yeah we can only do what we can, and not managing to be some kind of enlightened super-being isn't a personal failure. that's just life.

catan is what got me into board games, and i've played it quite a few times. it does suffer from being one of the earlier entries in the current "renaissance" in that there is not a lot of player interaction and what there is is disruptive. that said, it's still a good intro to the meatier stuff.

my recent plays include Skull, a 5-minute bluffing game; Earthborne Rangers, a cooperative adventure where you walk through a big forest and help people with their problems; Mind MGMT, a 4-v-1 hidden-movement game where a team tries to find a spy; Ark Nova, where you compete to build habitats for endangered animals; Codenames, where two teams try to puzzle together related words; and Root, where you play as cute forest animals embroiled in a violent conflict.

there's so much out there now that you can basically just pick a theme you like and there will be like 15-20 games about that specific thing.