I started going to board game nights hosted through meetup, and most people there were avid board gamers who brought tons of their own games. Slowly, I learnt new games, which I then purchased so I could play with my own friends.

Have to respectfully disagree on this. For typing purposes, QWERY is indeed better, but if you're using a remote's up-down-left-right buttons, I feel a-z feels more familiar.