Sometimes a game comes out and we just know we are going to love it. 

Whether its because of its theme, mechanic, designer, or publisher, we just know that it’s one we can’t wait to put on our shelves back home. 

Other times, however, it’s not as easy. Maybe it’s something completely different from what we’re used to playing. Perhaps it seems too similar to what we already have. Or maybe we’re just not sure if it’s worth the price. Whatever the reason, there are a lot of games that hit the shelves at stores that we aren’t sure would work for us. That’s why when we can, we like to try a game before we buy it.

Due to a lack of board gaming friends with libraries we can borrow from, we’ve found a lot of different ways to test out games before we purchase them. Here are three of our favorites!