
House Rules (2018) - seventyhorses
https://push.cx/2018/house-rules
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greggyb
I love the call-out to Diplomacy as blood sport. It is one of my favorite
games, but I rarely suggest it, due both to the length of a typical game and
the depth of deceit.

We played a semester-long game in one of my game theory classes with a couple
moves per day. I had an alliance with two others and we spent at least four
hours a day in various hidey-holes (the alliance was secret to start, and
later we just wanted private quiet) on campus to plan our moves.

If you've never played diplomacy, I highly recommend it.

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rafd
My game group's version of the take-backsies rule is: you can change your
decision, as long as no new information has been revealed (a card revealed, a
dice roll, next players move, etc.)

We also play with "public information stays public" for most games.

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rubidium
This are good. The “public stays public” would level the playing field for
some of my friends who have amazing recall. They may be disappointed, but the
6 other of us at the table would be much less frustrated and enjoy each
other’s company more.

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YeGoblynQueenne
>> Games are fun because they’re an exercise in trust as much as exercise in
formal systems.

Also, because they are a great opportunity _to crush your enemies, see them
driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women!_

Works well with your friends, too.

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Zanni
I'm surprised "turn timer" isn't broken out into its own rule. This is a big
one for keeping games social and fun. I've got a friend who I really can't
play strategy games with because he'll take so long determining the optimum
move. It's just not fun. Unless there's money on the line (e.g. poker), most
people are playing for fun (and even in poker you can "call the clock" on
someone who's taking too long).

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jorgesborges
That article was excellent but also contained a trove of interesting links and
footnotes. I particularly enjoyed "Introducing the Scrub" \--
[http://www.sirlin.net/ptw-book/introducingthe-
scrub](http://www.sirlin.net/ptw-book/introducingthe-scrub)

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tln
Acquire (linked from article) is a favorite in my family. We've always played
that your cash on hand is public... I can't find rules that suggest otherwise.
Anyway, great article and check out Acquire.

PS CMU has a CS class built around the game...
[http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~lanthony/classes/SEng/Design/intro.ht...](http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~lanthony/classes/SEng/Design/intro.html)

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pushcx
I was quoting the version of the rulebook I've seen, bottom of page 3 in this
PDF:
[https://www.wizards.com/avalonhill/rules/acquire.pdf](https://www.wizards.com/avalonhill/rules/acquire.pdf)

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jnordwick
No. I love the competitive aspect of games. The competition is the fun - I'll
compete in anything and love it.

You make a mistake, you learn from it and play better next time. You don't get
to take it back. Next time don't do it. If you could always take something
back where is the urgency is making good decisions, playing better than your
previous self or someone else.

And absolutely not, if you cannot remember what has already been played, well
too bad. That's part of the game, especially cards. That's half the point of
trick taking games. "are all the trumps out?" Besides the one in office, no
way I'm telling you that, and if you are playing at my table, don't answer
that for somebody else. You might as well keep track on paper at that point.

Competition is not a dirty word. It isn't anathema to enjoyment. You play to
win. It is part of the fun. Competition makes me sharp, I concentrate more, I
get that little adrenaline rus when I win. And when I lose... We don't talk
and such improbable things.

All games are blood sports.

~~~
seniorsassycat
If you reject public stays public then I'll play with a pen and paper and
record all the public information.

If you reject take backs they you aren't playing the most competitive version
of your opponents.

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cgriswald
> If you reject take backs they you aren't playing the most competitive
> version of your opponents.

Sure, in the moment, I'm not playing against my opponents best choices. But
without take backs my opponent is developing the skill of thinking before
acting, which makes him a stronger opponent overall.

We only allow take backs for:

1\. Newbies. They don't know the rules, so we allow take backs during their
learning phase, and also help them understand why the thing they did was non-
optimal. This lets us play the game while also helping newcomers learn the
rules and general strategies quickly.

2\. Misplay. If another player does something not allowed in the game ( _e.g._
plays out of turn) which changes a second players understanding of the current
state of the game, we let the second player take back their move if they made
it before we discovered the flub.

