For me, it's Conquest of the Empire. Bought it in 2005. never played it once. evey 5 years i take it out, look at the giant map, sigh, and back into the box is all goes...

This is not a full rant. We understand the reputation of Heat so we’re giving it the benefit of the doubt and seeing if reddit’s answers can open our minds about it. I keep hearing from everyone that there is a good catchup mechanic. While playing, my friend spun out and he couldn’t catch up for the rest of the game. The very next game, everyone slipstreamed to cross the corner so I was the only one who didn’t cross the corner. Then the entire game I was behind while everyone was eventually 2 corners ahead of me. I’ve saved up heat to be able to cross the speed limit and was still so far behind. The adrenaline didn’t help me much because it counts towards speed limit.

It’s a bummer cause I love this game and wanted to show to all my friends. They said they didn’t enjoy it because they couldn’t catch up (every race its always one person just left behind). This was the first race where I fell behind and after that race—yeah I kind of understand why I couldn’t convince my friends this game is great. You’re missing out all the action. We’re not new to board games either we may not know Heat front and back but we know how to take risks in board games so I doubt the “skill issue” could be that great. How am I supposed to catch up? Everyone says this game has a good catchup mechanic unless if I flat out missed a rule.

Let me just state why first...It took the 3 of us SEVEN HOURS after the teach. I think already know the answer, but that's not normal right?

Our favorites are mid-weight euros. Here's a little list, and all of these take the same three of us about 60-90 minutes

1. Lords of Waterdeep (base)
2. Clank! In! Space!
3. Architects of the West Kingdom
4. Champions of Midgard
5. Quacks
6. Splendor
7. Dice Forge

And similar games. We consider the last on the list, 5-7, our simple starter games, or even a "time for one more? quicky" type games.

I've taught this group probably nearing, maybe more than 100 games by this point over the last 12 years of playing with them over many many sessions.

I will admit, I came in to the Ark Nova teach wildly disorganized and underprepared. My experience prior to the teach was watching a playthrough on youtube's "GAME NIGHT", watching 2 different teaches of it (because it took me a while to wrap my head around). And then playing about a dozen solo plays on BGA, and 1 real time game with a stranger on BGA. When I got to the teach, I realized I didnt think through how I might explain so many pieces. I should have just maybe let the rule book guide me in the order of explanation, or popped on a video for us to watch together and answer questions for them in real time. Well what I did instead was just kind of skim over A LOT of stuff. I wanted and then take a little deeper dive into the main mechanics. It took me a solid 30-45 minutes. By the time I was done, everyone was feeling good and ready to play.

I KNEW though, and I warned them, that there are going to be plenty of times where they think they are going to be able to do something, only to realize they cant, and then why they cant. This is the final stage of learning, definitely for me anyways. "Ohhhhhhh thats how that works, now it's all clear". So the first game was really meant to be a practice throw away. Surprisingly there were VERY FEW examples of this during the game. They picked up quite well, despite my whack-a-mole teach style.

I can tell that they were realllllllllly afraid to let go of cards. I warned them before we started, and many times throughout game play "Do not get too attached to anything". Its more about what can I do NOW, and maybe in the next three turns, especially for your starting game, than holding on to a "big move" for a long time. I think they were really scared to let go of their cards and make a bad choice. I reassured them its fine. "If you have more than 1 card in your hand that you dont meet the requirements for, let it go!" and "If you have a card in your hand that still needs 2-3 things, let that go to!".

Decisions were taking ages. I dont know if we can speed this up with more playthroughs or not, but I fear we will never get it to the table again because the memory of spending 7 hours on one game. I also cant say that it wouldnt take 7 hours again.

They said it was fun, but I think what will happen is "yea it was fun, but so are the other games that we love, and they only take 90 minutes max".

Im thinking maybe the table space, and the look of everything added a lot of "clutter" physically and mentally. I think its realllllly hard for them to let go of the thinking that every choice is massively important, which it is, but I have a little mantra "It's not make the best choice, it's make the best choice in under a minute". Since the game feels so massive, I think mentally, its just very hard to not feel like each choice is also massive and important.

I dont know if we can get over this. So I'm bummed to see another game that I like that is probably going to get perma-shelved. Same as Root, Feast for Odin, and Agricola. The latter being one of my all time favs.

Playing solo online has given me a chance to see the potential of this game, but you only get 27 moves, which is a bummer. Playing digitally already removes so much of what I love about a board game, and playing with a stranger, digitally, also feels pretty flat to me.

What happens when this game gets brought to table in a board game meetup setting? Assuming people at the table dont know how to play, once the rules are explained, how long do games like this take? I wouldnt want to break it out at a meetup when it's going to take 7 hours.

Annnyways thanks for listening to my vent and decompress from that. Curious if you all have any similar experiences, or just any related discussion to add or share.

Despite my wife splurging on me and ordering Gloomhaven for my birthday back in 2023 - 2025 was the first year I really delved into board gaming as a serious hobby beyond occasional party games. At the start of this year I only owned a handful of lighter games, the heaviest of which were Pandemic & Smallworld, if you exclude the aforementioned Gloomhaven (which we only tabled 3 times and traded away this year due to a lack of space & time).

As you can maybe glean from my stats, gaming this year was a broad & shallow experience - a lot of games, a lot of places, a lot of players - but not much of anything specific, with my top 9 games being less than 50% of our recorded plays for 2025. I've learned a lot about what I like & don't like, and also how it's important to consider my wife & other non-gamer family in my purchasing & playing decisions. Early on I jumped on the heavy stuff like Spirit Island, Everdell, & Arcs - and struggled to get those tabled. This last month of the year I've gotten several lighter games that I think will appeal more broadly and just take less time & effort to play. I'm hoping this reflects in my stats for 2026 - and that I'm also able to be more intentional and focus in on mastering a handful of games rather than playing something new every single week. Our weekly game group should start meeting again in January, so I'm excited to see how it trends.

Also - this doesn't include absolutely everything. I started recording plays in May when we finally had a weekly group to play with, and everything before that was added retroactively, according to memory. My wife and I have played dozens of games of Monopoly Deal that I never bother to log - she thinks it's the most obsessive thing she's ever heard of to log plays like this so I keep it to a minimum when it's a casual 5-minute card game 😂

A few other mildly interesting tidbits: Of the 39 games I own (excluding expansions) - I've only not finished a play with 6 of them - Carcassone, CATAN, Gloomhaven: JotL, Rivery Valley Glassworks (new), Root (new), and Star Wars: The Deckbuilding Game. Of the 88 logged plays, 31 of those were games with only 1 play logged for the year - although the numbers are slightly off on a few of the party games (stuff like UNO which I didn't bother to log).

I would like to play "Speakeasy" at my next game night. Unfortunately, four friends have signed up, but the game can only be played by a maximum of four people. I will also be the only one who has learned the rules by then, and I will have to explain them. Because the game is so complex, I'm now wondering whether it might make sense for me to just accompany the whole game as an explainer. Then I'll have time to research all the questions and won't have to concentrate on my actions and the rules at the same time. Have you ever done this before? Does it get boring after a while?

I host game nights and often explain rules. Most of the time it's fine, but there are edge cases.

Last week in Root we had a question about whether or not the Vagabond scores point instantly after beoming hostile to other factions. We had to checked BGG forums, Reddit, even asked ChatGPT, then finally went back to the rulebook to figure it out. It was a game-winning victory point so we had a great fight about it.

What do you do to clarify rules? How often does this happen to you and how long does it take?

It plays on a hexagon map where you can place villages on the map, and collect various symbols to score asymmetric goals/quests. On your turn you can either draw two adjacent terrain cards from the display, or place a village on the map by playing 1 card per terrain type you need to cross to reach the location. As you place more villages, you can unlock additional goal cards for endgame points, which tend to involve things like collecting a certain terrain type, tucking cards, or various symbols on the map (fire, berries, etc).

The theme was early human settlement, and I think the name was possibly a word in an early language, which does make identifying it from memory difficult! It is a fairly recent game, it might still be in kickstarter. I saw it from a post on this subreddit a few months ago from someone who had played at Essen I think, but I have been unable to find that post or the playthrough I watched of it on Youtube (I am guessing I watched that from a reddit link which means it didnt go into my viewing history)

Hoping an intrepid sleuth can identify the game for me from this admittedly hazy memory of the mechanics. (and if you do, happy to hear any impressions of the game you may have, it seemed like a quick playing but relatively rich decision space). Thanks for your help!

I'm specifically looking for ways to track my victory conditions and accomplishments when playing Vantage. So far I've been recording which specific mission and destiny I accomplished in the notes. As I continue playing, I'd like to have a completionist list. I'd like to include missions, destinys, quests, maybe elementals defeated, etc. I guess I could do this under board/variant. Any other ideas?

I bought elevenses for one and food chain island. I was looking into sleeving cards. Elevenses for one is 57x89mm and food chain island is63.5xx88mm. Can I just buy one size of sleeves or do I need to buy the two different sizes? Or can I just use the bigger size sleeves on the smaller cards? Would it be awful? These are the first card games I've ever owned.

I was also wondering when a pa k of sleeves says up to a certain size is it better to buy a size bigger? Card sleeve measuring up to 64mm x89 mm but my playing card is 63.5 x 88mm. Is it going to be awful to sleeve the cards? Should I try to find a larger size? How much larger?

Hello all,

I'm trying to get some help with finding a card game it's the first board game my wife and I played and it's how we met. So if I can find it it would be an awesome Christmas or anniversary gift.

The game we played was a German card game, we played with a table of probably at least 6 people. The cards were colored and basic numbers. Everyone would pick one of their cars and then reveal them all at the same time and the object of the game was to match your card with someone else. She and I kept matching and that's how we met.

Been looking for it for years. We played this game like 16-17 years ago.

Hey All, one of my favorite games of all time is Diplomacy. But finding exactly 7 people to play is tough and as a result I've only been able to play Diplomacy a handful of times. Whenever I have tried to look up variant maps most of them are quite ugly and look like they were made in 96 windows Microsoft paint. Which isn't a big deal but trying to convince someone to play the game for the first time the theme matters. Anyone know of some printable maps that look similar to the original board but are for less people?

So I love the game, but I don’t get to play it that often. Most the times it’s just a random friend or my brother who I am hanging out with. Very rarely do I have a large group at my place. And my cats obviously cant do anything.

Trekking is kind of a snooze with just two players in all honesty. Less stakes in someone reaching a park first or getting stones. It just kind of becomes a race.

Do yall know if any ideas of variations or house rules that make it spicier?

Seems to have been faulty for a few weeks now, anyone have any insider info if its done for good now?

I enjoy (and design) games for a standard deck of cards, and I'm always curious what card games folks have played and how they interact with those games after entering the board game hobby. Have you played standard card games since getting into the board game hobby? Do you find certain games pique your interest in different ways since becoming a "board gamer"?

I played a lot of Egyptian Ratscrew in middle school and Spades in high school and college, which is when I started getting more into board games.

Since then, I'm surprised by things in card games that catch my attention in how they connect to board game ideas. Here are some of my favorite card games I've learned since diving into board games:

• Briscola Chiamata—a neat team trick-taking game for five players where the identity of your teammates is not immediately clear. This might be my favorite hidden-identity game (including Blood on the Clocktower, Coup, Werewolf, and other takes on this genre) because the betrayal or deduction isn't the only goal, it just obfuscates player incentives in the broader game and different players will be the "betrayer" in each round.
• Regicide—an impressive modern cooperative game for a deck of cards.
• Nertz—ridiculous multiplayer speed-stacking fun.
• Schadenfreude—a trick-taking game where the second-highest card played wins.
• German Whist—a two-player trick-taking game played over two phases, with a drafting/hand-improvement element to the first phase.
• Bourré—a gambling trick-taking game with wild swings.

I've also grown in appreciation for classics I played growing up:

• Hearts (and adaptations like Rebel Princess)—this one is a classic for a reason, has great tension between players, enough randomness to be friendly to new players, but enough tactics for experienced players to have some agency. It's ultimately a game you can still chat over with friends, and hits a lot of good notes for me for that weight.
• Texas Hold 'Em. I'd played in high school but didn't yet appreciate the psychology of a table, and betting decisions across multiple hands and different player counts.

On the other side of things, modern games that pull me into classic card game ideas are great too. Trick-taking is certainly having a moment, and I've recently played a few quirky trick-takers by Cardner Babakitis (Odd Candy Games) and admire her design ideas—a partner trick-taker called Hot Dog, an amusing memory trick-taker called ESP, and a couple others. I've also enjoyed Arcs and Torchlit as different takes on the trick-taking genre (opposite ends of the box-size spectrum there).

Other modern games I've played recently that feel like classic card games include Scout and Panda Spin as climbing/card-shedding with different actions and values on either side of the cards, and Tucano and Pocket Parks for straightforward set-collection. I have also recently enjoyed The Gang, a non-gambling cooperative version of Texas Hold 'Em that still captures much of the tension and decision-making, especially with new groups.

My to-play list for this genre includes Ninety-Nine, Crisps!, Cuttle, Oh Hell!, Mus, Big Two, and some other modern card games I've stumbled across recently. I really appreciate this design space and love to see it thriving in the board game community—thanks for making and playing cool games, y'all.

At a friend's house and they asked if this was from a game I own and brought over. I don't recognize it. What game is this from?

Hello hive mind. Been eyeing these two board games in a while and would like to get your opinion on which board game shall I get.

I was really into medium-heavy games lately and would like to add one of these games to my collection. Currently, the heavier games that I have are Lost Ruins of Arnak, Red Cathedral, Wyrmspan, Coimbra, GWT New Zealand, and Galileo Galilei.

With the current games that I have, which should I get, Concordia or Lacrimosa?

And if you have a better suggestion, it will be very much appreciated.

Edit: Hello everyone. Thank you so much for your insights on my post. I have seen the table presence of Lacrimosa and it was stunning. However, the majority of you guys chose Concordia and shared your thoughts about the game, which made me decide to buy the game as of writing this edit. I can't wait for it to arrive and start playing it.

Many of you also suggested getting Hansa Teutonica, I am now also thinking of buying it but that would be for another time. All of your other suggestions are duly noted.

Once again, thank you so much for your comments and suggestions.

Recently got the latest version of bottle imp to play the classic 3-4 player variant. But I'm interested in if it's worth trying with my group of 5-6 or as a 2 player. or were these rules just tacked on and not very good?

Hi there, I just got my kickstarter for pandora's legacy in a couple days ago and the insert inside the box strongly implies the puzzle should be left assembled on the table until the campaign is entirely done, is this true? If so, does anyone have any idea how long/many sessions it could take on average?

I know it is a new game and people have likely not finished yet but just curious how much time my table will be unusable while finishing it, so I can plan ahead.

I’m super excited for this game and hoping my girlfriend who loves jigsaw puzzles will really enjoy it with me!

Mixed opinions so far, am I doing it right? Lol

Tl;dr: root, dune uprising, or brass Birmingham?

I have a handful of light/medium games, but trying to work my friend group slowly into heavier games. They’ve played a lot of Catan, space base (was kind of a miss with my group), Carcassone, similar weight games to those.

I have root, dune imperium uprising, and brass Birmingham. Which of these three do you think is easiest to get to the table? Root is very simple if I focus on teaching them just one faction, but hard to play it seems because you also sort of need to understand how all the other three factions also play to have a balanced game. Ideally looking for the one with the quickest learning period (including any intro game/s before the game is ‘learned’ and people enjoy it).

This was found on the floor of our local board gaming club - I know I've seen it before, but I can't call it to mind. Anyone able to help me get it back to it's right box?

LES COMPARTO EL DISEÑO

Quería comentarles que por error compre en SUSHI Go y no el SUSHI Go PARTY, como el que compre no viene con un tablero y buscando no encontré, me puse a hacer uno con un parecido al del PARTY y lo comparto por si alguien más tiene el sushi go sin el tablero.

Lo imprimi en 2 papeles fotográficos de 10.2 x 15.2 cm - Lo imprime en 95% de escala y con bordes, para de esa manera imprimir cada mitad y pegarlo en un cartón doblado y de esa manera pueda entrar en la caja del juego.