Rule changes, additions and options proposed by players for players. This is not for officially sanctioned variations, see below!
12
votes
9answers
1k views
Clarifying house rules for Monopoly
It seems likely that I may be involved in a game of Monopoly soon. I'm not a big fan of Monopoly for a number of reasons, one of which is that part way through the game someone will reveal that they ...
2
votes
3answers
605 views
Can We Find a Middle Ground on the Russia First Turn Attack Rule In Allies and Axis?
Some (mainly Axis) players refuse to play Axis and Allies if Russia is allowed to attack on the first turn. Other (mainly Russian) players argue that Russia is unfairly hobbled if it has to play ...
7
votes
1answer
364 views
Small World : purpose of hiding VP
Have you ever tried playing Small World with visible VP ?
It sometimes frustrates me to discover in the end that some player had much more or less VP that we expected. Memorizing the VP count for ...
2
votes
2answers
257 views
Does a book of 3's in Hand and Foot work?
My wife and I play Hand and Foot from time to time. We have toyed with the idea of allowing a book of 3's to count positive, with the caveat that they are only positive if the book is closed and ...
1
vote
1answer
268 views
Should We Eliminate or Modify the “Factory Rule” In Axis and Allies?
The better players I know don't build industrial complexes "factories" outside of their home countries. It costs 15 IPCs (five infantry) up front, and offers an uncertain return. Far better, they ...
10
votes
2answers
978 views
House Rule for Minor Improvement/Occupation distribution?
I'm in a group that regularly plays together. We love Agricola, but we tend to play the family version because we feel the minor improvements and occupations are a bit too unbalanced. Or sometimes one ...
4
votes
1answer
90 views
Whats a good way to handle multiple players bidding when playing by email?
I have recently moved away from most of my gaming friends and taken to playing by email. We have played a few rounds of Age of Steam but the bidding at the start of each turn takes many emails just ...
3
votes
0answers
201 views
Draw at the end of turn in Carcassonne [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Pre-drawing cards or tiles
I often play Carcassonne in a lunchtime setting where we are looking to condense playtime as much as possible. We recently have started ...
8
votes
5answers
214 views
2 draw piles for convenience?
Sometimes when the table is large enough, or people don't want to reach too far, a single draw pile is split into multiple draw piles. This has always bothered me.
Does it bother anyone else? Are ...
8
votes
1answer
815 views
2 Investigators in Mansions of Madness
I now have a few games of Mansions of Madness under my belt, all of them with three players - a Keeper and 2 Investigators. And I've noticed that there doesn't seem to be time for them (the ...
7
votes
2answers
233 views
San Juan variant to balance prices
San Juan is a admittedly a game with a good deal of luck involved. However the luck element seems to be emphasised when we play, as some of the cards seem significantly better than other cards of the ...
10
votes
6answers
2k views
How to reduce total screw-overs in Ticket to Ride so there's always a potential path toward victory?
My family and I have very much enjoyed playing the original Ticket to Ride, but I've noticed one issue that keeps coming up. It is very easy to be cheated out certain critical routes that could easily ...
5
votes
2answers
1k views
Tweaking the difficulty in Arkham Horror?
Most cooperative games have methods of altering the difficulty listed in the rulebook, but Arkham Horror doesn't (although it does mention that Cthulu tends to be harder than the other ancient ones).
...
0
votes
2answers
130 views
Would using 2 progressions of evil and 2 heroic actions per turn destroy the balance of Shadows Over Camelot?
After reading so much about how Battlestar Galactica was a better game than Shadows Over Camelot, I became determined to help it and see if I could help it at all in the contest. One of the issues was ...
1
vote
4answers
4k views
House rules for Spade bids of nil, blind-nil, and 10-for-2?
My favorite bids in Spades are the riskiest ones: 10-for-2, nil, and blind nil. 10-for-2 is always worth 200 points, and most rule sets I've seen put nil at 100 and blind nil at 200.
In our group, we ...
4
votes
2answers
344 views
Limiting the number of silver and gold cards available in Dominion
One of the interesting aspects of Dominion is how you have to plan which kingdom cards you're going to get while they're still there. If there's 2 attack cards available and somebody's snagged all the ...
8
votes
2answers
351 views
Descent Campaign Shortening
Myself and some friends meet up for some games every so often, and enjoy a good game of Descent to Darkness.
We recently tried a campaign over an extra long weekend (the idea of carrying equipment ...
3
votes
1answer
116 views
How will using counters to represent money instead of facedown cards change the game?
We've played several games of Bohnanza as a family, and one thing I quickly realized was how important it is to keep an eye on what cards have been taken out of the game as money for harvesting. ...
5
votes
2answers
159 views
House rules for Crokinole?
Any recommendations or variants for playing Crokinole? We say that you have to stay seated in your chair with at least one cheek touching to make your shot.
2
votes
1answer
156 views
The New Dungeon lengthening
Now and again I play the The New Dungeon (with people who don't normally play board games), but I'm always struck by how fast the game is over. It seems like you're barely getting started on the ...
6
votes
1answer
97 views
Non-team variants for four or more players in Mille Bornes?
Has anyone come across variant rules for Mille Bornes where the players don't play on teams? I've seen rules for 2 player, 3 player, 2 vs 2 and 3 vs 3, but nothing for four or more solo players.
For ...
11
votes
4answers
389 views
What can dead Werewolves players be doing?
When you've been lynched by the villagers or ripped apart by the werewolves, I believe the rules say those players are completely out of the game and should not contribute in any way.
In the handful ...
12
votes
6answers
779 views
Is bribing off the robber a good addition to Settlers of Catan?
When I play Settlers of Catan with my family we sometimes allow bribing of the person placing the robber to not place it in a particular spot. Does anyone else play this way and if so do you find ...
15
votes
8answers
464 views
Pre-drawing cards or tiles
This goes for many games where players take turns to draw cards, but I specifically wondered about Carcassonne:
Do you allow players to pre-draw tiles? So they don't have to wait until it's their ...
6
votes
2answers
162 views
18xx Companies able to buy other companies, what will be the impact
One of the fun parts of the 18xx games, is that its fairly easy to create your own (local) version. I like to create a dutch version (yes there have been two already but with limited availability). ...
4
votes
3answers
78 views
Would Steam/Age of Steam benefit from a non-constrained set of tiles
Steam and Age of Steam provide a finite set of tiles, and the rules explicitly mention that if a certain type of tile runs out then it is effectively unavailable anymore -- unless a tile comes back ...
7
votes
1answer
370 views
Are there disadvantages to the house rule that you always end before the starting player?
Once an end condition is reached, I like the house rule where you play until just before the starting player. It seems more fair to me.
Are there any counterarguments? It seems like the game ...
6
votes
3answers
523 views
House rules to fix LotR Risk endgame
I've been playing Lord of the Rings Risk, in the variant where the Ring moves one territory per turn, requiring a roll of 4 or higher to leave certain territories, and the game ends when the Ring ...
9
votes
6answers
883 views
House rules to make the cloister less of a game winning tile in Carcassonne?
In my experience, cloister tiles in Carcassonne are often "too lucky". If you draw a cloister tile in the beginning of the game, it will typically still require an investment of quite a bit of ...
