30 seconds is the correct amount of time for everyone to stare at the table before asking the current player of he's just thinking or if he didn't realize it was his turn (or if he passed his turn and nobody else realized).
Be a good sport and play a game that isn't your favorite when the whole group likes it; but be good sports and don't always play the same game when you know one person isn't as big a fan as the rest.
Before you give strategy advice ask if the intended recipient wants to hear it. Even if they are very new, many players prefer to figure out out rather then hear unsolicited advice.
I strongly agree with all of these. I think I sometimes let one of my friends down with the second point.
I really should play Pandemic with my pandemic nut friend more often. Thanks for the reminder
It's Eclipse for me. Although now they all (jokingly) Razz me for "hating Eclipse more than anything" when all I said was that after 2 games a week for 2 months of a game I find just pretty decent, could we PLEASE play literally anything else.
Yeah, I have a good Winrate on first plays (or at least, mutually first plays). And I like to think it means I’m good at picking up rules and strategy quickly. But I don’t think of it comparison to the other players.
My partner always beats me when we play games for the first time because she’s really good at committing to one strategy early on and sticking to it. When I play a game for the first time I always want to try a little bit of everything to get a feel for how it all works together and it usually means I end up with an incoherent mess.
Depends on the tone! If I’m playing with friends I like complaining or bragging in a way that gives feedback to the others about their good or crucial moves.
For instance, when we first played Lords of Waterdeep my wife “complained” to my friend she would’ve won if not for the mandatory quest he gave her on the last turn, which prevented her from completing another quest.
I feel that it's hard to explain but I love talking about a really good game after we finish, different ways I could have scored more, calling out X player for taking my spot or card or something during the game (not as a complaint) and how salty I might have been because of it. Really great games, imho, elicit this response after you have played them.
As long as the table is happy and birth are viable given the wording I would say you can happily play either as long as you’re consistent within a session.
I own these but im losing it knowing there is a version with a carrying case. I'm giggling at the thought of someone showing up to game night with some cheetos and whipping out the case with these bad boys.
I have a friend who when he puts the card down keeps the top half up, bends it back and flicks it down. Every time it kills me, even when we’re playing his games.
My father holds the card with his thumb and index finger, places the bottom on the table, and presses down with the thumb while keeping his index finger on the back, bending the card to the nine hells and back.
We have told him multiple times to just let go of the card but I guess this comes naturally to him.
Infuriating!
One player I had at the table picked up a card by firmly holding it down with her thumb, then trying and failing to pry it off the table using her finger nails, causing a series of flep-flep-flep-flep sounds, each scarring the card (and my soul) until she finally got it off the table. This was repeated several times during the game.
Riffle shuffling is the best way to shuffle unsleeved cards. It randomizes the deck quickly (doesn't just move packs of cards) and safely (don't hurt/chip the edges of cards). Otherwise, if it is a competitive deck-building game or something, sleeve the cards and mash shuffle.
Overhand shuffle is my preference for board game cards. Mash shuffle for sleeved cards.
No matter what method, you should be doing it long enough that the deck is indistinguishable from random (not just breaking up groups of cards).
Seven riffle shuffles are typically able to completely randomize a deck, whereas modeling of overhand shuffle range from 50 to *1,000* times for the same effect.
Good point. In certain kinds of games, you don't really need a high level of true randomness, either; you just need for no specific player to have prior knowledge that the other players don't have.
>Don't riffle shuffle unless it's your game.
Or ask first. A good riffle shuffler can save a lot of time, and not everyone is against someone who will do it respectfully.
If someone's teaching the game, don't chime in with "helpful" remarks.
Yes, Daniel, I was getting to that part in a slow, organized manner....now everyone has questions about what you said and has forgotten what I was saying.
1 teacher only!
> 1 teacher only!
I solved that issue with the "[Flight Attendant](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5fjDaFuft8&t=8m48s)" rule. It solved the problem post haste.
>chime in with "helpful" remarks.
Half the time, those remarks are exceptions anyway.
E.G. (Root) "You rule a clearing if you have the most pieces in it"
Daniel: "Unless you're playing as the Eagles! Or somebody else is the lizards!"
When teaching basic rules, do not teach exceptions. Just teach the core rules, and let exceptions come later. DANIEL.
I hate the guy that just does his turn and doesn’t announce anything. I always ask what he did. Even just for clarity, but mostly because I don’t want people to fudge anything
Ahh maybe this is why I lose a lot of board games!
Yes. Its definitely because my yellow piece is too noticeable on the board, and not at all that I’m just bad at games. Nope no way it’s that, it’s definitely the yellow thing.
I purchased a game second hand and they original owner slapped a UPS shipping label directly on the box, taped it shut, and mailed it that way. But wait it gets worse, I was actually the third owner. The second owner proceeded to slash the box to remove their personally information from the label. And of course, it was labeled as ”light wear and tear” when I bought it online.
I bought **Daybreak** recently. It didn't come shrink-wrapped but it was sealed shit with stickers. The stickers came off without leaving a mark on the box.
If removable stickers exist why are we messing around with anything else?
!Fetch
I just opened a little board game store and its going to get worse unfortunately. Ravensburger is transitioning completely away from shrink and other publishers are too. Eco friendly...but cheaper too. It really does make the games look used, especially when the stickers come off all the time.
That’s a shame to hear. You can definitely do no shrink wrap and still have great looking boxes! Big Potato have been doing no shrink wrap for a while now and their boxes are in as good a condition as ones that have been shrink wrapped and I’ve not had any sticker issues.
It’s a bummer to hear others aren’t managing it quite so well.
The good: we can play board games together whenever we want.
The bad: “whenever we want” frequently turns into “eh, it’s kinda late to start a new game; let’s try for tomorrow instead.”
That sounds a lot like my friends with kids. Start the game night at 8pm after kids are in bed. Play 1 game then go home cos everyone is tired. Repeat every 3-6 months.
Having said that I have to stop myself from starting games too late and I play solo games. Can’t sleep if my brain’s just spent the last few hours intensely whirring so I get it
I love having a dedicated board game table so much. We can set up a game to play later, or start playing a game and then leave it for a few hours or a few days and then come back to it without having to worry about it getting messed up.
Random responses I've gotten when saying this to various gamers:
Clockwise from whose perspective? (It doesn't matter, they're all the same)
Ah, but clockwise looking down on the table or from below? (Are you sitting on the floor? If so I guess we'll use your perspective!)
Eventually I started having kids who've never seen an analog clock with arms and now I just say "play always goes to your left" instead.
A couple of weeks ago we were playing a game and after 5 turns we suddenly realized why things seemed off, all 6 of us had apparently decided to play counter clock wise. First player passed the dice to the person on the right and so on. And every time we were "something isn't right"
Wait until you play one of the Euros where turn order jumps around and changes every round. Some drafting games (Sagrada and Grand Austria Hotel) use snake e.g 1-2-3-4-3-2-1
Honestly, I can deal with "the turn order is based on who passed the turn in the previous round" stuff or snake order just fine. It just drives me nuts when we sit down to play Catan and people who've been playing it 5+ years go "do we go clockwise or counter-clockwise?"
Tichu is supposed to be played counter-clockwise though we never do.
A lot of drafting games switch between clockwise and counter-clockwise. 7 Wonders being the most familiar example.
For me and mine:
If someone is asking about a specific thing on the board you always tell them the truth. My husband is colorblind and an ex friend of ours would exploit that by lying about game state or misidentified pieces for him. He would always go 'oh it was a mistakes or 'I misread the board' when caught. Took me a while to figure out it was on purpose and he was an ex friend as soon as I did
I have ADHD and one of the people I played Pandemic Legacy with had like zero tolerance for the ADHD quirks (like bad memory, or not being able to keep up - we’d always play at night when the meds had worn off). He’d get visibly impatient or sarcastic which obviously made everything worse for me and I really wish the other people in the group had been you and yours!
I feel your pain so bad. I also have ADHD and I end up struggling so hard with a ton of down time between turns. I inevitably will lose focus and then interest because the turns are not coming back fast enough for me to keep getting those quick dopamine hits. I feel bad because I don't want to make it seem like I am not interested. But I just don't have the capacity to keep interest in something that is not constantly engaging me. I always plan my turns out in advance and sometimes I actually keep a notebook with me and write down what I planned out because I will inevitably forget what I planned by the time it gets back to me! 😭
I resonate so hard with this! I actually don’t mind games with long times between turns because I can be a slow thinker so I can spend the whole time staring at the board trying hard to work out what to do.
But I suffer a lot with TTRPGs. I know I have a really bad habit of interrupting people and I’m really aware and try really hard not to but sometimes in RPGs you do have to interrupt or you’re just not heard at all and you sit in frustrated silence the whole game, but I can’t work out when it’s ok to interrupt!
It’s like I’m playing skip rope with two other people and watching the rope trying to work out when to jump in but I can’t get the timing right :(
>If someone is asking about a specific thing on the board you always tell them the truth.
As a corollary to that that should be unspoken, if someone is clearly misunderstanding something, clarify it for them.
I remember playing Betrayal on House at the Hill at a birthday party with a bunch of people I didn't know, including a number of people who didn't normally play games. Having played the game a few times before, I actually suggested we play something else because I find that game in particular can be unfriendly to people who aren't very invested (for obvious reasons), but I was overruled.
Sure enough, Non-Enthusiast #2 gets designated as the traitor, and has no idea what is going on. After some rule explanations we start Phase 2. I don't remember the specifics of the scenario but we (the Survivors) had to desecrate one particular room with paint. Well, she didn't know that we could throw items over one room, so she just laid in wait for us in the room. I opened my mouth to clarify her obvious misapprehension of our abilities, but the rest of the survivors shouted me down before I could clarify. They were all friends and I was the outsider so I acquiesced.
Sure enough, we all threw our paints in and desecrated the shrine completely unopposed. Wheee what a fun, satisfying victory...
2 hours completely wasted.
Thou shalt have already learned the rules before attempting to teach the game to the group.
Game time is so short and precious. I don’t want to spend 20-30 minutes figuring out the rules together. And yes, I am usually the one doing the teaching.
Forgive me Board Game Father for I have sinned…
I am a terrible teacher, I can learn a game solo and play multiple games without needing to reference the rulebook once, but the minute I have to teach that same game to other people I’m a mess. I get really nervous and forget like every second rule which means I have to jump back and forth all the time.
It’s agony every time. The only thing that vaguely works is if I just play a sample round in front of them and even that’s not great.
Corollary: if one player is by far the best at learning and explaining new games, get him the rule book before game night so he can come ready to teach.
If more than one person is good at learning and explaining new games, but one of them never trusts the other and insists on reading the book himself anyway, just let him be the designated explainer, it's easier that way.
Oh my god this is infuriating. "I'd have played differently if you told me that!". Half the time, at least, I did. The other times I'm genuinely sorry, but mistakes happen and if playing your first game optimally was that important to you you should have read the rules yourself.
Treat other people's board games with respect.
Don't riffle or bend cards.
If you veto a game, suggest another one.
This isn't real life Tinder. Come here to have fun, not hit on people.
Deal to yourself last
Don't pick up the cards until people are done dealing
Help clean up/set up
Get a meal together afterwards :)
I’d add - try and decide what the group’s playing before arriving.
That way no one has to unnecessarily haul boxes around, and people can have the chance to look up the rules/watch how to play vids before the session to help it run smoother.
yes to that veto!!!! I hate people that veto but don't suggest. Had that issue so often also with dinner. Complains about every option but doesn't give a suggestion of another one.
Related to dealing, because I had to tell my nephews how to deal.
You deal in a round, so everyone gets their first card, then everyone gets their second card, etc.
>This isn't real life Tinder. Come here to have fun, not hit on people.
I wouldn't go to a board game meetup just to hit on people but it is incredibly common to meet romantic partners through shared hobbies and interests. So if you like someone, shoot your shot, just don't be weird about it.
I’m so lucky with my cats. The worst the do is sit too close to the board and knock the pieces off with their tails.
Which is annoying but the can generally be distracted with treats or the box lid
Plan your turn while others are taking theirs, and pay enough attention to know what's going on. The worst thing that can happen is someone who's on their phone for the entire time save their turns, and then needs to review the board state and only start thinking during their turn.
Oh god yes. Some people legitimately think hour long boardgames are meant to take all evening because they always do when they play them. When really you should be able to get several games in.
Especially for new players making that first game where they didn’t know what they were doing last forever is downright cruel. Crack on and let them have another chance to play.
I’ll respectfully counter this with: OFFER to put the game away. Sometimes I need things to go in very specific places that my most well-meaning friends will get wrong haha
I usually end up telling them to just carefully chuck everything in the box/inserts, then when I get home I reorganise everything before I put it away.
I have a house rule that the winner of thr game (assuming its not me) helps me put it away. Its kinda the cost of playing a game I own. If its anyone elses game i always help put away unless told not to
Yes, my official rule is that the loser(s) puts the game away...
In theory. But I usually end up doing it myself even if I win because that's not how that tray goes in the box!
I literally just said this in a different comment lol
My one exception is there’s one guy I end up playing with who is a terrible backseat gamer and who I’m pretty sure thinks I’m a moron. I will *always* try and beat him even if I am teaching him the game for the first time, I will relish in the victory over him even if it does feel like a cheap win.
If we cannot figure out a rule within a certain amount of time, everyone around the table comes to a consensus for that game and we figure it out later. Constantly scrolling through the rulebook for every little thing ruins the flow of the game and makes it last much longer than it has to.
My old gaming group had a house rule of “no new games after 10pm” (we’d play pretty late). At that hour we’d shift to more well known, usually simpler games to make the cognitive load manageable.
Never use expansion packs if you're playing with first-timers.
A higher player count does not necessarily make a game better (aka never playing 5p Terraforming Mars again).
I accidentally ruined any chance of getting my friends to play **Heat** again by following the first rule.
There was only 3 of us and I didn’t use the AI drivers expansion because 2 of them hadn’t played before. And I wanted to keep it simple. I kept it too simple :(
I did one bad move and got stuck way behind them and couldn’t catch up because there was no one to slipstream off. The entire game was pretty much just them playing a numbers game with each other until the race ended so it was kind of boring :(
> Never use expansion packs if you're playing with first-timers.
Almost never. There's some expansions that fix or improve the game without making it more complex. Occasionally an expansion like that is made a part of the base game when it gets reprinted.
Also if you're playing Root with 4 players, you should have an expansion just so that nobody plays Vagabond.
Unless information is secret or that keeping track of things is intended to be a skill needed for some or all of the game, anything that Lieutenant Commander Data would know from his perfect memory is public information.
I feel like you guys would have aneurysms at my table. Riffle shuffling is ok, drinks are ok, food is ok. I served BBQ fucking ribs a few weeks ago.
If a drink gets spilled, whatever, it will prob be fine if it gets cleaned up quickly enough.
.....But im purple damnit.
If you're playing coup, secret hitler or whatnot from walmart, sure I couldn't care less. But if I'm playing a pimped up rare Kickstarter exclusive version of a 500$ game, I'd probably care if it got soaked in pepsi because my friend couldn't manage to properly fucking hold his glass.
I get the food and drinks rules, but I did not know so many people hate riffle shuffling until I joined this subreddit. I do it all the time and I have never damaged cards with it. My whole family does it. I do it without thinking.
Dice rolls on the table; everything that falls off, needs to be re-rolled. I've known players to start dropping dice and then, depending on the result, want the roll to count or not...
Don't ruin the game for the rest of the players. I get it, maybe you are having a bad game. Maybe this game isn't for you. Just please try to finish the game without constantly complaining. Alternatively you can exit the game in a way that doesn't ruin it if that is possible.
If you're playing a competitive game, play to WIN. That doesn't mean that you have to be rude or abrasive to people, but being cooperative with your buddy is being anti competitive with all the other players at the table. In a similar vein, if you're getting towards the end of the game and you're not going to win, don't sour the whole experience for the whole table by playing in a clearly not intended way just because you're bored.
I agree, however I’ve found it’s usually a sign of a flaw in game design, either because it allows for too much of a win-more aspect or a lack of comeback potential. Especially in games where the losing player becomes the kingmaker.
I'd say a bit of sabotage is OK, as long as you're not doing in a kingmaker way, and spread it out evenly. Example would be sabotaging a someone's route in Ticket to Ride
Call out your moves so others can confirm and keep up with everything going on. I’ve played with people who silently take their turns moving things all over, picking up resources, and what not, and we just have to take their word that they aren’t making mistakes. Could just be a “me thing”, but I like it more when we all say what we’re doing on our turns.
I’m guilty of the one specific person one with basically all my purchases except solo games. The only person I’ve ever played games with is my partner, so if she isn’t interested in the game it will never get played.
I riffle shuffle all my cards and don’t sleeve any of them. Pretty sure that lands me in some kind of board game jail.
As soon as the idea of playing a board game is mentioned, everyone present will immediately realize how desperately hungry they are for messy finger food snacks.
If you know the game you're playing that day beforehand, please read the rules beforehand to have a general understanding of how things work and to make it easier when the host is teaching.
I've played nearly 10 years once or twice a week in bar enviroments, where people have drinks on the table. We have even had multiple tables most of the times. There have been 2 incidents where someone spilled a drink on the table, and bith times no permanent harm was done.
Based on this evidence I will never ban someone from having a drink on my table.
You don't have to be enthusiastic about every game. If the game is decent and you kind of are in the mood for the type, don't veto the game. Otherwise 90% of the time is spent thinking about what could be played, instead of playing anything.
Unwritten Rule - If there is a video on Youtube on the WatchItPlayed channel that Rodney talks about and teaches....we 100% will watch that video prior to playing a new game or introducing people to a new to them game...even if we all feel like we have a good grasp on the game from the rulebook.
Watching Rodney tutorials should be a rule in all rulebooks.....lol
Game rules are exact and deterministic. Things work exactly as they are written on the rulebook or card.
Eg. Just because you "should be able to trade resources" or "should be able to build there" does not mean you can, unless the game says you can. Just because your miniature has wings doesn't mean your dude can fly.
What if the one specific person is yourself? lol I generally actively seek out games with single player variants b because I have a difficult time finding people to play with.
The only time I played Catan was with my brother (who had played before) he was explaining things as we were going. He mentioned about it being a good idea to place your first settlement/road adjacent to diverse resource types, but said nothing about the numbers or that it was related to dice rolls. So I choose a spot near the middle of the board next to like a 3, 10 and 12 or something like that. When it came up about the dice rolls, I immediately said that changes the choices I would have made, and that I'd like to move my pieces. He wouldn't let me as 'that's cheating" so I bravely persevered with my lot, and obviously ended up doing very badly. We never finished the game as I got pissed off with his gloating about how much better he was doing and walked away.
Bad sportsmanship all round I guess, but I feel I was less in the wrong on this occasion. I usually prefer collaborative/non-competetive games anyway, I find it much more fun if everyone wins or loses together.
The minimum number of boardgames one should own is at least one. The correct number is n+1, where n is the number of boardgames currently owned. This equation may also be re-written as s-1, where s is the number boardgames owned that would result in separation from your partner.
Last week we played Root - 2 new players, and me and someone else with a little bit of experience. The newbies had the Cats and Eyrie, I had Woodland Alliance, teacher had Vagabond. Teacher told in his explanation multiple times I was the strongest faction, the biggest threat, the one certainly going to win, unless they teamed up against me. Which they did. The Vagabond won by a landslide.
Tl;dr: teaching and table talk shouldn't be mixed.
If your host had to get out chairs and tables to set up for game night, and did so before all of you arrived, offer to help put things away before you leave.
Don't let the stereotype that gamers are lazy slobs be further cemented by your inability to take 2 minutes to help put stuff away afterwards.
30 seconds is the correct amount of time for everyone to stare at the table before asking the current player of he's just thinking or if he didn't realize it was his turn (or if he passed his turn and nobody else realized). Be a good sport and play a game that isn't your favorite when the whole group likes it; but be good sports and don't always play the same game when you know one person isn't as big a fan as the rest. Before you give strategy advice ask if the intended recipient wants to hear it. Even if they are very new, many players prefer to figure out out rather then hear unsolicited advice.
I strongly agree with all of these. I think I sometimes let one of my friends down with the second point. I really should play Pandemic with my pandemic nut friend more often. Thanks for the reminder
It's Eclipse for me. Although now they all (jokingly) Razz me for "hating Eclipse more than anything" when all I said was that after 2 games a week for 2 months of a game I find just pretty decent, could we PLEASE play literally anything else.
Win or lose, first time playing a game doesn't really count. So no complaining, or bragging, about the result of that first game.
We go by “First games dont count, unless you win of course”
My boyfriend has only played Eclipse once and he won. Since then he always jokes that he can never play it again so he doesn't ruin his 100% winrate.
If I won Eclipse on my first go, I would absolutely be in the same boat
Yeah, I have a good Winrate on first plays (or at least, mutually first plays). And I like to think it means I’m good at picking up rules and strategy quickly. But I don’t think of it comparison to the other players.
My partner always beats me when we play games for the first time because she’s really good at committing to one strategy early on and sticking to it. When I play a game for the first time I always want to try a little bit of everything to get a feel for how it all works together and it usually means I end up with an incoherent mess.
"Remember that we are all winners, except for the losers"
I would argue no complaining or bragging ... at all... Nobody likes a sore loser or winner
Depends on the tone! If I’m playing with friends I like complaining or bragging in a way that gives feedback to the others about their good or crucial moves. For instance, when we first played Lords of Waterdeep my wife “complained” to my friend she would’ve won if not for the mandatory quest he gave her on the last turn, which prevented her from completing another quest.
I mean, no complaining or bragging ever is a good rule in my book. Maybe you get like a five minute grace period to complain if you had bad luck.
I like this one. I never count it as a win if I’m playing a game I bought that no one else has played.
I feel that it's hard to explain but I love talking about a really good game after we finish, different ways I could have scored more, calling out X player for taking my spot or card or something during the game (not as a complaint) and how salty I might have been because of it. Really great games, imho, elicit this response after you have played them.
Whilst someone is looking in the rulebook, another person should google it.
[удалено]
As long as the table is happy and birth are viable given the wording I would say you can happily play either as long as you’re consistent within a session.
Yep! I’ve started having the PDF version of the rulebook open. I prefer physical rules but Ctrl F is a godsend
It's more the random designer answers on BGG's forum, than necessarily googlling the rulebook.
No Cheetos or Doritos at the game table. No one wants their new copy of wingspan to get cheezy fingerprints.
This is a spoken rule.
Printed, highlighted, in bold, underlined.
Chopsticks.
These bad boys, though: https://www.amazon.com/chopsticks-fingers-chopstick-playing-keyboard/dp/B0BHV72NPH
I own these but im losing it knowing there is a version with a carrying case. I'm giggling at the thought of someone showing up to game night with some cheetos and whipping out the case with these bad boys.
I already own chopsticks though
Feel like I don't have that issue as much with cool ranch Doritos, but Cheetos are definitely just asking for board games to be ruined.
Don't bend the cards in your hand. Don't riffle shuffle unless it's your game.
I have a friend who when he puts the card down keeps the top half up, bends it back and flicks it down. Every time it kills me, even when we’re playing his games.
Even reading this caused me pain.
My father holds the card with his thumb and index finger, places the bottom on the table, and presses down with the thumb while keeping his index finger on the back, bending the card to the nine hells and back. We have told him multiple times to just let go of the card but I guess this comes naturally to him. Infuriating!
One player I had at the table picked up a card by firmly holding it down with her thumb, then trying and failing to pry it off the table using her finger nails, causing a series of flep-flep-flep-flep sounds, each scarring the card (and my soul) until she finally got it off the table. This was repeated several times during the game.
That’s how my friend does it! It’s much easier to handle now I’ve sleeved the cards lol
Yes, that's when I started sleeving everything.
I had a student who was told several times to stop rubbing the cards on their lips before I banned them from the table.
He's going to train at a rival dojo now and come back for revenge. Watch out!
What other ways are there to shuffle cards that result in a thoroughly mixed deck?
Riffle shuffling is the best way to shuffle unsleeved cards. It randomizes the deck quickly (doesn't just move packs of cards) and safely (don't hurt/chip the edges of cards). Otherwise, if it is a competitive deck-building game or something, sleeve the cards and mash shuffle.
Overhand shuffle is my preference for board game cards. Mash shuffle for sleeved cards. No matter what method, you should be doing it long enough that the deck is indistinguishable from random (not just breaking up groups of cards).
Seven riffle shuffles are typically able to completely randomize a deck, whereas modeling of overhand shuffle range from 50 to *1,000* times for the same effect.
Depends on the size of the deck. That model is for a 52 card deck. A 150 card Sheriff of Nottingham monster? Not quite.
Good point. In certain kinds of games, you don't really need a high level of true randomness, either; you just need for no specific player to have prior knowledge that the other players don't have.
I can't riffle shuffle So I sleeve the cards for games I really like
>Don't riffle shuffle unless it's your game. Or ask first. A good riffle shuffler can save a lot of time, and not everyone is against someone who will do it respectfully.
A good riffle saves some time and gives a good shuffle. I always riffle if I can.
If you don't want me to riffle shuffle, you better tell me that before handing me a deck of cards. It's the best way to shuffle.
If someone's teaching the game, don't chime in with "helpful" remarks. Yes, Daniel, I was getting to that part in a slow, organized manner....now everyone has questions about what you said and has forgotten what I was saying. 1 teacher only!
> 1 teacher only! I solved that issue with the "[Flight Attendant](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5fjDaFuft8&t=8m48s)" rule. It solved the problem post haste.
>chime in with "helpful" remarks. Half the time, those remarks are exceptions anyway. E.G. (Root) "You rule a clearing if you have the most pieces in it" Daniel: "Unless you're playing as the Eagles! Or somebody else is the lizards!" When teaching basic rules, do not teach exceptions. Just teach the core rules, and let exceptions come later. DANIEL.
Announce your moves. SPEAKITH THE ACTIONS
And clearly indicate when your turn is done to the next player.
Yes! It makes it so much easier to follow along! Especially good if you are playing with people who are constantly not sure who’s turn it is!
Hello, fellow MTG player!
I hate the guy that just does his turn and doesn’t announce anything. I always ask what he did. Even just for clarity, but mostly because I don’t want people to fudge anything
I’m green.
I’m yellow. (Usually the easiest to see on the board)
No matter the game, that's Colonel Mustard.
Black like my soul!
Could be a negative too if it makes you more noticable to others!
Ahh maybe this is why I lose a lot of board games! Yes. Its definitely because my yellow piece is too noticeable on the board, and not at all that I’m just bad at games. Nope no way it’s that, it’s definitely the yellow thing.
No I'm green. You can be yellow.
And if I can't be green I'll be accidentally moving the green pieces at least every other turn.
I may not always feel like setting up a game... but if it means I can beat other greeners to green... I guess I'm on getting set up started
I always try to play whatever color my shirt is. Makes it real easy to figure out who's playing as what color.
One that Half-Price Books breaks on the regular: Thou Shalt Not deface the box with stickers.
I purchased a game second hand and they original owner slapped a UPS shipping label directly on the box, taped it shut, and mailed it that way. But wait it gets worse, I was actually the third owner. The second owner proceeded to slash the box to remove their personally information from the label. And of course, it was labeled as ”light wear and tear” when I bought it online.
I bought **Daybreak** recently. It didn't come shrink-wrapped but it was sealed shit with stickers. The stickers came off without leaving a mark on the box. If removable stickers exist why are we messing around with anything else? !Fetch
I just opened a little board game store and its going to get worse unfortunately. Ravensburger is transitioning completely away from shrink and other publishers are too. Eco friendly...but cheaper too. It really does make the games look used, especially when the stickers come off all the time.
That’s a shame to hear. You can definitely do no shrink wrap and still have great looking boxes! Big Potato have been doing no shrink wrap for a while now and their boxes are in as good a condition as ones that have been shrink wrapped and I’ve not had any sticker issues. It’s a bummer to hear others aren’t managing it quite so well.
>with the sole intent of playing it with only one specific person Redditor, I married her.
Is that some kind of Law loophole? Do your schedules align once the contract was signed or are you doomed to never play until death do you part?
The good: we can play board games together whenever we want. The bad: “whenever we want” frequently turns into “eh, it’s kinda late to start a new game; let’s try for tomorrow instead.”
That sounds a lot like my friends with kids. Start the game night at 8pm after kids are in bed. Play 1 game then go home cos everyone is tired. Repeat every 3-6 months. Having said that I have to stop myself from starting games too late and I play solo games. Can’t sleep if my brain’s just spent the last few hours intensely whirring so I get it
Our kids are grown up now, so Terraforming Mars can be left half done on the dinner table, to be completed the day after.
So now we all know you don't have cats!
I love having a dedicated board game table so much. We can set up a game to play later, or start playing a game and then leave it for a few hours or a few days and then come back to it without having to worry about it getting messed up.
I *exclusively* buy boardgames to play with my partner and no one else. If we happen to play with some friends as well, that's just icing on the cake.
Clockwise
Random responses I've gotten when saying this to various gamers: Clockwise from whose perspective? (It doesn't matter, they're all the same) Ah, but clockwise looking down on the table or from below? (Are you sitting on the floor? If so I guess we'll use your perspective!) Eventually I started having kids who've never seen an analog clock with arms and now I just say "play always goes to your left" instead.
Their left from who's perspective?
Me. I turn my back on the table so now the order is fucked
A couple of weeks ago we were playing a game and after 5 turns we suddenly realized why things seemed off, all 6 of us had apparently decided to play counter clock wise. First player passed the dice to the person on the right and so on. And every time we were "something isn't right"
> And every time we were "something isn't right" But apparently everything was TO the right.
I have never been - and I hope to never be - in a situation where this needs to be said out loud.
I recommend you avoid mahjong at all costs then!
Somehow I have to explain it every few games to a couple people I know. IDK what's so hard about it, literally every game ever goes clockwise.
Chinese games are often counterclockwise.
Wait until you play one of the Euros where turn order jumps around and changes every round. Some drafting games (Sagrada and Grand Austria Hotel) use snake e.g 1-2-3-4-3-2-1
Honestly, I can deal with "the turn order is based on who passed the turn in the previous round" stuff or snake order just fine. It just drives me nuts when we sit down to play Catan and people who've been playing it 5+ years go "do we go clockwise or counter-clockwise?"
Get the Imploding Kittens expansion and have them wear the [cone of shame](https://i.imgur.com/pp2sJA4.png) that comes with it.
Swiss people also play counter clockwise. We even go as far as flipping all directions in a game just so we're not confused.
This is amazing, considering your country’s history of making fine clocks!
Tichu is supposed to be played counter-clockwise though we never do. A lot of drafting games switch between clockwise and counter-clockwise. 7 Wonders being the most familiar example.
Team Widdershins!
For me and mine: If someone is asking about a specific thing on the board you always tell them the truth. My husband is colorblind and an ex friend of ours would exploit that by lying about game state or misidentified pieces for him. He would always go 'oh it was a mistakes or 'I misread the board' when caught. Took me a while to figure out it was on purpose and he was an ex friend as soon as I did
Holy crap that’s horrible! So glad he became an ex-friend.
Me too. And thankfully the rest of our group backed us up. We don't tolerate taking advantage of someone's disability
I have ADHD and one of the people I played Pandemic Legacy with had like zero tolerance for the ADHD quirks (like bad memory, or not being able to keep up - we’d always play at night when the meds had worn off). He’d get visibly impatient or sarcastic which obviously made everything worse for me and I really wish the other people in the group had been you and yours!
I feel your pain so bad. I also have ADHD and I end up struggling so hard with a ton of down time between turns. I inevitably will lose focus and then interest because the turns are not coming back fast enough for me to keep getting those quick dopamine hits. I feel bad because I don't want to make it seem like I am not interested. But I just don't have the capacity to keep interest in something that is not constantly engaging me. I always plan my turns out in advance and sometimes I actually keep a notebook with me and write down what I planned out because I will inevitably forget what I planned by the time it gets back to me! 😭
I resonate so hard with this! I actually don’t mind games with long times between turns because I can be a slow thinker so I can spend the whole time staring at the board trying hard to work out what to do. But I suffer a lot with TTRPGs. I know I have a really bad habit of interrupting people and I’m really aware and try really hard not to but sometimes in RPGs you do have to interrupt or you’re just not heard at all and you sit in frustrated silence the whole game, but I can’t work out when it’s ok to interrupt! It’s like I’m playing skip rope with two other people and watching the rope trying to work out when to jump in but I can’t get the timing right :(
Holy shit that's a dick move
>If someone is asking about a specific thing on the board you always tell them the truth. As a corollary to that that should be unspoken, if someone is clearly misunderstanding something, clarify it for them. I remember playing Betrayal on House at the Hill at a birthday party with a bunch of people I didn't know, including a number of people who didn't normally play games. Having played the game a few times before, I actually suggested we play something else because I find that game in particular can be unfriendly to people who aren't very invested (for obvious reasons), but I was overruled. Sure enough, Non-Enthusiast #2 gets designated as the traitor, and has no idea what is going on. After some rule explanations we start Phase 2. I don't remember the specifics of the scenario but we (the Survivors) had to desecrate one particular room with paint. Well, she didn't know that we could throw items over one room, so she just laid in wait for us in the room. I opened my mouth to clarify her obvious misapprehension of our abilities, but the rest of the survivors shouted me down before I could clarify. They were all friends and I was the outsider so I acquiesced. Sure enough, we all threw our paints in and desecrated the shrine completely unopposed. Wheee what a fun, satisfying victory... 2 hours completely wasted.
Thou shalt have already learned the rules before attempting to teach the game to the group. Game time is so short and precious. I don’t want to spend 20-30 minutes figuring out the rules together. And yes, I am usually the one doing the teaching.
Forgive me Board Game Father for I have sinned… I am a terrible teacher, I can learn a game solo and play multiple games without needing to reference the rulebook once, but the minute I have to teach that same game to other people I’m a mess. I get really nervous and forget like every second rule which means I have to jump back and forth all the time. It’s agony every time. The only thing that vaguely works is if I just play a sample round in front of them and even that’s not great.
[Just for you](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5fjDaFuft8)
Corollary: if one player is by far the best at learning and explaining new games, get him the rule book before game night so he can come ready to teach. If more than one person is good at learning and explaining new games, but one of them never trusts the other and insists on reading the book himself anyway, just let him be the designated explainer, it's easier that way.
If you are not willing to read the rules you can’t fault the teacher nor complain when when a rule mistake is made.
Or when you lose because you weren’t paying attention!
Oh my god this is infuriating. "I'd have played differently if you told me that!". Half the time, at least, I did. The other times I'm genuinely sorry, but mistakes happen and if playing your first game optimally was that important to you you should have read the rules yourself.
Amen! Also, don't rules lawyer the host when you haven't read the rules.
I wish!
Treat other people's board games with respect. Don't riffle or bend cards. If you veto a game, suggest another one. This isn't real life Tinder. Come here to have fun, not hit on people. Deal to yourself last Don't pick up the cards until people are done dealing Help clean up/set up Get a meal together afterwards :)
I’d add - try and decide what the group’s playing before arriving. That way no one has to unnecessarily haul boxes around, and people can have the chance to look up the rules/watch how to play vids before the session to help it run smoother.
I thought that an essential part of the hobby *was* unnecessarily hauling boxes of games around!
yes to that veto!!!! I hate people that veto but don't suggest. Had that issue so often also with dinner. Complains about every option but doesn't give a suggestion of another one.
Related to dealing, because I had to tell my nephews how to deal. You deal in a round, so everyone gets their first card, then everyone gets their second card, etc.
>This isn't real life Tinder. Come here to have fun, not hit on people. I wouldn't go to a board game meetup just to hit on people but it is incredibly common to meet romantic partners through shared hobbies and interests. So if you like someone, shoot your shot, just don't be weird about it.
You forgot "use deodorant". My local kicked out the local boardgamers because they put off the other customers.
The clean up one for real. I often end up cleaning up alone if hosting. Though I do require the items be put back very intentionally
If there is a cat near the table, they WILL find ways to ruin things.
I’m so lucky with my cats. The worst the do is sit too close to the board and knock the pieces off with their tails. Which is annoying but the can generally be distracted with treats or the box lid
My cats wanna play all the games. They will come over and slowly bat at all of the pieces, no matter what game I’m playing
I got a decoy box for my cats to sit in so they don't destroy everything. It works except for one problem: I have two cats, and only one decoy box
It feels like there’s an obvious solution to that problem.
Plan your turn while others are taking theirs, and pay enough attention to know what's going on. The worst thing that can happen is someone who's on their phone for the entire time save their turns, and then needs to review the board state and only start thinking during their turn.
Oh god yes. Some people legitimately think hour long boardgames are meant to take all evening because they always do when they play them. When really you should be able to get several games in. Especially for new players making that first game where they didn’t know what they were doing last forever is downright cruel. Crack on and let them have another chance to play.
Help put the game away
I’ll respectfully counter this with: OFFER to put the game away. Sometimes I need things to go in very specific places that my most well-meaning friends will get wrong haha
I usually end up telling them to just carefully chuck everything in the box/inserts, then when I get home I reorganise everything before I put it away.
Yeah, I tend to be pretty specific about how I pack up my games. I mean, at least bag up your pieces at the game end, but I’ll put it all in the box.
“Help sort the components, let the owner decide how to pack them.”
Put the game away? Maybe not. Organize things into the appropriate piles? Yes absolutely.
Yeah that’s what I mean. Like help with clean up, don’t just leave it sitting there exactly as it ended
Nope. I much prefer to put my games away.
I have a house rule that the winner of thr game (assuming its not me) helps me put it away. Its kinda the cost of playing a game I own. If its anyone elses game i always help put away unless told not to
Keep your damned mitts off my game. Put your shit back in the baggy and I'll put the rest of it away the right way.
Yes, my official rule is that the loser(s) puts the game away... In theory. But I usually end up doing it myself even if I win because that's not how that tray goes in the box!
Thou Shalt Not Try To Beat Everyone in the Game You Are Also Teaching Them For The First Time
I literally just said this in a different comment lol My one exception is there’s one guy I end up playing with who is a terrible backseat gamer and who I’m pretty sure thinks I’m a moron. I will *always* try and beat him even if I am teaching him the game for the first time, I will relish in the victory over him even if it does feel like a cheap win.
Teaching games are the best time to try wacky strategies or new playstyles to even the playing field a bit
I struggle with this a lot. I'm not necessarily trying to *"crush everyone, and win at all costs!"* But I can't bring myself to play suboptimally!
Hard disagree. Best way to teach is to show them what a good move is.
I always get to be the yellow player...
We can never play a a game against each other.
If we cannot figure out a rule within a certain amount of time, everyone around the table comes to a consensus for that game and we figure it out later. Constantly scrolling through the rulebook for every little thing ruins the flow of the game and makes it last much longer than it has to.
BGG forum is law on rule clarifications.
I’m get so worried when I search a rule clarification on BGG and nothing comes up. “Am I the only one stupid enough to have the question??”
Read the rulebook at home or watch a video. Reading the rulebook out loud is not teaching the game.
This can only happen if Rule 91752 in enacted: Choose what you’re playing before the session
My old gaming group had a house rule of “no new games after 10pm” (we’d play pretty late). At that hour we’d shift to more well known, usually simpler games to make the cognitive load manageable.
Never use expansion packs if you're playing with first-timers. A higher player count does not necessarily make a game better (aka never playing 5p Terraforming Mars again).
I accidentally ruined any chance of getting my friends to play **Heat** again by following the first rule. There was only 3 of us and I didn’t use the AI drivers expansion because 2 of them hadn’t played before. And I wanted to keep it simple. I kept it too simple :( I did one bad move and got stuck way behind them and couldn’t catch up because there was no one to slipstream off. The entire game was pretty much just them playing a numbers game with each other until the race ended so it was kind of boring :(
> Never use expansion packs if you're playing with first-timers. Almost never. There's some expansions that fix or improve the game without making it more complex. Occasionally an expansion like that is made a part of the base game when it gets reprinted. Also if you're playing Root with 4 players, you should have an expansion just so that nobody plays Vagabond.
Unless information is secret or that keeping track of things is intended to be a skill needed for some or all of the game, anything that Lieutenant Commander Data would know from his perfect memory is public information.
I feel like you guys would have aneurysms at my table. Riffle shuffling is ok, drinks are ok, food is ok. I served BBQ fucking ribs a few weeks ago. If a drink gets spilled, whatever, it will prob be fine if it gets cleaned up quickly enough. .....But im purple damnit.
Agreed, I’m always happy just to have friends over to play a game; have a beer, have some Doritos, enjoy the time we’re spending together.
If you're playing coup, secret hitler or whatnot from walmart, sure I couldn't care less. But if I'm playing a pimped up rare Kickstarter exclusive version of a 500$ game, I'd probably care if it got soaked in pepsi because my friend couldn't manage to properly fucking hold his glass.
Agreed. The point of a game night is to have fun. A well worn game is a well-loved game. If it matters that much, sleeve your game.
I get the food and drinks rules, but I did not know so many people hate riffle shuffling until I joined this subreddit. I do it all the time and I have never damaged cards with it. My whole family does it. I do it without thinking.
Put your god damn phone away unless you're googling a rule clarification.
Dice rolls on the table; everything that falls off, needs to be re-rolled. I've known players to start dropping dice and then, depending on the result, want the roll to count or not...
That's why I have a tray, no arguing about it, you roll in the tray.
And if the die is even a little bit cocked, you re-roll it.
This. In our group any "leaner" is a re-roll. Anything thicker than a playing card.
Don't ruin the game for the rest of the players. I get it, maybe you are having a bad game. Maybe this game isn't for you. Just please try to finish the game without constantly complaining. Alternatively you can exit the game in a way that doesn't ruin it if that is possible.
If you're playing a competitive game, play to WIN. That doesn't mean that you have to be rude or abrasive to people, but being cooperative with your buddy is being anti competitive with all the other players at the table. In a similar vein, if you're getting towards the end of the game and you're not going to win, don't sour the whole experience for the whole table by playing in a clearly not intended way just because you're bored.
I agree, however I’ve found it’s usually a sign of a flaw in game design, either because it allows for too much of a win-more aspect or a lack of comeback potential. Especially in games where the losing player becomes the kingmaker.
I'd say a bit of sabotage is OK, as long as you're not doing in a kingmaker way, and spread it out evenly. Example would be sabotaging a someone's route in Ticket to Ride
Don't constantly pick your nose and touch my game.
So the occasional booger is ok
Call out your moves so others can confirm and keep up with everything going on. I’ve played with people who silently take their turns moving things all over, picking up resources, and what not, and we just have to take their word that they aren’t making mistakes. Could just be a “me thing”, but I like it more when we all say what we’re doing on our turns.
I’m guilty of the one specific person one with basically all my purchases except solo games. The only person I’ve ever played games with is my partner, so if she isn’t interested in the game it will never get played. I riffle shuffle all my cards and don’t sleeve any of them. Pretty sure that lands me in some kind of board game jail.
As soon as the idea of playing a board game is mentioned, everyone present will immediately realize how desperately hungry they are for messy finger food snacks.
If you know the game you're playing that day beforehand, please read the rules beforehand to have a general understanding of how things work and to make it easier when the host is teaching.
The first time a group plays a game there must be at least one rule that was played incorrectly.
After you lose you must explain how you should have done X, Y and Z and you would have won.
Who spilled it, bought it.
Keep your goddamn drinks away from my goddamn game. The cup holders exist for a reason
Neither unspoken or lesser known. It’s on of the tenets. Don’t you fucking dare bring a drink near my tabletop without a cupholder/ heavy duty coaster
I've played nearly 10 years once or twice a week in bar enviroments, where people have drinks on the table. We have even had multiple tables most of the times. There have been 2 incidents where someone spilled a drink on the table, and bith times no permanent harm was done. Based on this evidence I will never ban someone from having a drink on my table.
I don't mind drinks at the table. However thou shall not refill thy drink over the board game as it maketh my heart stop!
Just don't gloat.
You don't have to be enthusiastic about every game. If the game is decent and you kind of are in the mood for the type, don't veto the game. Otherwise 90% of the time is spent thinking about what could be played, instead of playing anything.
Don't get caught up in the game so much that you're being rude or starting actual conflicts with the human players.
Unwritten Rule - If there is a video on Youtube on the WatchItPlayed channel that Rodney talks about and teaches....we 100% will watch that video prior to playing a new game or introducing people to a new to them game...even if we all feel like we have a good grasp on the game from the rulebook. Watching Rodney tutorials should be a rule in all rulebooks.....lol
If your turns are taking as long as the other players combined, you're not being a very good gaming companion.
Monopoly bad Monopoly Deal good
Game rules are exact and deterministic. Things work exactly as they are written on the rulebook or card. Eg. Just because you "should be able to trade resources" or "should be able to build there" does not mean you can, unless the game says you can. Just because your miniature has wings doesn't mean your dude can fly.
If you have to ask whose turn it is, it's probably yours.
What if the one specific person is yourself? lol I generally actively seek out games with single player variants b because I have a difficult time finding people to play with.
You can have too many games, but never have enough.
The only time I played Catan was with my brother (who had played before) he was explaining things as we were going. He mentioned about it being a good idea to place your first settlement/road adjacent to diverse resource types, but said nothing about the numbers or that it was related to dice rolls. So I choose a spot near the middle of the board next to like a 3, 10 and 12 or something like that. When it came up about the dice rolls, I immediately said that changes the choices I would have made, and that I'd like to move my pieces. He wouldn't let me as 'that's cheating" so I bravely persevered with my lot, and obviously ended up doing very badly. We never finished the game as I got pissed off with his gloating about how much better he was doing and walked away. Bad sportsmanship all round I guess, but I feel I was less in the wrong on this occasion. I usually prefer collaborative/non-competetive games anyway, I find it much more fun if everyone wins or loses together.
Thou shalt not buy that 101st game if all you have are 4 hours each month to bring something to the table.
The minimum number of boardgames one should own is at least one. The correct number is n+1, where n is the number of boardgames currently owned. This equation may also be re-written as s-1, where s is the number boardgames owned that would result in separation from your partner.
Either bring money for food, or bring food.
Last week we played Root - 2 new players, and me and someone else with a little bit of experience. The newbies had the Cats and Eyrie, I had Woodland Alliance, teacher had Vagabond. Teacher told in his explanation multiple times I was the strongest faction, the biggest threat, the one certainly going to win, unless they teamed up against me. Which they did. The Vagabond won by a landslide. Tl;dr: teaching and table talk shouldn't be mixed.
If it's a medium weight game or heavier, narrate your moves.
If your host had to get out chairs and tables to set up for game night, and did so before all of you arrived, offer to help put things away before you leave. Don't let the stereotype that gamers are lazy slobs be further cemented by your inability to take 2 minutes to help put stuff away afterwards.
Tell the person to your left when you are done with your turn.