TLDR: am I going to have any issues bringing a rolled up neoprene mat with me on the airplane? Is it a personal item or a carry on?

I love Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship and I am so excited to share it with my friends on an upcoming trip. I bought the neoprene mat from grip mats and have some beautiful 3D printed minis for all the pieces as I found the tiny meeples underwhelming, especially on the giant mat. I am flying to my destination and I don’t fly that often so I am not sure about the rules when it comes to oddly shaped items. I plan to just roll up the mat but it is too long to fit in my suitcase. Does anyone have any experience traveling with a large rolled up mats on a plane? Will they count it as a personal item or since it won’t really fit in the seat in front of me because it is 3’ long will it be a carry on? Google isn’t really helping me here.

Hello everyone!

I was looking to buy a Werewolf game and the currently available options I have are:

* Werewolves Big Box (2023)

* One Night Ultimate Werewolf

* One Week Ultimate Werewolf

* Ultimate Werewolf Deluxe Edition

* Ultimate Werewolf Extreme (I know that there are more versions of this, but I can only find the base one)

I tried looking for the differences and have found many posts but they all seem quite confusing and overlapping regarding some info. Could someone help me clarify this so that I can decide which one to get?

Thank you!

Edit: I know Blood on the Clocktower and I love the game, but it requires a bit more setup and preparation than werewolf and I already play it with friends online, that's why I was looking into the werewolf ones.

I have 3d printers and can make models or simple tokens, but when it comes to cards and cardstock I'm not sure if there is a machine to use for it or for chipboard. To print and then cut. Any advice would be appreciated. Both for making my own substitute peices or replacements if something breaks.

Feels like the only party games you hear about are decrypto and codenames. What other party games released in the last 5 years have you really enjoyed?

My doubt is simple: does the turn end when you discover a new room tile??

I watched some gameplays, I remember that turns ends when you discover a room. I go to read the rulebook, didn't find nothing about it. Went to play, feels weird to discover 4 tiles on a single turn, asked gpt and he said the same, it doesn't end.

Is it right?

Sorry if de grammar is bad, not my main language

Edit: ok so I apparently made the wrong question to gpt lol, you only can't move anymore, ok, thank you all!!

In the board game, two or more people play, the board has 12 holes (each one with a value in order from 1-12) and players start at 1, they must roll the dice to advance but the dice number must be the same as the following hole. e.g to go from 4 to 5, you must roll a 5, and if you go from 8-9, you must roll two dices that summed up are 9, the holes are in a semi oval shape (like a lopp) and what I remember it was called Horse race or something like that.

The pieces are just the board itself, two dices, and two small spheres (The size of a marble) one was black and the other one was white (I lost the board though)

The image is a drawing done in less than a minute of how the board looks

I've been hosting a small group of friends for board games and so far, it's been going ok. Most people show up with nothing (which is fine) but sometimes people bring their own.

Now, how do you decide which games to play? I have plenty so there's definitely never any shortage. Would you find it inconsiderate if the host doesn't acknowledge anything anyone else brought? Is there a fair way to decide what we play amongst what everyone brings?

After 2 years of getting into the boardgames hobby, I’m happy to have reached what I consider a decent collection. I have played all of them, with the exception of RA and Valda, at least once.

I’m currently trying to build a collection of games that are actually enjoyable and relaxing to play. We’re not fans of games that have pointlessly convoluted rules and systems just for the sake of being complex… This is also why Netrunner is about to be shipped out. While I don’t deny its appeal and depth, it requires too much effort from us to get into.

Based on what I already own and with a weight of at most medium-heavy, what would you recommend that I try out? I mostly play with my girlfriend and/or another couple, so 4 players max.

I added an almost updated list of all my games, to make it easier for people to give recommendations but also for others to find games new to them:
Azul - base game
Azul - Crystal Mosaic expansion
Azul - Summer Pavillion
Bomb Busters
Carcassonne
Castles of Burgundy
Cash N Guns - full game
Catan - Big Box
Codenames
Coup
Detective Club
Diamant
Dixit
Dodos Riding Dinos
Don’t mess with Cthulhu
Dorf Romantik
Druber & Drunter
Duel for Middle Earth
El Dorado
Eternal Decks
Exploding Kittens
Faraway
Farms’ Race
Harry Potter - Hogwarts Battle
Heat - Base game
Heat - Heavy Rain
Hero Realms
Hive
Hot Streak
Jamaica
Junk Art
King of Tokyo
League of Lexicon
Micro Macro - Crime City
Mindbug
Mob Town
Mousquetaires du Roy
Netrunner
Power Hungry Pets
Puerto Rico
Ricochet Robots
Saboteur - 20 Year Edition
Scout
Sky Team
Skull King
Stamp Swap
Take Time
That’s Not a Hat
The Bloody Inn
The Crew
The Game
Ticket to Ride - Europe
Top Ten
Toy Battle
Trio
Valda
Vicious Gardens
Viticulture
Word War
Fox in the forest
Skull
Santorini - Pantheon edition
Ra
Lost ruins of Arnak
Sea salt and paper
Cockroach poker
Bonanza
Everdell
Power plants
Pandemic

Interested to see what you guys think! I’m talking about a collection that has a good amount of variety and in which a majority of the games see at least a little play time somewhat regularly, as opposed to the collection of someone who is more interested in the actual collecting part instead of playing.

It might be that I get older but I find it challenging some times to explain the board game rules to my kids. Struggling now to explain Monopoly FIFA World Cup Edition and damn.. it's like reading a riddle.

I've tried a few TRPG scenarios that claim to be SCP-centered (using Call of Cthulhu or Delta Green rules), but they're more like just an SCP document being barely extended to a boring one-shot. Is there any board game using SCP settings that is actually engaging in gameplay that you'd recommend?

Edit: SCP is a fictional setting where an organization called the Special Containment Procedures Foundation (SCP Foundation) "secures, contains, and protects" a bunch of abnormalities (referred to as SCPs), ranging from items and phenomena to human beings. The key to this setting (I think) is its dystopian belief that in a world where science and technology have developed to their extremes, the most illogical mysteries appear, and the more the scientists try to document and study these SCPs, the more chaotic they become.

The way me and my friends have been playing have the following rules:

1. You can up the quantity of dice or the face value or both. Example someone calls 4, 4s. Next person theoretically could call 6, 4s - 4, 5s - 1, 5 - 6, 6s

2. We go back and forth on if anyone can call liar or just the next person in line. Usually we go with the next person rule since the games tend to last a bit longer

3. We haven't tried the rule where you lose a dice instead of losing the game entirely. I think losing a dice rule may better our experience

4. This one I think may be the problem. We play where you can decrease the face value but only if you increase the quantity. Examples: someone calls 4, 4s. The next person could say 5, 1s or 6, 2s. We like this rule but sometimes it starts loops where people reset the bid so they can go back to a bid they know is safe.

Scenario: Down to 2 players.

someone calls 6, 3s and really likes that bid. Other player calls 1, 5 a safe bid. First player then says 2, 1s to attempt to get back to 6, 3s. Both players want to keep their safe bets so it goes back and forth until someone gets annoyed and calls liar

The only strategy I can think of is if someone really wants 6, 3 and he just bid 2, 1s to try and get back to it. You are then forced to say something like 7, 4s - 7, 5s, - 8, 6s etc. Something that's a higher face value that forces them to call a even higher quantity to try and reset the bids to a lower quantity

Am I thinking into this too much or is this a normal set of rules to play? Its not a huge problem for our group but it has happened. What are yalls opinions on these rules?

I've created just a page that you can print and place all pieces on—allowing you to feel confident you have all pieces.

To be used at the end of a game to tidy up or at start 😄

You can ask me for the PDF. Next best thing are images you can download—all colors & gray 😎

I’m not on social media anymore, but my wife is, and she’s been seeing this advertisement for a rechargeable game table light.

I found the advertisement quite motivating and convincing, but I’m not dumb enough to believe a thing I’m seeing here without validation, and the website selling these things is the Internet version of high-pressure sales tactics with obviously inflated prices.

Has anyone gotten one of these? Or seen one? Do they work remotely as well as the ad copy suggests?

And does anyone know of a similar option at a more modest price?

The first 3 images are to give wide view of how the room is currently set up, and the last 3 are closer images on the specific shelves to see all the games. I still want to re-arrange quite a bit, but that will be another day.

I wanted to share as I am proud of my collection.

1. How long have you been involved in the hobby?

It's been 5 years in this current iteration since I bought my condo.

1. Which game in your collection would you say is your favorite?

My copies of Battlestar Galactica and Pegasus Expansion.

1. What would you change about your collection if you could?

I have a "bootleg" copy of Battlestar Galactic and all expansions in a single box. It was made by a guy in Ukraine, and it gave me an opportunity to have a set that I can play without fear of damaging or putting play wear on the originals. However since I don't have the other two expansions as of yet. I feel guilty owning the bootleg. But once I get those expansions, I will be quite happy.

1. What makes your collection special to you?

Since I bought my condo, I have become the de-facto host for game nights. So I bought a game table, and vastly expanded my game collection. That is pretty special to me to have something that I do with my friend circle on a semi-weekly basis (Depending on adulting requirements)

What would YOU suggest that I pick up next for my collection? Anything that I don't have that is a must get?

Is it possible the springs on the weapons have worn out after 30 years of sitting?

I don’t remember it being this difficult to trigger targets.

Unless I am using smaller rubber bands that have made the targets too stiff with resistance.

TLDR: I received my stuff today!

5 months after my all-in pledge for Legendary Box Barrage was supposed to arrive, I finally got it in the mail.Here's what I had to do to get it:

I created an account on the Cranio games website and sent in a support ticket with my backer number and my email address I used to back my stuff. I received an email back from Viola the next day. 2 weeks later, my all-in pledge arrived. They said it was because I never paid my tariff fees, but I could not fine any record of a request sent to my inbox. Anyway, they waived it for me, and it was all taken care of. I appreciate them sending the stuff finally!

I just beat Gemini at chess!

Does this tile give 5 coins per star level or 1? I argued that it gives 5 because thats how many coins are on the image and everything else that gives coins has the exact amount of coins on the image, but everyone else agreed its 1

A recent post about trying to get the top-ranked game on BGG to a gaming group table reminded me of this dilemma. Many of the games on BGG have an unusual number of high ratings, and specifically ratings that are concentrated at one or two high numbers.

BGG tries to compensate for this using a "BGG Rating", which is called "bayesaverage" in the CSV export of the rankings (you must be logged in to download). Rumor has it An unsigned Wiki article says that this is done by adding a bunch of a variable and unknown number, but at least 500 neutral (mid-number) votes to balance out any unusual number of high or low votes. (See pic 3 - I put this last because it duplicates the rankings on BGG already.)

This seems kind of lacking to me. To figure out the effect of the BGG ranking, I re-factored the rankings using the raw average rating. (See pic 2.) Most games didn't move too much, but Frosthaven and Clank! Legacy moved up a lot. I think this is because these games had an unusual number of bad reviews in the 1-3 range. After reading through some of those bad reviews, some of that was because of Kickstarter fulfillment problems. Some was because of bad fit for the gamers. So maybe the BGG rankings do achieve some kind of normalization.

Another potential way to improve the ratings is by looking at the "Standard Deviation" of each game's ratings. BGG helpfully tracks this on the Stats page for each game, but unfortunately it is not included in the CSV download. Stats experts will know more than me about how this is calculated, but it basically evaluates the "curve" of numerical ratings against a "standard" curve. An unusual ratings curve gets a higher SD. A "normal" ratings curve gets a lower SD.

So, in an attempt to balance out the BGG rankings "for normies", I took the raw average rating and divided it by the SD. I only did this for the top 30 games because I had to type in the SDs manually and regenerate rankings, so I didn't want to spend excessive time on it. (See pic 1 - this is the lead pic to match the title.)

In this re-factored ranking scheme, games like LOTR: Duel, 7 Wonders Duel, Concordia, and Lost Ruins of Arnak shoot up the rankings. Games like Brass: Birmingham, Gloomhaven, Pandemic: Legacy and Twilight Imperium drop significantly.

What do you think of the re-factored rankings? I think it helps balance the rankings toward more crowd-pleasing games. I'm sure it's not perfect. All the data is still from within the realm of BGG users, which is a limitation. Any suggestions for improvement?

I could use some help identifying a game I read about a few months ago.

It was a magic themed deck builder, where it leaned more into the alchemical and scientific kind of wizardry. There were seven or eight dedicated card pools that all represented playable characters, different practitioners of magic. Players had some kind of worker-placement tokens that resembled golems to perform actions amongst a pretty huge tableau. The game could be played single player or multiplayer.

I believe I was reading about the game within this subreddit, but I can't say I remember how old the thread actually was; it's possible that it was even older than the few months I'm thinking of. I remember there being some discussion about the game coming out of kickstarter or a pre-release and needing to import it from Europe.

Thanks, all! Let me know if there's any further detail that could help.