c/board-game-geeks

My group's rules lawyer almost ruined a 4 hour game of Dune

Last Friday we ran Dune with the expansion and this one guy kept quoting the rulebook on every single combat step, dragging things out until midnight. I finally said, 'you know we can just agree on a house rule and move on,' and he looked at me like I insulted his family. We finished the last two rounds in 45 minutes without him pulling the book once, so has anyone else found that kicking the rulebook off the table speeds up EVERYTHING, or is it just my group?

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michaelrodriguez•5d ago

Guy at my FLGS swore by dice trays, I laughed, now I get it

Last month a regular at Game Haven in Austin kept pushing his $12 felt tray on me and I said nah, table rolls were fine. Two weeks later my D20 bounced off a stack of cards and landed in someone's drink, so I finally caved and bought one. Anyone else had a cheap accessory they ignored that actually saved a session?

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kellymurphy•5d ago

My buddy's 10 minute rule for picking games actually works

Last month at a convention in Austin, a stranger told me to set a 10 minute timer after explaining any game rules. If the table isn't asking questions or laughing by then, just pack it up. Tried it twice this week with different groups and both times it saved us from dragging through something nobody liked. Has anyone else used a cutoff like that for teaching heavier games?

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the_sarah•6d ago

Switched from physical tokens to an app for game night scoring, no regrets

Used to tally victory points with paper and pencil every Friday. After 3 sessions of math mistakes, I moved to a scoring app on my phone. Do other groups still track by hand or am I the only one who gave up the old way?

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the_karen•8d ago

I finally walked into a board game cafe in Austin and freaked out

So I hit up this place called The Iron Forge Cafe last Saturday, paid the $8 cover fee, and got a table. Within 10 minutes I saw three people arguing over a 45 minute round of Spirit Island, someone teaching their grandma how to play Wingspan for the first time, and a group of 6 adults dead silent over a copy of Root that they'd been playing for 2 hours. My head spun. How do people even decide what to play when the shelf has 300+ games and every single one has a 20 page rulebook? I left after 3 games and one mediocre latte, but I still can't stop thinking about that one guy who brought his own dice tower and a little felt bag for his meeples. Has anyone else been to a game cafe and felt totally overwhelmed by the choices, or am I just too used to playing the same 5 games at home?

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rubyj11•9d ago

Hit 1,000 logged plays on my shelf tracker today, most of them were cheap thrift store finds

I just crossed 1,000 logged plays and it hit me that maybe 700 of those came from $2 garage sale pickups, not the fancy stuff, so has anyone else realized their beat-up games get way more table time than the ones they paid full price for?

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young.emma•10d ago

Settlers of Catan vs Carcassonne for a couple with joint pain

My wife and I both have arthritis in our hands, so we're downsizing our collection and I had to keep just one of our two favorites. I kept Carcassonne because the tiles are easier to grip and you don't have to hold cards all game, but our last session felt slower without the trading banter. Anyone else pick a game based on physical comfort over strategy depth, and did it stick for you?

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richard_roberts80•11d ago

Our D&D night got derailed by one player's dice tower rule

Last Friday at my local shop in Portland, a guy insisted we reroll any attack under 10 because his $60 dice tower was 'unbalanced', and it killed the whole session's momentum. I shut it down by suggesting we just swap to a flat tray for the rest of the night, has anyone else had to police house rules mid-game like that?

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matthewg63•11d ago

Is a campaign night a better hangout than a one-off, or am I just tired of teaching rules?

Last Saturday I ran a 3 hour one-off of a medium weight game for 5 people. Two of them had never played anything heavier than Monopoly. I spent the first 45 minutes just going over turns, answering the same question about what a worker placement even is, and resetting one guy's pieces twice because he kept picking up the wrong color. By the time we actually got going, two people were checking their phones. That same group did a 4 session campaign with a lighter game back in March and it was way more fun by session 2, nobody needed reminders, people were trash talking, we even ordered pizza. So is the learning curve worth it for a group that only meets once a month? Or should I just stick to games that take 10 minutes to explain and accept that we're never doing anything deeper? Has anyone else had a group that only clicked after a few plays?

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kellymurphy•12d ago

Can we stop pretending player elimination is good design?

I played a game called Dead Last last Saturday with six people, and two of us got knocked out in the first 15 minutes. We sat there for another hour watching everyone else have fun, and the host kept saying "it's part of the strategy." That's not strategy, that's just bad pacing. Has anyone else just walked away from a table after getting eliminated early, or do you all just accept it? I'm getting real tired of buying into games that waste my evening like that.

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anderson.spencer•12d ago

Bought a used copy of Twilight Imperium, the box smelled like cigarette smoke

Picked up a 3rd edition copy off Facebook Marketplace for $40 last weekend, way below the usual going rate. Opened the box and the whole thing reeked of old smoke, not just the cardboard but every single token and card. I spent about 2 hours wiping down each piece with a damp cloth and leaving them in a bag with baking soda overnight. It mostly worked, but now I'm wondering if that smell ever really fully goes away or if I'm just used to it. Has anyone else dealt with a smelly used game and found a better trick than baking soda?

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irisross•13d ago

A stranger at game night taught me how to actually lose

Last month at a Chicago meetup, this quiet guy named Doug beat me 6 games in a row at Carcassonne, but he kept telling me exactly which move would've won each time. It hit me that he was more excited about my near-wins than his own victory, and I've never looked at competitive play the same since. Has anyone else met a player who made losing feel like a lesson instead of a defeat?

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grace565•14d ago

The 2015 Essen list I saved is the only one I actually use now

I dug through my old BGG saves from Essen 2015 last night and realized I've played 9 of the top 10 games from that list more than anything newer I've picked up since. My group swears by the 2015 lineup like it's a law, but every convention haul since feels like we're forcing it. We spent $80 on three hyped releases last spring and none made it back to the table after 2 plays. Am I the only one who thinks the hobby peaked with that year's catalog, or do you have an older list that still beats every new release?

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seana14•17d ago

That guy who 'helps' with every game at the store...

Last month at the game cafe downtown, this regular kept jumping in to 'clarify' rules for new players during a game of Root. He ended up confusing everyone so bad they quit after 20 minutes. Has anyone else had a self-appointed game explainer ruin a session for you?

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garcia.charles•19d ago

Hot take: Did that player critique my setup or just being a jerk? I still can't decide

Last month at a local game night in Austin, a guy told me I was playing Spirit Island all wrong. He said my strategy of focusing on slow powers first was holding the group back. I got defensive at first, but I sat back and watched how he handled his turns. He was right about a couple things I never noticed, like timing my innate powers better. Now I run turns totally different and my win rate actually went up. But I still wonder if that criticism was meant to help or if he just wanted to show off. What's the line between helpful feedback and someone just being bossy at the table? Has anyone else had a random player change how they play a game for good?

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johnson.adam•20d ago

Switched from competitive games to co-op after one bad night

I used to only play competitive board games like Catan, but after a game night last month where two friends nearly stopped talking over a trade dispute, I grabbed a copy of Pandemic. Now I'm hooked on working together instead of arguing over sheep... anyone else make that kind of switch?

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bencampbell•24d ago

Shoutout to the guy who taught me how to store board games vertically

Last month at a local game store in Austin, a random player showed me how to stack my boxes on their side so they don't crush each other. It freed up about 2 feet of shelf space in my closet. Has anyone else tried this with heavier games like Gloomhaven without risking the inserts?

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parker_foster53•25d ago

Rant: Backed a hyped Kickstarter game and it flopped hard

I was dead set against crowdfunding board games for years. Too many horror stories about late deliveries or broken promises. But the marketing for this dungeon crawler looked amazing. Miniatures, custom dice, the whole package. I caved and put down $120 about 14 months ago. Game finally showed up last week and it's a mess. Rules are a jumbled mess, components don't fit in the box right, and the first scenario took us 3 hours just to set up. So much for trusting the hype. Anyone else get burned by a Kickstarter that looked too good to be true?

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sullivan.elliot•26d ago

Got told my game night scoring was making people not want to come back

I used to track scores really strictly with a big whiteboard and penalties for rule mistakes. One friend finally pulled me aside after a 4 hour session of Agricola and said it felt more like a test than fun. I cut the penalty system and started just doing a casual honorable mention for the winner instead of full leaderboards. Has anyone else had to dial back the competitive side of their game nights to keep people interested?

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kellymurphy•26d ago

Pro tip: That guy who told me to ditch my card sleeves was right

Back in 2018 at Dice House Games in Portland, some random guy named Tom told me I was ruining my deck by using penny sleeves on my Arkham Horror LCG cards. I ignored him for 3 years until I finally upgraded to Dragon Shields for $10 a pack. The difference in shuffle feel and durability is night and day, and now I get why he was so pushy. Anyone else have a stranger at a local shop give you advice that actually stuck?

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maryadams•27d ago

Pro tip: I swore Kickstarter board games were a scam until I backed one that delivered early

I backed a small game called "Lumberjack" in 2021 for $35 and got it in 8 months, way ahead of schedule. Has anyone else had a surprise like that change your view on crowdfunding?

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calebrivera•27d ago

Spent $80 on a premium board game storage solution and it barely fits half my collection

I picked up this fancy foam core insert system for a big box game I own, thinking it would organizer everything nice and neat. The thing cost me $80 online and when I got it, the pieces didn't even line up with the board correctly. I had to trim like a third of the foam just to get the lid to close. Has anyone else had luck with those custom 3D printed organizers or is it all a gamble?

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thomas862•27d ago

The trick that saved my Saturday game night disaster

I had a group of 6 people coming over last Saturday for game night and realized half my board game boxes had missing pieces or worn out cards. Instead of panicking I went to a local printing shop called Printz R Us on Main Street and got them to print high quality replacements for $8 total. They scanned my original cards and cut them to size in like 20 minutes. Has anyone else tried a print shop for game piece replacements?

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riverf34•27d ago

TIL a guy at my local game store taught me how to actually play Catan without fighting

I was at Dragon's Lair in Austin last Saturday and this older dude named Mike sat down next to me during a pickup game. He told me to stop hoarding brick and focus on trading early, even if it feels like giving away a win. Have you ever had a random stranger at a shop change how you see a game?

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paul330•29d ago

That overheard comment about rulebooks got me thinking at the coffee shop

I was sitting at a Starbucks downtown yesterday and heard two guys talking about how modern board game rulebooks are way too long compared to the ones from the 80s. One said he missed the old Avalon Hill days where you got a single page of tiny text and had to figure the rest out yourself. It made me realize how much I actually enjoy those dense, confusing rulebooks from back then even though they drove me crazy. Has anyone else noticed the shift toward 30 page full color manuals and do you prefer the old way?

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