Board Game Arena

Hello! My name is Chad, and I'm a pretty big gamer, but unfortunately I've never played many board games. I haven't had the time, or the people really to sit down with and really get in a good board game, but I've always wanted to. My friends are more of the video game type, and that's fine, video games are awesome, but I've always wanted to try board games too. A Google search later and here I am!

But with my inexperience and such, I was worried about picking an overly complicated game and slowing down the game pacing for others, and I was wondering, for a beginner, what game should I start with first? Thank you for reading, and I can't wait to get started!

Welcome to BGA!

While I won't suggest a particular game, I do have some general suggestions:

When creating tables, turn ELO off, and put in the description "Learning Game" (or something to that effect).
If playing real-time (as opposed to turn-based), set the game speed to SLOW.

With these, you are more likely to find an opponent who is willing to teach the game, and you won't be under a time crunch to make a move without being able to think about it (and trying to learn the game and the interface and the strategy and the ...)

It also helps to at least glance at the rules (and any instructional videos) before the first game -- that will give you a general idea of the game, and what the legal moves are. While it is easy in physical play to point to a piece and say "this piece can move here or there," it's a bit harder to do that on-line.

Welcome. Try joining the Game Tutors group on this site. http://en.boardgamearena.com/#!group?id=1111129

It's a great group full of people interested in teaching and learning new games. Posts to the group page will show up in your recent news once you've joined.

Also, I've learned just about every game on the site. Feel free to invite me to a game (turn-based, usually can't do real-time) if there's anything you'd like to learn.