c/board-game-geeks

That game night where nobody read the rulebook first

Spent 45 minutes last Saturday watching three grown adults argue over whether you can play a river tile in Carcassonne when you have no meeples left, which is literally on page 4 of the instructions.

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margaret_williams5•3d ago

I finally stopped sleeving every single card in my collection

Used to sleeve every board game card I owned, even the ones that barely get touched. Changed my mind after realizing I spent $40 on sleeves for a game I played twice in 3 years. Anyone else ever just let cards go bare?

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seanlee•3d ago

Saw a guy at PAX Unplugged explain his whole game collection by color instead of mechanic

I was at PAX Unplugged in Philly last year and this guy had set up his entire booth's display with games sorted by the color of the box. Reds together, blues together, all that. He told me he never sorts by weight or genre anymore because when friends come over they just pick whatever color catches their eye. It sounded weird at first but honestly it made me rethink how I store my 40 or so games at home. Has anyone else tried something like that just to get more games to the table quicker?

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rubyk86•3d ago

I finally taught my group a heavy euro game and they just wanted to talk about snacks

Honestly, last night I busted out my copy of Terraforming Mars after months of hyping it up. I spent like 20 minutes explaining the rules, showing them how the cards work, and setting up all the little cubes. Everyone nodded along, but the second I said 'start your first generation,' my buddy Tim goes, 'Hey, did anyone try those spicy pickle chips from that new brand?' By the end of the night, we had played maybe two rounds and spent the rest of the time ranking every store-bought salsa in the tri-state area. I learned that some groups just vibe better with party games, no matter how good the strategy game is. Has anyone else had a total flop when trying to introduce something heavy?

3 comments

ellis.mia•6d ago

Overheard a guy at the game store say he 'speed runs' Catan and I had questions

I was at Dragon's Lair in San Antonio last Saturday picking up an expansion for something else and this dude at the next table was telling his buddy he can finish a 4-player game of Catan in 18 minutes flat. At first I thought he meant online with the fast dice rolls but no, he meant with actual physical pieces and trading. He said the trick is to refuse every trade unless it gives you at least a 3-to-1 advantage and to never build roads unless you're going for longest. I sat there thinking about how that's basically the opposite of how I play where I spend 5 minutes talking someone into giving me a brick for two sheep. It made me wonder if there's a whole hidden competitive speed scene for games that are supposed to be chill. Has anyone else run into people who treat board games like a race?

2 comments

wilson.kelly•7d ago

That moment last week when my wife called out my board game storage system

I spent 3 hours last Sunday organizing my collection by mechanic type (worker placement, deck building, etc.) in a shelving unit I built myself. My wife walked in and said 'So you're telling me Spirit Island goes next to Splendor because of the strategy layers?' and it made me realize how insane our hobby looks to normal people. Has anyone else had a friend or family member question your sorting method and make you second-guess your whole system?

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casey_harris•8d ago

The weekend my Gloomhaven group actually finished a scenario in under 2 hours

After six months of dragging through Forgotten Circles every Sunday, we finally had a session last month where nobody checked their phone, the rules didn't trip us up once, and we wrapped up by 4 PM instead of 8, still can't figure out if that was beginners luck or we finally clicked.

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the_robin•8d ago

Rant: The board game cafe near me went from packed to empty in 6 months

I used to go to this place called Dice & Dine over on 5th street where you'd wait 30 minutes for a table on Friday nights, but now I walk in and there's maybe two other groups. The owner told me they stopped hosting weekly tournaments and switched to just selling drinks, which I think killed the vibe. Anyone else see a local game spot fall off after they changed up what made it work?

3 comments

cora_scott77•9d ago

My D&D group's 'forever DM' dropped a truth bomb on me last night

I was complaining about how our group never gets to try new board games because we always play the same 3. He looked at me and said 'you're not a board game geek, you're a comfort geek who just likes the same thing every time.' It hit me hard because he was right. I spend more time reading reviews and watching unboxing videos than actually playing new stuff. Now I'm wondering if I'm more into the idea of being into board games than the actual hobby itself. Has anyone else had a friend call them out on their gaming habits like that?

3 comments

thomas.parker•10d ago

That conversation with a veteran gamer changed how I look at game groups

I had a chat with a guy who's been running a local board game meetup for 8 years at the community center on Main Street. He told me that he's seen dozens of groups fall apart because people only focus on winning instead of making sure everyone has fun. He said 'the best players are the ones who help newbies feel welcome, not the ones who crush them in 10 minutes.' That hit different because I used to think competitive play was the whole point. Now I'm rethinking how I introduce games at my own table. Has anyone else had a talk like this that shifted your approach to running game nights?

2 comments

the_joel•10d ago

Overheard a guy at the comic shop say 'I just sleeve everything' and it hit me

This dude at my local shop in Portland said he sleeves every single card he owns, even duplicates from starter decks. After 2 years of tossing mine in a box raw, I just checked and found $30 worth of scuffed up rares. Do you guys sleeve commons too, or is that overkill?

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kevin_harris78•11d ago

Pro tip: Dont ever let a stranger "help" set up your board game at a con

Guy at PAX South last year grabbed my copy of Scythe and started laying out tiles completely wrong. I spent 20 minutes undoing his mess before we could even play and now I wont let anyone touch my games until Ive personally sorted all the components.

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henrycooper•11d ago

Finally picked a 4X game over a dungeon crawler for game night

I had to choose between Twilight Imperium and Gloomhaven for our Saturday group and went with TI4 because we had 6 people, and 12 hours later we only finished 5 rounds but everyone said it was the best game night we've had, has anyone else found that longer games actually bring the group closer or is my crew just weird?

2 comments

patriciareed•12d ago

PSA: I used to learn board games by reading the rulebook cover to cover

For years I spent 20 minutes alone with the manual before my group even showed up. Then last month at a friend's house in Chicago, someone just handed me the player board and said 'watch me do one turn first.' Now I never read rules ahead of time, I just learn by playing the first round with open hands. Has anyone else found that watching a quick demo beats studying the booklet?

2 comments

johnson.jason•13d ago

Debate: Teaching new players with cooperative games vs competitive games - which builds better habits?

I've been introducing board games to two different groups of friends over the past 6 months. With one group I started with co-op games like Pandemic and Forbidden Island. With the other group I jumped straight into competitive games like Catan and Ticket to Ride. The co-op group learned rules faster and asked way more questions without feeling embarrassed. But the competitive group figured out strategy and reading opponents much sooner after about 10 sessions. The co-op players still get nervous when we try any game with direct conflict. Which approach have you found works better for teaching absolute beginners long term?

3 comments

jordanc32•13d ago

Stopped by a game cafe in Portland last weekend and half the tables were playing 20 year old euros instead of new stuff.

It got me thinking about how the hobby used to be all about those heavy strategy games before the Kickstarter era took over, has anyone else noticed the old titles making a comeback at your local spots?

3 comments

bettywood•15d ago

The $15 Amazon dice tray that changed my game nights

I always figured dice trays were a waste of money, but my buddy brought one to our last Catan session and I ate my words. The felt lining actually stopped the dice from bouncing off the table and knocking over everyone's settlements. For 15 bucks it saved us from at least three arguments that night. Has anyone else found a cheap accessory that quietly fixed a big annoyance?

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jessica_hall49•16d ago

Was skeptical about legacy board games until my group played Pandemic Legacy Season 1 last fall

For years I thought legacy games were just a gimmick to sell you a board you'd trash after a few plays. My regular group kept pushing me to try Pandemic Legacy and I kept saying no thanks. Then last October my buddy Dave brought his copy over and insisted we give it one session. After that first game where we lost horribly and had to peel stickers off cards I was hooked. The story that unfolded over 12 games was way deeper than I expected and it made every win or loss feel personal. By the time we finished in December we were all talking about what character we wanted to play next campaign. Has anyone else had a similar change of heart on a gaming trend they thought was overhyped?

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lilykelly•19d ago

That $60 dice tray I impulse bought at a convention five years ago is still my best gaming purchase

I was at Gen Con in 2019 and I saw this handcrafted dice tray with a velvet bottom and my brain just said 'buy it.' It was a small booth by the back wall and the guy handmakes them from reclaimed wood. I thought I was throwing away sixty bucks because I already had a felt mat at home. But now I have used that tray at every single game night for five years straight. It keeps the dice from flying off the table and my friends always compliment the felt because it muffles the rolling sound. My other dice tower fell apart after six months so this tray really saved me from buying replacements. Anyone else have a random impulse buy that actually worked out better than the stuff you planned to get?

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nguyen.tara•20d ago

Turns out Catan only has 19 hex tiles. I counted from the rulebook after losing a 3-hour game last night.

Everyone always talks about how Catan is all about strategy and luck with the dice. But nobody ever mentions the actual board size. I was sure there were more hexes but nope, 19 is the magic number. It's kinda wild how such a small setup can lead to so many arguments over sheep.

2 comments

cora_scott77•20d ago

The grand map debate: is dry erase ruining everyone's game?

I was at a convention in Columbus last month and two groups were arguing over whether dry erase markers on laminated maps are better than paper maps from the box. One guy swore dry erase saves money and lets you track stuff in real time without wrecking the board. The other guy said it smears like crazy and takes away the 'feel' of a new game every time. Which side are you on, and do you actually wipe your maps clean between sessions or just let it build up like a madman?

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jamesm48•21d ago

Switched to notecard style GM'ing after 8 years of bullet point notes

I used to write out full session scripts for D&D with bullet points for every encounter, but last month I tried using 3x5 notecards with just a few key words and prompts instead. It forced me to improvise more and the game felt way more alive when I wasn't flipping pages to find the right line. Has anyone else tried scaling back their prep work and found it actually improved the game?

3 comments

lauras83•21d ago

Just realized I've been shuffling my deck wrong for 10 years

Was playing Catan last night and my buddy Tim pointed out that I wasn't actually randomizing the cards, just moving them around in piles. He showed me the proper riffle shuffle and now I feel like an idiot - has anyone else had a game moment where you found out you were playing a basic step wrong the whole time?

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maryt62•22d ago

I finally figured out why my group's game nights were dragging...

Turns out we were spending 15 minutes per turn on average because no one remembered to read the player aids before the game started. Found a post on BoardGameGeek that said the average game of Terraforming Mars takes 2 hours if everyone knows the rules, but ours was hitting 4 hours easy. Has anyone else tracked how long your group actually takes vs the box estimate?

3 comments

wilson.sam•22d ago

Finally won a game of Warhammer 40k at my local shop after 8 months of losing

I've been playing at Tabletop Haven every Wednesday since January and I always got tabled by turn 3. Last night my Necrons held the center objective against a space marine army for the whole game. My opponent even said "dude your reanimation rolls were on fire" which felt great. Has anyone else had a breakout game that made all the practice click?

3 comments