I don't like to play with people who over-analyze the game and can develop strategies which can absolutely destroy you. This of course sucks all the fun out of the game.
Had to do it.
Ok I know this is sarcasm but this is a genuine barricade for me playing chess. Most (all?) of the people who I would play with are at least moderately good, good enough to beat a relative noob like me every time, and I really don't like playing games that I know (or even feel like) I have zero chance of winning. A game like Dominion has enough luck and variation that even though it strongly rewards skilled play, luck can give a newbie an occasional win or at least make it a close game.
Now, this is enough to keep me from wanting to play casually every now and then, but I have been tempted to dive into the game and try to learn. I don't mind playing and losing game after game if I am learning from each one (and since I have a rather obsessive personality, learning from outside research as well
), but until then if I'm picking an evening game, it will never be chess because, yeah, feeling helplessly outmatched kinda sucks the fun out of it for me.