Oooooh, been a long time.

For it wasn't Catan. I liked Catan, sure. Played it a few times when it came out. But what did it for me was that my partner at the time went to Spiel in Essen every year, and after we got together dragged me there in 2003. I looked around, a lot was really interesting, and then ended up buying Alhambra for myself. First board game I got for myself. And that really did it. It was far from a perfect game, but this whole expo-then-bought-a-game thing really cemented the idea of not only playing board games but also wanting to have a collection so I can play them with friends when they come over in me.

Aaaand, nowadays I have a 6x4 Kallax filled with games. 🙈