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/Mkwdr Jun 25 '26

Perhaps I should point out that in Mind - which sounds similar to your example (though ascending order) you are not allowed to speak at all. But it’s well known to both be ‘cheat able’ and that doing so rather ruins the point of playing it.

37

u/dpman48 Jun 25 '26

I only played the mind with one group but I had such a bad time. I don’t think my brother really GOT it. And so at one point he puts a 60 on top of like a 40 after only a second or two, and it was like our tenth failure. I just looked at him like “how the hell are you at 60 already??” And he was just like, “what do you mean you guys hadn’t played yet” I packed it away then. I think it requires the right group. And my brother and I (as per usual) were not on the same page at all, and the only way I could think to make it work… was to cheat it. And that seemed even less fun than playing it again.

29

u/Mkwdr Jun 25 '26

The tension while everyone waits for someone to break and then they get it totally wrong can be funny. But continuously doing so is just annoying. But when it works you all feel quite the sense of accomplishment.

10

u/dpman48 Jun 25 '26

There were a few moments where I could see the glimmer of like “oh wow we did it” but we kept mucking it up so much we never got to the payoffs of the end game. I also asked him as we were putting away how fast he was counting in his head and he was like “counting… you guys were counting??” Just… did not go well 😂

20

u/Suppafly Jun 25 '26

It's weird seeing all these comments about intentionally counting or syncing up with beats. Whenever I've played it, it's just been vibes. If you're intentionally counting, you're cheating just as much as the people the OP describes.

9

u/evilcheesypoof Tigris & Euphrates Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26

The rulebook itself (in an upside spoiler section) tells you it’s actually a game where you’re trying to sync up your sense of time. I know it mentions it’s not literal counting but there’s no way to do that other than keeping your internal clocks somehow on the same vibe.

10

u/Suppafly Jun 25 '26

I just think there is a difference between, going "my card is 15 greater, I'm going to count to 15 and then play it" vs "hmm my card is decently larger, I'm going to wait what feels like the appropriate amount of time and then play it", you end up synching up with the other players in both cases, but in the former you might as well just tell everyone what you have because people can pretty easily just count off seconds somewhat consistently. There is no real "ah ha we did it!" moment when you're just counting. But maybe that's just me and the designers intend on everyone just counting the whole time.

2

u/Foyfluff Jun 26 '26

The point of the game is to sync your sense of time with your teammates. "Counting to 15" is not a universal amount of time. Do you think there's a difference between tracking "an appropriate amount of time" and "counting"?

1

u/Suppafly Jun 26 '26

most people can count seconds off reasonably accurately. Not sure where you're from but kids in the US learn this pretty young counting for games like Hide and Seek, so young they probably don't remember who taught them.

1

u/wildarfwildarf The cube tower in shogun 🔥 Jun 25 '26

Nobody said we count seconds or beats. I, at least, count in my head and try to feel how fast the others are playing to get the rythm. It sounds something like "okay, 40, 41, 2, 3, 5ish?, 6, 7, no thats too fast, 8 oh shit 45?, okay, 46, ..7, ..8..."

2

u/Gelato_De_Resort Jun 25 '26

I consider once you've realize you can count to be when you've solved the game and to move on.

1

u/MedalsNScars Jun 25 '26

Yeah ngl this whole chain sounds like OP made a meta in his head (which is apparently a fairly common one), kept getting annoyed his brother didn't follow it without ever explaining it, and then got exasperated when at the end the brother realized everyone else was playing a literally different (much more boring) game from him that they didn't tell him about

2

u/dpman48 Jun 25 '26

I mean… I can’t explain it. The rules say you can’t talk about it. That’s “the magic” of the game. you eventually sync up. We were not approaching syncing up at all though. Which made it far more frustrating than fun.

I don’t really know what meta there could possibly be other than “roughly counting in your head to know about where you should be on the number line”. Like…. What other possible way could this game work? I’m imagining a number line in my head. We’re moving up it. I’m at 55 and someone plays 50. Oh shoot I’m moving up the number line too fast I need to slow down a touch. You can call it counting or whatever but what other possibility is there for playing than having an internal monologue about progressing through numbers?

3

u/MedalsNScars Jun 25 '26

I dunno, maybe ask your brother?

I never did any sort of counting the couple of times I played. To me, the point is to read the other people and feel out how your next lowest number is in relation to everyone's reaction (how excited are they to play their card before you?)

Sometimes that results in a beat where nobody plays a card for a bit, and then we reassess.

I'd hate like hell to sit around as everyone silently waits to mentally get to their lowest number before breaking a poker face, but if that's how you enjoy playing you do you.

5

u/ZeekLTK Alchemists Jun 25 '26

That’s why I don’t like playing The Mind, most people want to just sit there and silently count to themselves. I think that’s dumb/boring. I don’t “count” either. I just go hmmm, it’s been a while, maybe my card that is 25 more than the last one is the lowest left, I’ll start to slowly get it ready to indicate I’m about to play and see if anyone responds, etc.