The week my gaming group lost three members over a rulebook argument

Last Thursday we spent two hours fighting over whether Monopoly has a free parking jackpot rule. It doesn't, but two people walked out and one guy blocked me on Facebook. Has anyone else lost a friend over a board game rule that was clearly in the manual?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_lee1d ago

Did you try reading it out loud before the vote?

val_williams2d ago

Hmm, I see it a little different though. The rule is the rule, sure, but if everyone at the table agrees to the free parking money thing from the start and has fun with it, who cares what the book says? Our group has been playing Risk with a "no attacking Australia first round" house rule for years and it keeps the peace way better than sticking to the manual ever did. Maybe the real problem isn't the rule itself but how people react when you tell them they're wrong.

drew552d ago

Exactly what happened with our group over Catan. Three players argued about the robber placement for forty five minutes. I just pulled up the rulebook on my phone and read it out loud. Two guys still said the book was wrong. We lost them. What worked for me later was I started announcing "house rule check" before any game. Now everyone knows if it's not in the book we vote on it first. Saved a lot of friendships that way.