Many Americans grow up playing such seminal board games as Monopoly, Scrabble, and Risk. Yet beyond an occasional family card game or trivia night with friends, most adults shy away from board games as a recreational activity, perhaps viewing them as only for kids, or maybe bad memories of playing one game of Monopoly for seven hours at a sleep-over have permanently scarred the idea of playing a board game for fun. Enter the world of hobby, or designer, board games. They may not be falling off the shelves at the local big box retailer, but they are easy to find - if one knows where to look - and they offer an immense variety of gameplay experiences. Whether it's a light, humorous card game lasting 15 minutes or a complex strategy game of war, political intrigue, or economic expansion that can stretch for hours, hobby games present an engaging, enduring, affordable, and perhaps even educational leisure activity that can entertain practically anyone - young or old, male or female.
All games referenced below are linked to their pages on BoardGameGeek, the largest site for board game information on the Internet.