Freelance Forum - The Community for Independent Professionals

c/board-game-geeks

4

the_daniel•2d 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•2d 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•4d 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•7d 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•7d 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•8d 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•8d 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•9d 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•23d 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•24d 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•28d 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?

7

dakota_miller93•1mo ago

Last Tuesday was my best board game night in like a year

Tbh I had this random Tuesday where everything just clicked. I hosted a game night at my place in Denver and we played Terraforming Mars for the first time in months. Usually my group gets distracted or someone leaves early, but this time all six of us were locked in for four hours straight. No one checked their phones, no arguments over rule clarifications, just good plays and trash talk. I ended up winning by only 3 points because my friend Mike pulled a late game plant bomb that almost took it. It felt like the old days when we first got into board games and it was all fresh. Has anyone else had a night like that where the energy was just perfect?

3

rosepark•1mo ago

Finally beat my personal best by learning the dice odds in Catan

I've been playing Catan with my group for like 2 years now and I always got wrecked by my friend Steve. Last week I spent a whole evening just looking at the number tokens on the board and actually counting how often each number rolls. I know it sounds dumb but I never paid attention to which numbers were more likely to come up. So I tried a game where I only placed settlements on 6s, 8s, and 5s even if it meant no port access. I won by like 4 points and Steve just stared at his dice like they betrayed him lol. It really made me realize I was overthinking strategy and missing the basic math part. Has anyone else had a moment where a simple thing like probability totally changed your game?

4

the_faith•1mo ago

Vent: That guy who critiqued my whole game collection in 10 minutes at the cafe

I was at Mox Boarding House in Seattle last spring setting up a game of Viticulture when some random dude walked over and started telling me why every game in my bag was a waste of shelf space. He spent a solid 10 minutes going on about how Agricola was outdated and Catan was for beginners, all while I just tried to get a glass of water. Has anyone else had a stranger come up and tear down your collection like it was their job?

16

pat_harris•1mo ago

Shoutout to the player who showed me a quicker way to set up Terraforming Mars

I used to spend like 20 minutes laying out all the cards and tokens before a game. My group would just sit there watching me sort through 5 different piles. Then a guy at our weekly meetup showed me his trick: just deal out the starting hands and corporations first, then build the board as you explain the rules. He said it keeps people engaged and cuts setup by at least 10 minutes. I tried it last Saturday with 4 players and we were rolling dice in 8 minutes flat. Has anyone else found a similar shortcut for a heavy game?

33

wadejenkins•1mo ago

A buddy at the game store made me realize I've been a terrible opponent for years

He told me I always rush through other people's turns to get back to mine, and it hit different because I saw it in myself during a 3-hour game of Brass Birmingham last night. Has anyone else had a moment where someone pointed out your table manners were ruining the fun?

21

matthewking•1mo ago

Found a stat about tile layout that saved my next project

I read on a flooring forum that over 90% of DIY tile jobs fail because people don't dry lay their pattern first. Last weekend I tried it with a cheap 12x12 sheet I bought, ended up fixing a weird gap before any thinset touched the floor. Has anyone else caught small mistakes this way?

7

henryr45•1mo ago

Finally figured out why my game group's meetups were fizzling out after 6 months straight

Turns out rotating through 5 different coffee shop locations was a bad idea, so now I'm sticking to one spot where the staff knows us and the Wi-Fi doesn't crash halfway through our Catan sessions, has anyone else dealt with venue hopping backfiring like that?

3

kellyallen•1mo ago

Had to pick between Catan and Ticket to Ride for game night last weekend

I was hosting a group of five friends who mostly play party games, so I had to decide between Catan's trading and Ticket to Ride's route building. Went with Ticket to Ride since it's easier to teach and nobody gets eliminated early. Has anyone else had a game choice backfire because the group just wanted something lighter?

8

waderamirez•1mo ago

The kid in the corner who broke down how scoring works in 7 Wonders changed how I play forever

I was at a game night about three months ago at a local shop in Austin, and this quiet high school kid asked if he could join our 7 Wonders table. Nobody thought much of it until he started explaining why I was losing 10 points every round just from bad card order. He showed me how to count military scoring by the third age and even pointed out my neighbor was setting up a science win. I usually just play for fun, but watching him break down the math like it was nothing made me realize I barely knew the rules. Has anyone else had a random person at the table completely change how you look at a game you thought you knew?

14

ray562•1mo ago

Shoutout to the guy who taught me the pizza box trick for organizing game components

I was sorting through my Catan set last weekend and a buddy at the local shop showed me how to use empty pizza boxes to keep tiles and cards separated during setup. It cut my prep time from 15 minutes to about 5. Has anyone else found a weird household item that works better than official organizers?

17

thomasb41•1mo ago

Started gaming with a coffee stain on the rulebook and it changed how I learn

I spilled coffee on the first page of Scythe's manual, had to figure out the rest from memory and context. Over three sessions, I actually learned that deeper than when I read perfectly. Has anyone else had a wrecked component accidentally teach them the game better?

1

jamesc79•1mo ago

Met a guy at a game store who only plays games he wins

I was browsing the used game shelf at The Gamer's Guild in Springfield last Saturday when this older fellow named Pete started telling me about his collection. He said he owns over 800 board games but only plays each one once - the first time he loses, he trades it away and never touches it again. Has anyone else run into a player with a rule like that?

19

the_robin•1mo ago

Spent three hours trying to sort the Scythe box after a game night

We finished a game at my place and I thought putting everything away would take maybe 20 minutes. I was wrong. The insert has all these specific slots for different resource tokens, mechs, and cards, but nothing fit right. I kept checking the rulebook picture and moving things around. It took me over three hours to get it all sorted and the lid to close. Has anyone else had a game that just refuses to go back in the box neatly?

24

zarat37•1mo ago

I used to think board game cafes were just overpriced coffee shops with a few dusty boxes

Then my friend dragged me to one in Portland, and we played a game called 'The Crew' for three hours straight. The way the whole table had to work together without talking completely changed my mind about what a game night could be. Anyone have other co-op games that create that kind of group focus?