c/board-game-geeks

Appreciation post for that one game rule I overlooked for 6 months

I picked up a used copy of a dungeon crawler game from a garage sale back in May. I thought I had the rules down pat after the first play through. But last weekend, I realized I had been handling the monster movement phase completely wrong for like 6 months. The rulebook said monsters take a specific action based on distance, but I was just moving them straight at us every time. It made the game way easier than it should have been. Once I fixed it, things got way more tense and strategic. Has anyone else found a rule they played wrong for way too long?

My Catan group banned me after I organized pieces by color before setup

Last month at my local game shop in Portland I showed up 10 minutes early to set up and arranged all the hex tiles and settlements by color before anyone sat down. One guy claimed it was 'competitive advantage through organization' and the group voted 3-2 to make me wait until everyone arrives before touching anything. Has anyone else run into weird house rules about setup rituals?

Had a guy at my local board game cafe tell me I play too fast and it made me rethink everything

TIL the hard way about card sleeves at PAX Unplugged

I was at the Asmodee booth demoing Terraforming Mars and my sweaty hands kept sticking to the cards. The demo runner handed me a pack of cheap penny sleeves and said "try these." I bought a pack of 100 on the spot for $3. Now I sleeve every game I own. No more sticky fingerprints on my player boards.

Spent $80 on a foam core insert for Terraforming Mars and it's a game changer

I was so tired of sorting all those tiny cubes and tokens every time we played, so I finally bought a precut insert from a guy on Etsy - totally worth it. Has anyone else dropped cash on organization stuff that actually paid off?

Finally picked the 4-player game over the 2-player one for game night

Had to choose between Wingspan and Codenames for our group of 5 last Friday, and I went with Codenames - it actually turned into a 4-hour laughing fest where my cousin accidentally gave the clue 'fruit 3' for apples, bananas, and a picture of a tomato. Anyone else struggle picking between games for different player counts?

My board game group used to pick games by how heavy the box felt, now we go by player count and time limits

Back in 2018 I was in a group that just grabbed whatever looked cool off the shelf. We pulled out Twilight Imperium for a 3 hour window once. That went bad. After that disaster, I started tracking how many players and how long each game actually takes. Now I check BGG for all that before anyone shows up. Has anyone else had a playtime surprise ruin a game night?

Hot take: I think the hype around heavy eurogames is killing casual game nights

Honestly, I keep seeing people raving about these 4-hour resource management games with 50-page rulebooks. Tbh, I tried three of them at my local shop in Portland last month, and everyone at the table was just staring at their phones between turns. Ngl, games like Wingspan and Scythe are fine, but they push out lighter games that actually get played. I brought out a 1990s card game last Friday, and it got way more laughs than any heavy euro ever did. Why do we act like longer rules equals better gaming? Anyone else feel like we lost something when we stopped playing games that finish in under an hour?

That weekend where every single game night fell apart

I planned four different game nights last Saturday and all of them got canceled within 2 hours of each other. Three separate groups backed out because of 'something came up' and the fourth ghosted me completely after I had already set up Betrayal at House on the Hill. Has anyone else had a perfect storm of cancellations like that?

Realized I was hoarding board games instead of playing them after counting my shelves last month

I always thought I was a hardcore gamer because I owned 47 games, but then I sat down and counted how many I actually played in the last year - it was 6. My friends at the local shop in Denver kept asking if I wanted to trade, and that hit me that I was just collecting plastic and cardboard. Has anyone else here snapped out of a buying habit and actually started playing more?

My nephew pointed out my dad's old dice bag has a story behind every dent

I was showing my 16 year old nephew my collection the other day, and he picked up this old leather dice bag my dad used back in the 80s. He asked why I kept something so beat up, and I told him about the time my dad rolled a natural 20 to save our party from a dragon in a basement game that went 14 hours. The kid got quiet and then said he wished he had something that connected him to his grandpa like that. It hit me that my dumb hobby is actually a time capsule for memories I never thought mattered until someone else saw them. Has anyone else had a younger relative suddenly get curious about your old gear?

Game store nights versus living room groups - which actually makes for better gaming? I hit up Mox Boarding House in Seattle last Saturday

Played three rounds of Dune Imperium at a packed store event with strangers, then came home and ran the same game with my usual 4 person friend group. The store crowd had sharper moves and faster play, but my buddies at home brought way more banter and inside jokes. Does the competitive edge of a public setting beat out the relaxed vibe of a private game night, or am I overthinking this?

I used to love Scythe but after 15 plays it feels like a chore now

Picked it up two years ago and thought it was the best thing ever for the first 8 or 9 games. But after hitting 15 plays with my group in Portland, I realized the endgame just drags with everyone turtling up and nobody wanting to risk combat. We switched to playing with the Rise of Fenris expansion and that helped for a bit, but the core problem is still there for me. Has anyone else felt a favorite game lose its spark after too many sessions, or is it just my group's playstyle?

Finally came around on cooperative board games after years of avoiding them

I used to hate cooperative board games. I thought they took away the whole point of playing, which was beating your friends. But last month my group dragged me into a game of Pandemic at a local coffee shop in Milwaukee. At first I was annoyed, but then something clicked about halfway through when we were all trying to figure out how to stop three outbreaks at once. Everyone was talking, sharing ideas, and nobody was just sitting there waiting for their turn. I realized the fun was in the shared problem solving, not in winning alone. Have any of you had a similar shift in what you enjoy about games?

Debate: Is it better to learn a new game from the rulebook or have someone teach it to you?

I've been going back and forth on this. Last week my buddy tried to teach me Root in 20 minutes and I was lost for the first 3 turns. Then I sat down with the rulebook for Spirit Island on my own and felt way more confident. But some people say learning from a teacher lets you ask questions and avoid missing stuff. Which side do you lean on and why?

Finally finished that 5-hour game of Twilight Imperium without any rules arguments

Had a copy of Twilight Imperium hit the floor last Sunday when my cat knocked it off the shelf and now half the tokens are scattered under the couch, but we still managed to play a full game at my friend's place in Denver without anyone flipping the table.

Hit 50 plays on a single board game and it changed my mind about replayability

I always thought heavy strategy games would get boring after a few rounds, but I logged my 50th play of Brass Birmingham last night and I'm still finding new combos. The way the market shifts depending on player order is what keeps it fresh. Has anyone else had a game surprise them by not getting stale?

Just realized trick for teaching new players faster

Everyone says to start with easy games like Ticket to Ride, but I tried jumping straight into a medium-complexity game last week and it worked way better - they paid more attention and learned faster because there was real stakes. Has anyone else had beginners actually prefer skipping the kiddy games?

Found a trick to stop losing pawns from my Pandemic set

I kept losing the little disease pawns between game nights. My buddy suggested I glue a tiny magnet to the bottom of each one and store them on a metal baking sheet from the dollar store. Took me 20 minutes with a hot glue gun and some 1/8 inch magnets from a craft store. Has anyone else found a cheap fix for keeping tiny board game bits organized?

Vent: My group still can't finish a game of Twilight Imperium under 8 hours

I planned a whole Saturday for a 4-player game of Twilight Imperium with my regular group last month and we finally called it quits at hour 9 because two people had to leave for work the next day. We didn't even reach the first objective scoring phase until hour 6 because everyone kept arguing over trade routes and who was getting attacked first. Am I the only one who thinks this game needs a hard time limit printed on the box?

Getting tired of people who treat rulebooks like suggestions

I used to be the guy who skimmed the rulebook and figured it out as we went. Then I hosted a session of Terraforming Mars last month and three different people argued over how the heat track works for 20 minutes. Now I read the whole thing out loud before we start, even if people roll their eyes. Am I the only one who's had a game night derailed by someone who 'knows how it works'?

That friend who told me to glue my deck box shut during a game night

My buddy Mark swore I'd stop losing card sleeves if I superglued the lid on my deck box-now I have to pry it open with a butter knife every time we play. Anyone else have a 'brilliant' fix that just made things worse?

Unpopular opinion: That friend who always picks cooperative games was right about my group

My buddy Dave kept saying our game nights would fall apart with competitive games because half the group can't handle losing gracefully. After 6 months of trying everything from Catan to Risk, our group has 3 people who refuse to play with each other anymore. Has anyone else had a competitive game completely ruin the vibe at their table?

Honestly just hit 1000 logged plays on BGG and my shelf of shame is still bigger than my played list

My regular opponent said I was too aggressive on turn 1 of every game and it finally clicked why I kept losing by turn 6

They pointed out that going all in on resources every opening move just painted a target on my back while everyone else built up defense, so now I hold back a little and actually survive to the endgame, has anyone else had to learn to slow down their opening?