Questions tagged [house-rules]
Rule changes, additions and options proposed by players for players. This is not for officially sanctioned variations - use the [variants] tag instead.
299
questions
4
votes
3
answers
157
views
Friendly Blackjack, with players edge over the house?
I am hosting a casino-night party. These are not money games, but there are prizes at the end of the night for whoever wins the most chips overall. I will be dealing blackjack. I want my players ...
- 4,105
1
vote
1
answer
55
views
Can one change their mind before playing marker or if wrong card played?
While playing Sequence and a player places his card down that he intends to play and then changes his mind before placing his chip down is that allowed? or does he have to play the card he showed? ...
- 10.2k
18
votes
8
answers
21k
views
Recommended Axis & Allies alternative rules / variations?
What rule variations do you recommend for playing Axis & Allies, from ones meant to balance the game to ones that add a little spice?
Here are the variants I've played with - always looking for ...
- 1
18
votes
4
answers
5k
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 ...
- 29.6k
11
votes
6
answers
8k
views
Good ways to speed up a game of Ticket to Ride
I just played my first game of Ticket to Ride and we loved it. Our only issue was making it a little faster. We had some small obvious ideas that wouldn't affect the gameplay much, like keep score on ...
- 1
5
votes
3
answers
474
views
Texas Holdem All-In Question
This is regarding a Texas Holdem No Limit home game.
After the flop, Player 1 and Player 2 are the only remaining betting players.
After the river card, Player 1 goes all in.
Then Player 2 decides to ...
- 13.9k
1
vote
2
answers
217
views
Texas Hold ‘em Rules
I have recently played some cash games in Las Vegas and I have found that there are a number of unwritten rules that seem to have poor coherence between different players and dealers. Tournament rules ...
- 13.9k
2
votes
1
answer
686
views
How can I make Agricola vegetarian friendly?
Agricola is a great game, with good theming, and I'd like to introduce it to a couple of friends who are vegetarian.
The problem is they might feel uncomfortable with the 'eating your animals' ...
- 1,062
11
votes
4
answers
69k
views
Choosing same color after Wild (+4) Draw 4
Playing Uno this weekend, one of the players played a Wild+4 but chose the same color that was in play (this led to a successful challenge). I had thought that, regardless of what's in the player's ...
- 3,607
21
votes
10
answers
5k
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 ...
- 29.9k
3
votes
3
answers
2k
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 ...
- 313
38
votes
23
answers
8k
views
Do non-random alternative methods of choosing a starting player actually WORK, and if so which?
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 ...
- 17.9k
0
votes
0
answers
111
views
Tri-Ominoes: Is the -5 points per drawn tile rule necessary?
I have the 1997 edition of Tri-Ominoes.
Beside the per tile and bridge/hex scoring, there are three kinds of scoring relating to getting rid of tiles quickly.
First to get rid of all their tiles ...
- 3,485
27
votes
11
answers
5k
views
Ways to handicap in Magic the Gathering?
I play Magic the Gathering with my kids a bit. But, the games are often very one sided (in my favor) as they haven't mastered all the rules, and intricacies of game play. For most board games, I can ...
- 13.1k
2
votes
3
answers
445
views
How can I reduce the planar die "whiff factor" with house rules?
I like to play Planechase sometimes. Mostly this variant, which gives players some additional choices when planswalking.
However, the most annoying part of Planechase is that the planar die has such a ...
- 29.6k
16
votes
3
answers
19k
views
In Uno, can you quickly finish a two player game by skipping your opponent's final turn and without saying Uno?
So me and my friend are playing Uno.
It's a 2 player game and we play where you can stack draw 2’s or draw 4’s.
My friend (player 1) has 2 cards left.
I (player 2) have 2 cards left.
It is player 1’s ...
- 29.6k
21
votes
10
answers
4k
views
Handicapping an experienced Agricola player.
One of my friends and I often play Agricola, and he's considerably better than me at it - I'm getting better, but he seems to be advancing at a faster rate, and it's getting to the point that although ...
- 17.9k
1
vote
1
answer
428
views
Is No Thanks! playable with just two players?
No Thanks! is advertised as a game for 3–7 players. I've never played it, but going by the explanations I've seen on YouTube (such as Tom Scott playing it with some friends), there seems to be nothing ...
- 10.5k
4
votes
4
answers
2k
views
How do I fix the statistical distribution of using 3 dice to handle Chance and Community cards in Monopoly?
I bought a Grab & Go edition of monopoly and realized they changed the Chance and Community cards.
Instead of physical cards, they have you roll 3 dice, and pick out of a list (3-18) of effects.
...
- 14.1k
2
votes
3
answers
220
views
How can I play games by myself when I don't have a table?
I often find myself in a bus/train/subway/car without a tray available or any other way of managing even a small play field. There's always games on my phone, but that lacks something compared to an ...
- 123
3
votes
3
answers
6k
views
How would these Ticket To Ride variants change the game?
In a recent question we securely established that the "Longest Route" bonus in Ticket to Ride is earned by the largest number of train cars used to make the route, not the largest number of stops.
...
- 535
49
votes
13
answers
120k
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?
0
votes
1
answer
272
views
Parcheesi: Doubles bonus
We are playing Milton Bradley “Parcheesi” and have an ambiguity in the rules to settle.
DOUBLETS
A roll of matching dice is called
doublets.
• If you roll doublets before all of your
pawns are ...
- 103
27
votes
12
answers
90k
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 ...
2
votes
3
answers
367
views
How can we make Just One more difficult/competitive?
Our friend group has been playing Just One a lot but it gets a bit boring quickly as 95% of the time the person can guess their word, even if we follow all the rules strictly (only dictionary words, ...
- 1,256
0
votes
1
answer
151
views
How can we prevent wins by pure luck in Decrypto?
I've played Decrypto over the weekend and wasn't impressed with it due to how big of a role luck plays in the game. For example in the very first round one can win by simply guessing all three numbers ...
- 2,797
5
votes
4
answers
8k
views
UNO Stacking a Draw 4 Card instead of picking up 4 cards?
Need clarification on the Draw 4 rule.
- Player 1 lays down a Draw 4 Card and says the color is Red.
- Player 2 does not have a Red card but has a Draw 4 Card.
Can Player 2 lay down his Draw 4 Card ...
6
votes
1
answer
440
views
Can a factory contain only one color or is there a rule to redraw four tiles?
When I play the physical version of Azul, I redraw tiles if all four that I place in a single factory are the same color. Recently Board Game Arena added Azul and I started a game. One of the rounds ...
- 297
0
votes
1
answer
98
views
Is a rotated solution valid in Q-Bitz?
new here and couldn't find anything related to Q-Bitz, so I hope it's ok to ask this question. It has my family arguing!
So in Q-Bitz the challenge is to match the pattern on the card with your own ...
CommunityBot
- 1
6
votes
4
answers
18k
views
Playing Pokemon TCG with more than two players
I want to play Pokemon with my brother and sister. The only problem is that there will be three people playing, which means it would be hard to alter rules so that they do not give other players an ...
- 24.5k
15
votes
1
answer
5k
views
Are "three way" trades allowed in Catan?
My basic understanding is that all trades must involve the player whose turn it is.
Alice, whose turn it is, has ore and wants wheat. Bob wants ore and offers brick, which is not acceptable to Alice. ...
- 10.8k
2
votes
1
answer
412
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 ...
- 143
3
votes
2
answers
6k
views
Is it feasible to do a Yu-Gi-Oh! booster draft?
Magic: The Gathering has a Booster Draft format in which each player opens a booster pack, picks a card to keep, then passes the rest to the next player. After this is repeated a number of times, ...
1
vote
1
answer
972
views
Star Wars Rebellion Resolve Space Combat before Ground Combat
I'm considering the following variant for Star Wars Rebellion (inspired by Twilight Imperium):
Resolve space combat entirely and reconcile transport capacity before resolving a ground combat in a ...
- 17.9k
15
votes
12
answers
7k
views
Do you know any rules that make Pandemic's difficulty more even?
Pandemic varies vastly in difficulty depending on the number of players. Does anyone know of any custom rules that make it more even?
- 107
31
votes
8
answers
20k
views
Does anyone have a way to modify Ticket to Ride to accommodate six people?
I recently bought Ticket to Ride to play at our monthly game night, which consists of three couples, i.e. six people. Stupid me, didn't read the five player limit before ordering the game. I've played ...
- 315
1
vote
3
answers
948
views
Quoridor rules when faced the opponent
I could not find an official rule that states directly what exactly to do when 2 pawns are face to face. It says that you can jump over it to go it's behind if there are no walls between the opponent ...
15
votes
12
answers
11k
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!
0
votes
1
answer
72
views
Could the Japanese player suffer anti-aircraft losses under the Midway reduction rules?
One optional feature of the game, "Midway reduction," forces Japan to conduct an air (or sea) bombardment of Midway before the transports accompanied by the Atago invade it. There is a ...
- 29.6k
2
votes
4
answers
6k
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 clean....
- 4,083
5
votes
2
answers
2k
views
What strategies are there for the “no forced jumps” variant of checkers?
In the standard rules of Checkers as it is played in tournaments and the like, jumps are mandatory, i.e. if it is possible for you to jump, you must jump, and if it possible to do jump again you must ...
- 11.7k
2
votes
1
answer
921
views
In Monopoly, can you save an 'advance' card to use later?
Playing with friends, and they give me this rule I've never heard of before, can't find any info.
They say you can save an 'advance token' card (like a go to jail card) to use at any time.
Their ...
- 10.8k
2
votes
1
answer
127
views
What might these inscriptions added to an «Easy Money» board mean?
These inscriptions, for example S153 and P330, appear to have been added to an Easy Money board.
Does anyone know of house rules that might explain their addition?
(click to enlarge images)
- 10.8k
2
votes
2
answers
6k
views
Can I combine Exploding Kitten decks to allow for more players?
As the game clearly states the game is designed for 2-5 players. This is based on the game mechanic and resource level of the namesake kitten. Once you draw an exploding kitten and cannot defuse it, ...
- 418
7
votes
2
answers
3k
views
What is needed to play X-wing with 4 players?
I've heard that we can play X-wing with 4 players. Does anyone know if this requires an expansion, or is it perhaps a house rule?
- 17.9k
9
votes
5
answers
4k
views
How should I modify Risk to play with 7 persons?
I am planning on creating my own version of Risk in such a way that we can play it with 7 persons. For this I am planning to create my own map with a local theme.
What kinds of ratios/parameters are ...
- 17.9k
8
votes
3
answers
638
views
Flash Point without the Deck Gun?
I've played a dozen or so games of Flash Point so far and always find it necessary to have someone be the Driver/Operator, stay in the firetruck, and just use the Deck Gun all game. The right roll can ...
4
votes
2
answers
354
views
Castling when in check
Chess has a rule that forbids castling when in check. What is the practical value of this rule? How would chess without this rule compare to chess with this rule?
- 4,105
54
votes
13
answers
247k
views
How do you make Settlers of Catan work well for 2 players? (Problems and play-tested solution described, alternatives requested)
The basic Settlers of Catan game is designed to work for 3-4 players (or more with 5-6 Player Extension). No 2 player variant is suggested by the rules, and for good reasons:
Trades (an exciting part ...
- 21
3
votes
6
answers
3k
views
How to speed up reaction time in Settlers of Catan? [duplicate]
I'm looking for ideas on how to make Settlers of Catan quicker to play between friends.
Whenever I play with friends they complain that you have to stop all the time to decide what are you going to do:...
- 21.8k