So yeah, I want to try playing some tabletop games, but I don't want to give money to the rainbow cult, so is there any sort of resource that can help me identify which board/card games are woke? Also, any specific recommendations from you guys? Looking for almost anything from casual party games to intense games with deep mechanics.
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Start with classics. Settlers of Catan is probably the ur-euro-game. If you've never played Risk, find a used copy and learn why no one likes it. Grab a worker placement game, like Lords of Waterdeep or Agricola. I like deck building games, like Dominion.
Learn non-betting card games, like rummy, euchre, and hearts.
Just like all other media, anything from before 2010 is probably safe.
Regarding the games you brought up that I've played.
Risk can be fun if you have a group that likes it, and you understand that your goal can't be winning (because you'll lose at least 2/3 games you play.) The themed variants that have teams mitigate a lot of the issues that the base game has (though they often introduce their own) but are fun if you like the theming (I remember loving LoTR Risk.)
Catan is fun but I hate how long it takes me to set up. The expansions/extensions amplify both points.
I'm kinda addicted to Dominion. I'd played DC Deckbuilder with some friends in college and found it interesting enough, but didn't firmly grasp the "meta." I had another friend introduce me to Dominion a couple years back and it quickly became one of my favorite physical games, to the point where I own somewhere between half and 2/3rds of the expansions.
Advice on Dominion: Start with the base set (as in "Dominion", not the "Base Set" that contains the basic cards used in every game) and one of the suggested setups that leaves out the more complex cards, and try the digital version on Steam/Android/iOS if you don't have a group to play with since that will let you familiarize yourself with the mechanics and try some of the expansions to see which (if any) you want to purchase (playing in person is more fun though, in my opinion.)
I've been playing Dominion lately but I'm not enamoured. I mean its ok. Just would play other games if available.
What's good about Dominion is that the "best card" or combo changes for each game based on which cards are being used for the specific session. Adding in the expansions increases the variety.
Having everyone start with the same hand and buy the cards from the same pool eliminates many of the problems associated with CCGs.
I don't actually own a copy. Penny Arcade put out a deck builder through Cryptozoic that I like. It has a 'boss' pile of cards with game breaking powers, so one strat is to go high risk, high reward and get expensive boss cards rather than more, cheaper cards.
My friend has the board game but we ended up playing it on Steam as was much faster.