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c/board-game-geeks

24

sam_cooper•25d ago

Unpopular take: I stopped organizing game nights by player count

Used to split my friends into groups of 4 exactly. Thought it made games run smoother. But last year at a con in Austin, someone ran a 7-player game of Cosmic Encounter and it was chaos in the best way. Now I just throw the invite out to 12 people and let the table sort itself. Half the time we end up with 5 or 6 and someone spectates. Way more fun than rigid planning. Anyone else ditch strict player counts and just roll with who shows up?

22

faith27•29d ago

Picked Gloomhaven over Arkham Horror for my group's campaign and it backfired

So I had to choose between starting Gloomhaven or Arkham Horror LCG for our weekly game night last month. I went with Gloomhaven cause I thought the combat system would be more fun for everyone. But 3 sessions in and two guys keep forgetting their modifier decks and action cards. Now I'm wondering if I shoulda picked Arkham for the story focus instead. Has anyone else jumped into a big campaign game and regretted the choice cause of your group's learning curve?

23

troyc17•1mo ago

Hot take: Catan is actually terrible and I'm done pretending it's fun

I spent last Saturday at my buddy's place in Austin playing Catan with four other people. It took almost 3 hours for one game. Two people got knocked out early and just sat there on their phones. The dice rolls decide everything, strategy barely matters. I brought up my favorite game, Rising Sun, and everyone groaned that it was "too complicated." But sitting through a 3 hour dice fest is fine? I just don't get the hype. Has anyone else moved on from Catan or am I the only one?

2

david_walker97•1mo ago

Just hit 100 games played this year and im kinda shocked

I set a goal of 50 games for 2024 but somehow ended up at 100 last week after a marathon night of Carcassonne and Everdell. Anyone else ever blow past their own expectations like that? How did it happen for you?

28

sanchez.julia•1mo ago

Hit 200 plays on my copy of Spirit Island last night

I was just updating my board game stats app and realized I've played Spirit Island exactly 200 times since I bought it back in 2021. That's like spending a whole month of my life fighting invaders lol. It surprised me because I never thought I'd stick with a cooperative game that long, usually my group burns out after 20 plays tops. Has anyone else tracked their plays for a specific game and found a number that blew your mind?

16

the_hayden•1mo ago

Had to choose between Gloomhaven and Kingdom Death Monster last month

Honestly I was torn between spending $140 on Gloomhaven or saving up the $400 for Kingdom Death Monster. I went with Gloomhaven because my group only meets twice a month and I figured we'd get more play out of it. We've done 8 scenarios so far and one guy already burned out on the setup time. Has anyone else dealt with a group member losing steam on a big campaign game?

24

the_drew•1mo ago

Found out my favorite game had a misprint that changed the rules for years

I was digging through an old forum thread last night about a game I've played maybe 50 times. Turns out the version I own has a misprint in the rulebook that completely flips how scoring works. The online FAQ said the designer himself clarified it back in 2012, but my copy is from 2015 and still has the wrong text. I checked three different printings and only the first one got it right. Has anyone else found a rulebook error that messed up their games for months?

21

andrew_baker9•1mo ago

Overheard a guy at the game store say he never reads the rulebook first...

He just opens the box and pieces things together as he goes, and I had to stop myself from telling him that's a terrible idea after I tried that with Root last month and it took us four hours to finish a two hour game... anyone else have a house rule for when someone skips the rules?

17

angelamurphy•1mo ago

Stopped by a game store in Austin and saw something that bugged me

I walked into Dragon's Lair last weekend and noticed half the tables were taken up by people playing Magic while a stack of unplayed board games sat ignored on the shelf. It got me thinking - are hobby stores leaning too hard into card games over tabletop board games? Is that a good move for business or are we losing the community feel?

10

fionanguyen•1mo ago

Just watched a player flip a table at a convention

I was at GenCon last Friday in the open gaming hall. This guy was playing a heavy euro game, something about resource management. He lost a key piece to a combo he had been building for like 45 minutes. He just stood up, grabbed the edge of the table, and flipped the whole thing. Cards and tokens flew everywhere. Some dude next to him got hit in the face with a wooden meeple. The staff came over and kicked him out. Has anyone else seen a meltdown that bad at a game event?

22

oliviabutler•1mo ago

That time a stranger at PAX Unplugged saved my game night

I was at PAX Unplugged in Philly last December stressing over a broken mini from my Kickstarter game. This guy named Mike at the demo table next to me just handed me a tube of plastic cement and showed me how to fix it in 2 minutes without ruining the paint. He didn't even ask for anything, just said "we all mess up minis sometimes." Anyone else have a random con stranger fix a board game problem for you?

18

kim_davis•1mo ago

My custom dice tray from that Etsy shop warped after two weeks in humid weather

I spent $45 on a handcrafted wooden dice tray that warped so bad after two weeks in this Georgia humidity that my D20 kept rolling off, so I called the seller and he offered to half refund me if I stopped leaving it near the window - has anyone else had luck fixing warped wood trays?

10

emma_lee22•1mo ago

Switched from dry erase to a paper planner for my game design notes

I was using a whiteboard for tracking rule changes in my card game prototype, but after erasing a critical balance tweak by accident twice last month, I moved everything to a cheap spiral notebook. Has anyone else found paper just works better for keeping complicated board game mechanics straight?

11

sagejackson•1mo ago

Hot take: Letting new players win is ruining casual game nights

I let my sister's boyfriend win at Catan last Friday just to keep the peace and now he thinks he's a strategy genius who argues every rule call. Has anyone else dealt with a sore winner who got their first win handed to them?

4

the_daniel•1mo ago

That deluxe expansion kickstarter was a total bust

Backed that big box expansion for Battlestar Galactica last year. Paid $120 for it, supposed to have new characters and all these plastic ships. Got it three months late, the ships were warped, and the cards had that weird smell. Anyone else get burned on a kickstarter game that just didn't deliver?

1

mitchell.thomas•1mo ago

Went to a board game cafe in Portland and saw something weird

Last weekend I stopped by a board game cafe in Portland called The Game Room. I expected a bunch of people playing the latest hot games. But I walked in and half the tables were just sitting around talking. Not even looking at the game boxes. One guy told me they meet up to talk about game design ideas and never actually play. Is that a normal thing for board game geeks? I felt out of place because I came to play.

26

grantc80•1mo ago

That Kickstarter game I backed for $85 still hasnt shipped after 18 months

I jumped on a fancy board game Kickstarter called 'Dungeon Delvers' back in March 2023. Paid $85 for the deluxe edition with all the minis. They keep posting updates about 'production delays' and 'quality checks' but I feel like I lit that money on fire. Anyone else get burned on a game that looked so good but never actually arrived?

4

ray_burns•1mo ago

The $60 foam core insert that saved my game shelf

I spent $60 last year on a custom foam core insert for my Gloomhaven box and honestly it was worth every penny... No more hunting for lost tokens between rounds or trying to Tetris everything back in. Has anyone else found that spending a bit on organization actually makes you play games more often?

0

mitchell.thomas•1mo ago

Finally saw the rulebook for a game I've played wrong for 3 years

Found out at a convention last weekend that in Castles of Mad King Ludwig, you're supposed to count the orange rooms differently than I've been doing. How does a whole play group miss something that obvious for that long?

13

blair_torres70•1mo ago

Game store tournament was a mess last night

The organizer tried to run a 16 player bracket without any round timers. First round took 45 minutes because one guy was explaining every single card to his opponent. Then someone argued about a rule for 20 minutes. Tournament started at 7 and we didn't finish until almost 11. I get that it's casual but how hard is it to just set a 15 minute chess clock per round and stick to it? Has anyone else had a local store event just fall apart because nobody wants to enforce basic structure?

7

dylan_ward•1mo ago

Just realized that guy at the game store was right about solo board games

Has anyone else found a solo game that surprised them after writing them off?

21

jana509•1mo ago

Called out for liking "unfun" games at my meetup last night

I was at the Sunday night board game meetup at Game Haven in Portland and someone said I only like "boring math problems" after I pulled out Food Chain Magnate. I found out from a BGG stats page that Splotter games actually have a higher average play count than most popular party games because people who own them actually table them regularly. Am I the only one who thinks a game with zero randomness is more fun than something like Cards Against Humanity?

24

hernandez.gavin•2mo ago

Had to replace a whole expansion box of minis after one bad glue session

I was assembling my Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion minis and used regular super glue on the first one. It dried cloudy and brittle, and the arm snapped off clean the next day. Had to buy a whole new set for $25 because the single mini replacement cost $12 plus shipping. Has anyone else had better luck with plastic cement for these softer miniatures?

15

maryr43•2mo ago

Saw a guy flip a table over a house rule at a convention in Dallas last month

I was at a convention in Dallas last month and this guy totally lost it because someone used the wrong movement rule in a game. He stood up, yelled some stuff, and flipped the whole table. Dice and tokens went everywhere. It made me realize I need to pick my gaming groups way more carefully now. Has anyone else had a game night go sideways like that?

21

jamesc79•2mo ago

That one Thursday when the whole board game night fell apart

Last spring I had a game night planned for weeks. Six people confirmed, I had Gloomhaven set up on the table, snacks ready. Then one by one they all canceled by 3pm with excuses like kid sick or car trouble. Ended up playing solo scenarios in my basement and ate the whole veggie tray myself. Has anyone else had a perfect plan just evaporate like that?