Hiya Deb. Another reason I bought into games was because my husband and I needed exercise for our brains. I can't remember rules to save my life! Learning and playing games, particularly early in our lives, was one way we could connect as a couple, connect with friends and keep our minds active. We also found that gaming was, for the most part, cheaper than going on a date. So it was relatively inexpensive fun.
It's a big concern for me that I buy a game and it turns out that nobody likes it. Luckily, there's a resale market or some institutions will take them as donations for either resale or for play. Then again, sometimes we get back to a game and find that we needed to give it another chance...
Your son might like a game called Nexus Ops. It's Sci-fi, it's a bit luck driven, it's cheap, and it's got ugly little creatures that smell AWFUL just out of shrink. If he's familiar with Axis and Allies then he and his friends might enjoy it.
(off the top of my head). It's more thematic than abstract.
Another game he might like (because it's more thematic than abstract) is Blood Feud in New York. It's got a large map and a few hundred plastic figures, including cars, boats and helecopters.
Just off the top of my head.
Playing different games helps to narrow down preferences. I don't care to play with dice, for example, which both games above have, but some people can't get enough of them.
My husband doesn't really like to play card games so we usually grab a boardgame.
There are SO many games out there. When I discovered that I was blown away and hooked!