What do you look for in a game?

I like ameritrash
I like strongly themed games
I very much like resource management games
I like deck builder games quite a bit (I prototyped and playtested a new game idea yesterday which has deck building, seems promising)
I also really like industry games where you build an infrastructure and make your wealth grow (Age of Industry and Agricola are great).
I like deep strategies, and lots of different ways to victory

Thematically I generally like: sci-fi, cyberpunk, dark settings, horror, zombies. I'll go for fantasy-themed occasionally, but it's not my general preference.

One of my favourite games is Eclipse. It's got combat, resource management, dice, explosions, aliens, industry, space ships, ship design. Lots of stuff I like.

Ever since I was little I was into collecting cards. I used to go from one corner store to another to try to collect all 100 cards from the "E.T." movie! I had Indiana Jones cards and later X-Files (from the T.V. series).

Later on it became "Star Trek: CCG". I even managed to get 2 "Jean-Luc Picard" rare/chase cards...

Also I would go to small stores and just buy up leftovers like "Legend Of The Five Rings", "Blood Wars", "Vampire: The Eternal Struggle (AKA Jyhad)". They were just left overs and I like the artwork and they were real cheap (like $1.00 a pack) so buying 20 packs only cost $20.00!

I had a friend who was into Magic: The Gathering. But not me. He loved the game because of the beautiful artwork...

My first self-published game was a card game for kids entitled "Quest Adventure Cards(tm)"... And my second game is a Deck-Builder entitled "Tradewars - Homeworld".

As you can see I really like cards. It might also stem from the fact that I love my family and when I was younger, we used to play Rumoli for HOURS on Saturday nights...

So yeah - I might have some board game ideas - but for the moment I'm still focusing on "card games"!

Edit: I love how all the answers here have been pretty much all different, and here is one different to the bunch!

I have two things I find myself seaching BGG for:

1. Strong theme - Like with every piece of entertainment I tend to gravitate towards the mystical and outlandish stuff. My favorite game, Arkham Horror, is pretty much the same game than Pandemic is, albeit less streamlined (therefor harder to play). But the setting of Lovecraft's stuff is why I only own and adore Arkham Horror and not the latter.

2. Variable player powers - as it is tagged in BGG, usually found in co-op games. I just love the D&D mentality of specialized roles in teams. It just feels so good to be the rogue in team of burly bruisers who can't even get around a door knob.

One thing I weirdly avoid are game that operate just by cards. I have nothing against card games and love them equally, IF someone just forces me to try one and explains it to me.
Many a time while browsing BGG I've found thematically cool game, with the right tags, but the first picture shows a bunch of cards. Makes me just to skim over it.
Maybe it's because I've always been a wargamer, and need my non-abstract player models and boards.

Strong theme, with interesting choices to make.

Fits a niche not already occupied by a favorite. I try not to buy too many games that do the same thing as another game I already have.

Family friendly. I have a lot of games I already can't play because my non-family game time is limited. So Family friendly games work better for me.

I was initially about fantasy games but have lately in the past year been aiming at sci-fi and some intro Euro games.

Most recently I have been getting more family friendly games and tend to gravitate to those lately. My daughter is my main gaming partner who like all sorts of games but lately my wife has been getting into games so ease of play has been a big selling point for me.

Great post!

Despite my connection to war games over the past 30 years, the designer board game realm is still relatively new to me (~7 years).

My collection, while not vast, is specific to what I deem as the "best" exemplars of a particular mechanic or category, as there are a finite number of them. Cost is not so much a factor, as games from established companies or from Kickstarter generally remain in the $50-$75 range. I enjoy solo play, but I also need games for our bi-weekly Game Nights for 3-6 people.

To that end, I'll describe what I've found based on that attraction criteria and what I still need to find...

Deck-Builder/Resource Management: Ryan Laukat's City of Iron hits the spot for me as a game which has a 90-min game-time, with enough choices to make it interesting. The theme is somewhat whimsical, but overall the idea of building multiple deck-types (Citizens and Military) make it a very attractive option.

Other Deck-Builders that will never see space on my shelf include Magic: The Gathering nor Dominion . For MTG , I'm a 30+ year role-player and it doesn't capture my imagination. For Dominion, it's far too bloated.

Traitor Mechanic: Far and away, Days of Wonder's Shadow's Over Camelot works extremely well. While one can argue that there are more clever ways to resolve problems instead of 'hands of cards~rummy-style' the Traitor Mechanic remains, at its core, the part that will keep you on the edge of your seat for most of the game, and then once exposed keeps the tension quite high. Admittedly, if you can only get three people around the table, playing without the Traitor Mechanic allows for a fun few hours of play, as well.

Another Traitor Mechanic driven game, Battlestar Galactica looks great but you need to play with it, as it doesn't offer the option of playing without it.

Cooperative Play: Hands down, this goes to FFG's Arkham Horror ! With more than 150 plays since 2009, this game has it all...while it certainly exceeds most players' time-frame, this one has another exciting facet, namely Variable Player Powers. I've not found another co-op game which delivers in the way Arkham Horror does and when you include the myriad expansions, it shall remain at #1 on my list for a very long time.

Worker Placement: Here's where theme matters for me, as I have several games that fall into this category, especially if one liberally defines Worker Placement. For a fantasy setting, it's Kingsburg , which, by my estimation must include the To Forge a Realm expansion to complete the game. Two others recently funded on Kickstarter include the Viking-themed game by Shem Phillips, Raiders of the North Sea and one that emulates the now out of print Pillars of the Earth game by Randy Rathert, The King's Abbey!

Area Control: In my #2 position, this game is difficult to define. While BGG identifies it as Area Control, it's a card-driven game, with an resource management/economic overlay. In my opinion, it's the most elegant of game designs I have yet to encounter...Troyes . It immediately entered my Top 10 list, and with a few dozen plays around the Gaming Table and a few more than a dozen at BoardGameArena, Troyes is a beautifully rendered game, with a die-roll mechanic which is absolutely splendid.

Civilization: For this Category, I have two games which serve me well. The first is Historia by Marco Pranza which, while it heavily abstracts resources to a few identical cubes, the pace is crisp, the use of Advisers and Wonders make for a great game which clocks-in at 90-120 minutes. The other, Nations by the Hakanssons and Rosens provides a much different feel, but gives you greater depth by the management of multiple resources as you traverse Antiquity, the Medieval period, the Renaissance, and Modern eras.

While Through the Ages has a strong following, the inability to play it solo and the time commitment to play it with others means it will never make it to the shelf.

4X: With over 50 titles at BGG which define themselves as 4X games, only a few really deliver...and of those I haven't found one that balances the 4X components or plays in a reasonable amount of time. Examples of the aforementioned include FFG''s Twilight Imperium, 3rd Edition (TI3) and Eclipse . Both make great use of Variable Player Powers, but they each suffer from multiple defects.

TI3 has some clever concepts, including the use of Action Cards to set the stage for strategic actions and a number of ships to make life interesting among the stars. Additionally, controlled planets provide a dual bonus for Influence and Resources. Unfortunately, a game requiring an all-day commitment will see almost no play on the Gaming Table, despite its epic nature. Additionally, the combat system dominates the game much more than any other aspect.

Eclipse, while more reasonable in its approach, is far too fiddly with more than 50 cubes and disks tracking everything from Money, Science, and Actions. The variability of available technology disallows deliberate development of one's abilities and I'm not personally enamored with hidden Victory Points.

However, a soon-to-be relaunched Kickstarter project entitled Tau Ceti by Mike and Stan Strickland seem to capture the right balance of eXploration through the use of a singular all-purpose star-ship by race; eXpansion by building docks/ports in neighboring sectors for the purpose of establishing trade; eXploitation through the various card decks which rely on the player's race to make effective use of their Skills; and eXtermination by debilitating an adversary's star-ship.

The games listed above form the majority of my games, as that which attracts me is the best of available options, vice a pallet of games which we'll play only a few times. As a play-tester for several companies, I definitely get my fill of various designers' ideas and interpretations. But, when it comes to the Gaming Table, life's too short to play bad games.

Happy Gaming!

Cheers,
Joe

(on a complete tangent)
So I've been coming across different attitudes towards what a deck-building game is. I thought that M:tG was not a deck-building game, since creating your deck is not part of the game mechanics that you do with other players (like Dominion, where you're competing for available cards). It's just something you do to prep for the game (or not, since you can use pre-built decks instead).

(I haven't played M:tG so mb I just don't know the actual gameplay mechanics...)

Also, I like your way of deciding which games to get.

The first thing that gets my attention is a solidly constructed box with a linen finish, like the ones FFG produces. I prefer that it looks good on my shelf and holds up to wear. I'm actually more likely to buy games from the same manufacturer if the box sizes match up.

I'll admit that I am swayed by good cover art. I'd never buy a game by Flying Frog Productions, because I think their graphic design is just awful. Their photo model box illustrations make Asylum b-movie covers look artful. I will often buy a specific edition of a game for the artwork, quite possibly in addition to the copy that I actually play. For example, I prefer the second edition of Talisman because of Gary Chalk's illustrations or the GW printing of Chaos Marauders.

I am willing to pay more for quality components. I paint and game with miniatures, so there is cross-over appeal. I was massively disappointed by the quality of the figures, I pre-ordered Mansions of Madness to use the figures with my existing collection of old RAFM miniatures. I do appreciate little touches like the inclusion of baggies or pouches for components.

As much as I love to sit down and play a single game for a few hours with friends, I also really enjoy several 15-minute games of Thunder Road or Screaming Eagles. Quick games have really grown on me, particularly some of the vintage MB titles.

A lot of my games though, well, I bought them because I found them at a massive discount. These past few years, I've lived on a very small income, so it has been the only way for me to try new things. A lot of games that have failed commercially in some way really prove to be quite fun.

I realized at some point that I was buying games more for the potential fun that they represented than as something I would ever really have a chance to play. I'm too isolated these days. Now, I look mostly for games that I can play with my 9-year-old son. Since most of the kids his age are congenital idiots in our town, we tend toward 2 player games.

Chaos Marauders! I had forgotten all about that wonderful game. We all enjoyed that one, loved the feeling of playing a Sneaky Git at the right time :)

One of the things I look for the most is something new. I love Catan, but I don't want every game I own to be "catan, except with..." I live near a small college and I host Board Games there every Saturday, so it's really handy to have some serious games and some light-hearted games, some fast games and some long ones, some simple and some complicated, some card games, some board games. It also lets me expand my knowledge of game concepts and gives me more ideas for the games I'm trying to design. Lately, I've been looking for games that support at least 6 players because my tight-nit gaming group is usually 5 players, which rules out a lot of games unfortunately.