until 2021 when I picked up Azul and Sagrada, that I realised how amazing games have become. The pieces, rulebook, simplicity and depth.

First time playing a worker placement Euro was a real eye opener, having been raised on roll-and-move.

I took Mirtazapine for a while last year, just the sleep and appetite helped a lot. I’ve considered asking about something else, since my mood and anxiety isn’t great, but I don’t know.

I had various accounts over the years, but switched from Digg, which must’ve been pre-2010.

It’s sad, but most communities felt crowded with people jumping down other people’s throats, so I don’t miss many

Same here. WTF do I do with a history degree… Joined a helpdesk because I liked fixing tech, transitioned to web development because that was more fun, spent years enjoying learning and progressing, then moved into UX because that was more rewarding (and less stressful).

I’m glad I gravitated towards IT because it gave me a lot of freedom and choice - and the money was always good.

I’d be careful with the “follow your hobbies” advice, I’ve known a lot of frustrated people who feel they’ve wasted years studying / trying to get a job in video games, acting, that sort of thing. Seems you have to be in the top 1% and have a ton of luck or connections to stand a chance.

I agree, ghosting is necessary in many situations. Am a guy, have reluctantly ghosted both men and women (from a casual friend / professional point of view, rather than romantic) not because I think I’ll be yelled at (or worse) but if the vibe is wrong, it’s self protection - I don’t want to engage with them, full stop.

We don’t play many junior versions, I find my boy outgrew them very quickly - though he still likes Catan Junior.

He likes Mancala, Kingdomino isn’t hard to pick up, and it really helped his maths skills. His favourite is the normal Carcassonne (we don’t play fields, and I give him a 50 point headstart, so it’s still a challenge for me). He loves the Dragon expansion, too.

We play Rhino Hero and other dexterity games, I ordered one for next Christmas called Menara - off a recommendation here (!) - it looks like a coop dexterity tower building game.

As for collaborative games, he loves helping me with some solos, Under Falling Skies, Aerion and Nautilion for example - you can tell a story and get them to help throw the dice.

Not really a game, but story cubes are also a win at bedtime.