Questions tagged [luck]

Luck is the part of the game that is derived from chance factors represented by throws of coins, dice, etc.

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9 votes
11 answers
5k views

What makes a good alternative to flipping a coin for 50/50 randomness?

I'm building a coin-flip themed Commander deck, and I realise I'm going to be flipping potentially dozens of coins every turn deeper into a match. What would be a good alternative to flipping an ...
2 votes
6 answers
394 views

Board games with random maps not revealed at the beginning of the game and exploration

I am trying to develop a physical board game with the following features (among others): The map is randomly/procedurally generated (square/hex tiles, does not matter) The map is not revealed at the ...
-4 votes
2 answers
243 views

Is there any game with absolute zero luck, other than rock, paper, scissors?

While this question has been asked some times already, I wanted to know if there exists a game that rides the absolute extreme of 0 luck: nothing is decided by chance, and both players play at the ...
5 votes
3 answers
1k views

Is there a quantification of how much skill a game requires? [duplicate]

For example, if you play a round of cribbage mathematically perfectly, someone will win because they got better cards on average. But if that difference in scores comes down to 10 points, that could ...
2 votes
1 answer
473 views

Ticket to Ride Nordic Countries: endless destination cards harvesting loophole

For the moment we have had fun playing Ticket to Ride Nordic Countries, however, the fun has been spoiled by now due to the following incentive of which I don't know whether it is allowed. Consider ...
6 votes
8 answers
14k views

Does Monopoly involve skill to a considerable degree?

Many classic children's board games, like Snakes and Ladder and Candyland, are essentially pure games of chance. Is it reasonable to regard Monopoly as a game of this type? How important is player ...
0 votes
1 answer
192 views

Is there skill in rolling a spinner?

Several board games, particularly those made for young children, use a spinner instead of a die to control movement. A spinner is harder to lose, less likely to choke a younger sibling, and easier to ...
30 votes
7 answers
14k views

How to Measure Luck vs Skill in Games?

Anyone who has played a wide variety of games knows that some games are almost purely skill (i.e. Chess, Go), while others are 100 % luck (ie. Candyland, card game of War). However, most games are in ...
48 votes
41 answers
44k views

Games that have no element of luck. [closed]

Most of my favourite games, such as Diplomacy, have little or no element of luck - either via dice rolls, hands dealt, or other methods. What other games can you recommend that rely on 'skill' alone? ...
0 votes
1 answer
465 views

Do people commonly play collectible card games without shuffling?

I was watching the Garfield lecture on luck last night, and he mentioned that Magic eventually adopted a discard rule for the first hand drawn if it was a "dud", so that defeat is not so dependent on ...
7 votes
5 answers
2k views

How can I mitigate the luck factor of drawing destination tickets in Ticket To Ride?

I get the feeling that a big part of how well someone does in Ticket to Ride, is the drawing of their initial destination tickets, and the drawing of subsequent destination tickets, and how well they ...
15 votes
4 answers
2k 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. ...
0 votes
3 answers
623 views

House rules to decrease luck factor in Boxcars

I just finished playing Boxcars for the first time. The game was enjoyable, but involved too much luck for my group (dice rolls determine start, movement, and destination) given the long play time. ...
8 votes
4 answers
2k views

How to mitigate the intial luck factor in Race For The Galaxy?

Background (feel free to skip): My mom and I often play RFTG together (I am a very fortunate child to have a game-playing parent :), and we've noticed that there usually isn't as much luck in the ...
-3 votes
1 answer
285 views

roulette (changed rules) skill or luck? [closed]

how would You call the following game, a skill game or a game of luck? lets take a roulette wheel and change it where there is no green zero field. and instead of 18 black and red numbers we will ...
6 votes
2 answers
1k views

Is Fluxx a game of skill or luck?

In a recent question, a link was posted to a BGG member that attempted to objectively measure whether skill exists in the game Fluxx. This wasn't published in a peer reviewed journal, but was just a ...
0 votes
2 answers
1k views

Relative amounts of luck in MTG limited formats?

While I haven't played very much, I've noticed there seems to be slightly more luck in sealed than in draft. In draft, skill can prevail by recognizing bombs/archetypes, observing what colors are ...
19 votes
4 answers
2k views

Calculating luck as a factor in board games?

I´m hooked on Carcassonne but feel that after you learned the basic tactics it is mostly a game of luck. This has me wondering, when designing board games how would one go about calculating the luck ...
4 votes
1 answer
3k views

Is the luck factor indeed overwhelming in the Catan Card Game?

I recently bought the Settlers of Catan Card Game, played two partial games, and was very disappointed because of the seemingly huge importance of luck. Just about every action is based on chance: ...