texts:
I am a 7k EGF. There is a 7 year old girl, that is a relative of my wife and lives next door. Once I managed to start her interest in Go by playing several Atari-Go games against her. I decided to move to territorial Go after an Atari-Go game where she didn't allow me to do any capture. But maybe this was premature. We play from time to time. She beats me on 9x9 5h, but mostly loses on 4h. If I correct some of her obvious mistakes (like putting herself in atari, missing an obvious way to capture a stone on 2nd line etc.) we can play quite evenly on 3h.

Some of my observations:

She wants to play and is happy to do it almost any time and doesn't get bored even after playing for about 45 minutes.
She doesn't show any signs of being discouraged by losing.
She plays very fast and often repeats the same mistakes.
I believe she wants to capture very much, not so much securing her territory.

My questions:

Should I correct and allow to undo bad moves or just exploit them?
Should I do some review of the game after it is finished? (this two questions have obvious answers for adults, but is it true for children as well?)
Is it a good idea to do simple tsumego with her or should we just play as much as possible?
What should be the sign, that it is possible to move to 13x13?
What else can I do to improve her strength without discouraging her?


texts:
We're currently in the process of furnishing the 'games' room* in our house and we're planning to get some storage units to go along one wall.  I'm interested to know if anyone has recommendations as to the size of cupboards we should look to get.  In particular are there standard game box sizes, or is there a largest game box size we should try to cater for?

I imagine there are some games that are ridiculously large, but it would be nice to be able to store all our games in one place.

* Also known as the 'craft' room by my significant other


texts: Playing with the characters from the base and the Dark City expansion for Citadels.

texts:
In 3 player Citadels, each player chooses 2 characters. I've found I liked picking 2 characters so much that I've modified the game to be able to do it with any number of players. All I had to do was sleeve the all the characters and add my own in with the others. Picking 2 characters makes the game a little quicker, adds more strategy, and makes the game more interesting in general. I'm curious about how some of the characters from the Dark City expansion would work when combined with the characters from the original game instead of substituted. Cards with a star go after cards without, making the wizard kind of like a 3.5 while the magician is just a 3.

Here's what I've got so far for my analysis of the combinations:

Witch and Assassin: No problems that I've found, but this is one combination I'm not 100% sure about. Players get more options to attack their opponents, which keeps everyone on their toes. The assassin goes before the witch, who can't steal his power, so if the witch can always be assassinated if one player is afraid of having their power stolen.

Tax Collector and Thief: No problems, although I never play with the tax collector. Its a fairly good character, but it just adds a drag to the whole game and takes away the fun and intensity.

Wizard and Magician: The wizard is nice because you can steal a card without having to give up whatever is in your hand, but the magician lets you steal more and get rid of those districts you don't want. They don't tend to conflict much, and its interesting to watch the wizard steal back cards the magician took. Do they tend to balance well?

King and Emperor: literally can't be done due to the crown conflict.

Abbot and Bishop: This is where things start to really change. Having 2 blue characters makes blue districts more valuable, especially since there aren't 2 green or 2 yellow characters. I'm a little hesitant to combine them as it throws off the balance of districts. The abbot's actually pretty weak as well. Are there any issues with using both of these?

Alchemist and Merchant: No conflicts, but since the alchemist doesn't get money from green districts it will throw the balance off if you use both blue characters or both red characters. Its pretty interesting to play with both.

Architect and Navigator: No problems at all, fairly different characters that combine well.

Diplomat and Warlord: This was another big one. The diplomat tends to be a bit better than the warlord, even with the house rule that the Warlord gets to take the destroyed district into his hand. The warlord's only good if you don't mind wasting your gold to deter someone else instead of actually helping yourself. Do these combine well?

Would any of these combination have a detrimental affect on the game? How greatly would they change the game? Are my ideas anywhere near accurate?


texts: Am I allowed to use archaic words in Quiddler/Scrabble?

texts:
While playing Quiddler tonight, I played both words "SIC" and "QUO". Both got challenged and both were in the dictionary that we agreed upon (dictionary.com).

But the question of whether I can use "QUO" because the dictionary defined it as "Verb - Archaic: Quoth."

I said it's allowed because it's in the dictionary and used in common vernacular.

My opponent said I couldn't use archaic English words because they are no longer part of the English language.

Is this true for Quiddler? Scrabble?


texts: Theft: Does a Returning Creature Keep Equipment?

texts:
If I steal a creature card from my opponent with a theft card such as Wrangle, then attach an equipment such as Dead Iron Sledge to said creature.

At the end of the turn, my opponent gets his creature back. At this time, what happens to the Dead Iron Sledge or any other equipment I attached to said creature? Who controls the equipment after the creature is returned?

My argument is that if the exchange were the other way, the equipment would remain under control of the one who cast it, but the equipment would be attached to the stolen creature. This is clear in Wizards rulings.

https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/7p3h5u/stealing_an_equipped_artifact/

If I lose control of an equipped creature, does the equipment stay attached to it?

Thus, when the creature is returned, it will keep the Dead Iron Sledge attached to the opponents creature.


texts: Do cards that say "all creatures" affect creatures with hexproof?

texts:
When a creature or player has hexproof and a player casts a card such as Cleansing Nova:

  Choose one —

  Destroy all creatures.
  Destroy all artifacts and enchantments.

Do creatures with hexproof die too?


texts: Do Troll's Lairs remain in a region when Hordes of Trolls go In Decline if the only remaing race token is a Horde?

texts:
The rules for Trolls specify:

The Troll's Lair augments your region's defense by 1 (just as if you had an
additional Troll token stationed there), and stays in the Region even after your Trolls go
into Decline. Remove the Troll's Lair if you abandon the Region or when an enemy conquers it.

The rules for Hordes of tokens specify:

They disappear when you go In Decline, however.

Assume a Troll player goes In Decline, and one or two of their regions have a single Hordes of token, which disappears. Does the Troll's Lair remain? I have been assuming that it does. However, I just played a game on the computer where the Trolls went In Decline, the Horde token was removed, but the Troll's Lair remained behind with no race token in the region.
Looking at the rules, the region has not been abandoned, and has not been conquered. But this behavior seems unintuitive, and I suspect that it is an issue of an expansion (Small World Cursed!) creating an unintended consequence when combined with the literal text of the base game. It seems that in the base game, the Troll's Lair remains in the region because an In Decline Troll token remains in the region.
So, does the Troll's Lair token remain when the Hordes of token disappears?


texts: Can player A play the Special Orders card during player B's turn, allowing B to then move the character of A or some third party C, or can it only be used on player A's turn?


texts: Origin of scores for letters in Scrabble (in relation to their frequency in a langauge)

texts:
In Scrabble, each letter is worth a number of points. Typically, the rarer the letter, the more score it has, see Scrabble letter distribution and score.

Does anyone know how these scores are being assigned? (Or modified, if needed.) Is it based on some gut-feeling, or a formula/algorithm?

As I see, the score is proportional to surprisal (from information theory), i.e. \log(1/p), where p is the frequency of a given letter in a given language. Just I am not sure, if such scoring is planned mathematically, or appeared as some emergent behavior (e.g. other scoring seems unfair, unnatural, etc...).


texts:
The Pieces of the Puzzle MTG card states:

  Reveal the top five cards of your library. Put up to two instant and/or sorcery cards from among them into your hand and the rest into your graveyard.

My question is: does it mean a player should show which cards he revealed from the library or not? Should the player show which cards he puts into his hand or not? If not how to check that player plays honestly?


texts: Does Hardened Scales trigger when +1/+1 counter are moved from one permanent to another?

texts: If a +1/+1 counter get's moved from one creature to another does Hardened Scales double the amount of counters that the second creature gets?


texts: How can I beat Forbidden Island at Elite or Legendary difficulty with two players?

texts:
The title says it all -- maybe it's just me, but the difficulty from going to Normal to Elite difficulty is more than a little challenging.  I've played with a combination of player combinations, but haven't been able to beat the game on Elite yet.

I seem to be struggling to win on either Elite or Legendary difficulty based on the following things:

keeping up with three flooded areas per turn right off the bat (instead of the usual two)
only able to hold 10 treasure cards (2 people * 5 cards per person)
being too spread out to keep shoring up flooded areas

Does anyone have any tips or strategies for dealing with three- or four-flooded areas per turn, and how best to trade and use special abilities?


texts: Does the Scythe of the Wretched + Crypt Rats combo really work, and how?

texts:
I've searched this and everywhere it says the Crypt Rats + Scythe of the Wretched combo works. But the Gatherer ruling for Scythe of the Wretched says something I found incompatible:

  Scythe of the Wretched needs to equip your creature when the other
  creature goes to the graveyard for the ability to trigger, but it
  doesn’t matter whether the Scythe equipped your creature when the
  damage was actually dealt.

So if I equip the Crypt Rats with the Scythe, and use their ability to deal damage to all creatures, enough to kill the Crypt Rats themselves, what really happens when the Crypt Rats die? The ruling seems to mean that for this combo to work, the rats should be considered as both equipped and going to the graveyard. Is that possible?

How would this work if there are several creatures on the battlefield and the Crypt Rats have deathtouch (for example if I have a Ogre Slumlord in play)?


texts: Do you get treasure if you don't kill the Dungeon! Monster?

texts:
I've been reading the Dungeon! WOTC rules, and have a peculiar question: the rules state

  If you encountered the Monster in a room, you draw 1 Treasure card from the face-down pile of cards corresponding to the Level the Monster was on. You also collect any other Treasures that were dropped there by Heroes.

  If you encountered the Monster in a chamber, you do not draw a random Treasure card, but you do collect any Treasures that were dropped there by Heroes.

However, the definition of "encounter" seems to simply be "there is a monster":

  After your Hero has finished moving, he or she encounters that space. If your Hero is in a corridor space, a cleared room (with 1 Cleared token) or a cleared chamber (with 3 Cleared tokens), no Monsters are there. Your turn is over. Otherwise, follow the steps below.

Finally, not killing Monsters has the following outcomes:

  Killed! Drop all your Treasure cards. Choose a new Hero (or the same one if no other Hero is available) and place it on the Great Hall.
  Seriously Wounded: Randomly drop half your 11 Treasure cards (round up) and place your Hero on
  the Great Hall.
  Wounded: Drop 1 random Treasure card and move your Hero back 1 space in the direction he or she came. Take 1 Lose a Turn token.
  Stunned: Drop 1 random Treasure card.
  Miss! No effect.

From my reading, despite the potential negative effects, it seems like each of these is still an encounter, meaning that a Hero gains treasure as long as the Monster was in a room, full-stop.

Is my logical conclusion correct? Does a Hero draw a Treasure card if there is a Monster in a room, no matter what happens in combat?

As a GM for D&D, and a board-game enthusiast, this seems... wrong? The game would move far too quickly if you got treasure just from seeing monsters, and makes no fictional sense either.

I did find this answer which suggests that you only get treasure if you defeat the Monster.

Are the rules just missing a statement at the end of each result of not killing a Monster to the effect of "Your turn is now over. Skip the Looting phase." ? Alternatively, could it mean "If you defeated the Monster in a room, you draw 1 Treasure card [...]" ?


texts: Is there an official way to speed up Elixir?

texts:
We've been playing a bit of the excellent (and silly) Elixir, but we often end up with long periods of inactivity. When players are unable to cast spells, we have several rounds where all players draw their card and then pass, since they don't have the right ingredients. This can go on for some time.

We've tried doubling the draw rate so players pick up more ingredients - this seems to work, but might unbalance some of the "draw X cards" magic items.

Is this a problem others have encountered? Are there any official or well-tested solutions - do any of the expansions (which we haven't tried) address this problem?


texts: Yu-Gi-Oh!: If monarch Caius or Raiza is flipped face up its effect activate?

texts:
Let's say I have Caius or Raiza in hand. Then I tribute summoned Caius/Raiza but set it face down.

Q1- If next turn I flip it face up in Attack position, does it's effect activate?

Q2- If opponent attacks my set face-down Caius/Raiza, does it's effect activate?

Q3- What if I tribute summoned Caius/Raiza (its effect activated normally), then used Book of Moon to flip it face down, then flipped it face up in Attack position again, does its effect activate again?


texts:
I feel like I have seen it before but I can't find it, I'm looking for a creature that is pretty similar to Ivy Lane Denizen but in a different color. I know about Cathars' Crusade but this is for a Marchesa, the Black Rose deck so green and white won't work (just my luck). If anyone know about a card that is similar to or to the same effect as these cards that would be awesome. Also the counter needs to be able to be placed on any creature, more like Bond Beetle, instead of Elvish Vanguard.

I'm not sure if any such creature or enchantment or artifact exists but if there is that would be spectacular.

While there are plenty of cards that have similar effects, I am looking for one almost functionally identical to Cathars' Crusade. The deck has a lot of tutors in the form of transmute and Night Dealings and I realized that in order to be able to do infinite with Workhorse and Animation Module I just need a way to replenish the counters. The deck also has a lot of sac outlets due to Marchesa's ability to recur the sacrificed creatures. Being able to place even one counter on any creature would be great because it could trigger other effects as well as protect the creature I just sacrificed. Again I'm not sure if this card exists but I feel like I have seen this effect before outside of green white.


texts: If someone blocks an infect creature, do the -1/-1 counters stay on the creature?

texts:
The Infect ability is worded as follows: Infect (This creature deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters and to players in the form of poison counters.)

I'm just wondering if these -1/-1 counters stay on the creature who blocked the creature with infect or do the -1/-1 counters go away at my end step?

Thanks!


texts: Is there a way to "game force" with the following hand?

texts:
NV versus Vul, you are opening with (s) Ax (h)--- (d) AKTxxxxxxx (c) x. The opener used 1 club (precision) with 12 hcps instead of 16. I don't agree.
2 clubs (strong) doesn't seem to work because I have too few high card points.
Could 3NT (gambling) be the solution? I'm showing a long, strong minor with 6 or more tricks. Responder can pass into game with stoppers in the majors and one minor (presumably not mine), otherwise remove to four clubs. If not, is there another way to force responder toward game?


texts: Why is Monstrosity not a keyword ability?

texts:
As pointed out recently in a comment on another question, Monstrosity is actually a keyword action, not a keyword ability. This seems strange, especially as it is the only keyword action that is not a verb.

Every card that uses monstrosity has it in the same format: An activated ability with a mana cost; where the only effect of the ability is the monstrosity.

Given this, it seems like it would make a lot more sense to have made monstrosity a keyword ability that has both a cost and modifier built into the definition; similar to the way Awaken, Suspend, and Reinforce work... instead of: 5RR: Monstrosity 3,
use Monstrosity 3 - 5RR..

The language just seems more natural, due to the fact that "monstrosity" isn't a verb. Is it known if there had been plans to have monstrosity be used in ways other than an activated ability? Having it as an action makes sense if there were other ways of it occurring, such as through a triggered ability (Whenever [this creature] attacks with at least 3 other creatures, Monstrosity 2), etc.

Looking for either a word from Wizards on why this choice was made; or something about the mechanic that I missed as to why it needs to be an action instead of an ability.


texts: How do draw effects during the discard phase work?

texts:
What happens if discarding one or more cards during the discard phase triggers an effect that draws me cards?

The instance I have in mind is having The Gitrog Monster on the battlefield and more than seven cards in hand at the end of the turn.

What would happen when I discard one land card? Do I keep the card drawn or do I have to discard again?


texts: Can a Pokémon attack more than once per turn?

texts:
Mewtwo-Ex has an ability called Energy Absorption, which costs one colorless energy to activate:

  Attach an Energy card from your discard pile to this Pokémon.

So, say I start my turn with two energy attached to my Mewtwo-Ex.  Can I then activate this attack twice, and put two energy from my discard pile onto my Mewtwo-Ex in one turn?

If so, can I then turn this into a loop, and place every energy from my discard pile onto my Mewtwo in a single turn?


texts: What's the most intuitive way to use a die for a pass/fail test?

texts:
I'm working on a board game for general, non-gamer audiences.  (Think people who have played Monopoly and Uno, but not Risk or Settlers of Catan.)  Sometimes the player faces a test with only two outcomes: pass or fail (with some consequence).  Success and failure are both equally likely.

What's the most intuitive, non-gamer—friendly way to use 6-sided dice for a pass/fail test?

There are a number of possibilities that result in a 50% chance of success, such as:

Roll a die.  Even: pass.  Odd: fail.
Roll a die.  1/2/3: pass.  4/5/6: fail.
Roll a die.  1/2/3: fail.  4/5/6: pass.
Roll a black die and a white one.  Black>white: pass.  White>black: fail.  Black=white: roll again.

So far, I've been quite surprised to see how easily non-gamers can be confused by simple board game mechanics, so I'm trying to come up with something as non-surprising as possible.

(Replacing the die/dice with another object, such as a deck of cards or a spinner, would be too expensive for this particular game.)


texts: Does a Myr Welder token created with Mimic Vat retain abilities added to the original?

texts:
Suppose I play Myr Welder, then later I play Grindclock (or any artifact) and it gets countered or destroyed. Next turn I exile grindclock from my graveyard with Myr Welder's activated ability and play Mimic Vat. Myr Welder dies on the opponent's next turn and is exiled with Mimic Vat's imprint ability. Then on my next turn I activate the Vat and put a token copy of Myr Welder into play.

Does the token have Grindclock's abilities after Myr Welder had been exiled? Since the myr hit the graveyard first, I know it loses counters. But does the Grindclock remain "exiled with (Myr Welder)" allowing the use of its abilities?


texts: Does the Lab Challenge make Pandemic easier or harder?

texts:
We've tried out the Lab Challenge (from the new In The Lab expansion), and I can't quite tell if it makes the game harder or not.

All other things equal (#players, roles, # epidemics), is a game with Lab Challenge easier or harder than one without?


texts: Can an opponent folding make you go from probable winner to probable loser?

texts:
I was watching a World Series of Poker video, and noticed a strange thing with the percentages that each player had for their chance to win the hand.

Before the flop, after all but 3 players had folded, the percentages were like this:

Player A: 9♥9♣ - 35%

Player B: A♦Q♦ - 40%

Player C: J♥10♦ - 25%

Player C folded, and immediately player A went to 56%, while player B went to 44%. Player B was the favorite based on his cards, but after player C folded, player A became the favorite. How is this possible?

Here is the video in question, at the relevant timestamp:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZP3OrtcO-Q&feature=youtu.be&t=1m22s


texts: Games that play well with a wide range of different numbers of players

texts:
Many times, I have limited space to pack games, and don't know how many players there are going to be. I frequently end up in a situation in which we have 5 players, but games that only work with 3 or 4 players, or something of the sort. In these situations, games which are flexible in the number of players they support are useful; one or two such games can cover most situations you end up in.

One problem is that while many games nominally work with a given number of players, they are really best played with a narrower range of players. For instance, there are many multi-player games that have a two-player variant, but the two-player variant is quite different than the multi-player game, and couldn't really be called the same game.

So, what games support a wide range of number of players well? Since there are many games which support 2-4 or 3-5 players, let's limit it to games that support at least 4 different player numbers well, such as 2-5 or 3-6 or any odd number from 7 to 15.

edit to add: Let's limit this to non-party games; party games as a genre tend to be fairly flexible in the number of players, so it's not all that interesting to list each one.


texts: Can I assign only some creatures to block Gorm the Great?

texts: I played Battlebond with my friends yesterday. I attacked with Gorm the Great and his partner Virtus the Veiled. The opponents had three untapped creatures. They blocked Gorm using two creatures and blocked Virtus with another creature.  Can they block this way?


texts: Rules or constraints for assembling the cards in your Pokemon deck

texts:
Trying to learn Pokemon TCG. My understanding is that, as a Pokemon TCG player, its your responsibility to assemble your own deck (stack of Pokemon cards) prior to coming to the game/match/fight/battle. So by the time you get to the battle, you already know what cards are in your deck, and you've intentionally selected for them to be there.

If that's true, then what are the general rules/strategies/constraints when assembling your deck? Things such as:

Is there a max deck size (max # cards) a player can bring to a battle?
Is there a max # or % of Pokemon/Trainer/Energy cards you can have in your deck?
Do you have to shuffle your deck prior to play?
What happens when you run out of cards in your deck during play?

Thanks in advance!


texts: Instants - are the creatures blocked or not?

texts:
Player A attacks with two creatures. Player B plays the instant card Give No Ground on a creature and blocks two attacking creatures. Player A then plays the instant Disperse.

Are those two creatures blocked or not?


texts: Can you break up your own full set when playing a Forced Deal?

texts: If all you have is one complete, unbreakable set, can you play a forced deal? The question is whether your own forced deal can be used on your own set, since the card just says: "Swap any property with another player. (Cannot be part of a full set.)"


texts: What if two players are eligible for the Express bonus?

texts:
The longest path for Adam are ten trains while Bella and Celia both has a longest path of fifteen trains, i.e both Bella and Celia has the longest path and thus are eligible for the Express Bonus/European Express.

Are the express bonus points divided between Bella and Celia, do they both receive the entire bonus of ten points, or is the express bonus skipped?


texts: Playing Nope on a Double Slap after it has been played

texts: If a person plays Double Slap on me, can I use the triple card combo to steal someone else's Nope card, then play that Nope card on the Double Slap to avoid drawing?


texts: Discarding Damage Cards vs Discarding Upgrade Cards

texts:
Does discarding an upgrade card in X-Wing miniatures behave differently from discarding a damage card?  The motivation for this question are two abilities: Chewbacca (crew) and Tomax Bren.  Chewbacca has the ability:

  When you are dealt a Damage card, you may immediately discard that
  card and recover 1 shield.

  Then, discard this Upgrade card.

There is the FAQ ruling on Chewbacca:

  If a ship equipped with Chewbacca is about to suffer its last damage
  before it would be destroyed, Chewbacca may be used to prevent that
  one damage and recover a shield.

Based on this, it appears that discarding a card means removing it from your ship.  Additionally, the core rules say:

  Some abilities may require the player to discard an  Upgrade card.
  Return discarded Upgrade cards to  the game box; they cannot be used
  for the remainder of the game.

However, then there is Tomax Bren's ability:

  Once per round, after you discard an Elite Upgrade card, flip that
  card faceup.

If discarding an upgrade card caused it to be removed from your ship, turning it face up wouldn't do anything.  It would be face up in the supply area, rather than something you can use again.

It seems pretty clear to me that Tomax Bren's ability is meant to be something along the lines of:

  Once per round, when you would discard an Elite Upgrade card, instead do not discard it.

Why does he not say this and how (given the rules on discarding cards) does his ability work?


texts: Is there a definitive list of Button Men rules?

texts:
There are many, many Button Men dice rules. I'm trying to find a list of them with easy to understand examples.

I'm not new to the game, but I keep coming across dice I've never heard of (like Rage and Mighty). I would like to find an easy way to look up dice.

I'm sure Buttonweavers has a list somewhere, but I can't find it. I've done some digging through the forums, but it's not as easy to navigate as most that I've used.


texts: What's a good handicap for a less experienced player in an MTG Draft?

texts:
My drafting group has a few hardcore players like me who have been playing magic for a while. We've memorized almost all the commons and uncommons in the sets we're drafting (usually Innistrad or 2012), know a lot about how to win at drafts, know the good archetypes, and have a bit more deck-building experience compared to some of the other people we'd like to add to the group. The new people know the mechanics of the game and have played enough to know how to build a decent deck, but I'm worried that the rest of us will have a significant advantage that takes away from everyone's fun.

What handicaps can be used when drafting that give a weaker player about an equal chance at winning while removing as little of the fun as possible? Obviously we'll coach them a bit about the techniques we've used that have been effective, but until they're completely up to speed I don't want them to be annihilated and quit. Should we give them a handicap during the actual draft, like an extra few picks from another booster after the draft is over, or a handicap during the actual games? What handicapping techniques have you used that work well?


texts: In Pandemic, can the Containment Specialist remove more than 1 cube (without the action of treating) in a cured city?

texts: In Pandemic, when there are 2 or 3 cubes of the same color on a cured city, does the Containment Specialist remove only 1 cube when he lands or all of the cubes (like when treating) since it is cured?


texts: If I can't win, but can stop my opponent from winning, is the game drawn?

texts:
Here's an article published on Hipsters of the Coast about a 107-minute MTG Arena game. The core idea is, one player was playing a deck that had no win condition except 4 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria. The deck wins by first getting Teferi to its ultimate, cast some spells to exile all the opponent's permanents, and then use Teferi's -3 to put itself back to the library. Since the opponent can't cast spells, they'll eventually draw their entire library and lose.

At least, that's the plan. In this particular game, the opponent countered or killed all four Teferi. That leaves the player with no way to win. However, he's still able to loop Nexus of Fate to take all the turns and never lose either.

Question: if this happens in paper Magic, is the game drawn?


texts: Do you lose your nomad tile if you move all your settlements away?

texts:
Kingdom Builder with Nomads expansion

If you are the first who builds adjacent to a nomads space, you get the (only) nomads tile.

Do you lose it when you move all your settlements away from the nomad space?


texts: What is the meaning of dots in some of the Apex's cards?

texts: Some apex's cards from the Data and Destiny have dotted pattern (for exaple Harbinger). What does it mean?


texts: In bridge, does it make sense to "tighten" or 'loosen" up on bidding depending on vulnerability?

texts:
For instance, the minimum standard seems to be about 12 points to open with a five card suit, or 13 points with a four card minor. That makes sense with equal vulnerability (both vulnerable or both not).

Suppose you're vulnerable and they're not. Are there players that would pass 12-13 point hands, needing 13-14 points (depending on suit length), because of the greater penalties for going down.

Conversely, at favorable vulnerability, (they are, you're) not, would you shade your opening requirements down to about 11 points to try to catch up?


texts:
Abzan Battle Priest has an ability that reads

  Each creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it has lifelink.

Does it grant lifelink to creatures with two +1/+1 counters?


texts: Bay Window Defense Combat Strength Bonus

texts: When a Bay Window is added to a tower and has 1 or 2 marksmen on it, does it provide +1 value to defense strength when resolving strength at any one wall section connected to it ? Or does it provide +1 strength to resolutions for both wall sections connected to the tower it is on ?


texts: Recent semi co-op maze game designed to be played blind

texts:
I saw a game recently appear on my personal twitter but forgot to fave it and now I cant't find it so might have been deleted.

I think its a fairly new game that is a semi co-op,  All players against one other.  Player are trying to escape a maze whilst the other player is trying the hunt them down.

What made the game look interested was the fact players except the hunter had to wear blackout glasses and we unable to see.  I believe there was a story about the designer trying to come with a game design playable by a blind relative?

The board looked plain black with many squares.  Between them were what looked like white/glow in the dark wall pieces.  These all had rough looking spiky tops.

That all I can remember and cant recall the title.  I was wanting to read rules and see how a game played blind would work.


texts: I Have both Boss Monster and Boss Monster The Next Level. If I was to combine the two of them would a shuffle all the decks together or is there a maximum number of cards for both decks.


texts: Forgetting to steal in Settlers of Catan

texts:
A Knight card is unique because it can be played on your turn before the dice is rolled. We ran into an interesting scenario last night where one player played the Knight and then rolled the dice, without stealing... And then we realized it. What's the best course of action? Is the roll null until he steals? Or did he forfeit his right to steal? Or does he steal after the roll?

On one hand, he now knows the value of the roll which could influence what he steals. On the other hand, forfeiting a steal might not be allowed (otherwise you might do so if you had 7 cards, to evade a 7 being rolled).


texts: Why do older players keep their money under the edge of the board?

texts:
I've been seeing a strange behavior that I don't understand.  It seems to only happen with somewhat older players.

When they have paper money in a game, they slide it partway under the edge of the game board.  Where is this behavior coming from?  Is there a game that teaches it?

I've asked, and they've said it's just what you're supposed to do in board games.  It's particularly disconcerting when the board is modular and being explored during the game, or when lifting the board to slide your money under it causes pieces to be knocked over.

I've even seen players lose money this way, money that gets slid too far under the board and isn't discovered until we're cleaning up.

Is there a clear, understandable reason for this?


texts: In Santorini, can Dionysus chain additional moves?

texts:
In Santorini, the God Power Dionysus states:

  Each time a Worker you control creates a Complete Tower, you make take an additional turn using an opponent Worker instead of your own.

If I use my opponent's worker to complete a tower, do I get an additional turn with one of their pawns? Does that count as a "Worker I control"?


texts: Returning cards to their owner's hands in MTG

texts:
So I have two cards that say "Return two target creatures to their owner's hands," but there is no target location from where those cards may be. So could I recover two creatures from exile, and put them into my hand? What about my graveyard?

For reference, those cards are Floodwaters and Grasping Current.


texts: Is it possible to generate mana at instant speed when tapped out

texts:
Supposing my opponent is tapped out, has no floating mana, and has nothing on the battlefield capable of directly generating mana at instant speed (No Moxen or Loti, for example), or of untapping their lands, or otherwise being self-evidently relevant.

Is there any risk of the opponent acquiring new mana, or otherwise casting non-zero-mana spells?
Are there any zero-mana instant-speed spells?

Can you think of any abilities, that could really subtly end up with mana available, but might not be obvious at first glance?

Basically, does "tapped out + no obviously relevant abilities on the battlefield" equal "I am guaranteed that I can play un-hindered?"

Ideally, it would be good to know the answer for any given format (Standard, Modern, etc.)


texts: Risk (revised edition 2008): Is it better to roll 1 or 2 Defense dice with the Bonus Defense die Major Reward?


texts: 40K: strategies to help my Ork Trukks/Battlewagons survive long enough to deliver their passengers into assault range?

texts:
I have an armored infantry style 40K Ork army: Nobz/Boyz/Burnaboyz in Trukks and Battlewagons. Against an army with any sort of shooty capability, I rarely can get the troops into assault range. Their transports get blown up, and then it's a long walk whilst getting shot up.

If this army style just can't work, that's fine. I am wondering what sort of strategy, if any, would assist my transports getting the troops into assault range?


texts: Understanding the rules of Knock-out Whist

texts:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock-out_Whist

  For the first deal the dealer deals seven cards to each player and one card is turned up to indicate that its suit is the trump suit for the first round.

Q: Trump suit here means that even if the category of the card is lowest, it will be considered higher than ACE too?

  The player to the dealer's left leads to the first trick; any card may be led.

Q: What is the "first trick"? What is the meaning of "card may be led"?

  A player with no cards of the suit led may play any card, either discarding or trumping.

Q: What is the meaning of "discarding or trumping"?

  The trick is won by the highest card of the suit led, unless a trump is played, in which case the highest trump wins.

Q: "unless a trump is played" - What is the trump in this case?

  At the end of each hand any player who took no tricks is eliminated from the game.

Q: What is a hand?
Q: What is the meaning of "player who took no tricks"?


texts:
I have 2 questions, one generally-scoped and one specific:

Can I activate the effect of Disenchanter while it is still in my hand?

In general, can one activate monsters' ignition effects from the hand?

Disenchanter:

Once per turn: You can target 1 face-up Spell Card on the field; remove 1 Spell Counter from anywhere on the field, and if you do, return that target to the hand.


texts: Are there budget replacements for Ugin and Karn removal abilities?

texts:
I am building a mono green Tron deck with a 60$ budget and looking for cheaper alternatives to replace planeswalkers listed below:

Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Karn Liberated

I need a replacement for Ugin's -X ability because its kinda hard to deal with humans, spirits and similar creature spam decks.
I also need a replacement for Karn's -3 ability which kinda helps a lot in mirror matches or when you need to take their combo piece away without them having a chance to get it back.


texts: Do abilities still trigger if there are no legal targets?

texts:
For example, suppose I cast Wicked Wolf when my opponent has no creatures on the board. Wicked Wolf says:

  When Wicked Wolf enters the battlefield, it fights up to one target creature you don't control.

Does Wicked Wolf's ability trigger even though opponent has no creatures? This usually won't matter, but if I'm e.g. intending to cast Ghalta, Primal Hunger afterwards opponent might want to remove Wicked Wolf before I get priority.

My intuition is that the answer is "yes", but there are things that cannot be put on the stack if there are no legal targets (e.g. Path to Exile) so I would like to confirm.


texts: Putting cards into your hand while the top of library is revealed

texts:
Anthony has Courser of Kruphix on the field. He begins resolving Dig Through Time.

While Dig Through Time is resolving, must the top card be kept separate from the other six?

I'm thinking that Anthony's opponent should know what happens to the top card because it is revealed. What I don't understand is how a judge could enforce this. Anthony could easily shuffle the cards around in his hand before choosing two of them (and in practice, most people who I've seen cast Dig Through Time do mix up the cards before finally settling on two of them).

What I think the rules allow for (emphasis on the part I made up):

Anthony leaves the top card revealed and separate while browsing through the other six, which remain hidden. He chooses two out of the seven and puts them into his hand. If Anthony chooses the top card, his opponent will know because it was kept revealed and separate.

I'm playing this deck at an invitational in two weeks and I need to know how to do this properly so that I can give the least amount of information to my opponents while not cheating.


texts: I am wondering how well Takenoko plays with 2 players. What is the main problems only playing with 2, if any?


texts: A question about Mana Abilities and Activated abilities, then a question about a combo

texts:
So I just want to make sure I understand the following two things about Activated Abilities and Mana Abilities correctly.

An Activated Ability is any ability a card has that is written as "[Cost]: [Effect]".
Mana Abilities are special types of Activated Abilities that don't use the stack and can't be reacted to and spells like "Quash" and "Stifle" can't be used to counter these effects either.

So if I am correct on my understanding of the two points above, then am I correct in thinking that if you combo Karn, the Great Creator (KTGC) and Mycosynth Lattice (ML) then you would effectively prevent your opponents from being able to tap for mana as the passive of KTGC states that "Activated abilities of artifacts your opponents control can't be activated." and the first ability of ML states "All Permanents are artifacts in addition to their other types." or am misunderstanding something here?


texts: Is The Online Version of La Guerre des Moutons Identical To the "Real" Game?

texts:
I've been playing La Guerre des Moutons (aka Wooly Bully?) at boiteajeux.net and I have to say I'm all at sea.

It's a tile placement game very reminiscent of Carcassonne, but in boiteajeux's implementation I can't see any way of rotating a tile - as far as I can tell you have to fit the tile onto the map in the same orientation that it's presented to you.

I just don't see how, in the "real" game, the tiles wouldn't be rotatable.  Additionally, in the online implementation the tiles appear to be two-sided - this is obviously difficult to represent, but the tiles are presented to you as connected pairs, and if you play the top half of the pair A, you lose the option to play B.  Again I find it difficult to believe the tiles are two-sided in the "real" game, because then it'd be a nightmare to keep your hidden information secret from the other players.

Can anyone who has played this game in real life describe to me how it works?  Is the boiteajeux version a creative adaptation of the original game for online play, or have I just spectacularly failed to comprehend what's going on here?

EDIT: And, d'oh, I've just worked out how to rotate tiles in the online game before playing them.  Feeling a bit silly now for playing a couple of games with a serious self-handicap!  I'd still like to hear any answers that can tell me how/if online Wooly Bully differs from offline play; as I still don't understand if the tiles are double-faced or not... Amending question title accordingly.


texts: What happens when I draw cards if I've built the Library and the Observatory?

texts:
In Citadels it's possible to build both the Library and Observatory:

Library

  If you choose to draw cards when you take an action, you keep both of the cards you have drawn.

Observatory

  If you choose to draw cards when you take an action, you draw three cards, keep one of your choice, and put the other two on the bottom of the deck.

What happens when I draw district cards when I have both districts in my city?  Do I draw three cards and keep all of them, or do I draw three cards and keep two of them?


texts: Splendor: can I use gem coins instead of development cards?

texts:
In Splendor, when I buy a development card, can I choose to pay the full price using coins, rather than exploiting the bonus price reduction given by the development cards I already own?

Example: I have 3 emerald resources, and 3 emerald coins. On the board, there are no development cards with a price of more than 3 emeralds. Can I buy one of those using my coins rather than exploiting the three cards I already own?

This happened during a game in which I miscounted my opponent's resources and she took a card worth 6 emeralds which I was after. In a later game phase, I was in the situation of having to get rid of the excess emeralds to free room for other gem coins I needed.


texts: Is Axis and Allies 1940 Balanced without National Objectives?

texts:
In Axis and Allies 1940 (Europe/Pacific/Global), what is the game effect of ignoring most or all of the National Objectives (bonus income) and simply not playing with them.  This reduces complexity and the need to constantly reference rules, but does it significantly unbalance the game?

Do any changes need to be implemented to make removal of the objectives balanced?  For example, if you feel the Allied objectives are easy and the Axis ones hard, maybe the balancing change is the give the Allies +10 IPCs each per turn instead of their objectives.


texts: Can a Beer protect me from Dynamite overkill?

texts: In Bang!, if I have 1 bullet left and the Dynamite blows up on me for 3 damage, can I use Beer and wind up at 1 life at the end?


texts: I've played a fair bit of cribbage, but I've never heard of scoring one point for "Go" (as mentioned in this other question: Cribbage score going out).  What is it, and what impact does it have on the game?


texts: sorry! Move backward 4 card, can you move a piece from start?

texts: Can you move a piece from start with a backwards 4 card?


texts:
I played a game with a friend a few years ago and I can't remember what we called it.

The game used a pack of dominos however you placed them around a central card. I believe it was a hexagon and required a double to start (although this may be incorrect).

As you placed your dominoes the game grew out in a star shape. As normal the game ended when a player managed to place all their dominoes.


texts: MTG: Activated abilities and change of control on the stack.

texts:
Let's say I play an activated ability of one of my creatures; for example, this one:

My opponent responds to this with an instant that takes control of this creature:

Question: Will the effect of the activated ability be countered? The stack now looks like this:

Vedalken Anatomist puts -1/-1 on target creature
Opponent gains control of Vedalken Anatomist

The change of control will happen first. Does this mean that the -1/-1 counter will not be received by the target creature? If yes, then what happens to the mana spent (and the lands tapped) to pay the cost of using the ability?


texts: If I pocket my man and the queen in a single strike, is the queen covered?

texts: Suppose there are 3 coins remaining on the board: one man of each colour and the queen. If, in a single strike, I pocket my man followed by the queen, have I covered the queen?


texts: Settlers of Catan 15th Anniversary Edition?

texts:
I just heard about a 15th-anniversary edition of the Settlers of Catan game, and I must be blind because I can't find anything on Mayfair's site about it.

So my questions are:

What exactly are the contents?
How does this differ from the 10th-anniversary version?  Is it not 3D?
Is this in English or German?


texts: Issues with Infinite Mana Loop and Grindclock/ Clock of Omens Combo

texts:
I have an idea for an Instant mil combo involving the below cards:

Grindclock
Clock of Omens
Palladium Myr x2
Myr Galvanizer x2
Darksteel Forge (just so they cant be destroyed, always helpful)

I'm wondering how I would have to order my tapping to allow me to build up 60+ counters on Grindclock, to then mil for 60+ cards.

I know I'd need to tap Palladium Myr and Grindclock first, but then it gets slightly difficult. Can anyone provide me with the Order in which I would have to tap these permanents to create the infinite mil and manna Loop in kind?


texts: Does Memory Erosion trigger even if a spell gets countered?

texts:
Player A has the enchantment Memory Erosion on the battlefield.
Player B casts Dark Banishing on Player A's creature, and Player A uses Counterspell on it, so the Dark Banishing is countered.

Will Memory Erosion still take effect, even though the spell has been countered? Or does the spell need to resolve first for Memory Erosion's abilty to take effect?


texts: House Rule for Minor Improvement/Occupation distribution?

texts:
I'm in a group that regularly plays together. We love Agricola, but we tend to play the family version because we feel the minor improvements and occupations are a bit too unbalanced. Or sometimes one player gets great combinations and other players are left cold.

What options are there for distributing the minor improvements and occupations such that we can minimize that variation?


texts: Can more threats be active than threat slots?

texts:
Can there be more than four active threats in play at once?

There are exactly four scouter-shaped slots on the side of the board with which to place threat cards.  There can also be up to four players/characters, and the number of threats in play is implied to be equal to the number of players.  However, I cannot find anywhere where the rules explicitly state that the number of active threats are limited to these four spaces; it would simply be very unusual to design the board to have exactly four of these very deliberately-shaped notches if there was such a common scenario in which they would overflow.

The rules for adding new threats are:

  At the beginning of each round, reveal a number of Threat Tiles from the top of the stack equal to the number of players (e.g., in a 3-player game, reveal 3 Threat Tiles), then place those Threat Tiles face up next to the Cell Board.

Does this mean that, if you are playing a 4-player game and do not clear all of the threats in a turn, the uncleared ones linger around and four additional threats appear, exceeding the space on the board?  Or do you fill up to four so as not to exceed the very perfectly-designed card spaces?


texts: If Scourge of Fleets returns creatures with toughness 3 or less, do my vampires at (4/4) get returned to my hand when Thirsting Bloodlord return?

texts:
I played Savage Gorger a few turns ago making it a (3/3) before I played Thirsting Bloodlord (3/3) which gives other vampires I control +1/+1, making my Savager Gorger (4/4). If my friend had 3 islands and just played Scourge of Fleets that would return creatures with toughness 3 or less, would my Savage Gorger return to my hand?
My friend believes that returning my creatures with toughness 3 or less would include returning Savage Gorger because it would be (3/3) without Thirsting Bloodlord (which also just got returned).
I thought the stack would happen simultaneously rather than Thirsting Bloodlord getting returned, making Savage Gorger become (3/3) again, and then returning Savage Gorger because it was 3 toughness.


texts: If they counter my Goblin Grenade, do I still lose my goblin?

texts: If they use a Counter Spell or some other similar way to counter my Goblin Grenade do I still lose the sacrificed goblin?


texts: Ora et Labora. Ideas for an alternative 2 player game ending rule?

texts:
I love the game "Ora et Labora" by Uwe Rosenberg. It is has especially a nice 2 player mechanism.

In 3 and 4 player mode the game ends after a certain number of rounds. Which I like very much.

However in the 2 player variant the game ends, when there is only one building left to built. I find this troublesome. My first problem here is that if both player focus on the production of goods, the game can be very long. Moreover, some of the buildings (yellowish) have to connect to your main building complex. If you have been not careful, it can be costly or impossible to get rid of these building-cards.

I am interested in alternative ending rules. What about stopping after a fixed (how many?) number of turns. Should there be a final settlement phase in the end? What was the intention of the game designer to have a completely different 2 player game termination rule?


texts: Is there a way to save a X = 0 Stonecoil Serpent?

texts:
If I cast Stonecoil Serpent with X = 0, it starts with 0/0, and immediately resolves so it dies?
Is there a way to save it?


texts: At the end of a 4 player game, 3 of the players had fewer trains than spaces required to complete the smallest trip (we each had 8 trains and you needed a minimum 9 trains to complete the smallest trip available).  Only one player could continue to select train cards to reach a destination.  What happens in that scenario.  Does that player continue picking destination cards until he finds one where he could complete the trip or is the game over?


texts: Is it possible to postponed the Turn 7 reshuffle to Turn 8?

texts:
As a Twilight Struggle player, it's important to be aware of the Turn 3 and Turn 7 reshuffles, and you need to plan your card management strategy accordingly. For example, a US player holding De-Stalinization would normally try to space it on Turn 3 (and not Turn 1 or 2), as this keeps it out of the game for a long time. In a similar way, cards discarded on Turn 7 or later will not come back in the game via a reshuffle (although cards like Star Wars and SALT Negotiations can retrieve discarded cards).

My question is, is it possible to have a game without a Turn 7 reshuffle? While the Turn 3 reshuffle is unavoidable, I'm thinking that it might be possible to have a game without the Turn 7 reshuffle. This would lead for an interesting Late War, with very few scoring cards and a deck that's likely to favour the US player.

If possible, I imagine such a game would see heavy use of the China Card, but no use of cards that cut down on hand size (Five Year Plan, Grain Sales to Soviets), nor cards that mill the deck (Our Man in Tehran, Ask Not...).

If relevant, I have the Deluxe Edition and play with the optional cards.


texts: In Matchpoints, is it worth risking a ruff to try for an overtrick in the following situation?

texts:
You are in a four spade contract, (West and East passed throughout), and the two suits of interest are spades, and a side suit (call it hearts). These are the North and South hands, as given in a bridge column.

          S AQJ
            H A65
            D Q64
            C QJ74

            S T9876
            H K3
            D 32
            C AK32

The opening lead (7 of hearts,covered by East's 9) goes to your K of hearts. You lead a low spade to the Q in dummy for a finesse, and it holds (West and East play 3 and 2). If you now play A and J of spades, you will probably lose a spade to the king, but make your contract, because your natural losers are one spade and two diamonds. On the other hand, you can repeat the finesse by cashing the A of hearts and coming to your hand with a heart ruff. Your fear is that East will ruff with the K, and then go to West via a high diamond for a ruff. In rubber, the right thing to do is to draw opposing trumps as fast as possible by playing A, then "low" (J), in spades, conceding a trick to the opposing king.

But suppose this is Matchpoints (duplicate). Given East's and West's silence, is it reasonable to assume that hearts are split  4-4 or 5-3, and that you can return safely to your hand for a second finesse? If we can earn an overtrick half the time by finessing spades again, will that "make up" for the few times that East can ruff and defeat the contract?

(The column reported that the actual declarer went to his king of clubs, the second spade finesse lost to East's king, and East reached a high diamond honor in West for a club ruff, down one, since clubs were 4-1. This, to me, is a greater risk than the heart ruff.)

The bidding was North (opener) 1NT, South 2 clubs North 2 diamonds South 4 spades. Neither side vulnerable.


texts:
I have a Pithing Needle on the battlefield naming my opponent's planeswalker. My opponent on his turn plays a Detention Sphere targeting the pithing needle. I have a Naturalize in hand. Do I have the ability to cast the Naturalize and get rid of the Detention Sphere before my opponent can activate one of his planeswalker's abilities?

Does the answer to this question change if instead of a Detention Sphere, the opponent plays Banishing Light?


texts: What tactical concerns should I keep in mind as I charge, shoot, or retreat?

texts:
I'm playing a round of cooperative Necromunda, and am controlling a specific character on the field. Our party has just begun to engage with the enemy, and I'm looking for advice from experienced players on what to do for my next turn. My character's stat sheet is below:

The current layout of the board is below. My character is standing on the bridge at the top of the photo, blue hair clearly visible, her gun pointed at a rapidly approaching bad guy:

The bad guy directly in front of me is described as armed with a sword and an autopistol, to be heavily armored, and to not appear to be either a leader or champion.
The other visible bad guy that I am concerned about, at the top of the tall tower on the right, is armed with a bolter.
There is an additional piece of cover one move to the left on the bridge I am standing on (it's a bit hard to tell in the photo, but the big metal panel to my left is a diagonally-aligned cover wall).
You can see my team scattered across the other upper bridge (2 models), in cover behind pillars on the ground (2 models), and advancing over the bridge at ground level (1 model).
I'd like to accomplish the following with my two actions, in priority order:

Not hang my teammates out to dry
Not do anything wildly ineffective
Either now or on a future turn, maximize my chances of taking out the bolter-equipped bad guy in the tower threatening my entire team
Survive

I am thinking about charging the enemy in front of me and stabbing them with my knife. I'm unclear if I am allowed to attack twice in one turn. I've also considered:

Firing twice at the charging enemy with my stub gun, if I am allowed to do so
Firing twice at the bolter-equipped figure at the top of the tower with my lasgun, if I am allowed to do so
Retreating to the cover behind me and firing at the advancing enemy with my stub gun


texts: Can a countered creature be regenerated?

texts: After a creature is countered by a spell such as Counterspell can it regenerate. I was trying to counter my friend's Mortivore, but he said it could regenerate from that. So I need help trying to figure if he is lying or not.


texts: Is it possible to use mirage mirror when your turn starts before upkeep step?

texts: For instance could you use Mirage Mirror on Venser's Journal, before your upkeep and get either 2 lots of life per card in your hand, or is it possible to mirror an opponents journal before your own upkeep step and receive its effects?


texts:
I'm looking for help with identifying this game. The pegs are lost but can be replaced. I can't find the directions or anything on the internet in shopping or otherwise.

The board sort of looks like tic-tac-toe with lines between connected holes, but it also has the seven peg holes on each side. There is also a reservoir cup for loose pegs or maybe dice.


texts:
I took an image from another question and roughly repurposed it in paint. Here's my question:

Can a beetle move through gaps that would otherwise restrict a queen/ant/spider?

That is, can the circled beetle get to the desired field in 1 move (yellow track), or would he need to first climb over one piece (as illustrated in the red).

If that is legal, it brings me to my follow up question. Could the beetle move in the following way, or would it temporarily break the hive in between transition (1 hive rule) ?

It appears that here, the beetle would be in constant contact with the hive, even though that beetle is clearly the anchor.


texts: Is there a maximum amount of energy that can be attached to one Pokémon?

texts:
I bought the Mewtwo EX tin and he has an ability called "Shatter Shot".

  This attack does 30 damage multiplied by the amount of "psychic" energy you have on this Pokémon.

I have a bunch of Psychic type energy. Is there a maximum amount of energy you can have on one Pokémon?


texts: Where can I find the web app for designing Robot Turtles boards?

texts: I once heard about a web app for designing Robot Turtles boards. Where is that?


texts: Should I mill myself if I have graveyard synergies in my deck, but haven't drawn them yet?

texts:
It's well-established that one should usually choose to loot if one can. It's the strictly superior play, and there are only a few valid reasons not to do so.
This question is about a different scenario. If I have cards that use the graveyard in my deck, but have not drawn them yet, under what circumstances should I mill myself? Concrete example:

My board: 20 life, no cards in hand, no cards in graveyard, 40 cards in deck, lots of lands, a Hill Giant, Skull Prophet.
Opponent's board: 20 life, no cards in hand, lots of lands, two Grizzly Bears.

Right now neither of us can attack. If I do, he double blocks and I trade down. If he attacks I simply eat his creature. The board is stalled.
It's the end of my opponent's turn. I have Survivors' Bond still in my deck, but I haven't drawn it yet. Should I activate Skull Prophet?
I'm wondering if the answer is "yes" (because I can potentially mill good cards for Survivors' Bond), or "no" (because I can potentially mill the Survivors' Bond itself). If the answer is "it depends", then I'd like to know under what circumstances it becomes desirable - e.g. how many copies of Survivors' Bond vs. good creatures do I need in my deck before it's preferable to mill myself?
Edit: Since this question became a HNQ, here's a nontechnical version.
There are two zones for cards, "in the deck", and "in the graveyard". I have a deck of X cards, from which I draw a card every turn. There are Y copies of a card ("Survivors' Bond") in the deck that prefer cards to be "in the graveyard". Every turn I'm given the option to put two cards from my deck into the graveyard. Should I do it because it makes my Survivors' Bond better, or should I not do it because I could end up putting Survivors' Bond into the graveyard? If it depends on what X and Y are, for what parameter range does it become preferable?


texts: Interaction between Torment of Hailfire and Persist

texts: If I choose a creature with persist for one repetition of Torment of Hailfire, will it return to play before the next repetition to choose it again?


texts: Can I cast an instant in the middle of an ability resolving?

texts:
Suppose my opponent has Nahiri, the Lithomancer and an equipment card on the battlefield, then uses Nahiri's +2 ability to create a 1/1 soldier and attach the equip to it.

  +2: Put a 1/1 white Kor Soldier creature token onto the battlefield. You may attach an Equipment you control to it.

Is it possible to cast an instant that would kill the soldier before the equipment is equipped, or does the entire action happen at once?


texts: In Race for the Galaxy on 6-cost development cards, does a player receive VPs for all of the categories they have satisfied, or just one?

texts:
My family and I are confused about the wording in the instructions. Perhaps my question is best asked with an example:

I have the Alien Tech Institute card, which has three parts:

3 VPs for each alien tech production world
2 VPs for alien technology windfall worlds
2 VPs for other "alien" cards, including this one.

If I end the game with 1 alien production card, and 2 alien windfall cards, would I receive VPs for both categories that I satisfy (in this case 7 total), or just the windfall category, which would give me a total of 4 VPs total?


texts: Can you do a field of ruin and kefnet the mindfull combo

texts: Can I use a land with a sacrifice ability, like Field of Ruin, where you have to sacrifice the card for the ability to activate, then whilst the ability is on the stack, use Kefnet the Mindful's ability which returns a land I control to my hand? Since abilities will trigger even if their permanents are removed from the battlefield, would it still activate the ability because I remember reading a rule that said that a card's ability or function will activate as most as possible (if that makes sense).


texts: Is a Regenerated Creature Removed from Combat?

texts: Say my opponent attacks me with a creature.  I use a burn spell to deal lethal damage, then he regenerates it.  Is it removed from combat at that point or does it still deal damage?


texts: Is there a penalty for forgetting to draw?

texts: In a 2 player game, if a player forgets to draw from the stock and tables their first meld (without needing to draw the top discard), would there be a penalty? Or, once noticed could they then draw from the stock?


texts: 40K: What are the disadvantages of playing Necrons?

texts:
I just picked up a 40K Necron codex today and I am rather astonished. They appear quite overpowered to me. Then again, I play Orks and Imperial Guard, so maybe that's why they appear so.

My question is for the experienced Necron players: what are the disadvantages in playing Necrons? There's the low initiative (offset by being reasonably tough and numerous), most of the armor values are relatively low (offset by vehicle abilities) and the weapon ranges seem to cluster around 24" (not so bad). So what do you have to watch out for or compensate for when playing your Necrons?


texts: Mtg Combo (Commander): Would it work? Rhys, the Redeemed

texts:
Turn 1 (of combo starting): Rhys the Redeemed (Equipped: Helm of the Host). Host makes a Rhys copy with haste (at combat so this would be during main phase 2.)
Tap Rhys. Make a second Rhys copy. Tap first copy (with haste.)

Turn 2:
Rhys. 4 Rhys copies from previous turn. Rhys copy this turn.
Tap Rhys. (5 more.) Tap Rhys copy. (10 more.) Tap 2nd Rhys copy. (20 more.) Tap 3rd Rhys copy. (40 more.) Tap 4th Rhys copy. (80 more.) Tap 5th Rhys copy. (160 more.)

•Turn 2 Total: 161 Rhys, the Redeemed. + Any creature tokens already in play.

As for more information I run an elf deck that at the end of a turn playing 5 or more cards I usually have 40 mana left in my mana pool.


texts: What is the name of the little humanoid figure used as player token or resource in some Euro games?

texts:
I used to play a lot of games during my childhood and the "player token" had a pattern: A cylinder/cone with a sphere on top of it. Pawn, start token, player token, we used a lot of names to define it. I have never bothered about naming or knowing what the name of this piece was, cause it was only used as player token.

But now, I can see that a number of newer games (post-2000) use this little humanoid figure as player token or as resource on some games:

Carcassone-meeple.jpg from Wikimedia - You must be asking yourself: And what about this filename? Read the spoiler if it bugs you

   I was searching using the words that are at the answer, finally found the Meeple term, and searching for "Meeple" at Google Images leads to a lot of images, including this one that is at the Carcassonne Wikipedia and ocasionally is called Carcassonne-meeple (with a better license to use at StackExchange sites). Acessed Carcassonne's wiki and double-checked the Meeple name, found the wikitionary definition, searched for another reference online using that definition, and the HappyMeeple pointed to wikitionary. But before that, I didn't know that it was one of its players that coined the term and since there is an older game called Europa 1945-2030 that have a similar-but-not-equal humanoid figure i couldn't be sure if there was possibly an older game also using Meeple design, of if the Europa humanoid design was also called Meeple or a variant of it and therefore, other older game using Europa's design. Then I have asked and answered at the same time to spread knowledge. But believe me, I was not aware of the term until i wrote this question+answer, and the image used at this question was decided when I was posting :)

Ok, back to the question. Examples:

Carcassonne: This figure is used as player points counter and a resource that will be turned into 4 different classes(base game) like a pawn;
Terra Mystica: This figure is a multi-purpose resource(Priest), depending on your race;
Tiny Little Quest: You have 3 of these figures in your control, but they are not minions neither resources;

My Question: Is there an official or de facto name I can call this little guy on my image? I am specifically interested in what this particular design of token is called.


texts: Can a deck with a mono-colored commander have cards with other colors than its commander in it?

texts:
The basic rules for building a Commander deck state:

All cards must be in the color identity of the commander

Then the rules summary continues with:

COLOR IDENTITY
A card's color identity can come from any part of that card, including its casting cost and any mana symbols in its text. Every card in your Commander deck must only use mana symbols that also appear on your commander. Colorless cards are allowed as well.

(emphasis mine)
So reading these rules makes it pretty clear to me, giving a "no" to my question. However, a couple of weeks ago I played a multiplayer game with more experienced players, but nobody made any remarks on the (winning) deck featuring a mono-white commander* leading a red-white deck. So now I'm confused. Am I missing something, or was that deck technically illegal?

* I can't remember the exact card. It had doublestrike and was pretty cheap to cast, around 2-4 mana. It was not a flip-card, such as Archangel Avachyn in the example on the linked website.


texts: Can "Healing Stone" be used to gain Stamina or Sanity beyond the investigator's initial values?

texts:
Can the unique item "Healing Stone" be used to gain Stamina or Sanity beyond the investigator's initial values?

The card doesn't include this restriction so I am assuming you can but wanted to make sure.


texts: In Betrayal, does a monster really die after 1 hit?

texts:
We're playing betrayal-at-house-on-the-hill. If I read the rules correctly, when a player hits a monster, even just for one damage, he defeats it and the monster gets stunned. In my version of the haunt, it even gets killed right away. This is for haunt 46
So that means if the monster (4 might) wins against the hero (4 might, 4 speed), say with a 2 point difference, the player loses 2 physical points (4 might, 2 speed). The monster needs to repeat this 3 more times to finish off the player.
On the other hand, if the hero wins against the monster, the monster is removed from the board, giving the hero a 4:1 chance to kill the monster. Right?


texts: How to differentiate real Yu-Gi-Oh! cards from fakes

texts: Simply, how do I tell the differences between real and fake Yu-Gi-Oh! cards? The cards I have seem to be legit, but it's either all legit or all counterfeit. Any tips?


texts:
Is there a 2-player variant for Games of Thrones?

It is hard to work out one as the game is all about alliances and betrayals which is hard to have with only two players.


texts: Can you move backwards 4 spaces right outside of the safety zone?

texts: In Sorry, can I move a pawn that is right outside my start, then pick a move backward 4 spaces card to right outside my safety zone?


texts: Ship Movement Question Axis and Allies 1940 Global (Rules 2.0)

texts:
I have a question regarding the movement of ships. The explanation could get confusing so I will try to explain it clearly.

My ship, a cruiser, is attacked by an enemy fleet of destroyers moving from a naval port (total possible move of 3) during my opponent's turn.
Enemy ships all move two spaces to engage in combat.
During combat, my ship is destroyed.
After destroying my cruiser, my opponent wants to move the enemy fleet one more space into an adjacent sea zone containing 2 of my ships and initiate another combat phase during their turn.

Is my opponent allowed to do this move and then additional attack in one turn? If not, are they allowed to use their remaining move during their Non-Combat Movephase to move their ships into the seazone where my ships are?

Thanks for the help in advance. If you need more clarification please ask.


texts: Do the prices of cards drop when they leave Standard?

texts:
I'm looking to build a Commander deck with a number of cards from Kaladesh through Hour of Devastation, which are still Standard legal as of this writing but will drop out soon. I would expect that players who focus on formats like Standard and Brawl might decide to get rid of those cards when the new sets come out, leading to a price drop. I'm curious if this can be seen looking at historical price data.

I've tried to research this on various sites that show price histories, but I don't know enough about Magic's recent history to separate the signal from the noise. That's why I'm looking for your expert opinions here. A good answer would consider a representative sample of cards that were popular during their Standard season and show how their prices behaved after, especially if those cards continued to be popular in Commander. If there is often a price drop, knowing about when it happened (release day, a week prior, a month later?) would also be helpful.

I do not want any speculation about future prices. "Here's the historical data but Guilds of Ravnica will be different because xyz" is not an answer. I'm only interested in past results. Also I'm interested in prices for paper, not online.


texts: When is Garbage time and when to scoop to it?

texts:
This is a dual question but the answer from the first part directly leads into the second.

Watching Magic the gathering streamers I've heard the term "Garbage Time" used occasionally. It typically refers to when the opponent is losing the game, but do we have any definitive definition for the term or a possible set of conditions that indicate it is Garbage Time?

In what settings is appropriate for a player to scoop to Garbage time? Such as if a deck is caught in a Teferi lock, as posted in this question. Or in the case a deck has their main or only win con peeled from their deck, such as Unmoored Ego removing all copies of  Lotus Field from the Pioneer Lotus Storm deck. Would it be expected for an opponent to concede a game they have virtually no chance at winning*?

*excluding if the opponent was trying to push the timer in order to get a draw


texts: Do markerlights put on a unit embarked in a dedicated transport remain on the passengers after the vehicle is destroyed?

texts: If I place markerlights on a unit that is inside their dedicated transport and subsequently destroy said transport, can I still use the remaining markerlights when I target the disembarked passengers with another unit in the same shooting phase?


texts: Possible to spend clue tokens to re-roll attempts at sealing gates?

texts:
I'm just playing my first ever (solo) game of Arkham Horror, so I'm still quite new to the nuances of the game, though the overall mechanics are already starting to click.

The rules state that you can spend one clue token to get one extra die roll after attempting any skill check in the game. Does this also count for checks when attempting to seal a gate, or is this an exception?

For instance, I have 8 clue tokens, and really would like to seal the explored gate I am on as quickly as possible, rather than waiting turns inbetween attempts.
Can I then spend clue tokens one at a time to re-roll for any successes needed, and when successful spend 5 tokens to seal the gate?


texts: Is priority reevaluated in between each robot's movement or do we keep how it was at the start of the register?

texts:
In RoboRally 2016, we had a situation as follows. There were three robots on the board, which I have numbered 1 through 3 based on their priority and facing (thus "1→" is the first robot in priority order and is facing to the right).

Robot 1 did a "move 1" instruction and pushed Robot 2.

Note that of the two robots who haven't moved yet, Robot 3 is now closer to the Antenna than Robot 2. Do we keep the priority order, thus the one in the far right moves next?

Or do we immediately reevaluate the priority order as follows, thus the robot on the far left moves?

In other words, do we stick with priority that was set at the start of the register, or does it get reevaluated each time a Robot moves?


texts: What is the winning position in Monopoly Empire?

texts:
In Monopoly Empire what is the official winning position for a player?

The rules seem ambiguous by stating that the winner is the first person to build the tower to the top, but that raises two questions:

1) Can the tower 'spill over' the top?  For instance, if you need to fill one space can a 4-space billboard be bought to win the game?

and

2) Do the billboards have to fit in the tower spaces perfectly?


texts:
Having found a nice vector graphics for magic symbols, I wonder what the symbols on the second-to-last row are:

I recognize tap, untap, infinite and half, and the last one as the earlier white, but what are the others?


texts: Does War Stomp exhaust me before I am the defender?

texts:
This question is related to the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game.

I have a Hunter, no allies out, and in my hand is a Frost Trap.

My opponent attacks with Himul Longstrider, who has War Stomp. He wants to target my hero with the War Stomp power.

Will my hero be exhausted before I am able to pay the cost of Frost Trap?  Put another way, does War Stomp exhaust my hero before my hero is "defending," thus preventing me from paying its cost by exhausting my hero?


texts: What's the name of this oil trading board game?

texts:
When I was a child I used to play around with the figures of a game that a relative of mine had tucked away in his attic. It was some sort of oil trading board game and some of the components I remember playing with were:

Oil tanker minis
Spherical gas storage tank minis:
World map, very minimal graphic style
Paper money, like something out of an old Monopoly copy

Publishing Date: The game was possibly published in the 1970s / 80s
Visual Style: Quite minimal and somewhat bleak, a bit like Twilight Struggle

I was too young to figure out the rules or how to play the game, especially since it was in English and it isn't my mother tongue, however I had a lot of fun playing with the minis and from what I remember the game seemed quite complex and may be worth tracking down and playing it now.

Thanks in advance!


texts: When exactly does an attacking creature become tapped?

texts:
I have a creature on the board, which is eligible to attack, however my opponent has enchanted it with Brink of Disaster. Now as I attack with the creature, does it first become tapped (and will therefore be destroyed) or does it first deal damage?
And in case it becomes tapped before dealing damage, does it become tapped before the opponent declares blockers or after?
When exactly during the action of attacking does the attacking creature become tapped?


texts:
In games that allow you to 'backstab' other players (such as Diplomacy and Cosmic Encounter), it is often very important to make other players think you are going to do one thing while really planning on doing another. When I play games like this, I have trouble making other players believe me, and sometimes lose because of this fact alone.

How can I get better at lying convincingly at key points in the game to improve my odds of victory? Are there any vocal, behavioral, or facial tells that I should try to minimize? What words should I say and what should I be thinking when I try to lie? How can I apply this knowledge to figure out when other players are lying?


texts: After the combat phase, can hexes be claimed even if the ships weren't involved in combat?

texts:
From the Eclipse rulebook, page 21:

  Influencing hexes:  If a hex has no population after all
  battles have been resolved and you have at least one Ship
  there, remove the previous controller’s Influence Disc (returning
  it to his Influence Track). After this, you may place
  your own Influence Disc there. Also, if your Ship is in a hex
  without an Influence Disc after the Combat Phase, you may
  place a disc there.

A literal interpretation of the last sentence means that just having a ship in a hex allows one to stake a claim with an Influence Disc.  Obviously, this would apply for the following two combat-related situations:

Defeating ancients or the GCDS, leaving behind an unclaimed hex.
Two opposing armies fighting over an uncontrolled hex, leaving behind an unclaimed hex.

However, this also opens up a third intriguing possibility:

Moving a ship into an unclaimed and uncontested hex, later claiming it without needing an Influence action.

Is this third interpretation legal, or are hexes claimed in this step limited only to ships which actually did something during the Combat Phase?


texts: What happens if I use the Huge Rock to pay the Income Tax?

texts:
The player who draws the Income Tax curse must discard an item.  Each other player must discard an item (or items) of at least as much value as the player who drew Income Tax.  If that player discards a Huge Rock, what must the other players discard?

Since the rock has no value, is that equivalent to 0 gold?
Can the other players discard zero cards?


texts: Proper way to play Ghostly Possession Enchantment Aura?

texts:
When playing Ghostly Possession, since it would make the enchanted creature useless by both preventing all combat damage that would be dealt by and also dealt to enchanted creature then what is the purpose of even giving the creature flying?

Not fully understanding the proper way to utilize this card or the benefits.


texts: Which "end of round" effect resolves first: dealing in a dead player, or game end due to low honor?

texts:
In Ninja Burger ("No matter how alert your guards, how deep your bunker, or how secure your office, we deliver in 30 minutes or less"), one possible game end is if the average Honor of all players at the end of a round is less than 4. The winner is the player with the highest Honor at the time.  Also, if a player has zero Honor at the end of a round, they "apologize to their ancestors," draw a new ninja and a new hand, and restart with 6 honor.

Which of these effects happens first, since both just say "at end of round"? If a player's zero Honor brings the average low enough to trigger the game's end, but their new character with 6 Honor doesn't bring the average that low, does the game end or not?

(Bonus complication if you say "the game ends": if 6 Honor is enough to win the game at this point, does that mean the player who had zero Honor - but restarted with a new ninja that has 6 honor - wins? Or does the game end before that player can restart with a new ninja?)


texts: Do two monsters spawn on gates when playing with five or more investigators?

texts: Do two monsters spawn on gates when playing with five or more investigators, or is this just a house rule?


texts: Can The Winged Dragon of Ra's second effect be used continously?

texts:
The The Winged Dragon of Ra's card says that when you pay 1000 life points you can destroy a monster, but it never says anything about it being once per turn.

So can I use his effect continuously in a single turn?


texts: Magic: The Gathering - Can Charge Counters be put on cards that don't "use" counters themselves?

texts:
Some cards allow you to add counters, or move counters, to other cards.  Would you be allowed to do this onto a card that doesn't actually use any counters at all?

For example:
Would Coretapper be allowed to put a charge counter on itself?  What about putting one on something like Yotian Soldier?

I understand that a Charge Counter is not a +1/+1 counter, however having them around can be useful for things like Power Conduit.


texts: Is there a standard file format for Magic the Gathering games?

texts:
I like to play games of Magic solitaire to test my decks (particularly Commander games, but the same would apply to any game). I also like to share the raw data from the game with my friends. Currently, I simply record the state of the game, transcribe it, and send it - but that requires them to keep a constant mental image of the entire game, including hand contents.

Naturally, using a computer program for this would reduce the mental burden. But if I'm going to do that, I really need to have a file format I can send the game files in. So my question is... is there a standardized file format for describing the events of a Magic game? Something like what PGN does for Chess, but for Magic.


texts: Can you trash Crisium Grid to make the run Successful?

texts: As the runner, can you, when you encounter a server that has Crisium Grid, trash it to make that run successful or do you have to make another run after you trash it?


texts: What happens to my cards exiled by an opponent's Oblivion Ring when they lose the game?

texts:
My opponent in a multiplayer game had exiled 2 cards I controlled during a recent game with an Oblivion Ring like ability.  On my next turn I hit him for lethal.

What happens when he loses the game? Do the 2 cards remain exiled or do they re-enter play under my control?


texts: Caius the Mega Monarch if targets 2 cards inflicts damage twice?

texts:
Caius the Mega Monarch:

  You can Tribute Summon this card by Tributing 1 Tribute Summoned
  monster. If this card is Tribute Summoned: Target 1 card on the field;
  banish it, and if you do, inflict 1000 damage to your opponent, then,
  if it is a DARK Monster Card, banish all cards with that name from the
  hand, Main Deck, Extra Deck, and GY of the player who controlled it.
  If this card was Tribute Summoned by Tributing a DARK monster, add
  this additional effect. ● You can target 2 cards, instead.

If targeted 2 cards, will inflict 1000 or 2000 damage to opponent's LP?


texts: Is it possible to combo Spy and Wishing Well?

texts:
From the entry for Wishing Well on Dominion Strategy, I quote:

  Cards that you view with Spy get drawn by the Wishing Well instead of being wished for.

The cards in question are these:

But as I understand it, after you play Spy, you know what the top card is (if you don't discard it), but this is drawn immediately from Wishing Well, and then you don't know what to wish for.

Am I misunderstanding how these cards work, or is the article referring to something else?


texts: Is it possible to play a quicker game of monopoly that lasts under one hour on average with only two players? If so, how? I am not looking for anything that specific, but I need house rules that will speed the game up. By the way, I lost my Speed Die.


texts: Can you build a ship in the Caspian Sea?

texts:
The Caspian Sea is a lone body of water south of Caucasus and north of the Middle East. It is also not connected to any other sea location and does not have a zone number. Here is how it appears in Axis & Allies 1941:

Is it permitted to build a ship in this location in any version of Axis & Allies? I realize that it is rather impractical to do so, but in the rare chance that you want to invade a bordering country with some naval support on your side and have the ability to pull it off, is it permitted to build a ship in it?


texts: How is the "Moral High Ground" Mission Card intended to work?

texts:
The text of "Moral High Ground" goes something like "For each Free Agent revealed in your hand", and is worth 1 IP per reveal.  This brought up some debate on exactly what and WHEN the reveal was qualified.  The first player to use it played his Free Agents, then tried to claim the points. I argued that because he had played them, when the mission was evaluated at his turn's end, he no longer hand the Agent "in hand."  Also, with a name like "Moral High Ground" actually playing the Agent seemed against the spirit of the card.

Later on, another player got this Mission and tried the tactic of revealing a Free Agent, then playing it.  His argument was that when evaluating the Mission, he had revealed the Agent during his turn, so it should apply.  That seems like splitting hairs to me though.

So what is the correct interpretation of this Mission Card?


texts: Can someone dig without any books of knowledge using only shovels (therefore taking out only a few tokens)? If not, why?


texts: Magic the Gathering, when a player dies what happens to their cards?

texts:
Today me and 3 friends were playing Magic, we are all new to it (One guy taught my friend, my friend taught me and his girlfriend, I taught my sister, besides the first guy thats who was playing)

My friend pulled a card that said he got a 1/1 token on his creature for every creature card in everyones graveyard (I don't remember the name sorry!)
So a few turns later I died (Serious mana screw, I never even played a card besides 2 mana, because I couldn't, and one got destroyed by another card, I got killed by multiplie attacks by a tarra stomper xD) so I picked my cards up and started shuffling for when they all 3 finished (I knew it would be a little bit but what else would I do?)
So my friend pulled a card from his deck to replay a card from the graveyard

So he pulled the one to create a 1/1 token on his creature for every creature in the grave yard

This is were the question comes in
Do the creatures in my graveyard (They got there when my hand became full, like I said I never actually played a card not that that part matters) still count even though I died?

We assumed they did and I apologized for messing up, but then jus now I decided to look it up and see if they count
I can't find an answer so Im asking
Sorry if this is a dumb question I've only played 8 or so games before and never ran into this problem so I thought it would be good to know for the future

Sure Im dead but if I'm playing with random people at a shop and I die and need to leave I would feel pretty bad picking up my graveyard if they should be able to use it

Also what about enchantments and such on their creatures that I put there? Does my hand go to the graveyard? What about cards I have down in use / creatures on my battlefield

Someone marked this as a possible duplicate but one thing wasn't really answered in the post
Does my graveyard still effect anything? I didn't see it referenced in the other post, sorry if Im missing something
The other post pretty much answered all my other questions, thanks.
Also add on question, if thats okay (I realize this is not really a forum so Im sorry if adding another question isn't acceptable) where are the full list of rules that person was quoting from in their answer?


texts: What cards give +1/+1 counters to all friendly creatures?

texts: I wonder if there is any card that gives +1/+1 counters to all creature I have on the field? I have Krenko, Mob Boss, Abzan Battle Priest and Mirror Entity so it would be awesome to have +1/+1 counters on all my goblins.


texts: In 2-3 player Citadels, can the unique district abilities be triggered twice?

texts:
Since having 2 turns in a 2-3 player, does the ability of a unique district trigger for each character turn?

For example, I have the Laboratory in play, can I trigger the ability to discard 1 card to gain 2 gold, for each character I play?


texts: What variants are there for the playing-card-based game "War"?

texts:
The game War is played with two decks of standard 52-card playing cards. Each player shuffles their deck into a draw pile. Simultaneously, each player turns over the top card. The player with the highest card wins the war and takes both cards. When a player runs out of cards, the player shuffles their cards and the cards won from their opponent into a new draw pile. Play continues until one of the players has no cards. Which never happens.

I played War a lot as a kid. Now my kids are learning to play. But the game still suffers from being entirely luck-based and never ending. What are the variants to this game that reduce luck and/or involve strategy?


texts: How can I teach kids how to play Battleship?

texts: I like playing Battleship, and I would like to teach my nieces to play.  What's a good, simple strategy to teach someone new to Battleship?  In my particular case they are 8-12.


texts: Can someone be "one trick" better at bridge against "club level" competition?

texts:
There is a player on the site who claims to be able to play bridge "one trick" better than some opponents. I don't doubt this if the opponents are say, advanced beginners.

But beyond a certain level of play, such odds become too steep even for a world class player. I'll use examples from other games where I'm sure of my premises to illustrate my question.

In chess, "queen odds" is a heavy handicap. So much so that while a beginner can be beaten by many people at those odds, even an intermediate player would be a favorite against a world champion given those odds. In golf, if an "intermediate" player has say, a +8 handicap (over 18 holes), even a world champion might be hard pressed to beat him by one stroke a hole, or a score of -10, on most days. Put another way, my definition of a solid "club" player is someone who would be a favorite with queen odds against a world class chess player or one stroke per hole odds against a world class golf player.

When I refer to "club level" competition in bridge, I mean people who play bridge regularly take lessons, and practice, and occasionally participate in tournaments against people of comparable ability, but do not play professionally.

In bridge, my understanding is that contracts are geared to a fight for the last trick. That is, when four of a major is bid, the declaring side usually has nine tricks in hand, the defending side three, and the fight is over the last trick. If partnership A is "one trick" better on average than partnership B, it would imply that the weaker partnership would lose essentially every contract that the stronger partnership A was (barely) capable of making.

Here's my alternate theory of levels: My feeling is that a club player is someone who can usually make contracts when the breaks are "normal;" e.g. there is an opposing distributions of one's trump or other key eight card suit of 3-2, (this occurs 68% of the time), or an equivalent high card distribution. An expert is someone who can often prevail against a 4-1 suit distribution, which occurs 28% of the time, or equivalent high card distribution. A world class player can beat even a 5-0 distribution the few times it comes up. So relative to the the club "68%-er," the expert player will prevail at least 20% more often (out of a possible 28%), and the world class player will win an additional 3%-5% more often. That's "less" than one trick.

So when someone claims to play bridge one trick better than others, could that possibly mean "club level" competition, or only at most against advanced beginners?


texts: Does an action which gives you +2 Advance Civilization require they be used together?

texts:
There are several planets which provide +2 economy / diplomacy (e.g., Padraigin-3110). Do those have to be used to advance a single ship 2 spaces in orbit, or can they be used to advance 2 separate ships 1 space each?

Update: Added a picture showing Padraigin-3110.

The text of Padraigin-3110 says "Spend 2 culture to advance +2 diplomacy".


texts: Metamorphic Alteration: Copying a creature that dies

texts:
If you play Metamorphic Alteration copying a creature and the original creature dies, does they copy created by MA remain?

For example, if I play MA on a 1/1 copying a 4/4, and the original 4/4 dies, does the copy made with MA remain?


texts: Does a quantified comparison between differing non-basic lands exist?

texts:
Part of the joy of building decks is the theory crafting that can be applied.

Consider a deck with thirty-seven non-land cards, leaving optimal room for 23 lands. For context, the deck is Dimir, (black and blue) or UB.

At current, the land base is: 8 Swamp, 7 Island, and 4 Polluted Delta. For the remaining 4 slots, there is a wide list of options for non-basic lands, including:

Sunken Hollow
Choked Estuary
Watery Grave
Temple of Deceit

Each land offers blue and black mana, and either off-sets the cost of coming into play tapped or has a mechanism to come into play untapped. Other possibilities include the pain lands

Is there a quantifiable evaluation of the cost/benefit of choosing either land to fill the void?

Context: This situation could possibly be extended to any of the other 10 pairs, with the possible exceptions of those including green, giving the innate color fixing there.


texts: When counting toughness for a monster trophy, do you use the toughness when killed or the current toughness its type might have?

texts:
There are a few parts to this question? First, if the toughness of a monster is reduced during combat by some effect such as a spell or item (I know there is one that reduces monster toughness by 1), is the trophy toughness also valued one less? I have been playing this as 'no'.

Second, if some effect raises the toughness of all or some monsters, and then after defeating one, the effect goes away, is the toughness of the trophy the originally listed toughess on the token or the enhanced toughness? Similarly one could imagine where a situation alters the toughness of a monster type you've already defeated.

I am not totally sure these last two cases actually exist but don't want to spoil more cards looking for it. If one could clarify that'd be great.


texts: Is this true : «In a 2-player game of Monopoly, there is a 12% chance that the game will go on indefinitely.»

texts:
This supposedly «fun fact» was posted on a Facebook game page.

One commentator declared a 2-player game of Monopoly a zero-sum game;

I stated that the bank acts as a 3rd player, injecting and withdrawing cash.

Is there any mathematical validity to the statement that a 2-player game of Monopoly could go on indefinitely?

Edit: Concerning «indefinitely». Since the OP was making a distinct case of a 2-player game, and 3- or more -player games always end, for this question, I think we can assume that s/he meant that the 2-player game would never end.


texts: Can non-creature permanents have +1/+1 counters?

texts: Say I have a Blinkmoth Nexus and Steel Overseer out. I tap the Steel Overseer for his ability to put +1/+1 counters while my Blinkmoth is a creature, and it gains a counter. After my Blinkmoth goes back into a land, does it keep the counter, or does it lose it?


texts: When should you not place the robber to do the most damage in Settlers of Catan?

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If you have the robber and are playing against the field, you might want to place it where it can do the most damage.

But my understanding is that sometimes the better use is to "sic" the robber on the player who is in the lead.

How do you decide between the two courses of action or others? And what about the times when one or another course of action will do YOU some harm?