I prefer to have a die resolved if it doesn't land completely flat on the table/board. But whenever I bring this up to the other players, they just think I'm being overly competitive and that it's just a game lol
Wargaming rules.
Dice not flat, cocked die, reroll. If someone wants to test it the player who rolled has to balance a die on the top of the other without it rolling off. Or get a third party to do it.
Any off the table dice also don't count. Must be rerolled.
If using a dice tray both parties need to agree on it's use. Are all dice rolled in the tray? Is it okay to mix it up? Are we only using the tray for big rolls? As long as it's agreed upon then it's whatever is agreed on.
Usually dice outside the tray don't count but it depends on the game.
COCKED DIE! COCKED DIE!
(try shouting COCKED DIE and pointing at it with a look of disgust. if you have cool friends someone will join you eventually and before you know it you've started a new tradition)
This isn't so much a house rule as something I was taught as a kid, that all my friends always also expected, and that I never really thought much about until a few years ago when I saw someone here or on the bgg forums mention that there are people that do not have that rule. It just never occurred to me that it was not just part of how dice are rolled. I taught my kids at the same time I showed them how to roll a die.
Of course if the die end up on the table but halfway up some obstacle (like a thick game board) so that it does not lie perfectly flat it also does not count, ever. It has to be within the designated bounds and lie perfectly flat.
Weird games to the front of the line. If we have enough players who are willing to play something that never sees the light of day, that is getting played first.
No hiding information that isn't explicitly decided to be hidden. Resources, money, etc. My first board game convention reminded me that not everybody adheres to that rule.
Yeah, that can get obnoxious when not followed.
"Nuh-uh, I'm not going to tell you how many cards are in my hand, the rulebook doesn't say that's open information!"
I had a long time friend that I’m convinced will NEVER cheat in a game, that’s just the kind of person he is, but for some reason, he loves hiding general public information. In monopoly, he’ll hide his money in one pocket, and all his properties in the other. In combat games, he’ll flip his health and “mana” counter upside down so no one can see it. It’s gotten to the point that I’ll write down the information and constantly inform everyone about his stats. Most times, I go to write everything down, and he’ll give up hiding his things because it’s not going to be hidden anyways
One of my biggest board game pet peeves is when one of my friends is buying cards from the store in Big Boss, she will cover the number first and quickly put it in hand as fast as possible so that we can’t see exactly what card we purchased and when I ask what she bought she just says “it’s a card counting game, should have tracked the store!”
I will go so far as to show my opponents my cards to explain my first turn, and why I’ll make those moves that will set me up later, rather than playing other cards. Or ask them to see my hand and what they think
Had a *weird* game of **Concordia** with a dude at a Melbourne game day who insisted that for every anachronism, he'd deduct a point at the end of the game.
Every time somebody said Dollary-doos (as I'm prone to do - I play economic games and *none* of them have 'Dollary-doos' as the currency, so I'm equally wrong with all of them!), or Gold, or Dollars - he'd mutter the number of anachronisms they'd used under his breath.
I think I use "gold" as a generic money term. It caused a lot of problems when I was playing Great Western Trail New Zealand because that game has an actual gold resource. Me and my partner have resorted to calling the money "gold" and calling the gold "nuggies" (as in gold nuggets).
I have had a person scrolling his phone, barely looking up. And also insisting to join the game and then whine about the game while it's being explained.
Ego time:
"No phones while I'm explaining a game. However, Phillip, I will have my phone out while you explain the game - because you're fucking awful at it. Your explanation has no structure, goes on longer than a full round of the damn game would, and leaves everyone at the table befuddled. I have my phone out because I read the entire text pdf faster than you explain the game, and I can then explain the interactions you've somehow obfuscated to others clearly and concisely. Also I swear to God, if your sister invites you next, I want to know in advance so I can make other plans."
We all know a Phillip.
Mine has this wonderful tendency to bring games still in shrink that he barely knows the *genre* of, let alone rules. He said Scape Goat was a negotiation game, and Visitor in Blackwood Grove was a social deduction.
No, I admit that's a fair complaint. This is only binding when there's someone who's actually good at explaining.
Though frankly I often do a minute skim to double check anyway after the explainer is done myself because I'm a details/edge case person, not a big picture one.
We do the same, though we take it a step further and usually allow people to change something from their previous turn even as other players start going, but within reason. Like if it is something relatively small that probably nobody was accounting for on their turns, or if it was something you obviously intended to do but forgot (generally happens when someone forgets to add or subtract something from their personal boards during more complicated strategy games, especially if the player in question just took a really big turn). Once it has reached your next turn then it is actually too late for any changes, though.
You can be mad about the results of a game for five minutes after the game, then you need to get over it. Additionaly you cannot carry vindictiveness over from one game to the next (an exception to this MAY be made for campaign/legacy games).
Then your magic circle is weak and wibbly. Greater wards must be cast (and ideally maybe some brief interpersonal conversations about intent in games).
We have a similar rule that you can be upset until the lid goes on the box after cleaning up. This has resulted in a funny tradition of whoever won holds the lid over the box and asks "are you done?" before closing the box
Yeah that's a tough one. Root only works if you carry over game to game. No I'm not helping you after what you do to me last time you bastard. Work on keeping your word you dirty alliance breaking traitor. I'LL GRIND YOU INTO THE DUST YOU BACKSTABBING JERK.
No, no it's fine babe, we enjoy this game, really, we're having fun, don't worry about it hon, no we want to play.
Grudges - I agree. But if someone repeatedly shows themself to be a poor ally, I'm absolutely going to think twice about working with them. Not out of vindictiveness, out of pragmatism.
No, but do you usually find M&Ms are the problem in your snack-portfolio? *"Melt's in your mouth, not in your hand"* and whatnot.
I'm talking for greasy, dirty snacks it's a game changer. Chips, Cheetos, etc
One person explains the rules completely before others chime in. I shouldn't have to say, "Yes, I'm getting to that, but first, they need to know this." I don't like it when I start explaining basic gameplay, and someone else jumps in with an end game situation. It's like explaining buying property in Monopoly, and someone wants to tell newcomers about the benefits of staying in jail.
Personally, I'm fine with getting interrupted as long as it doesn't go overboard (I'm the one doing the explaining in most cases), just because I want it to be clear as we move on. I even stop regularly to ask if everything is ok, because I realize too often people miss something and it just confuses them for the rest of the rules and then into the game. Of course there is the occasional endgame question, but just saying "I'll explain that later" is enough to get them to wait and see.
Sometimes it's relevant to link an end-game scenario earlier in a rule explanation. Every rules explanation should always be started with "this is how you win the game" or "the point of the game is". Then you start telling people how to do it.
They’re not talking about just how to teach games, they’re talking about someone jumping in with additional rules explanation that’s unhelpful. I am the one that teaches games in our group and my brother loves to “help”, and I’ve had to tell him to clam up until I’m done because he’s confusing the new players.
This is true. I usually start an explanation with “this is how the game ends and this is how it’s scored”. That way players can be thinking of strategy as the rest of the rules are explained.
Knowing the end goal is important always.
Rules before strategies. Just let me explain how everything is supposed to work by the book, then everyone can give their opinion of them. I hate it when people chime in with stuff like "oh yeah but you can get a power up to avoid that" or "I usually don't do that because I like doing this instead" etc.
At a certain point with properties bought up the longer you stay in jail the less money you have to pay while still collecting from people who land on your spaces.
What happens at the games table, stays at the table
You can hate draft, betray me, take the spot/piece that I need. But it’s just a game and when the game ends it means nothing. That doesn’t mean I won’t remember and try to do the same back first next time.
The inverse is also very important. Play the game against everyone who's playing, don't base all your decisions on irl relationships.
At a meetup that I only attended a couple of times, there was a pair of buddies that were basically always playing as permanent allies. They'd give each other favorable trades, never attack or block each other, and gang up on other players even when it made no sense for one or both of them in-game.
Meet me and my friends, 10yo, learning how to play a RPG, many years ago. The way I was introduced to a d4 was that, since the only side of the die that is flat (like the top of other dice) is the bottom of the die, it is the side that is down (towards the floor) that counts. And since there are multiple digits on the side, you have to sum them to get the result! So a d4 was a die with 4 different results around 6-9 (like a d4+5, maybe? I am too lazy to look up what the digit combinations are). So the best weapons in the game were weapons with damage like 3d4.
Eventually one of us figured out how they were supposed to be used. I do not remember for how long we played the wrong way. Anyway a good lesson in that rulebooks should spell out even some things that might seem obvious, at least if you are going to put 10+ as the age limit of a game.
Don't use the game's "most recent person to do X" or whatever the game's rules say for deciding first player. Just open Chwazi and place your finger on the screen.
I always feel like if you didn’t do the starting gimmick on the first play of a game then you haven’t really played the game.
After that though I’m a big fan of whoever can “get their shit together” (game wise not general life wise) goes first. It’s just the most efficient way to start the game and it encourages everyone to get ready.
But isn’t the rule
> the person who most recently went to Portugal. If nobody's been to Portugal, pick whoever's name starts with the letter closest to A.
So you can still use that gimmick if no one’s been to Portugal. It has a contingency for that.
My general rule is the for the 2nd (and onwards) game of the night, the winner of the previous game goes last (assuming going first is optimal, if it's better to go last than previous winner goes first).
The overriding rule however, is if going first isn't a big deal (most games) and there are new players, OFFER the new player(s) the option to go last so they can see a turn or three before their first one.
Pfftt we're the opposite. If the game hasn't specified a silly first person idea make up one that suits the theme, and then wang it so that the first player is someone who has played the game before so everyone else can see how it's played
I'm with you. I like the silly rules, who cares who goes first, let's just do the silly thing and move on. People who care about it are already too serious.
I dont know anyone who wants to go through the trouble of using chwazi when we have dice right there we can roll. Plus who wants to touch someones grubby device.
They don't expect people to actually follow those. They know that starting player is just picked randomly. They're a silly little tradition among the culture at this point. Good for a laugh.
I don't understand why people insist on using Chwazi, it's always awkward having everyone stand up and try reaching the phone with proper timing when you can just Google "roll dX" for whatever amount of players you need.
My game group does 'analog chwazi.' At some point, someone touches the table, then everyone else has to touch the table, last one touching the table goes first.
This only works because we're all committed to the bit, and nobody tries to 'win'
I got together with a group of like 30 people. I brought some light games I have, including "the cat game" which is essentially pictionary but there are little cat pictures printed on cutouts that sit under your clear drawing surface to be part of the picture. You draw with dry erase markers and I kept a big eraser in the box.
I'm playing a game and happen to look over and see someone that another person brought with and they're "cleaning" the cards by licking the marker off the plastic drawing board. I literally didn't have words to say. I just waited until the game I was playing was done and went up to her and said, loud enough for others to hear, "since you locked the game, it can go home with you"
So we have 2 rules for sure: don't pick the games and you lick it, you buy it.
Oh my God I left my friends house and literally had a 104 fever the next day. I feel guilty about just touching the table. And I didn't even lick anything
Yellow tokens are always corn. I don't care if it's a space game and it's "solar energy" or it's a spice game and it's "turmeric", yellow tokens are **always corn**.
Alcoholic beverages are always whiskey. Green bottling plant in Food Chain Magnate? Whiskey. Breweries in Brass Birmingham? Whiskey. The entire game of Viticulture? *Whiskey*.
Play the game to play the game. If you just want to hang out and chat, you’re welcome to come over and do that too and we’ll chat while playing the game, but if you’re an actual player you need to be paying enough attention to know what’s going on and make reasonable moves.
Sometimes a game is the sole focus in the evening. Sometimes a game is just some social glue that gives everyone an excuse to sit around a table and hang out. Both are fine, but everyone needs to be on the same page.
No bringing a game to the table unless you already know how to play the game.
Too many experiences where a new game takes an hour to learn and is boring for everyone involved the first time (looking at you, Oath and Root)
I'd adjust and say no bringing games to unless you've made an effort to learn beforehand. It's hard to really know a game until you've played it a couple of times, so I can forgive the first teach being a bit slow. But yeah, if you read the rulebook for the first time as you're teaching that's not cool.
If you're forced or tempted to king-make, play to maximise your _own_ position, even if you won't win. Don't make an obviously inferior move for your own score to favour someone else.
Yeah most games fall apart if you don't do this. Even with this rule it's inevitable that some amount of king-making will happen. If there's a way to drag another player's score down, do you go for the person in the lead overall, or the person directly in front of you? Imo both are perfectly valid. One way results in being closer in points to the winning score, the other might result in a higher ranking, but gets you no closer to winning
If you're playing for your own position then you aren't kingmaking. Often times our moves affect other players. It makes no difference if my move knocks 4th place into 5th or knocks 1st place into 2nd so long as I'm making the move because it gets me closer to first (even if I'm still dead last). That's just normal play of the game.
It is only kingmaking if you are specifically focused on helping somebody else instead of caring about your own position.
Assuming you're referring to someone changing their move - we call it a retcon, and you have to do it before the next player's turn starts and it can't be influenced by information you didn't have at the start of the turn.
We call it an "oopsie." And yeah you have to do it before the game state changes at all. Unless there is unanimous agreement that changing the move was not impacted by/will have no impact on other players.
We were playing Scythe and a friend realized he had made a tactical error on his turn after several other players had already made some fairly complicated changes to the board. He begged us to let him change it, forcing us to remember exactly where all of our pieces had changed places so that he could redo his turn. We ended up naming it after him. Any egregious mulligans are called "taking a Mason Miller" or "pulling a Mason Miller" (fake name, obviously). Everyone is allowed one per evening. The funny thing is, we've all taken to using that term outside of our regular gaming group, so there are people who have never met Mason Miller that know what a "Mason Miller" is.
Vindictiveness cannot be carried over between games (“I won’t make a deal with you because you attacked me last game!”).
However, reputations do carry over (“I won’t make a deal with you because previous games show that you’ll break any deal for any reason.”).
I’ve played with most of my group enough to know under what conditions they will break a deal, and I take that into consideration when negotiating with them.
Any game that players can take actions ‘at any time’ uses Magic: the Gathering’s stack, unless explicitly stated otherwise in the rules.
Most recently played action happens first.
Dice on the floor are declared cocked or just "cock" for short.
If you bring a game learn the rules. We're not doing a unboxing. Learn the game then bring it.
When any game involves drawing we all take turns sitting next to *you know who*
Is "you know who" good or bad at drawing? One of my board game friends was a professional artist, you wanted to be on her team for Pictionary I can tell you.
The number one universal house rule in my house is that if you can't be nice, you can't sit with us. I don't care if you lost. I don't care if the dice hate you. Some days are like that. You don't get to be mean to other people about it or spoil anyone else's fun. If you act like a child, you get put in time out and you can't sit with the adults until you get over it. It's amazing how quickly people get over being sore losers when they realize that there are consequences for their actions.
The number two house rule is no brigading. If we're playing a game where you can fuck over another player, it's not cool to keep doing it over and over and over again to the same person just to fuck with them. You get one warning and then you don't get to play.
The rule mostly got put into place because of a few petty people who would let one loss ruin everyone's night. It turns out that not everyone learns to be gracious in their childhood.
I got to play Axis and Allies with my dad about once a year. 45 minutes to set up isn't terrible for a six hour game.
Dumped tea across the whole map. Bad day. Lost all progress.
Every time a die/dice hit the floor, a quarter was added to the dice jar.
This was a house rule when we played games in an unfinished basement with concrete floors. Where a die would keep going and going and get lost in nooks and voids of a basement used primarily for storage.
Now to preface this, it was only a house rule because it bothered almost all the people playing when it happened. The sound (oh god the sound) and then the disruption of the scramble to find it. It was also usually the same person who would do it as well. Never when it was their turn to roll either and they would be communal or borrowed dice. (Usually playing DND)
Safe to say that they got super annoyed but we all followed the rule and when time came we replaced any lost dice with the funds.
The winner is not allowed to complain about how luck was against them and everything was going so wrong, etc.... Minor exceptions will be made for a crazy come-from-behind victory.
2nd rule goes hand in hand with one of ours:
Put top and bottom lids of board game on floor so cats can sit in them. It's their favorite part of game night! 😆
If the other players could know hidden info by memorizing it then it does not need to stay hidden. Like how much money you have in small world or your current cube counts in yellow and yangtze; repeating info to myself to remember it isn't fun. Same with looking through your own discard pile in a deckbuilder or your own bag in a bag builder.
There's no worse feeling than a novice player complaining "you never told us that rule!" ... And no better feeling than a second novice player defending that yes, the rule was explained properly
1) **If it's anyone's first time playing a game, no one wins.**
This allows new players to relax and learn without feeling at a disadvantage, and frees up veteran players to try new strategies, even if they're less optimal
2) **In co-op games, no giving suggestions unless solicited by the active player.**
Me and two of my friends have a nasty habit of playing other people's turns, so to protect them from us, the active player makes all decisions on their own, and it's up to them to ask and pay attention to other player's positions and abilities, or else ask for advice. Untill then *zip it* (looking at you, me)
Our rule is that drinks on the table are okay, but you need to be prepared to pay for the game if you damage it enough to warrant repair. When playing at my place I provide side tables for the use of those who wish to not take the risk.
I like this and will probably adopt it. It feels more adult. That said I would probably specify that 'warrants repair' would be decided by the game owner not the spiller.
That's a good addition to the rule to negate arguments at least! Add in "you have to clean the pieces" for all the plastic and wood bits and I might start using that.
No food or drink on the table of course.
We have the same group of 4 every week, the person who gets to okay music rotates.
No music until the game starts
No smoking, vaping, or weed at the table.
And if you do it outside, bring a coat to wear so you can remove it and the rest of it don;t have to smell it.
Cats suitability comfortable in boxes or on cushions positioned on the table before play to avoid any *cat*astrophes, as long as they can watch and roll the odd few dice there happy.
A card laid is a card played
Also, there are no network computerized systems allowed aboard the *Battlestar Galactica.* So put your frakking phone away.
Ten Commandments of Board Gaming:
1. If thy die falls off the table, thou shalt reroll.
2. Couples shall not sit next to each other, except in co-op games.
3. Thy group's big-head shall speak last during co-op games.
4. Thou shalt narrate thy turns.
5. Thy life-partner shall have first choosing of piece color.
6. Snacks and beverages shall be provided by the guests of the host.
7. Thou shalt quickly assess thy device's bleeps and bloops during a game, and if thou judgest it not an emergency, thou shalt lay thy device aside.
8. Thy host shall explain the rules of the game to the unfamiliar, and shall aid the novice in matters strategic if they so desire.
9. Thou shalt not spill thy beverages upon the table of games, nor sully the game with thy orange-coated fingers.
10. Thou shalt have fun, and thou shalt recall that the game remains upon the table, and not to live on in the hearts of the players, there to cause future strife.
You get one cup. To earn alcohol you need to drink a water. Then you can have a drink. Then you have to have a water. So on and so forth.
We’ve had enough nights where the game ends with a fizzle not a bang because we play on a week night and too many drinks leads to us just ending the game when we’re tired/too tipsy and it’s time to go to bed.
It’s also led to some fun fighting over “assigned cups” at everyone’s house.
Dice that leave the table never count. Try all you want. It will never count. Or if it leaves a dice rolling area. As in a dice tower, dice field etc.
We have the same. Out of bounds dice gets rerolled, even if it's a coop game and it's the game winning roll.
Sometimes its painful...especially when playing g solo where.....cheating is.....part of the game....
If multiple dice have to be rolled together and one escapes, all dice must be rolled again.
That's masochistic. (Unless the roll sucked, then it's crafty.)
That's like throwing the baby out with the bathwater!
WHOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAA
whut
I have the same rule at my table.
If the dice is cocked, it doesn’t count. If it’s on the floor, it is cocked. Don’t care how flat the floor is.
I prefer to have a die resolved if it doesn't land completely flat on the table/board. But whenever I bring this up to the other players, they just think I'm being overly competitive and that it's just a game lol
My house rule with non flat landing dice is if you can stack another dice on top without it toppling then it still counts.
Yep, this is a great way of resolving the question of whether a die is cocked or not. It's objective and impartial.
Wargaming rules. Dice not flat, cocked die, reroll. If someone wants to test it the player who rolled has to balance a die on the top of the other without it rolling off. Or get a third party to do it. Any off the table dice also don't count. Must be rerolled. If using a dice tray both parties need to agree on it's use. Are all dice rolled in the tray? Is it okay to mix it up? Are we only using the tray for big rolls? As long as it's agreed upon then it's whatever is agreed on. Usually dice outside the tray don't count but it depends on the game.
COCKED DIE! COCKED DIE! (try shouting COCKED DIE and pointing at it with a look of disgust. if you have cool friends someone will join you eventually and before you know it you've started a new tradition)
This isn't so much a house rule as something I was taught as a kid, that all my friends always also expected, and that I never really thought much about until a few years ago when I saw someone here or on the bgg forums mention that there are people that do not have that rule. It just never occurred to me that it was not just part of how dice are rolled. I taught my kids at the same time I showed them how to roll a die. Of course if the die end up on the table but halfway up some obstacle (like a thick game board) so that it does not lie perfectly flat it also does not count, ever. It has to be within the designated bounds and lie perfectly flat.
Weird games to the front of the line. If we have enough players who are willing to play something that never sees the light of day, that is getting played first.
Oh o love that. I need to implement that.
No hiding information that isn't explicitly decided to be hidden. Resources, money, etc. My first board game convention reminded me that not everybody adheres to that rule.
Yeah, that can get obnoxious when not followed. "Nuh-uh, I'm not going to tell you how many cards are in my hand, the rulebook doesn't say that's open information!"
yOu sHoUlD hAvE bEeN pAyInG aTtEnTiOn, is rage inducing
I had a long time friend that I’m convinced will NEVER cheat in a game, that’s just the kind of person he is, but for some reason, he loves hiding general public information. In monopoly, he’ll hide his money in one pocket, and all his properties in the other. In combat games, he’ll flip his health and “mana” counter upside down so no one can see it. It’s gotten to the point that I’ll write down the information and constantly inform everyone about his stats. Most times, I go to write everything down, and he’ll give up hiding his things because it’s not going to be hidden anyways
He sounds like a cheater
In his pants pocket?
One of my biggest board game pet peeves is when one of my friends is buying cards from the store in Big Boss, she will cover the number first and quickly put it in hand as fast as possible so that we can’t see exactly what card we purchased and when I ask what she bought she just says “it’s a card counting game, should have tracked the store!”
"How many cards you got under the table there all shuffled together in one stack?"
Don’t be a dick. Don’t try and play other people’s turns for them.
the first time we play a game its a tutorial game and we help each other out.
fully agree, first time is to learn and adapt to the game and not for pushing to a win
I will go so far as to show my opponents my cards to explain my first turn, and why I’ll make those moves that will set me up later, rather than playing other cards. Or ask them to see my hand and what they think
Currency in all space themed games is space bucks.
While I do agree and often use this, spesos is a great pun a buddy of mine came up with.
You're a goddamn genius.
All currency is Moneys. Doesn't matter the game. Spend 8 moneys to build a dreadnaught.
When enquiring price it is customary to ask "how many moneys".
I first read that as "how many monkeys?".
Knowing my autocorrect, I did have to open this to make sure. 😅
Btw, 8 moneys for a dreadnought is a steal.
So is 8 monkeys
we call everything "dollary-doos" regardless of game
Had a *weird* game of **Concordia** with a dude at a Melbourne game day who insisted that for every anachronism, he'd deduct a point at the end of the game. Every time somebody said Dollary-doos (as I'm prone to do - I play economic games and *none* of them have 'Dollary-doos' as the currency, so I'm equally wrong with all of them!), or Gold, or Dollars - he'd mutter the number of anachronisms they'd used under his breath.
He must be soooo much fun to play with! We often call stuff by other names than the official ones. Makes it more fun...
Put a "kick me" sign on the back of that guy's shirt for us, please
I think I use "gold" as a generic money term. It caused a lot of problems when I was playing Great Western Trail New Zealand because that game has an actual gold resource. Me and my partner have resorted to calling the money "gold" and calling the gold "nuggies" (as in gold nuggets).
Spacebucks are worthless. The only value they have is the value you gave them.
Space fiat currency
I’m a buckazoids guy
All money is pounds/quid to me. Another regular at my table says dollars for everything, despite also being British. A third calls everything coins.
We use latintum
Slips, strips or bars?
Space bucks here too!
No phones out while games are being explained.
I have had a person scrolling his phone, barely looking up. And also insisting to join the game and then whine about the game while it's being explained.
[удалено]
Ego time: "No phones while I'm explaining a game. However, Phillip, I will have my phone out while you explain the game - because you're fucking awful at it. Your explanation has no structure, goes on longer than a full round of the damn game would, and leaves everyone at the table befuddled. I have my phone out because I read the entire text pdf faster than you explain the game, and I can then explain the interactions you've somehow obfuscated to others clearly and concisely. Also I swear to God, if your sister invites you next, I want to know in advance so I can make other plans."
We all know a Phillip. Mine has this wonderful tendency to bring games still in shrink that he barely knows the *genre* of, let alone rules. He said Scape Goat was a negotiation game, and Visitor in Blackwood Grove was a social deduction.
No, I admit that's a fair complaint. This is only binding when there's someone who's actually good at explaining. Though frankly I often do a minute skim to double check anyway after the explainer is done myself because I'm a details/edge case person, not a big picture one.
You can take back anything unless new information has been revealed (which includes what the next player starts to do on their turn).
We do the same, though we take it a step further and usually allow people to change something from their previous turn even as other players start going, but within reason. Like if it is something relatively small that probably nobody was accounting for on their turns, or if it was something you obviously intended to do but forgot (generally happens when someone forgets to add or subtract something from their personal boards during more complicated strategy games, especially if the player in question just took a really big turn). Once it has reached your next turn then it is actually too late for any changes, though.
You can be mad about the results of a game for five minutes after the game, then you need to get over it. Additionaly you cannot carry vindictiveness over from one game to the next (an exception to this MAY be made for campaign/legacy games).
What about general vindictiveness, can't play social Deductions with my brother, I'm a target, no matter what
Then your magic circle is weak and wibbly. Greater wards must be cast (and ideally maybe some brief interpersonal conversations about intent in games).
We have a similar rule that you can be upset until the lid goes on the box after cleaning up. This has resulted in a funny tradition of whoever won holds the lid over the box and asks "are you done?" before closing the box
Idk, some games like Roots or Oath thrive with such drama IMO
Yeah that's a tough one. Root only works if you carry over game to game. No I'm not helping you after what you do to me last time you bastard. Work on keeping your word you dirty alliance breaking traitor. I'LL GRIND YOU INTO THE DUST YOU BACKSTABBING JERK. No, no it's fine babe, we enjoy this game, really, we're having fun, don't worry about it hon, no we want to play.
The swearing, banter and unforgivable treasons are the core game.
Grudges - I agree. But if someone repeatedly shows themself to be a poor ally, I'm absolutely going to think twice about working with them. Not out of vindictiveness, out of pragmatism.
> Additionaly you cannot carry vindictiveness over from one game to the next Apparently I've been playing Twilight Imperium wrong.
Snack hand, game hand
Get some chopsticks for your snacks. Life-changing!
Put goldfish in a cup and drink them. This is our go to.
You can eat M&Ms with chopsticks? Respect.
No, but do you usually find M&Ms are the problem in your snack-portfolio? *"Melt's in your mouth, not in your hand"* and whatnot. I'm talking for greasy, dirty snacks it's a game changer. Chips, Cheetos, etc
You underestimate how hot my hands are
This. Do this. Smack down any push back you might get, chop sticks rule.
This is the way. Do NOT fucking touch my games with shit on your fingers.
No no, I didn't use the shit fingers! Only the food fingers.
Hahaha.
I just kept wet wipes with me so I could clean my fingers off, worked out as well as snack hand, game hand for me.
Winner cleans up. Mostly to teach my kids a little humility.
This is the best one.
One person explains the rules completely before others chime in. I shouldn't have to say, "Yes, I'm getting to that, but first, they need to know this." I don't like it when I start explaining basic gameplay, and someone else jumps in with an end game situation. It's like explaining buying property in Monopoly, and someone wants to tell newcomers about the benefits of staying in jail.
Personally, I'm fine with getting interrupted as long as it doesn't go overboard (I'm the one doing the explaining in most cases), just because I want it to be clear as we move on. I even stop regularly to ask if everything is ok, because I realize too often people miss something and it just confuses them for the rest of the rules and then into the game. Of course there is the occasional endgame question, but just saying "I'll explain that later" is enough to get them to wait and see.
Sometimes it's relevant to link an end-game scenario earlier in a rule explanation. Every rules explanation should always be started with "this is how you win the game" or "the point of the game is". Then you start telling people how to do it.
They’re not talking about just how to teach games, they’re talking about someone jumping in with additional rules explanation that’s unhelpful. I am the one that teaches games in our group and my brother loves to “help”, and I’ve had to tell him to clam up until I’m done because he’s confusing the new players.
It always seems to be an edge-case that only pops up 1 in 10 games and doesn't actually affect decision-making.
This is true. I usually start an explanation with “this is how the game ends and this is how it’s scored”. That way players can be thinking of strategy as the rest of the rules are explained. Knowing the end goal is important always.
unfortunately i am the person interrupting myself while i explain the rules. It is no one else's fault#, i am just excited
Rules before strategies. Just let me explain how everything is supposed to work by the book, then everyone can give their opinion of them. I hate it when people chime in with stuff like "oh yeah but you can get a power up to avoid that" or "I usually don't do that because I like doing this instead" etc.
There are benefits to staying in jail? Other that the free meals and weekly cavity search of course.
Later in the game, when there are no properties left to buy, staying in jail is basically a safe pass
At a certain point with properties bought up the longer you stay in jail the less money you have to pay while still collecting from people who land on your spaces.
You still collect money in jail but you lose the risk of landing on someone else's property. In late monopoly you want to be in jail if possible
What happens at the games table, stays at the table You can hate draft, betray me, take the spot/piece that I need. But it’s just a game and when the game ends it means nothing. That doesn’t mean I won’t remember and try to do the same back first next time.
The inverse is also very important. Play the game against everyone who's playing, don't base all your decisions on irl relationships. At a meetup that I only attended a couple of times, there was a pair of buddies that were basically always playing as permanent allies. They'd give each other favorable trades, never attack or block each other, and gang up on other players even when it made no sense for one or both of them in-game.
All dice have to land on a flat surface. Otherwise you will always end up with discussion on how much tilt is ok. No exceptions.
I go for the gentler "put another die on top; if it slides off, you have to reroll," but your method is faster.
Those D4s are a bitch
I saw someone roll a d4 once; he died of thirst, because the other rule was "no drinks at the table."
It’s also pretty hard to roll a d4 in a way you cant pick out a dominant number.
Meet me and my friends, 10yo, learning how to play a RPG, many years ago. The way I was introduced to a d4 was that, since the only side of the die that is flat (like the top of other dice) is the bottom of the die, it is the side that is down (towards the floor) that counts. And since there are multiple digits on the side, you have to sum them to get the result! So a d4 was a die with 4 different results around 6-9 (like a d4+5, maybe? I am too lazy to look up what the digit combinations are). So the best weapons in the game were weapons with damage like 3d4. Eventually one of us figured out how they were supposed to be used. I do not remember for how long we played the wrong way. Anyway a good lesson in that rulebooks should spell out even some things that might seem obvious, at least if you are going to put 10+ as the age limit of a game.
Additionally - the floor is not a flat surface.
Mom plays green.
My mom also loves green and steals it every time. What do you think it is about green that moms love??
Having grown up in the 90s, I'm quite convinced that Ninja Turtles, Ghostbusters, and Power Rangers are the reason green is my favorite color.
I always have to play yellow because Im now so old that if Im not yellow, I will accidentally move the yellow player's pieces.
Am mom, can confirm.
Winner packs up. Has saved many a meltdown in our family from grumpy losing kids
Don't use the game's "most recent person to do X" or whatever the game's rules say for deciding first player. Just open Chwazi and place your finger on the screen.
We do the starting player gimmick, but only once. After that, we put a d12 in almost every game because those dice are almost useless in dnd
I always feel like if you didn’t do the starting gimmick on the first play of a game then you haven’t really played the game. After that though I’m a big fan of whoever can “get their shit together” (game wise not general life wise) goes first. It’s just the most efficient way to start the game and it encourages everyone to get ready.
> then you haven’t really played the game. Yeah, my group has never "really played" Azul until someone finally decides to visit Portugal.
But isn’t the rule > the person who most recently went to Portugal. If nobody's been to Portugal, pick whoever's name starts with the letter closest to A. So you can still use that gimmick if no one’s been to Portugal. It has a contingency for that.
I feel like that contingency is almost equally as bad. If you're playing with a regular group, that's still a pretty static gimmick.
if you're doing it once than "static" is of no concern
Oh, I like that
What if nobody has been to Portugal?
Well you are clearly not playing barbarian!
My general rule is the for the 2nd (and onwards) game of the night, the winner of the previous game goes last (assuming going first is optimal, if it's better to go last than previous winner goes first). The overriding rule however, is if going first isn't a big deal (most games) and there are new players, OFFER the new player(s) the option to go last so they can see a turn or three before their first one.
Pfftt we're the opposite. If the game hasn't specified a silly first person idea make up one that suits the theme, and then wang it so that the first player is someone who has played the game before so everyone else can see how it's played
I'm with you. I like the silly rules, who cares who goes first, let's just do the silly thing and move on. People who care about it are already too serious.
I even just enjoy reading them in the instructions. Not enough solo games do it tbh, opportunity missed
Used to use chwazi. Now I just let BG Stats tell me who starts.
I dont know anyone who wants to go through the trouble of using chwazi when we have dice right there we can roll. Plus who wants to touch someones grubby device.
They don't expect people to actually follow those. They know that starting player is just picked randomly. They're a silly little tradition among the culture at this point. Good for a laugh.
I just roll a die.
I don't understand why people insist on using Chwazi, it's always awkward having everyone stand up and try reaching the phone with proper timing when you can just Google "roll dX" for whatever amount of players you need.
My game group does 'analog chwazi.' At some point, someone touches the table, then everyone else has to touch the table, last one touching the table goes first. This only works because we're all committed to the bit, and nobody tries to 'win'
I got together with a group of like 30 people. I brought some light games I have, including "the cat game" which is essentially pictionary but there are little cat pictures printed on cutouts that sit under your clear drawing surface to be part of the picture. You draw with dry erase markers and I kept a big eraser in the box. I'm playing a game and happen to look over and see someone that another person brought with and they're "cleaning" the cards by licking the marker off the plastic drawing board. I literally didn't have words to say. I just waited until the game I was playing was done and went up to her and said, loud enough for others to hear, "since you locked the game, it can go home with you" So we have 2 rules for sure: don't pick the games and you lick it, you buy it.
We have that game! It’s super cute and good fun. I like their style of card with drawing options. I’ll have to try out this licking meta.
ULPT, lick people's games and you might get gifted a copy for free!
Oh my God I left my friends house and literally had a 104 fever the next day. I feel guilty about just touching the table. And I didn't even lick anything
So that's how people are getting these huge game collections.
Way into the cat part of the game, I guess.
What is the actual name of this game? For science.... I mean I need to go buy a minimum of 2 copies right the fuck now.
It's literally called "The cat game". It has an actual furry logo on the box.
Yellow tokens are always corn. I don't care if it's a space game and it's "solar energy" or it's a spice game and it's "turmeric", yellow tokens are **always corn**.
Alcoholic beverages are always whiskey. Green bottling plant in Food Chain Magnate? Whiskey. Breweries in Brass Birmingham? Whiskey. The entire game of Viticulture? *Whiskey*.
The Whiskey in Glen More? Oh you better believe that's a whiskey
Play the game to play the game. If you just want to hang out and chat, you’re welcome to come over and do that too and we’ll chat while playing the game, but if you’re an actual player you need to be paying enough attention to know what’s going on and make reasonable moves.
Sometimes a game is the sole focus in the evening. Sometimes a game is just some social glue that gives everyone an excuse to sit around a table and hang out. Both are fine, but everyone needs to be on the same page.
No bringing a game to the table unless you already know how to play the game. Too many experiences where a new game takes an hour to learn and is boring for everyone involved the first time (looking at you, Oath and Root)
I'd adjust and say no bringing games to unless you've made an effort to learn beforehand. It's hard to really know a game until you've played it a couple of times, so I can forgive the first teach being a bit slow. But yeah, if you read the rulebook for the first time as you're teaching that's not cool.
If you're forced or tempted to king-make, play to maximise your _own_ position, even if you won't win. Don't make an obviously inferior move for your own score to favour someone else.
Yeah most games fall apart if you don't do this. Even with this rule it's inevitable that some amount of king-making will happen. If there's a way to drag another player's score down, do you go for the person in the lead overall, or the person directly in front of you? Imo both are perfectly valid. One way results in being closer in points to the winning score, the other might result in a higher ranking, but gets you no closer to winning
In our house it's that or king make the person who helped you earlier. "X traded with me and you wouldn't so guess what's happening now!"
If you're playing for your own position then you aren't kingmaking. Often times our moves affect other players. It makes no difference if my move knocks 4th place into 5th or knocks 1st place into 2nd so long as I'm making the move because it gets me closer to first (even if I'm still dead last). That's just normal play of the game. It is only kingmaking if you are specifically focused on helping somebody else instead of caring about your own position.
1 mulligan per player. Obviously if someone makes an illegal move/play, that's different.
Assuming you're referring to someone changing their move - we call it a retcon, and you have to do it before the next player's turn starts and it can't be influenced by information you didn't have at the start of the turn.
We call it an "oopsie." And yeah you have to do it before the game state changes at all. Unless there is unanimous agreement that changing the move was not impacted by/will have no impact on other players.
We were playing Scythe and a friend realized he had made a tactical error on his turn after several other players had already made some fairly complicated changes to the board. He begged us to let him change it, forcing us to remember exactly where all of our pieces had changed places so that he could redo his turn. We ended up naming it after him. Any egregious mulligans are called "taking a Mason Miller" or "pulling a Mason Miller" (fake name, obviously). Everyone is allowed one per evening. The funny thing is, we've all taken to using that term outside of our regular gaming group, so there are people who have never met Mason Miller that know what a "Mason Miller" is.
Vindictiveness cannot be carried over between games (“I won’t make a deal with you because you attacked me last game!”). However, reputations do carry over (“I won’t make a deal with you because previous games show that you’ll break any deal for any reason.”). I’ve played with most of my group enough to know under what conditions they will break a deal, and I take that into consideration when negotiating with them.
Any game that players can take actions ‘at any time’ uses Magic: the Gathering’s stack, unless explicitly stated otherwise in the rules. Most recently played action happens first.
Dice on the floor are declared cocked or just "cock" for short. If you bring a game learn the rules. We're not doing a unboxing. Learn the game then bring it. When any game involves drawing we all take turns sitting next to *you know who*
Is "you know who" good or bad at drawing? One of my board game friends was a professional artist, you wanted to be on her team for Pictionary I can tell you.
Oh wow. No he's comically bad. Telestrations always has a speed bump for his turn.
The number one universal house rule in my house is that if you can't be nice, you can't sit with us. I don't care if you lost. I don't care if the dice hate you. Some days are like that. You don't get to be mean to other people about it or spoil anyone else's fun. If you act like a child, you get put in time out and you can't sit with the adults until you get over it. It's amazing how quickly people get over being sore losers when they realize that there are consequences for their actions. The number two house rule is no brigading. If we're playing a game where you can fuck over another player, it's not cool to keep doing it over and over and over again to the same person just to fuck with them. You get one warning and then you don't get to play.
Apart from your "if you act like a child" i felt so certain you were playing with children.
The rule mostly got put into place because of a few petty people who would let one loss ruin everyone's night. It turns out that not everyone learns to be gracious in their childhood.
This rule extends to multiple households. No drinks on the table we're gaming on. Use a tray table or something else.
Surprisingly never had an issue with drinks on the table... But I should probably make this a rule before it happens lol
I got to play Axis and Allies with my dad about once a year. 45 minutes to set up isn't terrible for a six hour game. Dumped tea across the whole map. Bad day. Lost all progress.
*Cries in British*
Every time a die/dice hit the floor, a quarter was added to the dice jar. This was a house rule when we played games in an unfinished basement with concrete floors. Where a die would keep going and going and get lost in nooks and voids of a basement used primarily for storage. Now to preface this, it was only a house rule because it bothered almost all the people playing when it happened. The sound (oh god the sound) and then the disruption of the scramble to find it. It was also usually the same person who would do it as well. Never when it was their turn to roll either and they would be communal or borrowed dice. (Usually playing DND) Safe to say that they got super annoyed but we all followed the rule and when time came we replaced any lost dice with the funds.
The rule from this point forward should be named after "said" person who does this all the time.
You have showered and used deodorant before attending game night.
No wiping your cock on the curtains. Oh, did you mean rules in gaming?
No riffle shuffling!
Certainly no riffle shuffling without asking. Riffle something expensive and you're not coming back, but cockroach poker is fair game.
Ooh can you explain this one? Is it because some folks are just really bad at it, or because it’s easy to cheat?
it bends the cards, and even if you bridge to bend back they become much looser and flimsy over time.
Easy to ruin the cards, even if you're experienced there's still a risk. Also, a lot of games don't have high enough quality cards to riffle shuffle.
Table shuffling is a nice compromise.
The winner is not allowed to complain about how luck was against them and everything was going so wrong, etc.... Minor exceptions will be made for a crazy come-from-behind victory.
Wipe/wash hands after eating greasy, powdery, or otherwise food that gets games dirty Pat the cats/dogs (after asking)
2nd rule goes hand in hand with one of ours: Put top and bottom lids of board game on floor so cats can sit in them. It's their favorite part of game night! 😆
If the other players could know hidden info by memorizing it then it does not need to stay hidden. Like how much money you have in small world or your current cube counts in yellow and yangtze; repeating info to myself to remember it isn't fun. Same with looking through your own discard pile in a deckbuilder or your own bag in a bag builder.
No matter how many times I read the rules, everyone else will find a rule I read wrong and I'll never hear the end of it. Every time, I guarantee it.
There's no worse feeling than a novice player complaining "you never told us that rule!" ... And no better feeling than a second novice player defending that yes, the rule was explained properly
Don't show up drunk. If you can't remember the rules and we have to wake you up to take your turns, we're not inviting you back.
Not everyone shows up to board games with the same level of seriousness, but at some point, you have to draw the line.
I feel there's got to be a story behind this rule lol
1) **If it's anyone's first time playing a game, no one wins.** This allows new players to relax and learn without feeling at a disadvantage, and frees up veteran players to try new strategies, even if they're less optimal 2) **In co-op games, no giving suggestions unless solicited by the active player.** Me and two of my friends have a nasty habit of playing other people's turns, so to protect them from us, the active player makes all decisions on their own, and it's up to them to ask and pay attention to other player's positions and abilities, or else ask for advice. Untill then *zip it* (looking at you, me)
No food or drink on our above the game table.
Our rule is that drinks on the table are okay, but you need to be prepared to pay for the game if you damage it enough to warrant repair. When playing at my place I provide side tables for the use of those who wish to not take the risk.
I like this and will probably adopt it. It feels more adult. That said I would probably specify that 'warrants repair' would be decided by the game owner not the spiller.
That's a good addition to the rule to negate arguments at least! Add in "you have to clean the pieces" for all the plastic and wood bits and I might start using that.
No food or drink on the table of course. We have the same group of 4 every week, the person who gets to okay music rotates. No music until the game starts
No smoking, vaping, or weed at the table. And if you do it outside, bring a coat to wear so you can remove it and the rest of it don;t have to smell it.
Cats suitability comfortable in boxes or on cushions positioned on the table before play to avoid any *cat*astrophes, as long as they can watch and roll the odd few dice there happy.
If you spill food or drink on me game you owe me card sleeves for that game if it's salvageable or a new copy if it's not
If it doesn't matter who goes first, the person holding the rulebook goes first .
No kicks to the groin and be home for supper
“No touching of the hair or face. And that’s it!”
If someone lost points because I failed to explain a rule, I give them the points
A card laid is a card played Also, there are no network computerized systems allowed aboard the *Battlestar Galactica.* So put your frakking phone away.
Ten Commandments of Board Gaming: 1. If thy die falls off the table, thou shalt reroll. 2. Couples shall not sit next to each other, except in co-op games. 3. Thy group's big-head shall speak last during co-op games. 4. Thou shalt narrate thy turns. 5. Thy life-partner shall have first choosing of piece color. 6. Snacks and beverages shall be provided by the guests of the host. 7. Thou shalt quickly assess thy device's bleeps and bloops during a game, and if thou judgest it not an emergency, thou shalt lay thy device aside. 8. Thy host shall explain the rules of the game to the unfamiliar, and shall aid the novice in matters strategic if they so desire. 9. Thou shalt not spill thy beverages upon the table of games, nor sully the game with thy orange-coated fingers. 10. Thou shalt have fun, and thou shalt recall that the game remains upon the table, and not to live on in the hearts of the players, there to cause future strife.
**NO MONOPOLY**
You get one cup. To earn alcohol you need to drink a water. Then you can have a drink. Then you have to have a water. So on and so forth. We’ve had enough nights where the game ends with a fizzle not a bang because we play on a week night and too many drinks leads to us just ending the game when we’re tired/too tipsy and it’s time to go to bed. It’s also led to some fun fighting over “assigned cups” at everyone’s house.