Because most of the games on this site are not readily available from large stores they tend to be found in hobbyist game stores - sometimes sharing rack space with other niche interests, such as comics, or as a section in book store or model builders shop. 

For this reason, people who play these types of games are sometime referred to as hobbyist gamers.

Board games and Card games

The first games most people think of when you discuss board games are normally Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, Risk or something similar - often a 'roll the dice and move' playing style.  It is often thought of as a Christmas game, played by families mainly to involve children in the activities of the day, and then packed away for another year.

Hobbyist gamers can be very negative and dismissive of these games.  Don't let this bother you - look at in the same was as someone might compare memories of their first play house when commenting on a house you've just spent your life savings to buy.

In the world of hobbyist gamers, board games come in wide variety of flavours - some of the most popular include:

1. Wargames - usually a game that requires the managing of various army units against another player, often with very rigorous rules for unit movements and their various abilities.  Many of these games will allow the players to re-enact famous battles.
2. Resource management games - in these games players have to decide on where to invest their activities to acquire different resources.  This decision means that you will have to choose one kind of resource at the expense of others during your turn.
3. Route planning - a large component of these games is in planning and successfully creating or gaining a route, often at the expense of the other player using parts of the same route.
4. Bidding and bluffing games - players compete to bid for a items of different values with a limited amount of game currency.  Often this will lead to bluffing or otherwise attempting to mislead the other player.
5. Pattern matching - games where you attempt to build a pattern to gain points, usually the more complex the pattern, the higher the scoring value.
6. Co-operative games - a wonderful mechanism, whereby all the players play together against the game itself.
7. Tile laying/ Discovery games - games where the changing nature of the board contributes to the game play.  In this way the board may be revealed or built by players, either to their shared benefit or to give one player an advantage.
8. Party games - as the name suggests, these are usually fast paced games that can be played by bigger groups.

There are other types, but this will give you an idea of the diversity of games available.

A quick note on card games; most people think of playing cards (you know the red/ black deck of spades, diamond, club and hearts), and there are a LOT of games you can play with those cards.  Hobbyist games offer a very wide set of options for game playing, similar in style to the games listed above.  Often cards will form a key part of board game play.

Role Playing Games

This is more a style of play than a specific game itself, with game play taking as little as 30 minutes or for days, weeks or months!  In role playing games, as the name suggests, players take on the role of a character in a story told by a games master (essentially the narrator).  Instead of the games master simply telling a story, each player gets to say what their character in the story (or game) does, based on the abilities of the character.

Traditionally, most people associate role playing games with Dungeons and Dragons and fantasy based stories specifically, however role playing games can be in any number of genres.

A more mainstream type of role playing are murder mystery dinners, in which the diners take part as detectives or victims (or even villain).  When people take part in a more active and physical sense (such as by dressing up and taking on the behaviours of the character) this is often referred to as live action role play - or LARP.

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games

Usually called MMORPGS, or more simply MMOs, these games are played by hundreds, thousands or even millions of players!  Players log into the world of the MMO and guide the actions of their characters through quests, adventures or any number of activities available.

MMOs are vast these days with many different styles of play available.  Some players like to complete quests, collect specific items (sometimes called farming), explore or gather in large groups to take on 'epic' baddies.

What makes these games different to most other digital games is the number of other players playing the game at the same time, and with which you can interact.  This makes the game play very interactive and dynamic.

Miniatures

Miniatures can form feature in board games, role playing games or wargames, and provide a visual reference point for play.  There are a wide selection of styles available in different size categories and made to different levels of quality and workmanship.