c/board-game-geeks

Just crossed 50 plays of Spirit Island and it finally clicked

I've been playing Spirit Island on and off for about 8 months, and last night I hit my 50th play logged on BGG. Something just flipped in my brain and I finally won a game against Prussia level 6 without sweating bullets. Has anyone else had a specific number of plays where a heavy game suddenly made sense for you?

The shift from heavy euros to light party games in my group over 5 years

I remember back in 2018 my group would sit down for a 4 hour game of Terraforming Mars or Caverna every Friday night. Now if a game takes longer than 45 minutes, half the group loses interest and pulls out their phones lol. I think what changed was when three of the guys had kids and suddenly free time got real scarce. Last month I tried to bring out Brass Birmingham and two people literally groaned. So now my shelf is full of stuff like Codenames, Just One, and Wavelength. Even I miss the deep strategy sometimes but I get it. Anyone else have their group switch from heavy games to quick ones as life got busier?

Finally figured out how to get those tiny card sleeves on without losing my mind

I play a lot of 7 Wonders and those small cards have always been a pain to sleeve. For like 3 years I'd sit there fumbling with each one individually and getting air bubbles. Then last month I saw a guy at my local shop in Portland slide the card in at an angle while pressing the bottom corner first and it went on smooth every time. Anyone else have a weird little trick like that for sleeving?

A 10 minute conversation with a playtester changed how I organize game components forever

Wasted $45 on a Kickstarter board game that never shipped

I backed this dungeon crawler back in March 2022 and the creator kept posting updates but now it's been radio silence for 9 months. The whole campaign raised over $200k and they just ghosted. Anyone else get burned by a Kickstarter game?

Unpopular opinion: Board game cafes killed the hobby for me

Old school meetups at someone's house used to be all about deep strategy and actual play. Now cafes are full of people taking cell phone pics of their drinks and chatting over filler games. Did the atmosphere shift ruin the focus for anyone else?

Pro tip: using a dice tray actually cut my game setup time in half

I was always knocking pieces off the table during Catan so I grabbed a $10 felt tray from Amazon and now I spend way less time hunting for missing sheep under the couch, anyone else find a cheap fix that changed their game night?

Just realized I was storing my games completely wrong for years

I always kept my board game boxes standing up like books on a shelf. Figured it looked neat and saved space. Then last week I opened my copy of Castles of Burgundy and all the tokens were mixed into one giant pile at the bottom. The insert was totally useless. My buddy laughed and told me I should store them flat so the pieces stay in their compartments. Now I gotta reorganize my whole Kallax setup. Anyone else make this mistake for way too long?

Local shop owner warned me about Kickstarter board games

There's this guy named Mike who runs the board game store on Elm Street. He told me about a year ago that most Kickstarter board games look great in the previews but flop hard in real play. I didn't listen because the deluxe edition of Dungeon Raiders had all these metal coins and giant minis. I dropped $80 on it plus shipping back in February. When it finally showed up in July, the rules were a mess and half the mechanics just didn't work. After three tries to get through one game, we gave up and put it on the shelf. Mike was right and now I check with him before I back anything. Has anyone else gotten burned by a Kickstarter game that looked amazing but played terrible?

Hot take: most "board game cafes" are just overpriced places to eat while ignoring the game

Went to one in Austin last month and spent $15 on a latte while the staff spent more time explaining the menu than the actual rules of Spirit Island.

Spent $120 on a deluxe edition of a game I barely play anymore

I bought the fancy Kickstarter version of "Scythe" back in 2017 with all the metal coins and realistic resources. Cost me about $120 total, and I thought it would be the centerpiece of my game nights. Turns out, the added bits don't make up for the fact that the game takes 3 hours and my group prefers shorter stuff like "Ticket to Ride." Has anyone else dumped money into a big box game that just collects dust on your shelf?

Dropped $70 on that fancy Kickstarter board game organizer and it was a total scam

I backed this big Kickstarter for a wooden organizer that was supposed to fit all my expansions for a popular dungeon crawler. The thing cost me $70 with shipping and took eight months to arrive. When I got it, the trays didn't fit the cards right and the whole thing wobbled on the table. I tried sanding down the edges but it just made a mess and the wood started splintering. Honestly, I should have just stuck with my stack of zip lock bags like I always do. Has anyone else had luck with those cheap plastic organizers from Amazon or am I better off just bagging everything forever?

Saw a guy bring a full metal tray of miniatures to the coffee shop last Wednesday

He had like 40 Warhammer figures spread out on a table near the window, painting with a tiny brush while sipping a latte. It made me wonder if board game hobbyists are taking over public spaces now, or if this has always been a thing and I just missed it.

My go-to campaign setting book fell apart at the binding after 3 sessions

The spine split clean open during a big reveal in Gloomhaven last Friday, and I spent 20 minutes with a glue stick trying to save it mid-game, has anyone else had a favorite rulebook fall apart on them?

Used to just go with whatever expansion was cheapest, now I actually read the rule changes first

I grabbed the "Cities of Splendor" expansion for Splendor last year for like 15 bucks because it was on clearance. Didn't even look at the new rules, just threw the cards in with the base game. My group had this weird game night where nobody could figure out why the cities tiles kept messing up the regular flow. Turned out I missed a whole section about stacking bonuses that changes the whole pace. After that disaster, I started checking BoardGameGeek forums before any new expansion buy. Now I spend 20 minutes reading reviews and rule summaries before I even open the box. Has anyone else found a surprise mechanic in an expansion that completely changed how you play the base game?

Spilled coffee all over my game box and it ruined the rulebook

I was getting ready to teach a friend how to play a new deckbuilder last weekend and my mug tipped right onto the box. The cards were fine but the rulebook turned into a soggy mess that fell apart when I tried to separate the pages. Has anyone else had a rulebook get destroyed and what did you do to replace it?

My local game store owner told me a story about crowdfunding 10 years ago

Last week I was at Dice Box in Austin picking up sleeves for my deck. The owner, Mike, started telling me about how he backed this game called Dwarven Forge back in 2013 on Kickstarter. He said it took 18 months to deliver and the box showed up crushed at his door. Tbh I never realized how messy crowdfunding used to be before all the big studios got involved. Has anyone else heard stories about early board game Kickstarters that went totally sideways?

Accidentally played a legacy game backwards and it still worked

Picked up a used copy of Pandemic Legacy Season 1 for $30 and didn't realize the stickers were already applied in reverse order. We played 6 months of content in the wrong month sequence but somehow the story still made sense. Has anyone else accidentally broken the timeline in a legacy game?

My buddy swore I was wrong about deck building limits

About 6 months ago a guy at our local shop told me I should only use 10 unique cards in a deck, not the usual 20. Said it would make my combos hit faster and I'd win more often. I ignored him because it sounded stupid and I had been playing for years. Finally tried it last week with my Blue/Green ramp deck and I went 4-1 in a tournament. Felt like an idiot for not testing his advice sooner. Anyone else have a strategy tip they brushed off that ended up working way better than they expected?

That 'pre-sleeving' trick for card games is a total trap - here's what I learned the hard way

I got into deckbuilding games last spring and kept seeing people online talking about how they pre-sleeve every card in the box before playing. Sounded smart until I spent 4 hours sleeving 500 cards for my new LCG, only to find out half of them never even get used in a typical game. The sleeves themselves cost me $28 and now they're just sitting there. Worse, I stored them wrong and the sleeves started sticking together after 2 months. I should have just waited to sleeve the cards I actually play with. Has anyone else wasted time and money on this or am I the only one who fell for it?

My friend Karen made me realize I've been teaching games wrong for years

We were playing Wingspan at the shop last Saturday and she stopped me mid-explanation to ask why I was dumping 10 minutes of rules on new players. Said I should just start the game and explain as we go, like how you'd teach someone to throw a football. Has anyone else had to totally change their teaching style after someone called them out?

Why nobody talks about how expensive board game storage gets

Last week I finally added up what I spent on storage solutions for my collection over the past 3 years. It came to $180 total between those plastic bin organizers, foam core inserts, and a shelf I built myself. I dont even have that big of a collection maybe 40 games. Just feels like nobody warns you that the boxes are poorly designed so you end up spending more on storage than on some of the actual games. Has anyone found a cheap way to keep all those bits sorted without going broke?

Sat down to play Terraforming Mars with my group last night and realized I'd been doing the whole game wrong for 2 years

My buddy Mike pointed out that I was mixing up the plant and heat production tracks. I've been playing since 2022 and somehow never caught that the little icons are different. It completely changed how I bid on cards in the first generation. Has anyone else had a rule click like that way later than they should have?

Why does nobody mention the secret rule in Twilight Imperium 4th edition

I was reading the manual again last night and found a rule about how Trade Goods can be used to bribe other players into not attacking you, which is NOT in the quick start guide at all. Has anyone else noticed missing rules in their favorite heavy games?

Came across a stat about how much board game weight actually matters

I was reading through the BGG geeklists last night and found a breakdown showing that games over 4.0 weight sell way worse than lighter ones. The numbers said that heavy games average around 500 copies sold compared to 2,000 for mid weight games like Catan or Ticket to Ride. That surprised me because I thought the hardcore crowd was bigger. Has anyone else noticed that trend at your local stores?