1. Your Friendly Local Game Store
The best place for the average person to discover new games is the FLGS, or Friendly Local Gaming Store. An FLGS is a small shop dedicated to tabletop gaming. You'll find all the games there that you'll never see in Target or at Barnes&Noble. The difficulty is in finding them, but you might try a google map search for "Board Games" or ask around on social media. Chances are, if there's a store near you, someone will be able to help you find it.
The great thing about the FLGS is that you can test-drive games there. At least, the good ones let you. Many FLGS's have regular open gaming nights, or simply keep a stock of open-box games for their customers to try out. Store employees are generally pretty excited about board gaming, and so you can get great advice from them. You can also just browse the shelves and see what looks cool!
Trying out games is the best way to determine if they are right for you, and FLGSs are great places to try out games you've heard of, or find similar games to your favorites. Remember to support your FLGS if you take advantage of this, however. Although games on FLGS shelves are rarely discounted, the services that FLGS stores provide are invaluable and if you take advantage of them by trying out games, getting recommendations, or attending open game nights, you should support the store with your money to keep them in business.
2. Board Game Geek

BGG’s skeletal structure is a database of basically every game ever made, listing such vitals as publication date, designer, publisher, number of players, play time, genre, mechanics, and components. But the site’s heart is its collection of user contributions. You can find ratings, reviews, videos, topical “geek” listings, photographs, industry news, related external links, official and fan created errata and files, and an extensive and active forum to discuss individual games as well as the hobby in general. All this from community users ranging from industry insiders to the hobby’s newcomers and all experiences in-between.
If you’re interested in a particular game, simply navigate to its database page to read about the mechanics, all of its vital information, user reviews, and other miscellaneous discussions and files to get a better idea if it’ll fit your situation, or not. Some older titles have helpful recommendations of comparable games that you might like, as well. If you, your family, or your game group tend to play certain styles or mechanics, then you can browse for titles by those terms. If you particularly enjoy a certain designer, then look up his page to surf through all of his games. Same with any specific publisher. Furthermore, most BGG members have extensive profile pages and usually list their game collections – so if you find a member that seems to share similar gaming tastes as your own, take a gander through her collection. There’s a good chance she has other titles that will be a good match for you, too! All of these subtle ways to research games make the Geek a tremendous tool.
Of course, the surest way to determine whether or not you’ll like a game is to play it – and you can’t do that on Board Game Geek. So you’ll need to utilize other resources. Not all are necessarily convenient. But they can still be very much worth a bit of investment in time and effort in order to minimize the chances of buying a lame title or ones that fall flat in your gaming group.
3. On-Line Gaming

Google searches inquiring into individual games may reap surprising results, as well. This may be a bit tedious and specific, but rewarding. But some games have Java or Windows implementations, or otherwise faithfully port the board version to software. Many are even official. Just a few examples include Dominion on isotropic, plus free downloads for titles such as Kingsburg, San Juan, and Yspahan. So know that the option is out there and you never know what else you may discover!
4. The On-Line Game Store
The on-line game store (OLGS) is another avenue to consider. A useful tool on game store web sites (and even mega shopping sites like Amazon) is the suggestion of other titles based on browsing or purchasing history. Typically this is couched in terms of either, “People who bought this title also bought X,” or “If you like this game, you might also like Y.” Even if you are not buying from the site, use that OLGS’s suggestions tool in your research to find titles that will fit your gaming needs. And buying online is always an option, indeed maybe the only one for those without an FLGS. It is certainly convenient, perhaps the greatest benefit to the OLGS, but don’t automatically assume it is significantly cheaper. There are a handful of on-line stores which offer reduced prices on individual titles, but shipping costs added on to small orders can approach, equal, or even exceed the regular retail prices at local stores. Most sites offer free shipping for orders over a certain dollar amount, so it is generally more cost effective to wait and make a larger purchase to take advantage of free shipping. While patronizing your FLGS is important to the hobby in supporting a business that gives back to the local gaming community, price is often too important a consideration for many gamers. In that case, BoardGamePrices.com is a helpful source for research and price comparisons.
5. Game Conventions
Another gold mine in the research field is the convention. These are not always convenient. They cost money to attend, you generally will need to drive a distance to get there, and most run over multiple days often requiring hotel stays. So these will not be frequent resources. Indeed it might be a better option for those more experienced in, or at least committed to, the hobby. But if and when you can attend, you’ll find designer and publisher booths demonstrating games, open gaming areas, news, symposia, and more. You don’t need to attend the big ones like GenCon, Origins, or the internationally epic Spiel Essen (though a gamer's Mecca). In fact, for purposes of this article, I would not recommend the big conventions. Instead, consider the many smaller scale, local and regional gatherings which can be very rewarding for a much smaller investment. Go to Board Game Geek or other sites like The Dice Tower to find ones near you that will keep registration fees, other expenses, and travel at a minimum. Then plan ahead with your registration material to maximize your time in wandering the exhibit floor, visiting booths, and testing out the open play.
6. iOS and Android Apps

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