Start a meetup for one of your own passions. Then you’re not the one that has to fit in.

My passion is retro shmup, beat’em up, and run n’ gun games — basically designed either directly for the arcade or with that style in mind for modern games. I live in a small city but I noticed a steady stream of these kinds of games coming into the hock shop where I scooped them up for my collection. Figured there must be at least a few people that like these kinds of games if they are circulating locally.

Started a meetup with barely any solo marketing in local Facebook groups. I rented a small space, and lo and behold a handful of people showed up. We had some snacks and played some games. Made a couple new friends.

Tangentially related: things like this is why Sony discontinuing physical games is a horrible move and a massive blow to gaming culture. Never would’ve had this idea if I never was able to pick up a used copy of Battle Garegga at my local hock shop.