c/board-game-geeks

Serious question, did you know the original print run of Glory to Rome was only 1500 copies?

I was reading an old blog post from 2007 by the designer, Carl Chudyk, and he mentioned that tiny number. It explains why a used copy can go for over $200 now. Has anyone here actually managed to find one for a normal price, or is that just a legend?

My sister said something about our game nights that got me thinking...

We were setting up for our usual Friday game night, and she mentioned she was tired of always playing the same three games. She said, "We call ourselves geeks but we never try anything new, we just keep playing Catan and Ticket to Ride." It hit different because she's right... we bought 12 new games last year and only learned two of them. We get stuck in a comfort zone and don't actually explore the hobby. Has anyone else fallen into a rut with their regular group, and how did you break out of it?

DAE get annoyed when people call any board game 'D&D'?

I mean, I was at a cafe last week and overheard someone point at a group playing Betrayal at House on the Hill and say 'oh cool, they're playing Dungeons & Dragons'. It's a totally different kind of game! Has anyone else run into this specific mix-up?

Spent about $80 on a custom foam insert for my copy of Gloomhaven, and honestly, it was a total game changer.

I keep seeing people at my local game store in Denver try to teach new players by explaining every single rule up front, which just makes them zone out.

After watching three different groups get overwhelmed and check their phones during a 20 minute rules lecture for a medium-weight game, I've started just teaching the core loop and one goal, then jumping in, which gets people playing and asking questions in under five minutes.

Just found out the original print run of 'Dune' from 1979 was only 500 copies. Saw that on a blog about old Avalon Hill games.

Appreciation post: My 8-year-old nephew beat me at Catan by trading sheep for a road

We were playing Settlers of Catan and I was stuck with 5 sheep, so I jokingly offered him all of them for one wood. He took the deal, built a road that blocked my longest route, and won the game in two more turns. Do you have any stories about a silly trade that actually worked out?

I spent $80 on a custom foam insert for my copy of Gloomhaven and it was the best money I ever wasted.

My game group meets every Tuesday, and setup for that beast used to take 20 minutes. I saw a guy on Etsy who cuts foam to fit every piece. It arrived last week, and now we're playing in under five. The box even closes properly for the first time. Has anyone else found a storage solution that actually saved their game night?

My game group's copy of Gloomhaven has a 2-inch binder just for the rule clarifications we've printed.

I found this out when I was trying to find the official ruling for the 'Invisible' status and realized we've added over 50 pages of forum posts and FAQs since we started the campaign 18 months ago.

My game group tried a full 8-player Twilight Imperium session and it broke us

We scheduled a full day last Saturday to finally play with the maximum player count. By hour six, three people had completely checked out on their phones, and two others were arguing about a trade deal from three rounds prior. The game just ground to a halt. In my experience, that epic 14-hour marathon you see online is a fantasy for most casual groups. We learned that our sweet spot is definitely four players, max five. Has anyone else had a big game totally fall apart because you pushed the player count too high?

Heard a guy at the game store say he's spent $1200 on Kickstarter board games this year alone

I was picking up a new copy of Catan at my local shop in Springfield last Thursday. A guy at the counter was telling the clerk he's backed 8 projects so far in 2024, and the total was already over twelve hundred bucks. He said he hasn't even played half of the ones from last year. It got me thinking about how easy it is to get caught up in the hype and the FOMO. My own shelf of shame is bad enough without adding more boxes I'll never open. How do you guys keep your Kickstarter spending in check, or do you just accept it as part of the hobby?

TIL playing with a 4 person group vs a 6 person group totally changes the game

We played two rounds of Catan last night, one with 4 players and one with 6 using the expansion. With 4, the game was tight and strategic, finishing in about 75 minutes. With 6, it felt way more random and dragged past 2 hours with too much downtime. Which setup do you think is actually better for a serious game night?

Spent $60 on a board game that looked cool but was just terrible

I saw this game called 'Starfall Siege' at the local shop with amazing art, so I grabbed it without checking any reviews. Played it with my group last night and the rules were a total mess, we gave up after an hour of confusion. Has anyone else bought a game just for the box art and been totally let down?

I was organizing my game shelves by player count for years until a friend pointed out the obvious flaw

He asked 'where's your 2-player game for tonight?' and I realized I'd hidden them all behind the big box games. Anyone else have a better system for storing games you actually play often?

My wife called our game night group 'a support group for people who can't stop buying cardboard'

We were packing up after a long session of Ark Nova last week, and she just said it while looking at my shelf of unplayed games. She wasn't even mad, just tired. It hit different because she's right. I counted 14 games still in shrink wrap, and I bought 3 of them just last month. I always said it was a hobby, but hearing it out loud made it sound like a problem. How do you guys balance the fun of collecting with actually playing what you buy?

Found a way to get my group to actually finish a game of Twilight Imperium

We kept hitting a wall around hour 6 and people would get tired and quit. Last game night, I set a hard stop at 4 hours and used the 'Age of Empire' variant from the rulebook that reveals public objectives early. We got through 8 full rounds and someone actually won. Has anyone else used a timer to keep a long game moving?

PSA: My custom foam insert for Gloomhaven cost more than the game itself

I dropped about $150 on a laser-cut organizer thinking it would save setup time, but now my group just argues over who has to assemble the 47 tiny trays. Anyone else have a board game 'upgrade' that totally backfired?

My buddy's custom Catan board got a drink spilled on it at a game night in Austin

Had to choose between a legacy game night and a regular weekly group

My old crew wanted to start a 12-week Gloomhaven campaign, but my new friends just play different games each Tuesday. I picked the regular group because I can't commit to that many weeks in a row, and honestly, it's been way less stressful. Does anyone else feel like legacy games ask for too much time?

My friend said board game geeks are just people who like to read rulebooks

We were setting up a game of Scythe last weekend, and he made a joke about how the real hobby is just studying the manual. It got me thinking, is that a fair dig? On one side, knowing the rules inside and out makes the game run smooth and fair for everyone. But on the other, does focusing too much on perfect play suck the fun out of it? I've seen games fall apart because someone spent 20 minutes arguing a tiny edge case. Where's the line between being a good player and just being a rule lawyer? What's your take?

PSA: I won a 6-player game of Root by only ever playing the Vagabond

My group in Austin said it was a terrible strategy, but after three turns of just hoarding items and scoring points from ruins, I somehow pulled it off. Has anyone else found a weirdly effective 'bad' strategy in a complex game?

I thought a board game cafe would be full of gatekeeping snobs

My friend dragged me to a place called The Rook's Nest in Portland last month, saying it was a 'board game geek's paradise'. I pictured a room full of people who would judge me for not knowing the rules to Scythe. The truth was the opposite. A guy named Mark, who had a full Gloomhaven campaign painted, spent 45 minutes teaching my group how to play Azul without making us feel dumb. He even brought over a copy of Cascadia from his own bag when he saw we liked tile laying games. The whole place was just people having fun, not proving they were the smartest. It changed my view of what a hardcore hobby space could be. Has anyone else had a good surprise at a game cafe that seemed intimidating at first?

My friend's cat knocked over a full game of Scythe last night

We were three hours into a five-player game at his apartment when his cat jumped onto the table, scattering every piece. We spent 45 minutes trying to rebuild the board state from memory before we just gave up and ordered pizza instead. Anyone have a good method for securing a game table from pets?

A game night in Cincinnati taught me to stop explaining every rule up front

I was at a friend's apartment last month, trying to teach five people how to play a new area control game. I spent 45 minutes going over every single rule and strategy point before we even touched a piece. Halfway through, my friend Mark just said, 'Can we please start playing? I'll figure it out.' We did, and everyone picked it up way faster by actually doing it. Now I just explain the basic goal and one turn structure, then we jump in. Has anyone else shifted to a 'learn as you play' method for teaching heavier games?

Found my old Settlers of Catan box from college and the pieces were still sorted by color.

Last week in my garage, I opened that box for the first time since 2012, and it hit me how we used to spend whole afternoons just setting up and arguing about trades, but now my group just wants to play something faster, so has anyone else had a game that feels like a time capsule from a different era of gaming?