c/board-game-geeks

Pro tip: That old Dominion expansion I bought for $8 at a garage sale turned out to be a rare misprint worth $200

I cracked the box open at game night and a buddy who collects noticed the card backs were slightly off-center, so now I'm trying to figure out if this stuff is common or if I got lucky, has anyone else stumbled on a valuable board game mistake?

I finally got a card organizer at a convention in Columbus and it saved my Friday game night

I was at Origins Game Fair in Columbus last month and saw this guy with a cheap plastic card sorter on his table. He was setting up a game in like 2 minutes while I was still shuffling through baggies. I grabbed one for 8 bucks at a vendor booth and now I sort all my deckbuilder cards by type before the game even starts. Has anyone else found a simple tool that cuts down setup time like this?

The rule about 'winner takes all' in tournament style games actually made me rethink everything

My buddy at the game store said I was "sleeving wrong" and I still think about it

I was at Game Haven last Saturday sleeving up my new copy of Ark Nova when this guy Joel, a regular there, just watched me for a minute. He finally said "you know you're pushing all the air out wrong, right?" and showed me how to do a little squeeze from the bottom corner instead of the top. It sounds dumb but it actually made the deck shuffle way smoother and now I can't go back. Has anyone else had some random person at a store totally change how you do something small like that?

Warning about a game night organizer who nearly ruined our club

Last month a guy named Dave volunteered to run our monthly board game meetup at a library in Portland. He showed up 45 minutes late with half the games missing pieces. Three years ago we had a similar issue with someone who just wanted to hoard the popular games for himself. Did any of your groups ever let a random person take over and mess things up like that?

My 8-year-old nephew made me rethink how I pick games at the store

Last weekend my nephew asked why I always look at the back of the box first (you know, before even reading the theme). He said 'Uncle, you smell the game more than you look at it' and I laughed but then realized he was kind of right. I spend way too much time on mechanics and complexity ratings while ignoring if the game even feels fun to me. Has anyone else had a kid say something dumb that actually changed your whole approach to buying games?

Just watched a guy try to teach Wingspan at a convention

He spent 10 minutes explaining the bird feeder dice tower mechanic when the rulebook literally says to just show people a sample turn first, and now I'm wondering how many new players we scare off because we overcomplicate the teach - has anyone else seen this happen at a public event?

Debate: did that guy at the game store gatekeep me or was he just being helpful?

I was at Atomic Comics in Phoenix last Saturday looking at Terraforming Mars, and this older dude walks up and tells me I should 'start with something lighter' like Catan before trying anything with cards. He spent 10 minutes listing reasons why I'd mess up the rules and waste my money, even after I said I've played it on my phone before. Does that sound like friendly advice to you, or was he just trying to run me off from the hobby aisle?

Rant: I dropped $80 on a custom dice tray that barely fits on my tiny table

So I got real excited about a new game night setup and ordered this fancy wooden dice tray with a velvet lining from a small maker on Etsy. It looked amazing in the photos, all sleek and premium. When it showed up, the thing was gorgeous but it was way bigger than I expected, like 12 inches by 10 inches. My gaming table is only a small folding one I use in my living room, so now the tray takes up half the space. We can barely fit our player boards and cards around it. I spent $80 on something that looks great but is a total pain to use in practice. Has anyone else bought a board game accessory that looked perfect online but just didn't work with your setup?

I think I broke my group's favorite game last night at the meetup

We were about 4 rounds into a game of Dune Imperium at the local game shop in Portland and I accidentally mixed up the spice cards with the conflict deck. Nobody noticed until like 3 turns later when we realized the spice was going to the wrong places. We just stopped playing and ordered pizza instead. Has anyone else completely derailed a game like that?

That time I spent 3 hours trying to figure out one rule in Arkham Horror

I got the big box of Arkham Horror out last Saturday night, all pumped for a game. Spent maybe 90 minutes setting up tokens and reading through the rulebook again. Then I hit this weird thing about monster movement during the mythos phase, just couldn't wrap my head around it. Wound up digging through forums on my phone for another hour and a half, and finally found a post from like 2017 that explained it. So yeah, setup plus one rule took me almost 3 hours before we even drew a card. Has anyone else spent way too long on a single confusing rule in a complex game?

TIL I had been shuffling my deck wrong for 20 years

I was at a game night last month at a friend's house in Portland, and someone watched me do my usual overhand shuffle and said 'you know that's not actually randomizing anything, right?' I thought I was just fine because nobody had complained before. But after they showed me how a proper riffle shuffle works, I realized I'd basically been playing every deckbuilder for two decades with cards grouped in the same order from the previous game. Has anyone else had that 'wait, I've been doing this wrong the whole time' moment with a basic game mechanic?

Tried 4 different foam core brands for game inserts, one was way better

Last month I was making inserts for my copy of Terraforming Mars and went through like 4 different foam core brands from different craft stores. Elmer's from Joann was super soft and bent just from the box cutter pressure. The cheap stuff from Dollar Tree was even worse, kept crumbling on the edges. But the Grafix brand at Hobby Lobby held up way better, cuts clean and doesn't shred when you sand it. Has anyone else noticed big differences between foam core brands for this stuff?

Took me almost two years to learn how to store my game boards flat without warping

I kept stacking games sideways on an IKEA shelf and after about 18 months the boards started bowing so bad that pieces wouldn't stay in place. Has anyone else dealt with board warping from bad storage choices?

Finally hit 100 games played this year and it kinda freaked me out

I started keeping a log in January just for fun, and last night I crossed the 100 mark. That's almost 2 games a week and I have no idea when I became that person. Anyone else's gaming count sneak up on them like that?

Got told my dungeon tiles looked like wet cardboard, fixed my wash technique

Some guy at a convention in Denver looked at my hand-painted tiles and said they just looked like I'd dipped them in brown water. He was right, I was using way too much water in my wash and not letting layers dry. I cut my wash ratio to 1:8 paint to water and now the detail actually pops. Has anyone else had a random stranger give them a tip that actually fixed a problem?

Just crunched the numbers on my game collection and I'm honestly shook

I was moving boxes around in my closet last night and decided to actually count how many board games I own. Turns out it's 47. That's not the scary part though. I added up how many times I've actually played each one this year and 14 of them have zero plays. Zero. I found this stat by checking my BGStats app which I've been using since January. Some of those games have been sitting unplayed for over 2 years because I keep buying new ones. Has anyone else done a real audit of their shelf of shame and gotten a wake up call?

That rules clarification took me 2 hours to figure out last night

I was setting up a game of Terraforming Mars with my group last night and we hit a wall on how the preludes interact with the standard project phase. My buddy swore you could use standard projects before your first turn, but I was reading the rulebook and it said something different. We spent a good 2 hours digging through forums and watching setup videos to find the answer. Turns out you can't use them until after your first generation starts, which made a huge difference in our starting strategies. By the time we figured it out, it was 11 pm and we just packed it up. Has anyone else run into a rule that ate up your whole game night like that?

Had a day last month where every game I taught clicked on the first try

I ran a three game session at the local shop in Denver back in March, and for once nobody asked for a rule clarification or mixed up victory points, which felt so weird I actually checked the calendar to make sure it wasn't a holiday or something - has anyone else had a freakishly smooth teaching day like that?

Rant: I used to buy every new board game that looked cool, now I only get ones my group will actually play

For years, I'd drop $70 on a new game just because the box art was neat, and it would sit on my shelf. The change came after a game night last fall where my friends got bored halfway through a complicated new game I bought. Now I only buy a game if at least two people in my regular group are excited to try it. It saves money and makes game nights way better. Anyone else have a rule to stop their collection from getting out of hand?

Crossed 100 logged plays on my BGG profile and it felt like a gut check

I always thought I was a casual gamer, but hitting triple digits made me realize how deep I'm in. It's not just the number, it's seeing I've played Gloomhaven 27 times since January. When did a hobby become a second job? Anyone else get a reality check from their own stats?

Rant: My game group argued for an hour about setup rules for Gloomhaven

We spent 45 minutes reading the book and checking forums, but then my friend just downloaded the official helper app. It cut our setup time from over an hour to about 20 minutes by handling all the monster cards and stats. Does your group use apps for heavy games, or do you stick to the physical pieces?

My copy of Twilight Imperium 4th edition arrived with a busted box corner

It showed up yesterday from the online store. The outer shipping box was fine, but the game box itself had a huge dent in one corner, like it got dropped before packing. I spent $150 on this thing and the plastic insert inside was cracked too. I sent pictures to customer service but they said it could take a week to get back to me. Has anyone had luck getting a replacement box from the publisher directly?

PSA: A friend told me my game explanations were 'stressful' and it made me rethink everything

We were setting up a new game last month, and I was going through my usual 15-minute rules deep dive. My buddy just stopped me and said, 'Dude, you're making this feel like homework.' That hit me hard. I realized I was dumping every edge case and strategy tip before we even started playing. Now I just give the absolute basics to get going, maybe 5 minutes max, and teach the rest as we play. It's made game nights way more fun for everyone. Has anyone else had to totally change how they teach a game?

Remember when game nights meant a big box of Monopoly and a bag of chips?

Back in 2010, my group's whole collection fit on one shelf, mostly stuff like Risk and Clue. Now, after a decade, we have a whole wall of games, from worker placement to legacy campaigns, and we spend more time reading rulebooks than eating snacks. What was the first 'modern' game that made you realize this hobby had changed for good?