c/board-game-geeks

Tried teaching my nephew a eurogame and he made up his own rules

I sat down with my 9 year old nephew last weekend to play Viticulture, thinking he'd get into the wine making theme. He totally ignored the victory point track and just started trading grapes for imaginary snacks he wanted. Has anyone else had a kid completely ignore your carefully explained rules and just make up their own?

Wrote off solo board gaming as sad until I played Spirit Island alone for 3 hours straight last Saturday

My buddy couldn't make game night and I was stuck with a two-player co-op game, so I just ran both spirits myself and it ended up being way more strategic and intense than playing with another person, has anyone else found solo mode actually fixes some games instead of just being a backup?

Fell for the deluxe Kickstarter pledge on a board game and got burned hard

I backed a campaign for a game called "Gloomhaven meets Catan" and paid $140 for the all-in pledge with all the extras. The base game is fine, but those fancy metal coins and painted minis? They added nothing to how the game actually plays. I could have got the retail version for $60 and had the exact same fun. Anyone else regret throwing cash at stretch goals and exclusive content?

Had a guy at a game store explain his 20 minute turn in Agricola like it was a TED talk

I was at this little board game cafe in Portland last month, the one with the mismatched chairs and cat that walks on the tables. I joined a random game of Agricola with some strangers, and this one dude spent a solid 20 minutes on his first move. He kept narrating every single card in his hand, like 'If I take the reed now, that sets up a family growth by round 5, but then I miss the clay for the pottery shed.' I just sat there holding my sheep card, nodding like I was in a business meeting. What really got me was when he finally placed his pawn, he looked up and said 'The wood was the correct play, trust the process.' Has anyone else sat through a game where someone turned worker placement into a philosophy lecture?

Can we talk about how long it takes to paint a full miniatures set?

I picked up a used copy of Zombicide last month and decided to paint all the survivors. Figured it would be a weekend project, maybe 8 hours total. Here I am 6 weeks later with 4 figures done and 8 still sitting there half-finished. I just didn't account for the drying time between layers and all the tiny detail work. Has anyone else been surprised by how slow this hobby actually is?

Pro tip: your 'perfect' board game insert might be making things worse

I got that fancy wooden insert for my copy of Terraforming Mars about 6 months ago. Everyone online swears by them, says they make setup faster. But for me, it's been a total pain. The slots are so tight I have to pry tokens out with a knife sometimes, and I actually broke a corner off one of my player boards trying to get it to fit. It's now sitting in a drawer and I went back to baggies. Has anyone else had better luck just ditching the premium organizer?

Debate: Should house rules override official board game rules?

I was playing Catan with my group last month and someone questioned me for trading resources before rolling the dice. They said the official rules say you can only trade on your turn, not before. I told them we have always done house rules where any trade is allowed anytime. It got pretty heated and now my group is split down the middle. Do you stick with the printed rules or let house rules slide for the sake of fun?

Tried 3D-printed organizer inserts vs wooden ones for my game shelf and the difference was night and day

The 3D-printed ones fit so tight they actually flexed the box lid, while the wooden ones from Etsy had maybe 2mm of wiggle room but the games don't fight me when I close them - anyone else run into fit issues with those custom inserts?

Debate: Are expansions necessary for a board game to be good?

I picked up a base game last week and played it 4 times, but after that it felt like we ran out of strategies. Then my friend brought an expansion and it totally revived the game for me. Do expansions add real value or are they just a money grab to fix a broken game?

Why does nobody talk about the guy who explains every rule for 20 minutes before a game?

I was at a meetup two weeks ago and this one guy spent a full 20 minutes walking through every single edge case in Spirit Island before we could even pick colors. Another player finally just said 'can we please just start playing?' and he got all quiet. Is it better to explain everything up front or just learn as you go? Has anyone else dealt with a rules lawyer who kills the energy before the game even starts?

That time I spent 45 minutes explaining how Catan works to someone who already played it

So I was at a game night last Friday with some new folks, and one guy says he's played Catan before. I start going through the rules about settlements and roads, and he just nods along. Ten minutes in he asks where the dice are. Turns out he played the mobile app version and thought the real game was totally different. Took another 35 minutes to re-explain everything the right way. Anyone else have a friend who learned a game from an app and then floundered with the physical board?

Had to pick between 6-player and 4-player game night last Saturday

I was hosting board game night and had 7 people RSVP, but my copy of Dune only plays 6. I could either run two tables or squeeze everyone into one 4-player game like Catan. I went with Dune and one guy had to sit out and watch. How do you handle odd player counts at your meetups?

My trick for sorting game tokens finally clicked after 3 years

I was always dumping monster token piles into baggies and losing stuff mid-game. Last month I tried using a cheap tackle box with adjustable dividers from Walmart and it cut setup time down to 2 minutes flat. Has anyone else found a storage hack that actually saves their sanity during game night?

My friend's house rule made a 2 hour game last 5 hours

I was at a game night at Dave's place last month and he insisted we play a heavy euro game with a variant he found online. He spent 20 minutes explaining it and it added three extra steps to every turn, so we got stuck doing math for 5 hours instead of the usual 2. Has anyone else had someone introduce a house rule that totally destroyed the pace of a game?

Vent: My game group's big campaign night got wrecked by a missing rulebook page

We were 4 hours into a 6-hour Gloomhaven session at my buddy Dave's basement when we realized the scenario rules said something different about monster movement. I spent 20 minutes digging through the PDF on my phone while everyone argued. Has anyone else had a rules mixup that completely killed the momentum of a game night?

Best game night ever vs worst game night ever

Had a game night last Saturday that was pure magic. Four of us played Wingspan and everyone got into it no arguments or phones. Then Monday I tried the same group with a new game called Dune Imperium. Total disaster. One guy rage quit after 30 minutes because he said the rules were too complicated. Do you find that lighter games work better for big groups or do you push through the heavy stuff?

Caught myself using the wrong strategy in cooperative games for like 5 years

I was playing Pandemic with my group last month and one of the guys just asked me "why are you trying to solve everything alone?" and it hit me like a brick. I had been treating every cooperative board game like a solo puzzle where I had to figure out the perfect move for everyone. Turns out I was basically quarterbacking the whole table without even realizing it. My buddy pointed out that I was grabbing pawns and moving them around without asking. The moment I sat back and let other people make their own calls, we actually won Spirit Island for the first time. Has anyone else had that awkward realization that they were being that person at the table?

Took me 3 years to realize I was shuffling my deck wrong at game night

I always thought you just riffle shuffle everything together, but last week my buddy Tim pointed out my sleeves were getting bent and some cards were marked. Turns out I was putting too much pressure on the edges and basically crimping them every time. Has anyone else had that moment where someone watches you play and just goes 'uh, you know that's not how you do that right'?

Had a guy rage quit a game of Root because I drafted the Vagabond first

This was at a local meetup in Raleigh last month, maybe 12 people there. We sat down for a 4 player game of Root and I picked the Vagabond on turn one. Guy across from me just slammed his card down and said 'I'm not playing against that broken piece of junk.' He packed his bag and left before I even rolled my first dice... I get that some folks hate the Vagabond but it's literally in the game for a reason. The rest of us had a decent time but it kind of killed the vibe for the night. Anyone else run into players who quit before the game even starts over a faction choice?

Just realized I wasted $40 on a deluxe version of Terraforming Mars

Bought the big box with all the extra boards and pieces, but my group barely uses half of it. The base game plays just fine and now I'm stuck with a shelf hog.

That moment I finally figured out the 'shuffle bag' trick for Arkham Horror after 5 failed campaigns

Compared 3D printing minis vs buying plastic sprues for my D&D campaign

Printed 20 custom minis for about $12 in resin over two weekends, but the detail just wasn't there compared to a $35 WizKids pack I bought last month. Anyone else find printing isn't worth it for the really intricate sculpts?

Pro tip: spotted a weird shift at my local game café

Last week I was at The Dice Den in Portland and noticed something. Three groups in one night all brought their own custom dice bags and none of them even glanced at the store's loaner sets. That never happened even a year ago. Is it just my spot or are more people getting into the accessory side of things now?

Got called out at a local game store for being a 'rules lawyer' and it stung

I was at a Saturday night board game meetup at Dragon's Lair in Austin (the one on Anderson Lane) and we were playing Terraforming Mars. I kept correcting people on placement rules and timing of actions. This guy I'd never met just looked at me and said, 'Dude, are you having fun or just grading our homework?' It hit me hard because he was right. I was so focused on being technically correct that I forgot the whole point is to hang out and have a laugh. Now I try to bite my tongue unless someone's about to break the game completely. Has anyone else had that moment where you realized you were being the annoying geek at the table?

The night my Catan group fell apart over a misread rule

Was at a friend's house in Austin last month when someone realized we'd been playing the robber wrong for years, and half the group wanted to keep the old way while the other half insisted on switching mid-game. Ended with two people packing up and leaving. When do you stick with house rules for harmony versus forcing the official ones?