c/board-game-geeks

1

charles_baker28•3d ago

A buddy told me my game reviews read like instruction manuals and he was right

I used to write these super detailed breakdowns of every rule and mechanic in a board game. Thought I was being thorough. Then my friend Dave straight up told me my reviews were boring and sounded like I was reading the rulebook out loud. He said nobody cares about the exact turn order or how many cards you draw per round. That stung but he had a point. So I started focusing more on the feeling of playing the game and how the table reacted to big moments. Now I mention maybe two or three key mechanics and spend the rest talking about the tension or the laughs. My comments section actually has people saying they bought a game based on what I wrote. Has anyone else had to completely rethink how they talk about games after someone called them out?

29

brooke_jones•3d ago

Local game store wants to charge $10 to play there. Am I crazy for thinking that's too much?

I stopped by Game Haven in Denver last weekend. First time in a year. They put up a sign at the counter. $10 per person to use their tables for any board game night. Even if you buy stuff from them. The owner said it's because people camp out for hours and don't buy anything. I get that. But I dropped $40 on snacks and a new game last time I was there. Is this normal now or are they just pushing people away? Has anyone else seen stores do this?

10

lucast81•7d ago

That time a playtester roasted my rulebook and saved my game night

I spent 6 months writing this 20 page rulebook for my homemade deck builder and a guy named Mark at my local shop in Columbus told me it read like a legal contract. He said nobody wants to flip through paragraphs to find out when a turn ends, just give them bullet points and examples. I cut the whole thing down to 8 pages with pictures and my group finally stopped arguing over the rules. Has anyone else had to kill a rule they loved because it made the game too confusing?

4

wood.uma•7d ago

Bought into the hype on a $70 Kickstarter miniatures game and it actually delivered

I backed a campaign for a space combat game called Void Drifters back in 2021 and figured it would be another box of mediocrity like most crowdfunded stuff I've tried. Showed up six months late but the rulebook was tight, the ship minis had zero mold lines, and we've played it eight times in three weekends. Has anyone else had a Kickstarter game totally surprise them in a good way?

35

mark_chen62•7d ago

Just counted my game collection and hit 87 boxes. That's way more than I thought I owned.

Was reorganizing my closet last weekend and decided to actually count everything. I figured maybe 50 or so but nope, 87 boxed games plus a bunch of expansions. The weird thing is I only play maybe 5 of them regularly. The rest just sit there looking pretty. Has anyone else ever actually counted their collection and been surprised at the number?

7

emma_wells83•8d ago

Dude at my local game store swore I was wrong about deck thickness

At Dice Dojo in Chicago last month, this guy told me that sleeving my Dominion cards would make them harder to shuffle, not easier. I figured he was just being stubborn, but after 12 games my hands were cramping up trying to handle a 3-inch pile. Has anyone else had a random stranger's advice on sleeves actually turn out to be the real deal?

15

williamhenderson•10d ago

That $60 expansion I bought ended up ruining my favorite game night

Picked up the Cities & Knights expansion for Settlers of Catan last week because I thought it would add some spice. We played it Friday night and it took us 4 hours to finish a single game with all the new rules and mechanics. Everyone was frustrated and two people left early. Has anyone else bought an expansion that actually made a game less fun instead of better?

21

singh.harper•10d ago

Went to a game cafe in Portland and saw a guy arguing with Catan pieces for 20 minutes

I was at this spot called Mox Boarding House last Saturday, and this dude kept rearranging his settlements and yelling at the robber like it could hear him. The staff just watched him from the counter. Has anyone else seen someone take a board game that personally?

22

the_viola•11d ago

Just crossed 100 unique board games played this year

I hit 100 unique games played this year last weekend and honestly didn't think I'd get there. My buddy keeps a spreadsheet of every game night we do so I saw the number climb. It blew my mind because I only started keeping track in March. Most of those were at a local cafe here in Austin that does free play on Thursdays. What's your count for the year so far and do you actually track it or just guess?

28

nina_hall48•12d ago

Spent 3 hours trying to sort my game collection by BGG weight ratings before realizing I don't even like heavy games.

I kept moving Gloomhaven and Twilight Imperium to the front of the shelf because they had high scores, but I haven't touched either in two years and I just play Carcassonne with my buddies on Friday nights, anyone else overthink their shelving system like this?

15

young.thomas•14d ago

Warning: My group's favorite campaign just fell apart mid-scenario last night

We were three hours into a Gloomhaven scenario and realized two key tiles were missing from the box. Had to scrap the whole session and order replacements, which take a week to arrive. Has anyone else had a game component vanish without a trace?

8

evan_davis•15d ago

Visited a board game cafe in Denver and watched a group argue over Catan rules for 45 minutes

I was just trying to grab a coffee and mind my own business, but this couple kept re-reading the rulebook out loud while their friend insisted you can trade resources during setup. Has anyone else seen arguments like this derail a whole night?

27

mileslane•16d ago

Finally played Gloomhaven after years of hearing about it...

Compared Gloomhaven to my usual go-to of Pandemic Legacy and Gloomhaven's legacy system felt way more rewarding after 10 scenarios because the choices actually changed the map and not just the story.

24

colescott•18d ago

My buddy Mike swore by foam core inserts for years, I finally caved

Mike kept telling me to ditch the plastic organizers and make foam core inserts for my game boxes. Said it would save space and protect components better. I put it off for like 8 months but finally tried it on my copy of Arkham Horror. The guy was dead right. My cards fit snug now and setup takes half the time. Has anyone else had a friend hound them about a storage method that actually worked?

23

aaron880•19d ago

Hit 100 plays on my favorite deck and didn't realize until I counted

Ngl I was just shuffling through my game log and saw I'd logged 100 games with my Villainous deck without even noticing it. Has anyone else gotten surprised by a milestone like that with a specific game?

18

simonk98•22d ago

The rulebook for Terraforming Mars was hiding a scoring tip I missed for 2 years

I was playing at a meetup in Portland last month and this guy noticed I was counting my points wrong. He showed me this tiny paragraph on page 8 that explains how greenery tiles score 2 points each, not 1. All that time I was shorting myself by like 30 points per game. Anyone else find a rule they overlooked for way too long?

23

ivan_harris•23d ago

I think board game meetups got way more efficient around 2019

Back in 2015 I used to go to a weekly meetup at a game store in Denver and we'd spend the first 45 minutes just deciding what to play. Then around 2019 a new organizer took over and started pre-assigning games based on player count and signups. Now most of these groups have digital signup sheets where you pick a game before you even show up. Has anyone else seen this shift or is it just the groups I've been going to?

1

samrodriguez•23d ago

That guy at my FLGS told me to ditch my min-maxed deck for a theme build

He said I'd have more fun losing with a goblin joke deck than winning with a meta one, and after five straight games where I actually laughed instead of stressing, I finally get what he meant - anyone else have a store regular who actually changed how you play?

1

zara_sanchez•25d ago

My game group roasted me for teaching rules wrong

I was running a game of Root last month and a buddy called me out for explaining the Vagabond's ally rule backwards. Been playing it that way for like 2 years. He showed me the actual page in the rulebook and I felt like an idiot. Now I pull up the digital rulebook on my phone before every teach session so I don't screw people over again. Anyone else ever mess up a core rule for years and only find out because someone caught it?

12

taylor957•25d ago

My weekly game night fell apart because of that one friend who always rules-lawyers...

I started hosting a board game night at my place about 3 months ago, every Saturday. We had a solid group of six people and it was going great until last month when Mark joined. Mark is a self-proclaimed board game geek who insists on reading every rule aloud before we start, and then during the game he argues every single move. Last week we tried to play Catan and he spent 15 minutes debating whether a settlement placement was legal because of a tiny wording thing in the manual. Then on Tuesday, he told my friend Jen that her strategy was 'suboptimal' and she got all quiet and left early. I'm thinking about just uninviting him but I don't want to cause drama. Has anyone else had a friend who ruins game night by being too intense?

18

brooket43•1mo ago

That one saturday when three games in a row fell flat

Had a game day last month where every single box we pulled out had missing pieces someone forgot to put back. By the third game I was just digging through the couch cushions for a random token from Azul. How do you handle groups that don't respect the cleanup rules?

27

wright.leo•1mo ago

I used to think heavier board games were always better until a buddy talked me down

I had this conversation with my friend Dave at our weekly game night last Saturday. He brought out this lighter game called Cascadia and I rolled my eyes a bit, thinking it was too simple. I told him I prefer games with 50 page rulebooks and heavy euros. But he just said 'man, not every game needs to feel like work, sometimes you just want to make some nice patterns and chill.' And it hit me different because I realized most of my favorite nights were the ones where we laughed more than we stared at the board. I've been skipping lighter games for like 3 years now and I think I missed the point. Has anyone else had a moment where they realized they were snobby about game weight?

20

anthony763•1mo ago

TIL a 45-minute teaching session can ruin a whole game group

My buddy Dave spent 45 minutes explaining the rulebook to his wife before we even started playing Scythe last Saturday. By the time we got to turn 3, she was on her phone and checked out. When the game ended, she said she'd rather do taxes than play again. Has anyone else seen a long teach completely kill someone's interest?

2

marybutler•1mo ago

Blew $60 on a foam core cutter that barely lasted a month

I picked up this fancy foam core cutting tool from an online board game accessory shop thinking it would make my custom inserts perfect. After maybe ten cuts into some 5mm board, the blade started catching and tearing everything up. Now I'm back to using a regular utility knife and ruler, which works way better. Anyone else have a tool they bought for game modding that just let them down?

19

fisher.thomas•1mo ago

The way I stored board game boxes for 10 years was totally wrong

I had all my games stacked flat on top of each other in a closet. Seemed fine until I pulled out my copy of Puerto Rico from 2008 and the box top was all caved in. My buddy Steve came over and saw my stack, he just shook his head and said "you're crushing them, man." He showed me how he stores his games standing up like books on a shelf and now I feel dumb for never thinking of that. Anyone else make this mistake for years?