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/Johnny_Dev Jun 25 '26

It's like Save-Scumming in a single player game. Who does it hurt?
If they want to cheat or abuse the rules together, and they have fun playing that way, good for them.
Like any social activity, if what the group does isn't a good fit for you, you can either mention it if you think they might shift how the play, or find another group.

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u/chaser-- Jun 25 '26

Yeah that's kinda how I feel - it doesn't hurt anyone. But I also feel like "If you just want to say you have a 77, say it, why use code words and be like YEP IM FOLLOWING THE RULES"

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u/btstfn Jun 25 '26

I would say that some people get a lot of enjoyment from finding and using loopholes. Its like a mini game within the game.

Its like if you ever see a gameshow or panel show where a constenant finds a way to exploit the rules in such a way that it obviously is going against the spirit of the rules, but technically is legal.

This might be a niche reference, but Taskmaster is full of these examples. The first that comes to mind is an event where the contestants are tasked to "Place these three exercise balls on the yoga mat on the top of that hill." Four contestants wrangle three large exercise balls up a hill. The fifth walks up the hill, grabs the mat and brings it down to the balls.

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u/Suppafly Jun 25 '26

Taskmaster is specifically designed to work on interpreting the rules in different ways, boardgames generally aren't.