What kind of games appeal to and what kind do you despise?

I like solitaire and Yahtzee and I don’t like any games that require a lot of physical skills.

I will play any game as long as it isnt n organized sport. Its too structured for me to breath, if you get what Im saying.

Shooting games like IDPA and steel challenge matches. It’s honest and totally non confusing gamesmanship. You either hit the target or you didn’t. The evidence is there. It’s good outdoor fun where there is no need for brute strength or any real athletic prowess and women and old men can win. No hick ass dumb -shit gun people allowed. I learn something different every time and on top of that you get decent cop recognition since that’s where they go to practice. I met a real special forces soldier at one match and it was fascinating talking with him.
If you are on the fence about handgun ownership ,a place like this is where you want to visit to get involved the right way from the start. The only drawback is that it’s not a cheap sport but there are ways to keep the costs down and still retain the fun. You don’t need top of the line gear to do well.

I can’t stand card games, board games and other games where you are inside. Even video games are a turn off because I can’t do it. For some reason I can’t work a video game to save my life. At least shooting games there is a chance there is training involved in the form of a contest that is transferable to a real life situation. HALO, my ass.

I enjoy Charades. I don’t care for much for bridge because after 4 hands or so, I lose track of remembering what cards have been played. I seldom agree to play.

Racing games like Roadrash; I guess, anyone who has played it has fallen in love with it. Though old one, it’s still one of my favorites.

Then there are fighting games I played and I liked: GTA 3 (Grand Theft Auto 3: Vice City), Commandos (1,2), Project IGI.

At times, I play minesweeper. I rarely play solitaire these days.

Earlier I used to play these games passionately. Now, I play for entertainment.

Edit: Ah I forgot to mention Roller Coaster Tycoon (1 & 2).

I like well-written RPGs with flexible character creation (preferably point-based) like GURPS or Shardowrun. I dislike those that use classes and/or levels like Rifts or D&D.

I like realistic racing games like Gran Turismo, but not overly arcadey ones like Mario Kart.

I like team-based shooter games, but not free-for-all ones.

I like stealth-action games like Metal Gear Solid and Deus Ex. I dislike “gun porn” games like Halo.

I like card games that either use a fixed deck or have easily accessible and inexpensive cards; Illuminati, Chez Geek, Pimp:The Backhanding, etcetera. I dislike collectible card games where all the good cards cost big bucks and may be hard to find; magic, BattleTech TCG, Magic….

I like the game that is flirting.

I don’t like the game that prevails when relationships move past the flirting game.

I like all of the Tycoon games.

I don’t like shooting or intense war games.

I like Civilization and Spore and Sims.

I don’t like games that need their own console, because I don’t see the purpose in buying a new piece of hardware.

I like obvious games that are actual games.
I don’t like hidden, social games that people are playing in this life.

I can’t play games that rely on good eyesight, co-ordination or physical skills. That rules out most sports and a lot of computer games for me.

I like games that are easy, have at least some element of chance and are, above all, short.

I like puzzle games like Lemmings and also games where you do one thing over and over more or less mindlessly like Tetris, Katamari, Labyrinth, & Tiny Wings. I am also into turn-based strategy games like FF Tactics & Ghost Recon. I absolutely love Mario Kart, but have never tried other racing games. As far as RL games, I am very into backgammon, and I used to play Texas hold’em quite a bit. And I love all games where you can hold a beer in your hand while playing, like bag toss (aka cornhole), horseshoes, darts, & disc golf.

@wildpotato I’m in favour of holding a beer while playing. In fact, skip the game I’ll just drink the beer.

Not a big game player, personally. My daughter is a big fan of RPGs, so I’ve seen a lot of that out of the corner of my eye. I simply can’t relate at all. She and her friends get so enthralled in these imagined scenarios, and have so much fun crafting their characters, but it leaves me completely cold.

She once got a RPG-based board game, “Settlers of Catan”, for Christmas and roped me and her uncle into a round of the game. It was interesting to me that he felt as disconnected through the whole thing as I did. At the end, he turned to my daughter and said, “OK, now explain to me how that was fun.”

Arcade games and video games also do nothing for me, with the possible exception of old-school pinball. I haven’t played it in decades, but I can connect to it on a tactile and mechanical level.

Overall, then, I prefer games that involve hand-eye coordination and actual manipulation of tangiblel objects. I’d rather bowl than play cards, even though I’m mediocre at both. I can appreciate the craftsmanship of the polished maple lanes, the potent weight of the ball, the sound of the clash and the engineering behind the pin setter and the ball return. The card game plays out in an intangible mental space, and I don’t find that engaging.

I dislike most games that deal with pure chance.

If I am trying to compete with other people, I like games that are based on skill. I like abstract strategy board games such as chess.

If I am competing in a non-serious way, I prefer card games such as Egyptian Ratscrew, blackjack, or poker (I never bet real money). I might also play FPS games.

If I am playing a game by myself, I like sandbox-type games.

We’re a game playing family. We play card games, mostly cribbage, hearts, canasta and bridge. We play rummoli, Balderdash, Trivial Pursuit, Settlers of Catan, Cranium etc.

We all get together and play Dungeons and Dragon (the pencil and paper kind).

I personally rocked at Plants vs Zombies.

One thing I forgot is my preference for customizable units. I dislike Starcraft, but love Warzone 2100. Two of my all-time favorite tabletop strategy games are BattleTech (which allows custom units; i cannot use the pre-generated ones in the Tech Readouts), and Car Wars, where I can tailor a car to my liking. Of course, I am a rules lawyer munchkin, and I am part of the reason BattleTech revised the interaction between Pulse Lasers and Targeting Computers; too many Called Shots with a +1 To-Hit modifier instead of +3, which is a huge difference in a 2d6 system.

I love tennis it combines physical skills and is an extremely mentally demanding game as well. A tennis court is a large area for one person to cover unless you understand and can anticiapte the angles. But for less physical pursuits, I enjoy backgammon and 500 Rummy. I too went through a spider solitaire phase and sudoku as well. I go back to them occasionally but they no longer have that addictive hold me that they once did.

I have always lacked any real athletic talents of any kind, so, for me, all team & individual sports (tennis, golf, etc) have always been out.

At the same time, I have always found multiplayer video games to be too focused on violence for my tastes, so I have never played D & D, World of Warcraft, or their ilk. As to GTA (in all of its incarnations): shudder.

Maybe I’m showing my age a bit, but I really miss the classic free-standing pinball games that were popular into the 80s. There was just something about their combination of eye-hand coordination with strategy and basic physics that I found irresistible.

In earlier years, I played Monopoly, the Game of Life, chess, checkers, Uno, Yatzee, Trivial Pursuit and others a lot. In my then circle of friends I became known as the “walking Trivial Pursuit Encyclopedia” because it looked like I simply knew all of the answers ahead of time.

For a long time I played computer backgammon quite a lot, and greatly enjoyed it. However, I seem to be on an extended backgammon break of late. I have also played Slingo a fair amount, but feel like I have grown tired of it too.

Currently, as part of Wild Tangent for HP’s Worlds Bast Board Games collection, I really enjoy some of the games (Alqurque, Blocked!, Catch the Hat, Senat, Pachese, and Game of the Goose) a lot, and a few not at all.