Rule changes, additions and options proposed by players for players. This is not for officially sanctioned variations, see below!
2
votes
1answer
66 views
House Rules for divine intervention
Last several games of munchkin were won via "divine intervention". All agree that the win is less satisfying than normal.
Does any have good house rules to make the card less onerous?
1
vote
2answers
98 views
What should the Overlord change when adding a fifth hero in Descent: Journey Into the Dark, 2nd Ed.?
My board game group and I started Descent: Journey Into the Dark, 2nd Ed. last night. This group usually fluctuates between 4 and 6 players and this session we had five, the upper limit for the game. ...
10
votes
4answers
415 views
Too many Tech-Victories seen in 2-player rules for Civilization
I have been playing Civilization The Board Game some times with my girlfriend, but each time, the game quickly becomes a race for the tech-victory. Since it is a large advantage to research tech in ...
11
votes
5answers
271 views
What to do in long games with players who are way behind?
When our group plays longer games (6+ hours), we usually choose games where players who fall behind still have chances to recover, so all players remain interested in and engaged with the game. ...
4
votes
1answer
71 views
What errata or house rules help balance occasionally-broken scenarios?
Many of the haunt scenarios can be exceptionally unbalanced depending on precisely where all the players are standing (particularly the revealer and/or traitor) when the haunt is revealed. When my ...
2
votes
1answer
94 views
House rules to improve Pokemon Master Trainer
This past week's game of the week was the '99 (first) version of the Pokemon Master Trainer board game.
It was not the strategic challenge that I am used to, does anyone have any knowledge of ...
3
votes
1answer
37 views
How can I speed up a game of High Frontier?
I really like High Frontier, but it takes a long time to get going and can take several hours to play. Does anyone know of any house rules to make the game run faster?
28
votes
8answers
2k views
What are some alternatives to using dice in Settlers of Catan?
In Settlers of Catan, there's a variant where instead of rolling the dice, you use a stack of 36 cards with each combination. This reduces the luck component, but has as disadvantage that you can ...
10
votes
1answer
120 views
Are there multiplayer equivalents to trading places after the first move?
In many two-player games a first move advantage can be mitigated by giving the second player the option to trade places if the first move appears desirably strong, which encourages the first player to ...
7
votes
2answers
501 views
How can I elegantly increase the difficulty of Elder Sign?
I think there's consensus that Elder Sign is not satisfyingly difficult. The variants I've seen suggested are either too long for my taste, or don't look play-tested.
Has anyone found a satisfying ...
7
votes
3answers
411 views
Playing Settlers of Catan with a D12 instead of 2D6
Has anyone tried this?
Does it break the game?
Does it make it easier/quicker?
Assuming a 1 gave no resources to anyone and a 7 still invoked the robber how different a game would this make Settlers?
...
2
votes
2answers
92 views
How can we make Don Bell more balanced?
With Don Bell having 4 bullets and the ability to get an extra turn after the first (on a draw of a heart or diamond), he can become an overpowered character very quickly. He is likely to get 1 more ...
23
votes
7answers
6k views
Munchkin as a two player game
Has anyone had any experience with playing Munchkin with 2 players? If so, what variant/house rules do you play with, and how do you feel the experience compares to 3+ player Munchkin?
3
votes
4answers
160 views
Unique and fun rules for UNO
I know the regular rules for UNO, but over the years, playing with different people, I hear all kinds of different rules. I've hear different rules when a specific card is played, you and/or everybody ...
26
votes
21answers
1k views
Which alternative methods of choosing a starting player actually WORK?
So I've been noticing that there's a vogue in gaming recently for the starting player to be chosen by some method other than simple lot. I'm wondering if this is a good fashion, or if it's just ...
3
votes
2answers
298 views
How Can I Improve Combat in DungeonQuest?
I've been playing DungeonQuest for a while with some of my friends, and what I've discovered is that there's a noticeable drop in interest during the combat, which is too complicated for new players ...
2
votes
1answer
121 views
Puerto Rico - Custom gameplay tweaks to introduce player interactions
We have been playing Puerto Rico for on a regular basis. It's an excellent game, and one of the few well balanced games in buildup genre as:
There is almost no luck factor involved.
All of the ...
2
votes
4answers
302 views
Axis and Allies Europe edition: Neutral Territories?
So, as far as I understand it, the rulebook for Europe states that if a country invades a "strict neutral" (that is, any neutral that doesn't specify if it is Pro-Allies or Pro-Axis) then ALL other ...
11
votes
7answers
851 views
Where can I find good tile layouts for Settlers of Catan?
I just bought a copy of Settlers, and noticed that there was a suggested starting layout that is included in the Almanac. I noticed it was mentioned online as well:
"new editions of the game also ...
4
votes
2answers
163 views
Adding money to a game of Risk
A friend and I recently had a conversation around making a set of rules for a buy-in variant on Risk, and I wanted some help from experienced players to review them as they stand now. Risk is not a ...
5
votes
1answer
113 views
House rules to reduce the game play time of Power Grid
Are there any fair rules for shortening the playing time of Power Grid?
It seems obvious to end the game on less powered cities (rather than the 17 default), but this often skews the phase 2 for the ...
7
votes
2answers
134 views
How bad would it to be to allow partial house renovation in Agricola?
In explaining this game to people over Christmas, several people independently balked at the idea that the whole house must be upgraded at once.
Is there a strong reason to enforce this rule? After a ...
17
votes
8answers
1k views
Playing with less or more than 10 Kingdom card types in Dominion
In Dominion you choose 10 of the 25 Kingdom cards to play with in a given game, generally at random. Is it possible/advisable to play with less or more sets? I've considered playing with less to make ...
11
votes
8answers
817 views
Short-version of Settlers of Catan
What are some rule changes that shorten the game, and what drawbacks do those changes have?
Please limit your answers to rules changes with which you have first-hand experience!
17
votes
4answers
638 views
What is the best strategy to avoid large farms in Carcassonne?
Whenever I play with my housemates and friends, Carcassonne often becomes 'farm wars'; everyone who understands the nuances of farm play gets caught up in playing meeple (or as I call them, 'dudes') ...
5
votes
6answers
382 views
Secret Mission Axis and Allies
My friend and I sat down one day and made up some "Secret Missions" for all of the countries in the board game Axis and Allies. For example, if Japan takes Western United States, they are immune from ...
9
votes
2answers
287 views
How can I speed up a game of Axis and Allies?
I find Axis and Allies takes a long time to play. Does anyone have any house rules that would shorten the game? I actually own A&A Europe, but general answers are welcome.
11
votes
2answers
238 views
Removing the Luck from Stone Age
Stone Age is one of my personal favourite games. The game dynamics are excellent and requires plenty of skill and strategy to win, with the only exception of the dice roll when determining resource.
...
5
votes
4answers
388 views
How can we speed up Killer Bunnies?
What are some common house rules that you might use for a Killer Bunnies game?
Because the game has so many rules/cards to begin with, the only one that we've come up with is not allowing Super ...
15
votes
3answers
397 views
How can I play a short/small, but still satisfying round of Diplomacy?
I liked playing Diplomacy back in university, where I had almost no problem gathering seven people with a whole day (including the nights) to spend.
Nowadays however, I'd consider myself lucky to ...
5
votes
2answers
690 views
Does Dixit need any modifications to play with 7, 8, 9, and 10 players?
I've enjoyed Dixit greatly with groups of 5 and 6, and I'm curious if it needs any rule variations to extend it further. I was thinking perhaps requiring at least 2 players to guess the correct card ...
6
votes
4answers
1k views
How can I make Dominion play better with 5+ players?
I just got Intrigue, and it seems cool that it opens up the game to 5 or 6 players. However, the common consensus seems to be that its possible, but not recommended. Is there anything I can do to make ...
14
votes
4answers
2k views
How can I play Pandemic with 6 players?
I've recently bought Pandemic, and really liked the game. But since the basic game is only 2-4 players, I ordered the expansion "On the Brink", which brings it up to 5 players.
Is there a rules ...
15
votes
4answers
9k views
How can I play Dominion with 5+ players without expansions?
I am going to get a Dominion expansion (probably intrigue based on its popularity) but in the meantime I'm curious about what I can do with just the basic set. I know it was designed for 2-4, but I ...
11
votes
1answer
925 views
Does Forbidden Island usually need any rule variants for playing with 5+ people?
I don't see any reason why Forbidden Island wouldn't be able to handle 5 or maybe even 6 players with some simple variants. Does anyone have any experience with different player numbers with some ...
6
votes
1answer
309 views
9-player Advanced Civilization rules
We're playing our yearly Advanced Civilization game this Saturday, and we may have 9 people. Does anyone have any 9-player rules?
We have all the extension maps.
9
votes
0answers
156 views
Ora et Labora. Ideas for an alternative 2 player game ending rule?
I love the game "Ora et Labora" by Uwe Rosenberg. It is has especially a nice 2 player mechanism.
In 3 and 4 player mode the game ends after a certain number of rounds. Which I like very much.
...
7
votes
4answers
381 views
Are there good two player rules for resource trading in Settlers of Catan?
I've tried playing two-player Settlers, where each player controls one set of pieces, and each time a player builds they need to play a piece of the same type for one of the two uncontrolled colors ...
7
votes
2answers
224 views
Is there a solitaire version of Bang?
I love playing Bang! but I'm finding it hard to play a game with my friends, because of our busy schedules.
I would love to play a solitaire version of Bang! if it existed, so that I could get my ...
13
votes
4answers
713 views
Axis and Allies with TWO boards!!!
So, I have been developing a way to play A&A with two boards. You have the Axis on one and the Allies on the other.
Now, before you start saying that this is ridiculous and stupid and would ...
13
votes
5answers
3k views
Minimum bid rule for Monopoly auctions
Other questions have asserted that many people don't actually auction properties as instructed in the rules. Monopoly doesn't specify any rules to control the auction. I have seen auctions stretch ...
13
votes
3answers
643 views
What are some good house rules to balance the sides in Saboteur?
My group of gaming buddies, after playing plenty of Saboteur, has found that the "good dwarves" can pretty easily win consistently once they learn which pieces are most valuable and how to best ...
5
votes
1answer
174 views
House rule to fix vindictive behavior in Princes of Florence
In Princes of Florence, the bugbear is this rule:
A player may move his figure backwards
on the fame track at any time during
the game. For each space moved
backward, the player takes 100 ...
17
votes
4answers
269 views
Ideas for handicapping strong Boggle players?
My family enjoys playing Boggle. Usually it's all adults that play, but come the holidays it's not uncommon to have elementary and junior high aged cousins, nieces, and nephews interested in playing ...
15
votes
6answers
469 views
Carcassonne — problem telling the difference between the Big Meeple and regular Meeples
In our gaming group, we have a very hard time picking out the Big Meeple from the other Meeples on the board. While the Big Meeple certainly is bigger than the others, it's not by a significant ...
17
votes
14answers
567 views
Any good way to add a handicap in Dominion?
I play Dominion pretty regularly with one group of friends, but only occasionally with another group. This creates a pretty big experience gap between me and the second group, and I'm afraid they ...
7
votes
2answers
357 views
Good handicaps for Descent
In certain cases in Descent, a good player (in particular with the Overlord) can destroy the other side. However, I feel that Descent is most fun when it is well balanced right up to the end.
What ...
4
votes
1answer
68 views
How can we keep Ren Faire fresh?
After you've played Ren Faire with the same group for a while, the performance requirements seem old. All of us have had to bellydance, act like a hyper kid, etc, etc. I suppose we could crank out ...
1
vote
0answers
72 views
How can I make Supernatural-themed alternative characters?
The people who I play Betrayal at the House on the Hill with are also the same groups that share my love of Supernatural. We'd love to make some Dean, Sam and John Winchester characters as well as ...
4
votes
4answers
154 views
How to speed up a game of Empire Builder?
Are there any rules variants that I can use to speed up a game of Empire Builder? I love playing Empire Builder, but the fact that it takes so long tends to put off some of my friends.
