c/board-game-geeks

Tried co-op games with my group for a year and competitive ones wrecked us way worse

We played Pandemic and Forbidden Island for 12 months thinking we'd get along better, but then I brought out Cosmic Encounter and the backstabbing arguments were way more fun than any shared victory, has anyone else found that losing friends over a game actually makes it better?

Guy at the FLGS told me I was playing Terraforming Mars wrong for 20 minutes before he looked at the rulebook

Last Saturday at Mox Boarding House in Portland, this dude walks up to our table while we're in round 4 and starts lecturing me about how I'm misreading the heat conversion rules. He goes on for 20 minutes, even pulls up a BGG thread on his phone to prove his point. Then he actually looks at the rulebook I had open and goes, "Oh, I guess you're right." He just walked away without saying sorry. Has anyone else had a random rules lawyer insert themselves into your game like that?

PSA: wasted $80 on a "vintage" board game lot that was all moldy and missing pieces

Thought I scored big with a 10-game haul from an estate sale in Denver, but after opening the boxes I found mold on three of them and at least half the pieces were missing, so has anyone else gotten burned by those "mystery" board game bundles online?

Finally figured out I was shuffling Magic decks all wrong after a tournament in Seattle

Hosted a game night where I kept losing to my own house rules

I always played Catan with a house rule where you got resources on every roll, not just when your number came up. Last weekend my buddy Dave from Denver pointed out that rule made the game take 4 hours instead of 90 minutes. I looked it up in the rulebook and realized I had been doing it wrong for like 3 years. Has anyone else accidentally messed up a game by adding a rule that broke the whole balance?

That one perfect Sunday when everything went right at the game store

I still think about this day maybe six months back. Walked into my local shop in Portland just to kill time, and somehow everything clicked. Three guys I vaguely knew were setting up a game of Brass Birmingham and asked if I wanted in. Then someone else showed up with a copy of Cascadia they just got. We ended up playing back to back games for like five hours. No arguments over rules, no one tilting, just good turns and bad draws and laughing. The guy who brought Cascadia even let me keep the little wooden bear token as a souvenir. Has anyone else had a day where the board game gods just smiled on you?

Crossed 500 games played on BoardGameGeek and nobody cares

I hit 500 different games logged on BGG last month. I thought it would feel like a big deal, but honestly it just made me feel weird. Everyone talks about having 50 games on their shelf or hitting 100 plays of Terraforming Mars, but nobody mentions crossing a big diversity number like that. My wife asked why I was taking a picture of my screen and I couldn't really explain it to her. I think the milestone surprised me because it showed how much time I've spent trying new stuff instead of sticking with favorites. A lot of the games I played once and never touched again. Does anyone else track how many unique games you've tried or is that just a weird personal thing I do late at night?

It took me 3 hours to teach my group the rules for one game of Spirit Island

I was so excited to finally get this to the table last weekend. Everyone was on board, we had snacks, the whole deal. But by the time I explained the invaders, the blight, the growth phases, and the event cards, it was almost 11 PM. We got through maybe two rounds before everyone was too tired to keep going. Has anyone else had a game night derail because a rulebook turned into a novel?

Swapped from team play to free-for-all in Catan and it completely changed the vibe

My group always played teams (2v2v2) in Catan because we thought it was more strategic, but last week I made us try a 6-player free-for-all and EVERYONE was trading and backstabbing within 5 minutes. The tension was way higher and no one could hide behind a partner. Has anyone else found that free-for-all brings out a totally different game in standard board games?

Shoutout to the old game night at my buddy's basement in Cleveland

We used to play Settlers of Catan every Friday back in 2017 with the same group of 5 guys, and it was always smooth and fun. Then last month I joined a new group that uses a timer app and bans table talk during trades, and it felt like we were filing taxes instead of playing a game. Has anyone else had a game night culture change that made things worse instead of better?

That $5 goodwill game I ignored turned out to be worth $400

My buddy Mike who runs a local game store told me to always check thrift stores for old board games. Last month at Goodwill I saw a dusty copy of Fireball Island for $5. I passed on it because the box was beat up. Found out later from Mike that same game sells for $400 on eBay even with damaged boxes. Has anyone else missed out on a thrift store find that turned out to be a goldmine?

That vintage board game collection I inherited was a total money pit

My uncle left me his old Avalon Hill games from the 70s, and I thought I'd struck gold. Nope, the boxes were all water damaged and two of them had missing pieces. I spent $40 on replacement parts just to play one game of Titan.

Three years ago I laughed at people who play solo board games. Last night I finished my 20th game of Spirit Island alone.

I used to think playing board games by yourself was just sad. Like you were missing the whole point of gathering around a table with friends. Then I got stuck at home for two weeks after a knee surgery in March 2021. A buddy dropped off a copy of the original Spirit Island just to give me something to do. I set it up out of boredom and 90 minutes later I was hooked. Now I actually look forward to Sunday evenings when my wife goes to bed early and I can tackle a solo game. Anyone else find themselves warming up to solo gaming after swearing it off for years?

A friend told me I was organizing my game shelf all wrong

I used to sort my board games alphabetically, but a buddy at our weekly meetup pointed out that nobody could find anything because we group them by play style. He said 'sort by complexity and player count, not the spelling of the name.' So last Saturday I spent 2 hours reorganizing 40+ games into light party games, medium strategy, and heavy euros. Now we can grab something fast for 3 players instead of hunting through the whole shelf like idiots. Has anyone else found a system that actually works better?

That time I accidentally became the DM for 8 new players at a cabin in Tahoe last summer

That hyped up deck builder I ignored ended up being pretty good

I spent 6 months dodging this game that everyone at my local shop kept pushing on me. Thought it was just another overrated flavor of the month, no way it could be that different. Then my buddy brought it to game night last Tuesday and I had to eat my words after the first round. The way the market shifts each turn actually forces real choices instead of just auto-piloting. Anybody else get burned by ignoring something popular for too long?

Glowforge laser cutter settings I wish I knew about sooner

I was ruining about half my game box inserts with scorch marks for months on my Glowforge in Austin. Then a guy at the maker space told me to try a tiny test grid with 5 different power and speed combos before every new material. Found a sweet spot at 80% power and 500 speed for 3mm birch ply that gives clean cuts almost every time now. Has anyone else found a better shortcut for avoiding charred edges on small board game components?

Hit 200 plays on my homebrew game design and half the playtesters hated it

So I've been working on this dungeon crawler card game for about 8 months now. Finally got enough confidence to run it at 3 different meetups last month. 200 plays total across maybe 30 people. But here's the thing - about half of them said the combat system was too complicated and took too long. The other half said it was the best part. Now I'm stuck. Do I simplify it and risk losing the people who liked it, or keep it complex and scare off new players? Anyone else hit a milestone like this where the feedback split right down the middle?

Game store meetup changed my opinion on abstract games

I went to a weekly game night at The Tabletop Tavern in Portland last Tuesday. There was a guy playing Yinsh with this intense focus, but he kept explaining his moves to anyone watching. I always thought abstract games were just dry strategy puzzles with no social element. Watching him teach three new players the rules and still have a close game changed my mind. The way he tied each move back to a real life decision made it click for me. Now I'm looking at my shelf of heavy euros differently. Anyone else have a surprise change of heart after watching someone else play?

Took me 3 hours to figure out why my game pieces kept sliding off the table

I was demoing a new game at my local shop in Cincinnati last Saturday. The board kept shifting and pieces were all over the floor. I thought it was the table. Turns out the game mat I bought online had zero grip on the bottom. Swapped it for a cheap rubber shelf liner from the dollar store and it fixed everything. Has anyone else run into this with those fancy printed mats?

I found an old copy of Axis & Allies in my dad's closet and it blew my mind

I cracked open this 1981 version of Axis & Allies my dad had stashed away, and the rulebook was like 8 pages long with tiny font and no pictures. Compared to the glossy 20-page manuals in modern board games, it felt almost primitive, but the gameplay had this raw intensity that newer games sometimes sand down. Anyone else get a different rush from older wargames compared to the polished stuff today?

Rant: Friend told me to stop buying expansions until I played the base game 10 times

My buddy Dave kept saying I was wasting money on Catan expansions when I barely played the base. I ignored him and bought Cities and Knights anyway. After 3 plays it's still on my shelf while we've played the base 12 times now. Anybody else get stubborn about this kind of advice?

That guy at the FLGS who timed every turn with a stopwatch

I was at a Saturday afternoon game of Twilight Imperium at Dragon's Hoard Games in Denver last month. This one player pulled out a literal stopwatch and started timing each person's turn, saying we needed to keep the game under 6 hours. He called out a new player for taking 4 minutes on a single action and the kid almost packed up and left. Has anyone else run into people who treat casual board game night like a competitive speed event?

I used to hate going to game night at the local shop, then one Tuesday changed my mind

For months I refused to join the weekly meetup at Dragon's Lair in Portland. I thought it would be full of rules lawyers and people who take Catan way too seriously. Then last Tuesday I walked by and saw a group playing a simple dice game called Deep Sea Adventure. They were laughing so hard one guy knocked over his drink. The owner waved me in and handed me a character sheet for a one-shot D&D game. Six hours later I had signed up for three more sessions. Has anyone else had a random weeknight completely flip their opinion on public game nights?

PSA: That guy who 'wins' every game by quoting rules wrong needs to stop

Last Thursday at a meetup in Denver, some dude argued for 20 minutes that Monopoly's Free Parking rule gives you $500 (which it doesn't) and then claimed he won. Has anyone else dealt with a rules-lawyer who just makes stuff up to feel good?