Hobby-Style Board Games That I Higly Reccomend.

Settlers of Catan

The most well known of the hobby games. It's probably most people's first non-milton bradley or parker bros game. Die rolls give you resources. Build roads, villages and cities, gain victory points. First to 10 wins.

Puerto Rico

Each player is the governor of their very own Puerto Rico circa the 1700s. Plant crops, build production houses and ship your products for victory points. Whoever has the most victory points when the end game conditions are met wins.

Powergrid

Each player is an electricity magnate trying to crush the competition and power the country. Bid against other players on power plant cards, buy increasingly expensive fuel and bribe your way into various US cities. First player to power "x" number of cities in one turn wins.

Forbidden Island

A cooperative game! Up to four players are a team of treasure hunters trying to gather the ancient artifacts from a quickly sinking island. Each player has a class card that lets them move from spot to spot in special ways or to slow the rising tide. Get all four artifacts and GET TO DA CHOPPA!

Arkham Horror

Another cooperative game. Taking place in the Cthulhu Mythos players gather allies, weapons, items, and spells in an effort to close portals opening around Arkham Mass. If too many portals open a dark god breaks through and destroys the world. This game is insanely difficult and you WILL lose more than you win.

Dominion

Each player is a medieval lord trying to expand their lands. Buy cards and build your deck. Similar to Magic: the gathering in that different card combos can wreak havoc, but each player has the same set of cards to choose from. The player with the highest value of land cards in their deck at the end wins.