63
votes
Accepted
How to play a quicker game of Monopoly?
First of all make sure you are following the base rules for Monopoly as there are a lot of different house rules that are used that make the game take much longer then it should. Judging on the ...
- 13.9k
55
votes
Accepted
In Uno, can you quickly finish a two player game by skipping your opponent's final turn and without saying Uno?
Player 1 hasn't won yet at all. They broke the rules.
Uno says when it's your turn, you play a card. Then it's the next player's turn. That player might have to do something with their turn (like draw ...
- 24.3k
54
votes
Accepted
Ways to handicap in Magic the Gathering?
My friend and I have used the following and we think they work pretty well.
Start with a lower life total. Start yourself off at 10 or 15. As the kids get better, slowly increase it until you are ...
- 5,510
37
votes
Is it an official rule that interference in Monopoly requires paying $50 to free parking?
That is a house rule as there is nothing in the base rules about communicating with other players and there is also no such thing as paying free parking. Honestly it is a rule that hurts less ...
- 13.9k
32
votes
Are "three way" trades allowed in Catan?
No (or yes, depending on how you define a single trade).
The person whose turn it is can trade. Each trade is with that person and one other person.
If you can accomplish what you need in a series of ...
- 10.4k
28
votes
Accepted
Secret Hitler: is asking another player to choose which card to discard "cheating?"
Yes it is cheating and called out in the rules.
Rules
Verbal and nonverbal communication between the
President and Chancellor is forbidden. The
President and Chancellor MAY NOT pick Policies
...
- 13.9k
24
votes
Ways to handicap in Magic the Gathering?
How complex are your decks? For teaching kids, you want simple decks: big green fatties, red burn, blue fliers, black removal, white weenies, etc.
Most of the time when I want to handicap myself, I ...
- 11.1k
20
votes
Accepted
Can you use a clue that contains a word on the board within it in an unrelated way in Codenames?
Yes, you can.
While certain questions like this will be up to each play group to decide; this one is actually directly addressed in the rules.
At the bottom of page 6:
England and island were ...
- 72.1k
17
votes
Accepted
Can the owner of the largest army move the robber every turn?
This is not an official rule; that is why you didn't find it in the rule book.
The reason this isn't a rule is because it would detrimental to the game experience. The player with the 'largest army' ...
- 3,896
16
votes
How to play a quicker game of Monopoly?
Deal all the 28 properties to the two players (shuffle the deeds and then alternate properties) before the game begins. The trades occur at the beginning, and players can start building houses and ...
- 21.3k
16
votes
Is it an official rule that interference in Monopoly requires paying $50 to free parking?
This rule is a house rule, because any rule that involves putting any amount of money under Free Parking is a house rule. As @Joe W quoted:
"FREE PARKING": A player landing on this place does not ...
- 261
15
votes
How do I mitigate 'alpha playing' in Pandemic?
Of course this can happen, but the expectation is that all the players help contribute to finding solutions to the current problems. While you might see one path, someone else might see another, that ...
- 1,075
15
votes
Accepted
Does Monopoly Follow Standard Auction Procedures?
If you can't bid more than once in an auction, then you would want to go last. But everyone can't do this.
The standard auction procedure is to sell to the highest bidder. So if someone tops your bid,...
- 21.3k
14
votes
Ticket to Ride house rule to help players with short destination tickets
The goal in TTR is not "complete the cards you're given", it's "get the most points". There are plenty of ways to do this with short routes (e.g. by focusing on building only length 4+, not going for ...
- 4,545
14
votes
Accepted
Choosing same color after Wild (+4) Draw 4
These rules appear to be from 2001, and these rules appear to be from 2003. Both sets of rules do not indicate any restrictions on the choice of colour after either wild.
The points from both rules ...
- 9,618
14
votes
UNO Stacking a Draw 4 Card instead of picking up 4 cards?
Not under the standard rules - there is no ability to respond to a Wild +4 (or a +2 for that matter). If the previous player to you played one of those cards, you take the cards and the turn pass.
"...
- 9,378
14
votes
Accepted
How to play Ticket to Ride with children?
I played with my 5y old daughter using the Ticket to Ride: Europe base game and the following house rules. (We played twice; each game taking 20-30min.)
The first player to complete 4 tickets wins!
(...
- 341
13
votes
Accepted
How inappropriate is it to track semi-secret information using paper or other memory aids?
There's two schools of thought on this subject - one is that you can do anything unless the rules say you can't, the other is that you can only do what the rules say you can. I believe there's a ...
- 3,181
13
votes
Texas Holdem All-In Question
Because Player 1 made the final raise, he should be the first to show his cards when players reach the showdown. However, according to the World Series Of Poker rules,
When a player holds a hand ...
- 10.8k
13
votes
Catan setup order different than playing order
I think you have got how you work out start player wrong.
You said "the second highest number goes second and so on." The rules do not state this.
Looking at rules here it says :-
Each ...
- 10.4k
12
votes
How to play Risk for office fundraiser?
I would veer away from having to paying money to raise armies, which, depending on implementation, might be perceived badly (as either being able to pay money to buy huge armies, or requiring money to ...
- 2,153
12
votes
How can we avoid big money in casual games?
For my suggestion of a house rule to use, please see the section of this answer titled "Embargo Counters".
If I understand correctly, you were learning the game naturally by playing it - it's just ...
- 411
12
votes
Alternative play for Splendor
I play quite a bit of Splendor, love the game, but I've never run into this problem. Do you each pay attention to the other's gameplay? (that sounds rude, but I promise it's not meant to be!) Do ...
- 121
12
votes
Accepted
How do I fix the statistical distribution of using 3 dice to handle Chance and Community cards in Monopoly?
If I understand it correctly, you're looking to generate a uniformly distributed random integer in the range 1-16 using only regular d6s.
You'll need two distinguishable dice; if you don't have ...
- 9,378
12
votes
In Monopoly, can you save an 'advance' card to use later?
No. Cards are resolved when drawn (except for Get Out Of Jail, by explicit card text).
CHANCE AND COMMUNITY CHEST
When you land on either of these spaces, take the top card from the deck indicated, ...
- 10.4k
11
votes
Can the owner of the largest army move the robber every turn?
No, this is not a rule.
There's no rule I could quote to prove this, but as you say, the rulebook doesn't mention it. The rulebook says when you CAN move the robber (when playing a KnightS/Soldier or ...
- 72.1k
11
votes
How do the Monopoly odds change when the board is played in reverse?
The key change in reversing the direction of movement is the fact that players now leave Jail in the opposite direction. The oranges and reds are particularly profitable because they are within 1-2 ...
- 3,181
11
votes
In Uno, can you quickly finish a two player game by skipping your opponent's final turn and without saying Uno?
You cannot play a "Wild Card" and say "Red, draw 2" because you are only allowed to pick a colour (and not a specific card of that colour) to change the top of the discard pile to.
...
- 529
10
votes
Accepted
How to balance Dixit?
That particular rule isn't particularly balanced, and is included for convenience. However, playing with fewer cards in hand also imbalances the game, as storytellers have fewer cards to choose from ...
- 9,618
10
votes
How can I mitigate the luck factor of drawing destination tickets in Ticket To Ride?
Find a new game.
Taking of tickets in Ticket to Ride is supposed to be a high risk/high reward action that has the potential to lose you a significant amount of points. Once you try to mitigate an ...
- 7,785
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