> I have enjoyed tabletop games less and less as the number of 'things' has increased.
There are many, many, MANY games exploring the opposite end of the design space. If you want simple, there are designers and publishers working on that.
I mean, there's also Mage Knight, but lots of people love Mage Knight. It's a big hobby! Very few games will appeal to more than a small subset of the fan base.
I don't want to recommend anything as such (I have no idea what you're into!) but games like Azul, Splendour, and Patchwork have been super popular recently, and are very clean, minimalist designs. Or a couple steps up the complexity level, Wingspan.
About 15 years ago I came across "Cheapass Games". They sell you the bare minimum of what you need to play the given game you're buying on the assumption that most people//gamers already have all the dice, play money, and tchotchkes otherwise needed to fill out what's needed to play the game.
Obligatory "I just bought an item, no other affiliation" notation.
I was shocked when playing Tak at the Zoka coffeeshop behind uVillage in Seattle another customer recognized it and said that the inventor lived around the corner.
I really like the game, mainly as the rules are incredibly simple. Also don’t have to keep track of what cards were played and what’s left in the deck.
Hive is another simple rules game that’s really fun to play.
Sticking with RPG as the genre, Pathfinder the card game is much more simplified. Even more simplified would be Roll Player. Even more simplified would be One Deck Dungeon, or Four Against Darkness.
There are so many games out now, the choices are overwhelming.
There are many, many, MANY games exploring the opposite end of the design space. If you want simple, there are designers and publishers working on that.
I mean, there's also Mage Knight, but lots of people love Mage Knight. It's a big hobby! Very few games will appeal to more than a small subset of the fan base.
I don't want to recommend anything as such (I have no idea what you're into!) but games like Azul, Splendour, and Patchwork have been super popular recently, and are very clean, minimalist designs. Or a couple steps up the complexity level, Wingspan.