c/board-game-geeks

I dropped $80 on a custom foam insert for Gloomhaven and it was a total waste

I saw all these posts about how a good insert saves setup time, so I bought one from a small shop online. It took me over two hours to put all the pieces in the right slots, and it actually makes pulling things out harder during play. My group spent more time fighting the foam than fighting monsters last game night. Has anyone found a storage fix for that game that actually works without being a hassle?

Hot take: I had to choose between a game night with my regular group or a rare chance to playtest a new legacy game.

I picked the playtest, and it was a disaster because the designer hadn't even printed player aids. Spent 45 minutes just trying to figure out the turn order. Has anyone else regretted skipping their main group for a shiny new thing?

I keep seeing people call any group game a 'board game' and it drives me nuts

My brother-in-law tried to get us to play charades last weekend and called it a board game night. That's a party game, not a board game. It matters because real board games have rules, components, and a defined play space. I've been collecting for over ten years and have about 300 games in my basement. Does anyone else get annoyed when people mix up the basic categories?

The guy at the game store in Tempe who told me to 'just buy the expansion'

I was at a local shop last month looking for a new game to play with my regular group. I asked about a game I'd heard was good, and the clerk immediately said I should get the $40 expansion too, before I'd even tried the base game. He said it 'fixed everything' and the base game was 'basically broken' without it. That really rubbed me the wrong way. Now I make a point to never buy an expansion until we've played the base game at least five times. Has anyone else had a store employee push an add-on that hard before you even knew if you liked the game?

Trying to sort my game collection by player count turned into a whole weekend thing

I decided to organize my 150+ board games by how many people they work best with, thinking it would take maybe an hour. I ended up spending 6 hours over two days because I kept finding old games with missing rulebooks or vague player counts online. The worst was an old copy of 'Betrayal at House on the Hill' where the box said 3-6, but the actual rules inside said you really need at least 4. Has anyone else had to dig through BGG forums just to figure out how many players a game actually needs?

Why does nobody talk about the great board game storage divide?

I used to keep everything in the original boxes, but after my copy of Gloomhaven fell apart last spring, I switched to using a big plastic bin system. Now I can find pieces in 30 seconds flat, but my shelf looks like a warehouse. Anyone else feel torn between keeping things pretty and keeping them playable?

DAE get super into a game's lore after a single play...

Last week at our game night, we played 'Root' for the first time and I ended up spending like 3 hours after just reading the faction backstories online, which my friend said was 'peak board game geek' behavior.

The vibe at my local game store totally shifted in like a year

I mean, a year ago it was just a chill spot where a few of us would meet up for casual games of Carcassonne or Ticket to Ride. Now it's all about these super competitive tournaments for games I've never even heard of, and the regulars just talk about their rankings. Did the pandemic just turn everyone into hardcore strategy gamers or what?

My copy of Terraforming Mars just fell apart during game night

We were setting up the board last Friday when the main player board split right down the middle. I tried to tape it, but the pieces kept sliding under the cards. Has anyone else had a game break like this, and did you find a good fix?

Update: I've been teaching new players Catan wrong for like 5 years

I was explaining the robber to my cousin last week and said you just block the hex and steal a card, which is what I've always done. She read the actual rulebook and pointed out you're supposed to roll a 7 *before* moving the robber, not after placing it. My whole group has been playing it backwards this whole time. How many other basic rules have we all probably messed up?

I always thought I'd hate heavy war games, but my friend's copy of Twilight Struggle changed my mind

For years, I stuck to lighter games and avoided anything with a rulebook over 20 pages. Then, at a game night in Denver, my buddy insisted we try a full game of Twilight Struggle. The way the Cold War theme tied into every card play totally hooked me, and the three hour session flew by. Has anyone else had a game genre they avoided that turned out to be a favorite?

My cousin swore I'd hate worker placement games, but he was totally wrong

My cousin Mark is a huge board game guy, and for years he kept telling me I'd hate any game with worker placement mechanics. He said they were too slow and boring for my taste, and that I should stick to party games. Last month, a friend from my local game group in Austin brought over 'Everdell' for game night. I was hesitant, but we played it anyway. After the first round, I was completely hooked. The puzzle of placing my workers, gathering resources, and building my little city was way more fun than I expected. I've played it four times since then and even bought my own copy. Mark was so off base with his advice. Has anyone else had a friend give them really bad game genre advice that you ended up loving?

Vent: My game group in Portland spent 45 minutes last night just trying to pick a game to play.

We ended up playing nothing because we couldn't decide, so what's your group's best trick for actually getting a game to the table?

I finally got my game group to play a full game of Twilight Imperium

We started setting up at 6 PM on Friday, and by the time we finished the rules explanation and first round, it was already 10 PM. The whole thing, including a pizza break and two rulebook arguments, wrapped up at 3 AM on Saturday. Has anyone else had a 'quick' game night turn into a 9-hour marathon?

Am I the only one who thinks 'analysis paralysis' is just a nice way to say someone can't make a simple choice?

Watched a guy at my local game cafe take 22 minutes to pick a starting faction in a game of Scythe. It's not deep strategy, it's holding six people hostage. What's the longest you've waited for someone to take their turn?

Had a total meltdown trying to teach my parents Catan last Christmas in Omaha. The sheep jokes got old fast.

The new game cafe in Portland had a wall of shrink-wrapped Kickstarter boxes

I was at Mox Boarding House last weekend and noticed a whole section of their retail area is just unopened Kickstarter games. Must have been at least 50 different titles still in plastic. It felt like a museum of hype, not a place to actually play. Do you think this is a good way for a store to move product or does it just encourage the 'collector' over the 'player' mindset?

I finally chose to host our game night at my place instead of the local cafe

Everyone in our group kept saying the cafe was better because we didn't have to clean up, but after three months of loud music and a two-hour table limit, I made the call to move it. I spent about $80 on snacks and rearranged my living room to fit two tables for our 8-player games. Honestly, it was way more fun having our own space to leave a game set up overnight, but now I'm stuck with all the setup. Does anyone have a good system for getting people to help tidy up without feeling like a nag?

PSA: I tried a new way to store my board games and it was a total game changer

I was sick of my Kallax shelves looking messy, so I tried putting all my games in those big plastic bins you get at the hardware store. I thought it would just hide the mess, but after 3 months, I found something weird. My group started playing the same 5 games from the top of the bins over and over, and we totally forgot about the rest. I learned that if you can't see the box, you just won't pick it. Has anyone else found a good way to store a lot of games where you can still see what you have?

My old game group in Denver had a strict 'no phones' rule that drove me nuts

We used to have to put our phones in a basket before starting, which felt like a punishment. Then, about a year ago, our host started using a simple hourglass timer for each player's turn during games like Terraforming Mars. It cut our game time by almost forty minutes and made everyone focus without the drama. Anyone else found a small change that fixed a big group problem?

The game night vibe at my place shifted big time after I bought a $30 table topper

Before, we'd play on my old kitchen table and people would get annoyed when cards slid around. Now with the neoprene mat, everyone leans in more and actually talks during turns. How did I not do this like five years ago?

Honestly, buying a $200 board game table insert saved my game nights

Tbh, my group kept knocking pieces off our regular table during Gloomhaven. I saw a custom wood insert online and decided to go for it. It took about a week to arrive and I had to put it together myself. Now the map tiles and our cards stay put, and we actually finish our sessions. Has anyone else found a good fix for keeping big games organized?

Vent: I looked up how many board games are in the BGG database and my brain broke

I was on BoardGameGeek yesterday, just browsing, and I clicked the random game button a bunch. I got curious about the total number, so I checked the stats page. The site says it has over 140,000 games in its database, which is a number I can't even picture. That means if you played a new game every single day, it would take you almost 400 years to get through them all. Has anyone else felt completely overwhelmed by just how much stuff is out there to try?

Warning: I taught my non-gamer friends a heavy euro and they loved it

Last weekend I brought Brass Birmingham to a casual hangout, expecting groans, but they got super into the canal and rail networks after about 30 minutes. I always hear that you need gateway games for new people, but this group liked the tough choices right away. Has anyone else had a complex game click with folks who don't normally play?

Tbh, I just spent 3 hours trying to get the 'Innsmouth Look' token to stay on its track in Arkham Horror.

Honestly, I ended up using a tiny bit of museum wax, which finally worked after it kept sliding off for our entire 4-player game last night, has anyone else found a better fix for those slick cardboard pieces?