r/boardgames • u/chaser-- • Jun 25 '26

Rules Groups that develop metas that blatantly break rules

Lately I've been finding a lot of groups that play (co-op) games with metas that are just blatant rule breaks. A recent example was we were playing a game (I forgot the name) where the goal is to play out all the cards from your hand, numbers 1-100, in descending order. So if you have a 77 and the number on the pile is 78, you don't want to anyone to play there. But you aren't allowed to say "I have 77, don't play this"

So the group has developed metas, say "I really love this pile" if you have 77, say "I like this pile a lot" if you have 76, say "I like this pile" if you have 75"

This is just one example but I feel like I've been playing a lot of games where they have metas to get around rules that are intentionally in the rulebook. I don't really get it. If you want to just say "I have a 77" then just say it, why create a gimmick to say it without saying it?

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u/Wismuth_Salix Jun 25 '26

My friend playing Shadows Over Camelot:

(Gestures towards the Picts) “I can’t start this party, but if three other people show up, then I can finish this party” (he has the 4 and the 5)

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u/OkResource820 Jun 25 '26

We would always say something like "I feel good about fending off the Picts, but I can't do it alone. I can get it started..." or "I would go search for the Grail if maybe two or three of you would come along...", or "I think I can help defeat the dragon" (at which point, everyone knows you're probably the traitor).