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.
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How do I make Home Builders more fun? [closed]
Home Builders is a cooperative game, published by Family Pastimes and Zonnespel/Sunny Games.
My youngest son likes it, mainly because of the theme. My eldest thinks it's boring, and I have to agree ...
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Is buying older power plants than what you have disallowed?
In a recent game of Power Grid, someone we play with regularly insisted on a rule that you're not allowed to purchase a "lower" technology power plant than you already have. e.g. if you have 13,17,25 ...
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What is this game, played with chess board and pieces, but with totally different rules?
Multiple decades ago, I was introduced to a game as described in the title of this question. What I can remember of it is:
The two rooks had different functions. They were distinguished by placing ...
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Player with the Stinkiest Armpits [closed]
I bought a used copy of Munchkin (bundled with several expansions) to play with my family while we are on summer vacation. While reading the instructions of the game to the other players, we noticed ...
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How To Play Coup: The Resistance with more than one set of cards?
I recently purchased 2 sets of Coup: The Resistance So that I could play with more than 6 people. However, The included rules don't state how many of each card to use when dealing with more than 6 ...
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Speeding up complicated games by limiting player interaction
Without changing "the official rules" of the game, what sorts of house rules can be imposed on player interaction to speed up game-play for games that generally encourage players to discuss options (...
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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:...
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Increasing engagement in Crack the Case
I thorougly enjoy playing the Milton Bradley game Crack the Case with friends.
For smaller groups (up to 5 people), I find that without teams or keeping track of time or points is already more fun ...
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What are the Blackjack rules used in Atlantic City casinos?
I understand that Blackjack in Atlantic City casinos is regulated by the state and that they determine the rules of Blackjack that all the casinos must adhere to.
Specifically, I would like to know:
...
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How Can One Create Game Balance Axis and Allies WWI?
My gaming circle does not feel Axis and Allies WWI is balanced. None of us has yet achieved victory as the Central Powers. What rule modifications would you suggest to balance the game?
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How to expand Love Letter to accomodate more players?
Love letter was a surprise hit in my group. Everybody enjoys the fast pace and player interaction. It's just a shame that it only allows up to 4 players, because it seems like it would be better for ...
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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 ...
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"Investing" in other players in Monopoly
I once played a (somewhat crazy) game of Monopoly where there were too many players, so not enough properties to go around. I ended up with close to zero property but lots of cash. So I made an "...
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In Star Fluxx, have you needed to change how The Computer and The Unseen Force play?
Star Fluxx has a number of cards that end up being quite powerful and can throw chaos into a game that seemed to be almost over. Most of these cards are either Actions or Surprises and can thus only ...
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Initial card house rule for Kingdom Builder
I noticed in Kingdom Builder that the later players have a noticeable disadvantage if they have a card for the same terrain, because there is usually only one good spot to start with (see the question ...
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Scrabble - What if any "House Rules" work to even the playing field with more and less experienced players?
Related:What is a fair Scrabble handicap
Scrabble is a great game for competitive type A types and the learning curve is STEEP at first. Great game. Like most games, house rules vary and are fine as ...
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Phantom Province Houserule
The gaming group that introduced me to Dominion plays with a houserule known as Phantom Provinces, explained as such:
After the normal condition for ending the game is reached (including running ...
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What's the impact of allowing other players to continue while you choose tickets?
The rule book says that you need to decide on your tickets even before the next player takes his/her turn. How big a deal is it to allow a fellow player to decide on destination tickets while others ...
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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?
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What happens in Go if you "take back" a ko before making a ko threat?
In Go, there is a potentially repetitive sequence of moves called a "ko." So if your opponent takes a ko from you, you have to make a move elsewhere on the board, called a ko threat, before "taking ...
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Afrikan Tähti improvements/variants [closed]
A Finnish friend gave me a copy of Afrikan Tähti. We played it a couple of times, and while it was kind of fun, it really seems like a children's game, and I won't bring it out again in a hurry. Luck ...
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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?
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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. (...
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What are some house rules to improve Pokémon Master Trainer? [closed]
This past week's game of the week was the '99 (first) version of the Pokémon Master Trainer board game.
It was not the strategic challenge that I am used to, does anyone have any knowledge of ...
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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 ...
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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?
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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 ...
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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?
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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 ...
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Unique and fun rules for UNO [closed]
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 ...
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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. ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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How can I make alternative characters for BatHotH?
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 ...
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How can we stop the same person being the traitor each time?
I recently received Betrayal at House on the Hill. The last and only three times we've played it the same person/player has been the traitor. I know this is unlikely, but we've started joking that the ...
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Mêlée based, fantasy themed Warhammer 40k army?
Which army is best suited to adapting to a fantasy themed, mêlée based army (in both rules and look of model)? Do 40k armies suit mêlée combat at all?
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Can I mix Fantasy and 40k in a game?
I'm trying to get my fiancée interested in playing Warhammer games. She's interested in fantasy and I'm interested in the sci-fi 40k branch of the game, plus I've already got an army in the making. If ...
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Is Ace high? Or low? Or both?
When playing the cards, Ace is worth 1. When counting runs, A 2 3 is worth 3. I've often played with Q K A also being worth 3. I've even played with K A 2 being worth 3! Definitely good ways to ...
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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.
...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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How do Phenomenon cards work in the Eternities Map variant?
In the Eternities Map variant of Planechase, players lay out Plane cards in a grid and get to choose a direction when they planeswalk:
Players see not only the current plane, but also adjacent planes ...
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Does the Diplowinn variant play similarly to the original Diplomacy?
The Diplomacy Variant Bank contains a huge number of variants on Diplomacy, ranging from completely different maps and powers, to minor tweaks of the rules. I was searching for a variant that would ...
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Where did the "can't build next to the robber" house rule come from?
Several people I've met play Settlers of Catan with the house rule "you may not build anything that isn't a knight next to the robber". As far as I can see, it's not in the rule book.
To clarify: ...
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Where can I find more Brood War scenarios?
The Brood War expansion of Starcraft introduces the idea of the Scenario Game Mode, which basically comprises a pregenerated galaxy setup with special victory conditions. Often, playing scenarios ...
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Can the original Ticket to Ride (US) rules be applied to the Europe map?
I am planning to get the Ticket to Ride: Europe and introduce the game to a new player. For a beginner, I was thinking of playing the European map with the original US rules. I will be ignoring ...
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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 ...
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