texts:
I am interested in the possible 9-player setups for Bang! that do not upset the balance of the game too much. I do not want any of the players to feel hopeless right at the start of the game when they get their role card.

I found one promising setup on boardgamegeek:

  1 Sheriff, 3 Deputies, 4 Outlaws, 1 Renegade (that's how the original game worked)

Are there any more setups that proved to be working or Bang! gets pretty unbalanced at 9 players?

I could imagine something with 2 Renegades, 4 Outlaws, 1 Sheriff, 2 Deputies but I am not sure about it.


texts:
People often say you should go for number diversity in your initial settlements.  Obviously having higher-probability numbers is good, but is 6-9-4 and 8-5-10 really better than 8-5-10 and 8-5-10?

I'd say having repeated numbers is better, as it allows you to get your resources in a clump, allowing quick and surprising expansion.  Often I've won a game this way from 8VPs, whilst others are on 9VPs and no-one is trading with them.

Am I wrong?

Does playing cities & knights make a difference to your opinion, where the Green bonus of a free resource makes my strategy even stronger?


texts: Does a player win Catan if they forget to count their points?

texts:
If player A reaches 10 victory points on his turn but forgets to count, and immediately after his turn, the following player, player B, also reaches 10 victory points and claims victory, does player A have any grounds to be considered a winner?

It recently happened when a player reached 10 victory points but forgot to count and claim victory. The player whose turn is immediately after also reached 10 victory on her turn and claimed victory. Only after player B counted her victory points it was also determined that player A had already reached 10 victory points.

Who is the rightful winner in that situation? Can the true winner be objectively determined based on anything in the rules?


texts: What happens if I go past Phase 10 in Phase 10 Twist?

texts: In the Phase 10 Twist rules, they say the winner is whoever gets past phase 10. Say I'm on Phase 9, and I go out, dropping all my cards. I'm supposed to go 3 spaces forward, but can't because Phase 10 is the only spot left. Do I win automatically or do I sit on Phase 10 spot and play that spot to win?


texts:
Besides the Zeus' power of deciding to end the turn prematurely, he also fills the vacated space when the ship moves.

Does he choose the "adventure disc" to be placed, or merely selects one at random?


texts: Solemnity + chronozoa = Infinte Loop = Draw?

texts:
I'm building a Solemnity deck. What will happen if, with solemnity in play, I cast a Chronozoa?

Vanishing 3 (This creature enters the battlefield with three time counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter from it. When the last is removed, sacrifice it.)
When Chronozoa dies, if it had no time counters on it, create two tokens that are copies of it.

Is the game a draw?


texts: In Elder Sign, if you need to draw from a deck and there are no cards left, do you lose the opportunity?

texts: There don't seem to be a large number of spell cards, and Dexter Drake can accumulate cards very fast.  If the spell deck (or any other deck for that matter) runs out, do players simply lose the privilege of gaining a card in cases that award them?


texts: Heroic leader after his unit is eliminated

texts:
If the unit with the heroic leader dies but no star is rolled, does the enemy still get one victory medal for the destroyed infantry unit?

Action Cards 8 - Heroic Leader


texts: Tapping a creature with summoning sickness in an equivalent play situation

texts:
This is a follow-up question to How do I handle a gameplay error when I have an equivalent play available in a tournament?. The answer to that question indicates that even though the play is equivalent, I still can't rewind that play + get a warning.

Now suppose I have two Dryad Greenseeker in play, one of which is freshly cast. I activate one of them. Opponent calls a judge. He says I tapped the Dryad Greenseeker that is summoning sick, and therefore I was breaking the rules and should get a warning. He says he knows which Dryad Greenseeker is summoning sick because he paid attention when I cast it, while I don't remember whether I put the new Dryad on the left or on the right.

Do I get a warning for game rule violation?
Does my opponent get a warning for unsporting conduct?
Do I get to activate my Dryad Greenseeker after all?

If the answer to #3 is "yes", I'm also curious why there's a difference compared to the situation in the linked question.


texts: What is the procedure for recapturing rescued men?

texts:
In Little Wars, captured men can be rescued by killing one or more of their captors. What is the procedure for recapturing the men who were just rescued?

For example, 14 men of team A attack 12 isolated men of team B. This results in 4 men of team A with 2 prisoners from team B. Now, suppose team B kills 1 of the captors from team A with cannon fire. How (if at all) could team A recapture those 2 men from team B?

They couldn't melee because the men from team B are disarmed. Would team A just have to move their men within six inches of the ex-prisoners to automatically recapture them? Would the procedure be different if there were armed men from team B nearby?


texts: Betrayal at House on the Hill - "Voodoo" (Haunt 25) - Do you continue if the traitor dies?

texts:
We played the Voodoo scenario the other night and I as the traitor got killed in an attack. At the end of each traitor turn, the chance of survivors dying gets more and more likely. So I hoped that even though I was dead, the survivors might still succumb to the dolls.

The rules say that the traitor doesn't lose just because their explorer dies, and that the game can continue if the monsters could fulfil the traitor's task to win. I had no monsters (they don't really factor into this scenario), but I feel like the damage track and the voodoo doll effects were in a sense the equivalent of monsters in this case, and so would continue to be resolved at the end of each traitor/monster turn - giving me a chance to still win - the survivors are still in a race against time to find their dolls before the dolls kill them. Otherwise they've effectively won, it's just the laborious task of finding and destroying the dolls with little/no resistance.

Should the voodoo doll effects continue to be resolved at the end of the traitor/monster turn, even if the traitor explorer is dead?


texts: How does each copy of a spell cast to Zada, Hedron Grinder count towards Storm abilities?

texts: Zada, Hedron Grinder allows you to copy spells for all your other creatures, as long as it only targets him. Thus, you will be casting a potentially large number of spells. Does every copy of the spell count towards a storm count?


texts: In my turn, can I just take an "accessible" card into my hand and not play it yet?

texts:
When selecting cards in Duel, can I select a card and keep it on my hand until I collect money/resource or do I have to sell/play the card immediately?
If I can take the card and not play it yet, can I later sell it or decide what I want to do with it?


texts: Can a player with cards pass but not declare end of round?

texts: If I have no cards in my draw pile but I have some in my hand, can I choose to not play any cards but also not declare end of round, or must I declare end of round if I do not play cards? If I must declare end of round in that case, does playing a skill allow me to avoid doing so?


texts:
I bought a game at a thrift store because it was not used.

It consists of 104 ivory tiles. The tiles are numbered 1 to 13, with 2 sets in red and 2 in black; and then four more sets but these are numbered 1 to 11, with 2 sets in light blue and two with the numbers in yellow.  Below each number is an indented circle.  Also, there are two other tiles with a smiling moon face on it, one face is in red the other in black, these, too, have an indented circle on them.  Included in the case that it came in were four "racks".  It appears they are to hold the tiles.

I don't play games too much but I do like them.  Does anyone have any idea what this game is?


texts: What tokens are endless despite having a limited supply?

texts: What tokens should be treated as unlimited in supply despite having a limited number in the game box, i.e. focus tokens, travel tickets, and the like? Naturally it makes the game 'harder' for the investigators should these run out, so I was curious what items have been confirmed to be allowed to have replacements simply because the game did not come with enough tokens for these edge case game sessions.


texts:
After my barrel fails, can I use a missed card from my hand to fend off a Bang! card?

Or does it mean that I will immediately take a hit?


texts: Power Grid China/Korea strategy - is it any different from the base game?

texts: I just got Power Grid China/Korea and was wondering if there was anything (besides for the two markets on the Korea side of the board) I should look for strategy-wise that is different from the base game.


texts: What happens in these end-game situations?

texts:
This is intended to be a canonical question regarding possible endings of the game.

For each question, assume a single proper strike was made, and note where an improper strike would change the game outcome (beyond an additional point for the opponent).

If the Queen has been covered:

What happens if I pocket my last C/m and the Striker?
What happens if I pocket my opponent's last C/m?
What happens if I pocket my opponent's last C/m and the Striker?
What happens if I pocket both players' last C/m?
What happens if I pocket both players' last C/m and the Striker?

If the shot covers the Queen:

What happens if I pocket my last C/m and the Queen?
What happens if I pocket my last C/m, the Queen and the Striker?
What happens if I pocket my opponents' last C/m and the Queen?
What happens if I pocket my opponents' last C/m, the Queen and the Striker?
What happens if I pocket both players' last C/m and the Queen?
What happens if I pocket both players' last C/m, the Queen and the Striker?

If the Queen is left on the board:

What happens if I pocket my last C/m, leaving the Queen?
What happens if I pocket my last C/m and the Striker, leaving the Queen?
What happens if I pocket my opponent's last C/m, leaving the Queen?
What happens if I pocket my opponent's last C/m and the Striker, leaving the Queen?
What happens if I pocket both players' last C/m, leaving the Queen?
What happens if I pocket both players' last C/m and the Striker, leaving the Queen?


texts: Are there differences between the different country's editions of Cards Against Humanity?

texts:
Cards Against Humanity has different country editions, like UK, US, and AU.
Are there differences between these editions other than grammar? What are those differences?


texts: Will a developer fix a (small) broken mechanic, or should I fix it before the submission process begins?

texts:
I am (co)designing a pickup-and-deliver strategy game.

Extensive playtesting has revealed what I believe to be a slightly broken aspect of the endgame (basically, there comes a point when everyone can visualize the rest of the game, and there's nothing to be done to change the outcome/winner). The first 45 minutes of the game play smoothly and are quite enjoyable; it's only the last couple minutes that get stale when the end is in sight.

Knowing that "KC" will likely be submitted to an established publisher - and expecting their developers to take over -  we have only taken the theme, artwork, and rulebook so far.

  Will a publisher accept games that have slightly broken aspects to them, or is the designer responsible for having a mechanically polished game at the start of the submission process?

Edit:

Consider Settlers, but without development cards (and also without longest road, as those points are temporary). This hypothetical game would be "broken" in the same way that mine is - not to mention missing out on what is a great aspect of the game.

There would be no hidden information. A king would rise, and at some point everyone would be able to see the same writing on the wall: if something extremely unlucky doesn't happen, the final victory position of each player will remain unchanged.

So in terms of this hypothetical Setllers game, my original question might be reworded:

  Have any games been submitted to publishers with noticeable problems that were subsequently fixed by the developer's addition of a new mechanic? (If so, what are they, and who are the publishers?!)

Edit 2: I believe the solution to lie in an alternative scoring mechanism that introduces hidden information and (more) variance/randomness. Rather than advancing a certain number on the VP track for completing certain tasks, basically players will take a tile corresponding to the task they completed. The tiles will have various VP's on them with a certain distribution (think Jaipur bonus tiles).

A simple example: Ticket to Ride. In TtR, you immediately score 15/10/7 etc. for claiming routes of length 6/5/4. If, instead of scoring this immediately, players took tiles from the 6/5/4 "stack" upon completion of corresponding routes, this would be like my game. The tiles for a "6" route would probably range from 14-17 VP each, "5"s would range from 9-11, etc.

The larger issue remains (for future games of mine and of others): how much should the designer do before submitting to a publisher?


texts: Which comes first: Illness in the Ranks or Cathars' Crusade?

texts: Suppose I have an Illness in the Ranks out and my opponent has a Cathars' Crusade out. If 1/1 creature token comes into play under the opponent's control, does the token die due to the effects of Illness or does it get the counter first before Illness's effect activates?


texts: Who gets the points when calling Muggins in a three-player Cribbage game?

texts:
If two players call "Muggins" at the same time (in a three-player Cribbage game), and both players call the correct number of points, which player is awarded the points?

I have looked at several sources but found nothing (ACC, Pagat.com, The House of Cards and more).

In the meantime, my friends and I have made a list of 3 possible solutions and we are "evaluating" them:

Both players are awarded the points;
Each player is awarded only half the points (rounding to the upper value);
The player to the left (from the underpegging player) is awarded the points.


texts: How to understand the given Preferans puzzle solution?

texts:
There is a Preferans problem:

South chose crosses as the trump.
How many tricks will get South?

Part of the solution the author of problem proposes and that I can't understand is:

   You can take 7 tricks.
 Usually the South want to put ace of diamonds on his first move. It is an error, if the East will answer with ace king, then just six tricks for South, no options, the game is simple. On move from the clubs marriage, answer with crosses or diamonds - no difference. After drawing these suits there is move with a spades left, that leads to desired 6 tricks for South.
 ( If you understand russian you can find solution here: http://review-pref.ru/literatura/54/150/ )

Please help me to understand this. What I see as best play for West-East are:

1. (S) Ad - (W) Kd - (E) 9d
2. (S) Qd - (W) 8d - (E) 10d
3. (S) 7d - (W) 9s - (E) Jd

The task for east here to avoid move in hearts in order to win queen of hearts. But east have only 2 cards to give up.

4. (E) 10c - (S) Qc - (W) 10s
5. (S) 7c - (W) Js - (E) Jc
6. (E) Qs - (S) 8c - (W) Ks
7. (S) 9c - (W) 7h - (E) Ac
And east have to give up hearts. That leads to only 3 tricks for them.


texts: Is there a traditional card game with similar rules to "Lost Cities"?

texts: It's often pointed out that the excellent Reiner Knizia card game, Lost Cities, could be played with a standard deck of cards if there were one extra suit.  Thinking about the simplicity and elegance of the rules made me wonder if there might exist a traditional card game with similar mechanics but just four suits/cities?  (I don't know many traditional card games, so I'm not even sure if there's a broad category that Lost Cities might fall into.)


texts: Odd Monopoly situation: rolling doubles to get out of jail is ALSO third double in a row!

texts:
I'm simulating Monopoly with a computer program and came across this situation:

Roll: 4 + 4 = 8 (first double)
Moved from "Tennessee Avenue" to "Atlantic Avenue".
Roll: 2 + 2 = 4 (second double)
Moved from "Atlantic Avenue" to "Go To Jail".
JAILED!
In jail!
Roll: 6 + 6 = 12 (third double)
FREED FROM JAIL!
3 DOUBLES!
JAILED!

3 doubles were indeed rolled in a row, so the poor fella was jailed once again. I'm assuming this is not how it should be though.... how should this work?


texts: What should you do if the surplus worker level limit is exceeded?

texts: What happens if, after exploring, you have to increase the surplus workers level beyond the board limit (level 26)? Should you increase the rebelion marker by the same amount that exceeded the surplus workers level? Make the exploration fail? Do nothing?


texts: Does Spark Double on Muldrotha allow for additional plays from the graveyard?

texts:
Muldrotha, the Gravetide is on the battlefield:

  During each of your turns, you may play up to one permanent card of each permanent type from your graveyard.

I play Spark Double:

  You may have Spark Double enter the battlefield as a copy of a creature or planeswalker you control, except it enters with an additional +1/+1 counter on it if it's a creature, it enters with an additional loyalty counter on it if it's a planeswalker, and it isn't legendary if that permanent is legendary.

Since I now have two creatures on the field that say I can play up to one permanent of any type from the graveyard, could I play up to two permanents of any type from my graveyard? Could I, for example, play two creatures instead of one during my turn? Or am I missing something?

The rulings only mention other effects that allow me to play additional permanents from the graveyard, but they don't address the same effect:

  4/27/2018. If multiple effects allow you to play a card from your graveyard, such as those of Gisa and Geralf and Karador, Ghost Chieftain, you must announce which permission you’re using as you begin to play the card.


texts: Can I have two planeswalkers with the same planeswalker type out on the field?

texts: Can I have two versions of Huatli out at the same time even though they are the same planeswalker, just with different names?


texts: Multiple players considered last on Charity board in Medieval Academy

texts: The rules state that when multiple players are at square 0, all of them are considered last on that track. But there's only one -10 Chivalry Points token for the Charity track. What happens if two players are considered last on this track?


texts: Is it legal to cast an enchantment on a token creature in MTG?


texts: Is this interaction of Grunn, the Lonely King, and Run Amok correctly examined

texts:
Active player controls Grunn, the Lonely King at x/x, and has Run Amok in hand. Assume that we've just entered the Combat Phase.All Players Pass.

Active Player declares Grunn attacking. Since Grunn is attacking alone, the last ability triggers.

The Active Player gets priority. Grunn's last ability is added to the Stack. In response, the active Player casts Run Amok, targeting Grunn.

Run Amok resolves, Grunn gains +3/+3 until end of turn: x+3 / X+3.

Grunn's last ability resolves: 2(x+3) / 2(x+3).

So, can I cast Run Amok before the last ability resolves?


texts: In Carcassonne Rivers, does the Abbey Tile stop a road?

texts: Is the mini city on the right a stopper to the road on the left? All the other mini cities have gravel/dirt in the center rather than a road that appears to run through this one.


texts: Are there vector graphics available of the mana symbols of magic?

texts: I'm looking for vector graphics of each of the mana symbols (normal, hybrid, phyrexian, 2-or-color). Where can I find them?


texts:
Niagara (sometimes called Iguazu) has one of the most entertaining boards I've ever encountered. It's a shame that sometimes a river piece gets stuck, or two consecutive river pieces move down the same side of the waterfall instead of alternating.

When the latter occurs, are we supposed to 'fix' it (e.g. pieces are supposed to alternate) or not (pieces go where they happen to go when you push)?

We always went with alternating pieces, but sometimes it can be difficult to establish which way the last piece went to determine the direction of the next one.


texts:
When I was learning to play Go, recording and reviewing my games helped me improve rapidly.  I'd like to do something similar for Settlers of Catan, but it's obviously much more difficult to record Settlers games.

  How do you / would you guys go about recording games (in enough detail to reproduce the entire game verbatim)?  Have any of you had success doing this in the past?


texts: How are cards awarded on defeating a player in risk?

texts:
I'm playing Risk, the Hasbro game on my iPad.

How are cards awarded once someone eliminates a single player? Sometimes it's 2, sometimes it's 4.


texts: Response to Selvala, Heart of the Wilds triggered ability

texts: Can you increase the power of a creature that entered the battlefield in response to the triggered ability of Selvala, Heart of the Wilds in order to draw the card? For example, suppose you have out Selvala and a 4/4, and you summon another 4/4 and cast Giant Growth in response to the trigger. Would that work and let you actually draw a card?


texts: I had two blank tiles at the beginning of the game. The other letters were not high scoring letters, but I was able to use all seven, for a total of 59 points. Would it be a better strategy to use the blank letters on two different turns, in order to maximize score?


texts: In Jenga, how do we define the "highest completed layer"?

texts:
The rules that come with my copy of Jenga state that on each turn, a player should "remove a block from anywhere below the highest completed layer."

I played Jenga for the first time in years yesterday and one of the players involved insisted on what sounded to me like an unusual interpretation of this rule. They asserted that blocks always had to be selected from a level that is lower than the top level of the original tower, not whatever the highest level is currently.

I'm curious if others interpret this rule in this way. To my reading, the "highest completed layer" is the highest layer that currently contains three blocks. It seems to me that if the rule were dependent on remembering the height of the original tower, there would be some easy way to remember where that was.


texts:
Can I use spells with dual mana symbols against Iona, Shield of Emeria?

For example, if my opponent names white, can I still cast Unmake?


texts: How could I prototype a board game with a variety of units using abstract icons?

texts:
I'm pretty fuzzy in terms of what board game I want to create, and I often find myself using normal dice for the units, which is often messy and confusing (were 1s or 2s archers? Whose mage was die 5?).

I saw some Story cubes having arrows and fireballs and skulls on them, so they could prove useful as multifunctional tokens for generating ideas and interactions.

Could you recommend me a particular set or an alternative to them?


texts:
If I've fallen behind in Alien Frontiers, how can I catch up?  If the leading player(s) have more ships and colonies on the board, they're going to pull ahead even faster, so that an early lead turns into further victory.

I've seen the lead player dragged down by someone else, but that doesn't help the hindmost player win - it just means that the second-place player wins.  What can the hindmost player do to catch up to the rest of the players?


texts: What are the most frequently used Dominion cards in winning decks?

texts: Which cards are most bought by players, and most often associated with winning decks?


texts: In rubber bridge, when should you "lead your partner's suit rather than your own?"

texts:
With equal vulnerability, opponents bid 1 club, 1 spade, 1NT, 3NT.

I'm sitting West, opening from: (s) xxx (h) J8732 (d) T9x (c) xx.

I don't fancy leading my ragged hearts suit with no side entry. So should I lead the other unbid suit, diamonds, and hope that partner has 4-5 of them, headed by enough honors so that my T9 sequence isn't wasted? The opponents probably have 26-27 HCPs between them; my one leaves 12-13 for partner.

Suppose my hand were upgraded to (s) xxx (h) J8732 (d) ATx (c) xx. Now I have 5 HC points, versus 8-9 for partner. Is this a better time to lead "fourth best" from my heart suit?


texts:
Many decks in competitive Magic have access to targeted discard spells, like Duress and Thoughtseize.

Against counterspells, you can rely on a variety of tricks like baiting counters, bottlenecking your opponent's mana, and good old-fashioned counter wars. Targeted discard cards allow your opponent to attack your hand on the very first turn of the game, and go right for your key cards — and it can often be backbreaking when your opponent takes away a crucial card like a combo piece or a sweeper.

What tricks and tactics can you employ, either during deck-building or in play, to play around an opponent's targeted discard?

(I know that one of the answers is going to be Force of Will. That's excellent, but please also include approaches that work in formats without free countermagic.)


texts: What is the maximum number of dice you can roll in Arkham Horror 2nd Edition?

texts: I have the complete set of Arkham Horror 2e, including all the expansions.  I'm now wanting to get some custom dice for AH, and I'd like to know what the max number of dice needed is to be able to make a single roll no matter the situation.  Does anybody have any ideas what this would be?  Someone mentioned a situation where a player would roll 13 dice, but it was an example, not a limit.  That's the highest I've seen so far though...


texts: Does a -1/-1 effect from a static ability cause a creature to die before it can do anything, upon entering the battlefield?

texts: My friend has played Engineered Plague, naming Elf. Is the Elvish Hexhunter of any use here? Imagine it has haste via Concordant Crossroads.


texts: How do Hexproof and Combat Damage interact?

texts:
Here's a quick question: suppose your opponent attacks with an 8/8 with Trample, and you block with a 5/5 with Defender, Indestructible, and Hexproof. You also have Hexproof.

Trample is an ability, and Hexproof won't allow you to be targeted by abilities or spells. How would one assign damage then?

Or is Hexproof just not important at all by this point?


texts:
I am designing a game in which players add tiles to the board (similar to Carcassone) in order to create sequences of symbols (which are on the tiles) - they are then used for playing cards.

This mechanism works nice, but the problem is, that the first few rounds - there are just not enough tiles (and symbols) on the board so players can only place a tile and pass the turn because they are unable to play any card.

Midgame is fine and at the end of every round, there are enough symbols on the board to play almost any card you have in your hand... which is not what I was hoping for when designing the game.

Do you have any idea for a mechanism, that would eliminate this "slow" start and too "easy" end of every round? I was thinking about dealing some tiles on the board in the beginning at random and limiting the total numbers of tiles avaliable, but I am not sure if this wouldnt spoil the game...

I havent found any boardgames which uses this exact kind of mechanism (paying for cards with sequences of placed tiles) so I am trying to come up with something that would balance the gameplay.

Thanks for any tips (I can provide some additional info if needed)!


texts: Does a Monster have to survive an attack to yield Tokyo?

texts:
King of Tokyo has one of the most poorly written rules.
The rules state:

If a Monster loses its last life({Heart}) it is out of the game.
If you are attacked while in Tokyo and you don't want to be there anymore [...] you can yield to the Monster that attacked (he has to take your place). You still take the damage, however.
If you are eliminated by an attack on Tokyo, the Monster who attacked you automatically takes control of Tokyo.
Yielding Tokyo / Flee: A Monster can leave Tokyo (yield his place) to the Monster who just attacked him. If a card allows a monster to leave tokyo with no damage from an attack, the attacker still occupies Tokyo.
Eliminated: When you have 0{Heart}.

Does a Monster need to survive an attack to yield Tokyo?
This is important for a card like:

(5) Burrowing: Keep; Deal 1 extra damage on Tokyo.
Deal 1 damage when yielding Tokyo to the monster taking it.

Does a Monster eliminated by an attack deal 1 damage to the Monster that attacked them?


texts: Identify board game with a castle divider, air plungers, soldier-shaped plugs?

texts:
I remember a game my grandparents had, but I have never found it searching on the web.

This game was likely made in the 1970s, it was 2-player.

It had a green board that was injection molded plastic, it had a set of plastic castle towers and a cardboard castle wall as a divider. The top of the main board was a grid of holes, underneath the holes were interconnected by a network ducts.

The pieces were little soldier-shaped plugs that fit in the holes. It also had two colored air plungers.

The game mechanic was a bit of a cross between checkers and Battleship. You moved a piece and were allowed to plunge a hole as turn elements. If you plunged a hole on your side and the adjoined hole on the opponents' side had a piece in it, it would fly out and be removed from play.

Has anyone heard of or played this game?


texts: What is the post 2008 monopoly currency symbol called (M with two lines through it) and is there an alt-code for it? Below is an example of it from Monopoly Deal but it is also used in the regular monopoly game post-2008.


texts: Is Leyline of Combustion triggered by attacks?

texts: If my opponent attacks me, does that trigger Leyline of Combustion to do damage to them? I'm new and need help with this rule. Thanks


texts: What are the Pros and Cons of using cards from multiple different sets when drafting?

texts:
My friends and I have never drafted before and are planning to try it in the next few weeks. However, one thing we're not sure of is whether its better to mix cards from different sets or just have them all from one set (We're actually just using random cards selected from my copies of the sets and not boosters, but I don't think that will make a difference for this question). Currently I'm planning on having the first 2 rounds be all M11 and M12 mixed together and the last round be Innistrad, but I don't have any reasoning for doing it that way and am curious what others think.

Are drafts normally done with boosters only from one set, or from different sets? Why are they done this way? If multiple different sets are used, should the packs from that each set be all used in one round or used one in each round (1 round of all Innistrad packs vs. at least 1 pack of Innistrad mixed in each round with whatever the other packs are)?


texts:
What happens if a player doesn't discard the extra cards (more than 7) at the end of his/her turn and non of the other players catches that player?
But they do later...
1. When others have started their turn?
2. When it's the player's turn again who didn't discard, but the other player catches the extra cards then?


texts: Are players required to make conquests on their turn?

texts: I did not find it clear in the rules if a player is required to make conquests on his/her turn.  Is it legal to turtle on your turn by not making any actions, redeploying troops and then scoring?


texts: Does the Crokinole playing surface material really affect the gameplay?

texts:
My father in law is saying that his oncle's old solid wood Crokinole board outmatch the cheap cardboard game he actually got.

I never played on this solid wood board and before upgrading to a better board, I'm wondering if anyone who tested many different board types could detail how the playing surface (cardboard vs lacquered vs solid wood) affect the game.


texts: How are skill check modifiers prioritized and ordered in Arkham Horror?

texts:
Time and time again, skill checks in Arkham Horror have been made without remembering to include certain factors, such as environments and the presence of stat-modifying items.  For organizational purposes, is there a flowchart by which all the skill check modifiers can be ordered and accounted for so that none may be missed?

For example, Combat Checks can be processed in the following order:

If the monster is Dark Pharoah then the base stat is Lore

Take the base stat of Fight if not set already

Look for skills that affect base stat of Fight

Look for allies that affect base stat of Fight

Look for Mythos environments that affect base stat of Fight (e.g. Heat Wave)

Look for skills that negate Physical, Magical, or Weapon Immunity

Look for allies that negate Physical, Magical, or Weapon Immunity

Look for tradeable items that negate Physical, Magical, or Weapon Immunity

Check if the monster has Physical, Magical, or Weapon Immunity

Look for skills that negate Physical, Magical, or Weapon Resistance

Look for allies that negate Physical, Magical, or Weapon Resistance

Check if the monster has Physical, Magical, or Weapon Resistance

Look for items that passively affect combat without being equipped (e.g. Cross against Undead)

Ask the player for non-combat spells that affect stats (e.g. Voice of Ra)

Ask the player for equipped common items, unique items, or spells

For each equipped investigator card, apply relevant immunity unless negated

For each equipped investigator card, apply relevant resistance unless negated

Subtract monster's combat rating

Subtract bonus combat rating from Ancient One

Roll the skill check value

If Mandy is an investigator and her ability hasn't been exhaused then ask whether the player would like to invoke "the Mandy ability"

Check the number of successes via state of Blessedness/Cursedness

Double successes scored with 6 in case Shotgun was used

If there are no successes:

Look for skills that allow re-rolls (e.g. Marksman)

Look for allies that allow re-rolls

Look for items that allow re-rolls (e.g. Bullwhip)

If Mandy is an investigator and her ability hasn't been exhaused then ask whether the player would like to invoke "the Mandy ability"

Check the number of successes via state of Blessedness/Cursedness

Double successes scored with 6 in case Shotgun was used

Ask for clue tokens if the player wants additional dice

Add an extra die for every Fight skill

Add an extra die for every clue token if Joe is the investigator

If there are no successes:

Look for skills that allow re-rolls (e.g. if the original value was 7, and 3 clue tokens were spent, Marksman would roll 10 instead)

Look for allies that allow re-rolls

Look for items that allow re-rolls (e.g. Bullwhip)

Roll the skill check value

If Mandy is an investigator and her ability hasn't been exhaused then ask whether the player would like to invoke "the Mandy ability"

Check the number of successes via state of Blessedness/Cursedness

Double successes scored with 6 in case Shotgun was used

I don't even know whether the above flowchart covers all the cases.  And this is only for the Combat Skill Check alone.  In the Arkham Horror Wiki (http://www.arkhamhorrorwiki.com/Skill_check), Step number one for making a Skill Check involves getting the value of a skill check involving all relevant factors, but there's no mention of the order by which these relevant factors should be processed.

Are there flowcharts for other kinds of Skill Checks besides Combat (i.e. Speed, Sneak, Fight, Will, Lore, Luck, Evade, Horror, Spell)?


texts: In Carcassonne, what is the point of a Bridge in the expansion set?

texts: I understand how to use the Bridges (sort of), but I don't understand the strategy/purpose. In almost every expansion set the special rules or powers of the pieces makes sense to me but why would I play a bridge piece? If you are playing with the King set I understand there is a bonus for the longest road but other than that, what is the point of a bridge?


texts: How do Yarok, the Desecrated and Doubling Season interact?

texts: If you control Doubling Season and Yarok, the Desecrated, how do the triggers work for +1/+1 counters from ETB effects and loyalty counters from planeswalkers? Counters in general?


texts: How important is it to always buy the most expensive thing that you can with your first buys in Dominion? I appreciate that in the later stages of the game you often have more money than you can profitably spend, especially since the more expensive cards are often very situational. However, in the first three turns or so, how important is it to always buy the most expensive cards that I can afford with my copper?


texts:
Forthcoming Nessian Demolok has the following abilities.

  Tribute 3 (As this creature enters the battlefield, an opponent of your choice may place three +1/+1 counters on it.)

  When Nessian Demolock enters the battlefield, if tribute wasn't paid, destroy target noncreature permanent.

Assuming the reminder text is complete and accurate, what happens if you cast Clone choosing a Nessian Demolok? Specifically, does your opponent get a chance to pay tribute?

By the letter of the rules, choices for "As this permanent enters the battlefield" occur before the permanent the battlefield[CR 614.12a], but doesn't Clone's replacement effect happens at the point it enters the battlefield?


texts: Eldritch Horror test resolutions in other board games

texts:
I'm new at modern board-games, basically, and I got Eldritch Horror as a present.

I love the test resolution system where you through n number of dice and the number of 5 or 6 determines if a test is passed or failed.

Is their any other board game that use exactly this system (by exactly, I mean throughing n dice, then counting the number of 5 or 6)? Does Arkham horror use the same system for instance?

Thanks!


texts:
What are all the promo cards available for Dominion? I found Black Market, Envoy, Walled Village, Governor, and Stash on the Board Game Geek Store.  Are there more?

Some of the promo cards are out of stock. Are they limited edition cards?  Or do they come in and out of stock periodically?  Are they available anywhere else?


texts: Do areas with depleted resources count for Jim Raynor's victory condition?

texts:
I was playing Star Craft: The Board Game recently as Jim Raynor, and a question arose:

Do planet areas with (fully) depleted resources count for Raynor's special victory objective? We ruled it as "no" on the spot, but later I couldn't find anything related in the rules.


texts: What is the highest possible power of a creature, assuming a deck of 60 cards and infinite time?


texts: How can a Morph ability counter split second spells?

texts:
Voidmage Apprentice is a creature with Morph that counters target spell when it is turned face up.

I've read that it can counter spells with split second.  How does it do this?  Is it that the ability is an added effect of the morph action and does not use the stack?  Or is it a triggered ability that split second cannot prevent from being placed on the stack?


texts: Do other players replenish their traded cards after a trading phase in Bohnanza?

texts:
In Bohnanza say I have 5 cards during a round.
Another player is in his trading phase and I trade a card with him, I put the traded card on my trading area and then plant it on my field.
I'm now down to 4 cards so, do I have to take a card from the pile for the one I traded?


texts: How does Unstable set's "The Grand Calcutron" work with cards that interact with a player's hand?

texts:
The upcoming Unstable set features a card called The Grand Calcutron:

A particular part of the card seems to make it so that players no longer have hands, along with changing how draws work.

When The Grand Calcutron enters the battlefield, each player's hand becomes a program (an ordered row of revealed cards).
Players can only play the first card of their program.
If a card would be put into a player's hand from anywhere, that player reveals it and places it anywhere within his or her program instead.
At the beginning of each player's end step, if that player's program has fewer then five cards, he or she draws cards equal to the difference.

The way that it is written it seems like players will no longer have a "hand". I am wondering how this card will change interactions with other cards that look at, or modify, player's hands in some way.
Specifically I am wondering about:

Discard effects, (eg: Duress, or Thoughtseize)
Effects that modify a player's handsize (eg. Locust Miser)
Effects that ask you to make selections from someones hand (eg. Agonizing Memories)
Effects that try to count how many cards a player has in their hand (eg. Adamaro, First to Desire)

Note: As this is a card from an Unset, Official Rulings from Mark Rosewater would be word of God, failing that well reasoned answers that draw on existing card rulings or game rules are perfectly acceptable.


texts:
I've been trying to find the name of an old and simple board game but I can't seem to be able to. The rules were something in these lines:

2 players

The board has around 10 board squares or holes set in a row

Each player has 4 pieces (I think) that are located in opposite sides of the board.

The initial set up is like this ('1' means player's 1 pieces, '2' player's 2 and _ empty square)

1 1 1 1 _ _ 2 2 2 2

The goal of the game is to move all your pieces to the other side with rules:

You can only move one piece and one square at a time
2 pieces can't be in the same square
If you want to move a piece to a square occupied by another piece you jump over any piece and go to the next empty square

So the game could go like this (Sorry I noticed that I started with player 2 when I was halfway through but shouldn't change anything):

1 1 1 1 _ _ 2 2 2 2

1 1 1 1 _ 2 _ 2 2 2

_ 1 1 1 1 2 _ 2 2 2

2 1 1 1 1 _ _ 2 2 2

2 _ 1 1 1 1 _ 2 2 2

...

Anybody knows what is the name of this game?

Thank you!

Edit This is more or less how a few rounds of the game look like. Each rectangle is one turn. Blue is moving from right to left and red from left to right. Also the game ends when a player gets all the pieces on the other side


texts: Does Monopoly Follow Standard Auction Procedures?

texts:
I am playing a game of Monopoly. One player lands on a property, but chooses not to buy it. I bid first. Another player bids for a higher amount. The rules state that the banker immediately gives the property to the highest bidder. Can I say a higher bid right now even though I've already bidded?
 There was nothing in the rulebook about it. Thanks!


texts: If I extend a word, do I get points for all the words, or just the straight line word?

texts:
I'm having an argument that will determine the winner

Board looks like this:

S
AB
DE
 N
 D

If you add E to get:

S
AB
DE
EN
 D

Do you get points for just SADE and EN, or do you get AB and DE as well?
I think you only get points for the straight line word you extend, but I can't find a rule that says so.


texts: How many lands do I need for a Commander deck?

texts: A Commander deck consists of 100 unique cards, of which one is designated as the Commander and must be either a Legendary Creature or an allowed Planeswalker.  I'm still very unfamiliar with this format.  How would you go about figuring out the number of lands to put into your commander deck?


texts: Can one be compelled to use his king when there are alternative moves? Especially if that move will end up having the king killed. My opponent saud I was obligated to use the king.


texts: Do I have to warn my opponent about abilities in Necromunda?

texts:
We are going to start a Necromunda (1st ed) campaign and I have chosen spyrers.

Spyrers are a quality-over-quantity gang and they have a lot of nasty abilities. For example, the Jakara has a mirror shield that can bounce back laser, plasma and melta attacks.

My question is, do I have to warn my opponent of my gang's abilities?

In the mirror shield example, I could either:

Not tell my opponent and bounce attacks back
Warn them before they shoot
Warn them before the game

N.B. I am not advocating hiding anything. My opponent will always have access to the rulebook and my roster.


texts: Do I get more cards if my hand is empty at the end of my turn?

texts: What do I do if I have zero cards left in my hand at the end of my turn?  Do I wait until the end of my turn then draw the usual one card at the beginning of my next turn or do I draw a new seven card hand?


texts: Does Nightpack Ambusher's second ability trigger if I cast spells during the end step?

texts:
Nightpack Ambusher has this second ability:

  At the beginning of your end step, if you didn't cast a spell this turn, create a 2/2 green Wolf creature token.

Let's say it's now the end step. Nightpack Ambusher triggers. If I cast an instant now, will the ability fizzle? Do I have to wait until the trigger resolves to cast any instants to get the 2/2 token? Or will casting any instants cause the ability to fizzle anyway (because my end step is still part of my turn)?


texts: Is it common in Munchkin to allow characters to reach higher than level 9

texts:
I only recently learned that you're not allowed to go above level 9, unless it's from combat (or some special cards).

I had played for years allowing higher levels, except you didn't win until you killed a monster.

Is this a common house rule? Or something similar?


texts: I understand I need to pick up a Mythos card during the Keeper's turn, but when do I pick up and use Trauma cards?


texts: For a given development strategy, how do you ensure enough secondary resources?

texts:
This question could be asked for just about any strategy, but to make it "not broad," I'll specify my strategy.

Suppose I was planning to follow a development strategy. After placing my initial two settlements, I'll establish two more, and upgrade all four to cities, bringing me up to eight VPs. After that, I'll buy development cards and hope to get two more VPs directly, or possibly through the largest army. I've picked this strategy because it minimizes my need for brick and wood. With two new settlements, two new roads, and four upgrades to cities, my initial resource requirements look something like this:

4 wood, 4 brick, 2 wool, 10 grain, 12 ore.

If I concentrate on sites that will get grain and ore what is a good way of making sure I obtain "enough" of the others?

If I go for hexes that will get grain and ore with good numbers on the die such as six and eight, or at least five and nine, can I afford hexes where I get the others with fours and tens, or even threes and elevens, since I need proportionately less of them?
If I have one settlement/city at a harbor, am I likely to generate enough of my "good" resources so I will be able to trade for the ones I need?
Some development cards will give me two free roads. How helpful are these likely to be?
I'm assuming that if I take an early lead, others will be unwilling to trade with me. Am I being too pessimistic?


texts: Interpretation of "If x R.R.'s are owned"

texts:
The railroad cards in my Monopoly set state different rent amounts "if x R.R.'s (sic) are owned". The obvious interpretation is that the player collecting rent has to own multiple railroads for this to apply. However, in a recent game one of my players suggested that since the cards don't specify who owns the railroad, the rent increase should take into account the total number of railroads owned by any player.

I couldn't find anything clarifying this in the rules that came with my set. I'm guessing tournament play would use the common-sense interpretation of only the rent-collecting player's ownership counting, but is there anything in official rules (or possibly a newer version of the card) that clarifies this further?


texts:
I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this kind of question but here it is.

I'm making a board game where there is a deck of monster cards and I'm interested - is there some tool/script that allows to make images for cards from some text file that contains all the needed information (.txt, .xml or something else)?
What i would like is something like:

1) make a .psd with labels for name and defense values (also background and other images that can be anything)

2) have some file that lists all the monsters names and defense values (where i can quicly change them and regenerate images from that)

Also you can add somehing new later both in psd and this file (like I/II/III for monster difficulty). Optionally - not just change text, but also images (that would allow to change icons from the file, ect.) #dreams

Is there some tool that allows for this kind of fast iteration?


texts: Can I sacrifice a creature that is only temporarily under my control?

texts:
A creature is placed "under my control until the end of turn" through a sorcery spell.

Do I have the option of sacrificing said creature if I cast a "sacrifice a creature" instant, or have a creature or enchantment that has a sacrifice ability?


texts: Short question about devotion. If my devotion to red is less than five, and I play Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded, does it enter the battlefield as a creature and stops being it immediately or enters the battlefield as an enchantment? And does this ability work in a greveyard?


texts:
Why would anyone exert Trueheart Twins? It doesn't have an exert perk.

You may exert Trueheart Twins as it attacks. (It won't untap during
your next untap step.)
Whenever you exert a creature, creatures you control get +1/+0 until
end of turn.

To contrast it, here's Nef-Crop Entangler. Notice how this card says "when you do [exert], it gets..."

Trample
You may exert Nef-Crop Entangler as it attacks. When you do,
it gets +1/+2 until end of turn. (An exerted creature won't untap
during your next untap step.)

Here's a list of creatures with exert. Nearly all of them follow the latter format. (There are a couple, but not very many, that seem to have no exert perk)


texts: If I have no creatures in the graveyard, do I nevertheless have one Type of creature?

texts:
I have a card called Solidarity, reading:

  If you have only 1 original Type of monster in your Graveyard, face-up monsters you control with the same Type gain 800 ATK.

In the case where the graveyard has two or more creatures of the same type then it's obvious we can use the effect; similarly, if the graveyard has precisely one creature in it, then it has exactly one type of creature in it (and so the effect may be applied).

But if the graveyard has no creatures in it, I would argue that there is exactly one type of creature in it (this is a vacuous truth). I wanted to use the card in this situation but my opponent absolutely refused it.

To me this truth is as valid as saying the Empty Set is Hausdorff.  I'm hoping there are mathematicians out there that also play Yugioh and are qualified to answer this; alternatively, I am hoping there is an official answer to this, not just some opinions.


texts: Why does the Humility/Opalescence interaction work?

texts:
There's a ruling on Opalescence that explains the interaction with Humility (as mentioned in this question).

However, I'd like an explanation of why this is the case. I get that, due to the layers, the type-setting applies first.

However, ability-adding/removing applies before power/toughness. Why do Humility and Opalescence both set power and toughness after Humility has removed the abilities from both cards?

Is it that, once you start applying some of a single ability, you apply the entire ability, even if that application happens across multiple layers? If this were so, the interaction only occurs because Opalescence "gets in early" by setting type, which means that it will still finish being applied after Humility removes its ability?


texts: What happens when I Radiate a Time Stretch with Timesifter in play?

texts:
The question is based on the following situation:

In a five person game, there has a been a Timesifter in play and the turn order has already been varied for a few turns. A player plays a Time Stretch and I target the card with a Radiate. What happens next, and subsequently, what happens when the person with Timesifter is eliminated from the game?

As an immediate result, I assume that the person who was targeted with the original Time Stretch takes the next turn, which results in a trigger of the Timesifter, sending us back into a whirlwind of turn order that is dictated by the artifact. I'm relatively certain this is correct, although an affirmation would be nice. But, when the person with the Timesifter dies, where does the turn order go? Are the extra turns from Time Stretch still stacked? Does the original target of the spell take their second turn, followed by everyone else taking two extra turns in normal turn order?


texts: How to score 4 of a kind in cribbage after a go

texts: In Cribbage, we had a go after 3 Aces were played, but then the 4th Ace was played. Does the player receive 12 points for the 4 of a kind or do they receive 6 points for the 3 of a kind before the go and then another 12 for playing the 4th Ace after the go? In other words, how does the go figure in the total count?


texts: Where can I find the rules for 7 Wonders and its expansions?

texts: Are the rules for 7 Wonders and the expansions available online?


texts: When is the last time tribal decks were competitive?

texts:
More or less what it says on the tin. I see a lot of meta decks that revolve more on a (thematically) random group of cards that only share a strategy.

When is the last time a tribal deck was competitively viable in Standard? (Let's say, the last time a tribal deck made it into the top 4 at a major M:TG tournament.) What tribe was it?

Was there ever a time when tribal decks dominated the Standard meta?


texts: Would multiple Trepanation Blades Stack?

texts: I have a couple of Trepanation Blades, and I was wondering if the effect would stack if I have multiple equipped to one creature.


texts: If you give Ochran Assassin trample, does it destroy all creatures my opponent controls?

texts: If I give an Ochran Assassin trample and attack with it, does it destroy all of the opposing creatures, which are forced to block it?


texts: Is Root really asymmetrical and balanced?

texts:
As in the title, I wonder if the game really has different win conditions and gameplay between factions, I wasn't able to grasp it  in reviews.

Also are every factions equally inclined to win or are some of them stronger? (Difficulty not included, if it requires to be really good to play well with faction A and faction B is really easy to play but both of them win as often, it's balanced in my eyes)


texts: Does killing a face-down morph trigger the death triggers printed on the card?

texts:
Consider a card like Ashcloud Phoenix (or, for that matter, any card with a death triggers that's turned face down by an Ixidron).

  When Ashcloud Phoenix dies, return it to the battlefield face down.

If I play my Phoenix face down as a morph creature, and it gets killed (say, by a Lightning Bolt), what happens next? Do I get to return it to the battlefield face down, or will it just stay dead in my graveyard?

On the one hand, it was face down when it left the battlefield, and thus had no abilities.
On the other hand, it enters my graveyard "face up."

So, does its graveyard trigger apply?


texts:
I am wondering on what modifications could we make to Munchkin for a better overall gameplay when adapting it to be played with 7-12 players.

I am currently worried with the following issues:

Number of cards (the quantity of cards available is limited, and more players means more consumption)
Cards turnover (it will probably result in a more frequent used cards pile recycling, leveraging repeated cards usage)
Time (it will last more to finish a full round, and consequently a full game)
Balancing interferences (when it's in my turn it might have from 6 up to 11 allies or enemies, very likely to leverage the number of interferences, which could lead to be almost impossible to win a game - almost always there will be someone that can disturb you from winning, turning it into an endless game)

But feel free to also address any additional aspect I haven't covered.


texts: What happens if a location is overrun. Can you go back to the location or is it closed forever since it is filled with zombies?


texts: Is it possible to wait for some cards to leave the stack to use them for delve?

texts:
Imagine the situation:

I am at 2 life;
I have five Forests untapped in the battlefield;
I have 4 Giant Growth and 1 Become Immense in my hand;
I have a Brainstorm in my graveyard;
I have a 1/1 creature with no abilities

My opponent has 19 life;
My opponent has a 2/2 creature with no abilities.

I attack with my creature without casting any cards.
My opponent doesn't block.
Can I cast the 4 Giant Growths (+12/+12) using four of my five Forests and then cast the Become Immense (giving me a total of +18/+18) delving the four Giant Growth and the Brainstorm using the last Forest?


texts: Can the Dispatcher spend actions to allow others to knowledge transfer?

texts:
I saw the following question: exchanging cards in pandemic

And now I am wondering if the following (specifically step 3) is a legal move in pandemic?
1. Play the dispatcher (can spend actions to move other pawns).
2. Use a couple of my actions to move other player's pawns into the same city.
3. Spend an action to allow them to exchange cards.

The linked question has this excerpt from the rules:

  Transfer a card from one player to another. Every card transferred
  costs 1 action. Both your pawn and your fellow player’s pawn must be
  in the same city, and you may only transfer the card of the city that
  you are in together.

The first sentence says that any players can be involved in the transfer, but the second makes it sound like the active player needs to be involved.


texts: "At the beginning of the end step" meaning and comparison to "your end step" and "each end step"

texts:
So, the difference between "At the beginning of your end step" and "At the beginning of each end step" is pretty obvious, but what is the meaning of "At the beginning of the end step" and how does it compare to other two?

All three wordings are present on cards and seem to be used on new cards, here are examples from recent standard sets:

Thassa, Deep-Dwelling: "At the beginning of your end step"

Underworld Breach: "At the beginning of the end step"

Resplendent Angel: "At the beginning of each end step"


texts: If a creature enters as a copy, does it have summoning sickness?

texts:
If I play the Phantasmal Image as a copy of any other creature (that has no summoning sickness), will it have the summoning sickness or not?

Phantasmal Image

  You may have Phantasmal Image enter the battlefield as a copy of any creature on the battlefield, except it's an Illusion in addition to its other types and it gains "When this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice it."

I know that copies does not copy the "summoning sickness" status, but what if it enters the battlefield and is not being copies inside it?


texts: "Sacrifice a Creature" cost on as an ability: is there a limitation to how many times you can use it each turn?

texts: Say I have a zombie knight on the field, as well as a Carrion Feeder(sacrifice a creature: put a +1/+1 counter on Carrion Feeder), Haakon, Stromgald Scourge (as long as Haakon in in play, you may play knight cards from the graveyard), and Rooftop Storm(zombie creatures cost 0 to cast). If I use Carrion Feeder's sacrifice ability to sacrifice the zombie knight, can I simply cast that zombie knight from the graveyard and continue to sacrifice an cast infinitely, or can you only use the sacrifice ability once per turn?


texts: Looking for full spoilers for the Shadowrun CCG

texts:
I'm looking for full-text (or even better, image) spoilers for the old Shadowrun collectible card game (interchangeably known as Shadowrun TCG or CCG).  Basically, I'm looking for a list of all the cards, plus their rules in one convenient package.

There used to be a Geocities site that had them, but the site is long gone now, so I wondered if anyone knows of another site that might have them.  I've done a fair amount of searching, and nothing has come up yet, for what it's worth.


texts: What happens when an Undying creature goes to the graveyard from the deck or hand?

texts:
What happens when you discard a creature(with Undying) from your hand to the graveyard? Does it go to the Battlefield (without summoning sickness)?

And what happens if I use Mulch and put all Undying creatures in the graveyard? The same?


texts: Does Deathtouch apply to damage dealt via Fall of the Hammer?

texts:
Does Deathtouch (from my creature) apply if Fall of the Hammer is used on an enemy creature?

The rules say about deathtouch:

  The rule that causes creatures dealt damage by a source with deathtouch to be destroyed applies to any damage, not just combat damage.


texts: What Dominion cards have artwork featuring different versions of the same object?

texts:
In the Dark Ages expansion of Dominion there are several cards that feature artwork with run-down versions of the artwork on previously released cards. Examples are "Pillage" - featuring "Village," "Ruined Library" - featuring "Library", and "Ruined Village" - featuring the promo card, "Walled Village."

What other cards in the Dominion world feature artwork with various versions of the same object?


texts:
This is a good question asked as example on Area51.

I remember when I was a kid I hated to lose, and worse; I would try to cheat to win. I don't remember when or how this attitude changed but I started to hate players who tried to cheat or make the game too serious and don't accept losing.

In my personal opinion, accepting a loss after doing your best has a significant role in every person's life. What are some good games or techniques for helping kids learn to "lose gracefully"?


texts: Are there similar games to "Love Letter"?

texts:
We have a group of 5 or so people that enjoy playing Love Letter to fill in a few spare moments at work over lunch or at the end of the day. The key elements are the game is interesting, fast paced, simple rules and not very long to play a round or four.

I'm wondering is there are any similar games out there? Perhaps with a sci-fi theme?


texts: What happens if you move into a point of interest not on your turn?

texts:
We encountered a story page where the story moves the stuffies when specific things happen. Doing so moved a stuffy whose turn it wasn't into a point of interest (POI).

Is there a specific rule to what happens that I am not reading? I did not see anything specific about this online.

We guessed it would be:

The POI activates for the stuffy whose turn it was
The POI activates for the stuffy who was on it
Nothing happens, but on the stuffy who was on it next turn (if still on it) it would activate (after white and black dice were assigned)
Nothing happens at all.

Option 2 seemed weird since a lot of the "event" stuff that happens require dice and out of turn stuffy would only possibly have a reserved die or conditional die.

Tried to keep this spoiler free but can add the scenario or more detail if needed.  It would also be nice to know if this happened for other general events (lost, vendors, objective tokens) if the ruling was the same.


texts: How would a "blocking" strategy play differently in Ticket to Ride than other strategies?

texts:
Most of what I've read about Ticket to Ride focuses on "constructive" strategies of getting long destination routes and building them out for their large bonuses, including the longest route bonus. This allows one or more players to get over 200 points, but presumes a minimum of "blocking" from one player to another.

On the other hand, if players are inclined to block each other, then long destination routes might be a liability (because they can't be completed, and earn a negative bonus). In such a game, it seems like the trick is to take the two shortest destinations, build them "fast," and then spend the rest of the game blocking other people's routes. In such a game, scores might be closer to 100 than 200.

If only one player is playing "blocking," this strategy might not work, but it seems that if four or five (out of five) are playing this way, the game would play very differently than as discussed in the first paragraph. Just how would it play differently? Have I gotten at least some of the changes right in the previous paragraph>


texts: If unit A attacks unit B (which was attacking unit C) does the attack on B by A stop the attack on C by B?

texts:
Let's say an English fleet has orders to attack Denmark from Skagarac, with plenty of support to take it. However, a Russian fleet attacks the English fleet from the Baltic Sea, with plenty of support to take Skagarac.

Would the Russian fleet's attack take priority, preventing the English fleet from taking Denmark? Or would both moves be successful, putting Denmark in English control and Skagarac in Russian control?


texts: Do free buildings give accumulated victory points?

texts: Some quests (like Lure Artisans of Mirabar), and maybe some intrigue cards, allow you to place a building from Builder's Hall into play at no cost. Does the player also score the accumulated victory points (gems)?


texts:
About twenty years ago I saw this game board. It was huge, the size of a table. Made of wood. And on it was an 18-hole golf course, complete with pegs and barriers for hazards.

You played with coins (or at least, when I saw it people were using coins). Using your thumb, you'd slide a quarter or penny or nickel, whatever you had presumably, and you'd bounce it off the sides of the board and the barriers and pegs, hoping to get it in the next hole. Each hole was an indented circle drilled out of the wood and was numbered.

Players took turns, and could hit each others coins out of the way.

I've been looking to find it again for ages without any luck. As big as it was, it was probably expensive and produced in a limited quantity. I've search the net for penny golf, quarter golf, coin golf, for years with no luck. Now that I see a board/card game section of stackexchange, I though I'd give it another shot.

Anyone heard of this?

Thanks!


texts: Does the MtG lore have an official explanation for banned cards?

texts:
(Specifically, those other than: ante cards, un-cards, Shahrazad.)

I remember reading someone speculating that knowledge of how to cast them was mostly lost, with those who still know generally unwilling to teach others. What's the in-universe story behind banned cards, if there is one?


texts: What is the best way to print cards for my game?

texts:
I want to print cards for my game, without using a commercially-available site.  Basically, I'm looking for materials I could find in a store.

How do I make these cards in a work- and price-efficient way, making sure that they look nice afterward?

The cards should be able to be shuffled, much like poker cards.

I am building a Print and Play game, but so far I am not satisfied with the cards I was able to make. I tried printing them on thin paper and mounting on poker cards, and printing them on thicker paper. However both of these methods make the cards pretty much unfit for shuffling, since the paper goes off while shuffling. I saw that the game "Twilight Imperium" printed their cards on thin plastic. Is it possible to buy something like that and print directly onto the material?

tl;dr:
Mounting paper-printed cards on playing cards does not work.
Are there any good material out there that you can print on directly?


texts: How have coop board games prevented a player(s) from taking over decision making

texts:
A 'problem' with some coop board games is that it's easy for a dominant person or people to take over all decision making in the game.

I personally see this happen in Pandemic all the time, even though it tacitly tries to prevent this.

I can only think of three techniques.

Hidden information.
Each player has information only they can see, so all players can be involved as information sources.

Pandemic.

As a side note, as far as I have seen this is not very effective, it's usually very easy to get all the 'pertininent' information quickly and move onto decision making

Timed turns
The players have a limited amount of time to make their decisions, and there are more decisions to make than one person can make, or more information to analyse than one person can consume.

XCOM - The Board Game
Space Alert

Distrust
Players cannot trust the information other players give, so they must make their own choices.

Shadows over Camelot
The Resistance

This type predominantly uses a traitor or potential traitor to cause the distrust. Perhaps there are other games that use a different mechanic such as forcing players to lie about certain things etc?


texts:
There are 10 two color combinations for land in magic. Black-white, black-blue, black-green, etc. For any one color, 4 of those 10 will contain that color. I.e. four of these two color combinations contain black. That's almost half.

My question, then, is why not run a rainbow (5 color) deck with twenty dual color lands, two from each color permutation? I assume for the sake of simplicity a 20 land 40 non-land split but the principal is the same.

One of the arguments against rainbow decks is that you can easily find yourself in a position where you don't have the land you need. But in this construction, 40 percent of lands will give you any single color, which seems pretty good to me. Am I missing something?


texts: Does Master of the Wild Hunt deal damage multiple times?

texts:
The text on the Master of the Wild Hunt card:

  At the beginning of your upkeep, put a 2/2 green Wolf creature token onto the battlefield.

  Tap: Tap all untapped Wolf creatures you control. Each Wolf tapped this way deals damage equal to its power to target creature. That creature deals damage equal to its power divided as its controller chooses among any number of those Wolves.

The text states that each wolf deals damage.  This implies that there are multiple damage sources.  Can all of this damage be prevented at once, or need it be prevented from each source individually?

For example, look at Unbreathing Horde:

  Unbreathing Horde enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each other Zombie you control and each Zombie card in your graveyard.

  If Unbreathing Horde would be dealt damage, prevent that damage and remove a +1/+1 counter from it.

If multiple wolves deal damage to Unbreathing Horde simultaneously per Master of the Wild Hunt's activated ability, does it remove one +1/+1 counter per wolf, or just one +1/+1 counter?


texts: What is the converted mana cost of land cards?

texts:
What is the converted mana cost (CMC) of land cards? Is it zero?

For example, if I have lands in the graveyard, would Sun Titan be able to bring them to the battlefield?


texts: How to define "to the best of your ability"?

texts:
The rules of Harbour state that when you move to a card you must carry out its action to the best of your ability. This raised some questions in our group during a recent game.

Take for example the card where you:

Exchange N of one good for N of another good, and
Buy a building.

In the situation where you have no goods, you can do neither. That makes sense.

In the situation where you have enough goods to fulfill enough orders to afford at least one building on the board, you must do both. That, too, makes sense.

The situation that's tricky to us is where I have some goods, but not enough to fulfill enough orders to afford any of the buildings.

Does the player moving to that card:

Do nothing?
Exchange N of one good for N of another good only?
Exchange N of one good for N of another good and fulfill as many orders as they can, even though they will lose their money since they can't afford any of the houses?

Which of these is considered "to the best of their ability"?


texts: Can you play a spell on your opponent's turn?

texts: In Adventure Time's Card Wars game (the physical card game, not the computer game), can I play a 0 action spell on my opponent's turn?


texts: Are these the right search terms, to find all cards that have their costs reduced by Embalming Tools?

texts:
I'm using Embalmer's Tools, and want to find all (monoblue) cards that have their cost reduced by it.
I have this search term (fo:/{[cwubrg1-9]}.*: .*(this|~) .* from your graveyard/ or fo:/{[cwubrg1-9]}.*(this|~).* from your graveyard:/) and id:u and t:creature, which brings back 17 cards currently.
Is this a complete search term?


texts: Does a person playing an illegal Draw 4 in Uno still get to pick the color?

texts: If you play an illegal Draw 4, then are challenged and fail, do you still get to pick the color? I know the player who got caught playing the illegal card has to Draw 4 cards, but it's unclear if whether or not they still get to pick the color.


texts:
I played Monopoly, and I passed Go, and landed on the Community Chest 2 spaces after the Go space. I picked up the "Pay $10, or draw a Chance Card". I drew a Chance card and I got "Go back three spaces."

Now, since I passed Go backwards, do I get $-200 (i.e., pay $200), and/or do I get another $200 the next turn when I pass Go forwards again?


texts: When does Urbanization occur in Age of Steam

texts: I am second in turn order, I select Urbanization.  Do I place the city at the start of my build track phase or before the first person who builds track?


texts: Is the Mechana Initiate worth buying (except at the end to get some easy points)? It's only 1 Rune or 1 Power, which seems weak compared to the other Initiates.


texts: Arkham Horror: Is there any thematic introductory text out there for first time players?

texts:
I'm going to play Arkham tonight with a couple of friends which they don't have any previous Lovecraft experience.

Is there any short text which I could use to introduce them to the Cthulhu Mythos and to what they're about to experience?

Thanks!


texts: How can I document that I Moated an enchantress?

texts: Say someone plays Enchantress and I react with Moat. For the sake of the question, it is a 5-6 player game and it would be easy to forget that I reacted. How can I easily make it clear and easy to remember that I reacted with a moat?


texts: If my opponent takes control of my creature, then it's exiled and later returns, is it still theirs?

texts: I was wondering, if someone casts Kari Zev's Expertise and I cast Seal Away on it, when it returns from exile does it return under my control or theirs? For example if I Blink of an eye the Seal Away?


texts:
With playing a long board game you have the satisfaction of the endurance and outsmarting your opponents. It's a struggle and winning is the glory.

When you play something like poker or Uno you are playing several games over and over again.

When I play with friends we play with points or with poker chips and have either rewards or punishments to the winner or the loser.

We try and avoid gambling with poker but this can result in people going all-in after less than 10 hands.

Do you have any suggestions for how you spice up games like Uno and poker to make them interesting without resulting to gambling?


texts: In Catan, is it possible to steal from yourself with the robber?

texts: If I move the robber in Catan to a hex where I also have an adjacent settlement or city on, can I choose to steal from myself instead of another player or if I am the only valid player?


texts: Can plural form of words be used in the scrabble? For example, table, obviously can. But can I extend it to the "tables" for example?


texts: Volrath's Shapeshifter, Static Buffs, and Combat damage

texts:
Inspired by this question.

I have an Elvish Archdruid, a Volrath's Shapeshifter, and a Llanowar Elves on the battlefield.

I attack with Elvish Archdruid and Llanowar Elves. My opponent blocks in such a way that Elvish Archdruid takes 2 combat damage and Llanowar Elves takes 1 combat damage.

Does the Llanowar Elves survive through combat?


texts:
With Don Bell having 4 bullets and the ability to get an extra turn after the first (on a draw of a heart or diamond), he can become an overpowered character very quickly. He is likely to get 1 more card and shoot one more bang then Lucky Duke, who can draw a third card on a heart or diamond, and always has a shot at a second turn, unlike Vendetta which is one round only and only for hearts.

Because of this my normal group doesn't play with him because he is deemed unbalanced and overpowered. Some house rules that have been suggested have been lowering him to a 3 bullet character and making the extra turn only work on hearts, or leaving him at 4 bullets but needing to sacrifice a life in order to draw for an extra turn.

I was wondering anyone had any ideas on house rules that can make him a more balanced character.


texts: Custom game boards and pieces for existing games

texts:
With the huge growth in the 3D printing and CNC areas over the past few years, you are starting to see a lot of custom pieces for existing board games. For instance, Risk boards made of walnut or Settlers of Catan pieces made from various exotic hardwoods and a plethora of customized replacement pieces. In the vast majority of cases, the items being made are of vastly superior quality and in some cases were designed to replace boards or game pieces that are no longer in print.

So my question is, what legal ramifications are there when creating these items in the U.S.? Technically it's a copy of an existing game both in name and rough design, but the actual product is often very different.


texts: Order of triggered abilities - will the abilities on the stack resolve after the player who owns the ability loses?

texts:
Let's say in a three-player game, Alice and Bob are playing Poison-Tip Archer. It's a 2/3 creature with:

  Whenever another creature dies, each opponent loses 1 life.

Carol has 10 1/1 Saproling tokens in play.

All of them are 10 life, and someone plays Tremor:

  Tremor deals 1 damage to each creature without flying.

So all 10 Saprolings would die, triggering both Poison-Tip Archer's abilities 10 times - enough for everyone on the table to die (20 lives lost for Carol, 10 for each Alice and Bob).

Will this be a tie? Is there an order in which the triggers are resolved that may make someone win? Does the result depend somehow on who is the active player?

Edit: Will it make a difference if the Poison-Tip Archer's would also die by the same effect (ie, play Wildfire - doing 4 damage to each creature instead of Tremor's 1)?


texts: Can I use Secret Invasion to transfer a trap card in front of me to another player?

texts:
In a game of Munchkin: Marvel Edition, a trap is played on me that says I get -5 in my next combat, an additional -5 at night and an additional -5 if it’s raining for a whooping -15 to my next combat. The card explicitly states to "keep this card in front of you as a reminder."

I have in my hand the Secret Invasion trap card that says "immediately exchange all cards in front of you with the person on your right." Can I play Secret Invasion on the person on my left and give them the trap?


texts: With Necropotence, would I keep playing even with no library?

texts:
In MTG, I know if I'm not able to draw on my draw step I lose, but what if I had Necropotence out; that lets me skip my draw step. Would I be able to continue playing the game?

I'm just curious because I'm not sure how that would work in play. I'm not too familiar with priorities, like who has it, who gets and when it changes. But I was thinking if I could skip my draw step I wouldn't have to draw therefore wouldn't lose because I can't draw.


texts: Advancing Tzolk'in past the end of the game

texts:
In Tzolk'in, the starting player space lets one advance the calendar 2 days, instead of the normal 1.  The rules specify a few times when you cannot use this power, and what happens if the calendar is advanced past a Food Day.
But, the rules don't say anything about the possibility of this mechanic interacting with the end-of-game conditions.
So, what happens if you are in Turn 26, take the starting player space and advance the calendar 2 days?
Do you advance to Turn 28 and play out a 28th day?   That doesn't seem to make sense, as the game is only supposed to last 27 days.  (Note: this is what happens when you try this tactic on Board Game Arena)
Or, do you advance, skipping Turn 27, and just feed your workers before the end of the game.  This is the only way that the "advance 2 days" mechanic is useful in Turn 26.


texts: How can I set up a game of the Resistance without anyone needing to close their eyes?

texts:
Thinking about this question reminded me of a problem I thought of some time back.

I love playing the Resistance (particularly with the plot cards), but I always find the eyes closed, open, closed, open business slightly awkward.  This is particularly the case if there is someone in the group that I don't know very well, or who hasn't played before.

For anyone unfamiliar with the game, the setup is as follows:

Everyone watches while a deck of role cards is created with x good and y bad cards where x+y is the number of players (the exact values of x and y are given in the rules, but it's not relevant for the question).
All players are dealt a role card telling them whether they are good or bad.
All players close their eyes.
All bad guys open their eyes and look at each other.
All bad guys close their eyes.
All players open their eyes.

The result is:

Everyone knows how many bad guys there are.
The bad guys know who each other are.
The good guys have equal suspicion of all other players.

Is there a neat* way to initialise the game without players having to close their eyes?

* In particular a way that doesn't require a computer or a moderator.


texts: Can I play a card for its miracle cost in this situation?

texts:
A friend and I were discussing this situation:

Player A attacks with all creatures, opponent (player B) have no blockers and gonna be lethal. Before damage step, player B plays Opt, resolves, and draw a Terminus. He reveals it, so miracle triggers go to stack. In response, before the miracle triggers resolve, player A activates an Aether Vial with two counters, resolves, and put a Kitesail Freebooter in the battlefield. Kitesail Freebooter triggered ability triggers, and player B decides that it resolves, so player A removes the Terminus from his hand. Now, while the miracle trigger is still on the stack, player B casts Path to Exile, exiling the Kitesail Freebooter. Terminus returns to his hand.

The question here is: when the miracle-triggered ability resolves, will player B be able to cast Terminus for its miracle cost, or is it considered another different card, like when you blink a permanent to save it from being a target?

(NOTE: We know already that player B could respond to the Kitesail Freebooter with the Path to Exile, so player A sees the hand and discards nothing, as the Kitesail Freebooter is not on the battlefield, but this is not the question we have).


texts: How many plays of Pandemic Legacy until it is complete?

texts: I've seen and read a few spoiler-free reviews of Pandemic Legacy, and it looks great. As such I have a question I've not seen covered yet. I was wondering how many times the game is played until it is complete? I think I read somewhere that it's two plays per month - is that correct? So the game will be complete after 24 plays?


texts: Interesting boardgames to play with children

texts: I have two children aged 8 and 6 and they like to play board games.  Some of the ones they have are for very young children and boring for an adult to play.  Are there any suggestions for games that they will understand and I can enjoy?


texts:
The kids boardgame, Reef Route, seems to be missing some rules from the rulebook. Nothing too serious, but it still bothers me.

In the rules is stated that a small fish gets eaten by a predator when the predator moves to the same space with the smaller fish. It also says that a small fish cannot move to the same space as another small fish, and if the player is unable to move small fishes indicated by the dice, any other small fish can be moved. But I cannot find anything about moving a small fish to the same space with a predator.

So, can a small fish rush head on into the mouth of a predator? In that case one could feed other players fishes in some situations. Intuitively I'd say it shouldn't work like that, but I'd like to get confirmation for it.


texts: What is the memory-style game that has pawn-like tokens covering pictures?

texts: I remember a while ago having played a memory-like game which had blue plastic "pawns" which covered holes in a round cardboard sheet, while a second lower layer of cardboard was able to rotate underneath.  There were pictures on the lower layer which corresponded to the holes in the upper layer, and there were several different possible picture combinations.  What is that game called?


texts: I have Silent Gravestone in play, does that stop creatures from using embalm or eternalize?


texts:
So my opponent is playing Jodah, Archmage Eternal, and they attempt to cast Omniscience for WUBRG. In response, I flash in Lavinia, Azorius Renegade.

What happens to the Omniscience since it's already on the stack and Lavinia says "each opponent can't cast noncreature spells with converted Mana cost greater than the number of lands that player controls"


texts: A player puts down a red 3 and it is my turn. I have red cards, but I also have a yellow 3. Do I have to keep on following the red suit until I have no more red cards? If so am I then able to start another colour?


texts: I love this game and play quite regularly. Yet I don't seem to be able to advance my strategy level. Does anyone know of any decent resources that could help me here? I can handle it written in French.


texts: Marionette Master + Mana Tokens (Gold, Treasure, etc.)

texts:
The card Marionette Master states:

  Whenever an artifact you control is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, target opponent loses life equal to Marionette Master’s power.

Are Ixalan Treasure tokens, Tezzerat Ethereum Cells, etc. considered "put into graveyard" when tapped for mana and sacrificed.


texts: Am I missing a limitation on double strike (for star wars lcg)?

texts:
Example scenario (which I'm going to call "The Sam" since my 7 year son just beat me using a large subset of this):

Dark side has no defenders available, 3 undamaged 5 point objectives.  Light side's turn, light side of force is winning.

Light side objectives: Hit and Run, One of the 2 resource objectives, and the objective that gives you a -1 for first enhancement played.

Light side hand has yoda, light sabre, r2d2, binds all things, double strike, and target of opportunity as their 6 cards in their hand.

Light side does one point of damage during force struggle.

Deployment:
   Light side plays R2D2 (increases resources available to 6)
   Light side plays yoda (resource left: 3)
   Light side plays light sabre enhancment (rez left: 3)

Attack:
   Yoda attacks undamaged objective, plays TOO during unopposed edge battle, thereby doing 5 damage (TOO + light sabre + enhancement bonus + own strike + unopposed bonus)
   When focused to strike, light side plays double strike (rez left: 2)
   Light side then plays it binds all things (rez left: 1), picking up TOO + double strike
  Yoda repeats attack on 2nd undamaged objective and again uses double strike (rez left: 0), playing TOO again
  Yoda attacks 3rd objective, doing only 4 points of damage (no TOO), and actually could do an extra point of damage from hit and run.

Light side has just defeated 3 objectives and therefore wins.

Sub-questions:
  Is there a rule limiting a single unit to only being able to attack 1 objective per turn that I'm not seeing?
  Is there some other limitation/rule exception that would prevent this?  (Beyond the whole dark side really should have at least one defender and this does require a non-trivial amount of luck to get this exact combination of cards)


texts:
There are a number of potential cross country routes in Ticket to Ride USA:

the northern route (via Canada, Vancouver to Montreal)
the mid northern route (Seattle-Helena-Duluth-Sault St. Marie)
the central route (SF-Salt Lake City-Denver-St. Louis etc.)
the southern route (LA-El Paso-Houston-New Orleans-Miami)

Are any of these cross-country routes definitively more or less advantageous? What about with the 1910 expansion?

Another way to phrase this is, based on an analysis of the available tickets and scoring, within the framework of a cross-country strategy, are any of the potential cross-country routes particularly advantageous over another? Or are they essentially equal?


texts: Pandemic and Forbidden Island - How similar are they?

texts:
We have Pandemic at home. When browsing for some new games I stumbled over Forbidden Island made by the same designer. I thought it could be interesting to have another cooperative game but when I read about the gameplay I got the sneaking suspicion that it would feel too much like Pandemic.

From what I read the selection of flooding tiles works exactly like the infection deck in Pandemic and obtaining the treasures exactly like finding the cures. So my question is: Do these two games feel different enough to warrant buying both?


texts: How do you score 5,5,5,5 in-hand with a non-ten, non-face card turned up?

texts: You are dealt 6 cards and find you have four 5s plus two other cards. You put those two non-scorers in the crib. You hope for a ten on the turn-up, but it's an off card that doesn't help anything. How do you score the 5s?


texts: Rules about claiming a tunnel in Ticket to Ride Switzerland

texts:
I just want to be clear about how to claim a short tunnel route in Ticket to Ride Switzerland.

Say I am taking a tunnel that requires only one card (red, for instance). If I turn over a red card I need another red card (or a locomotive) to match it. But if I turn over 2 further red cards (i.e. 3 red cards in all) do I need further red cards (or locomotives) to match?

It would seem strange to have to use 4 red cards in total to claim a one route.


texts: Balthor the Defiled has an activated ability with the cost "Remove Balthor the Defiled from the game". Excusing that this is now called exile, if Balthor was your commander, could you have Balthor go to your command zone instead of exile and still fulfill the cost for the ability?


texts:
I want to protect my Arkham Horror game cards with sleeves, but I have had bad experiences with sleeves which are too slippery. With tall decks, the sleeves produce decks that are not stable enough.

How slippery are the Fantasy Flight Sleeves?


texts: When I play a card with haste, do I have to attack or use an ability, or can I just play it without attacking?


texts: In Gin-Rummy, what are the chances to make Gin on the first turn?

texts:
What are the odds for a Gin on the first turn?  That is, what are the odds for arranging 10 out of 11 random cards in melds.
In Gin-Rummy, at the start of a round, players draw 10 random cards. On the first turn the player decide to either pickup the face-up card or pass the turn.  Thus, for the first player to make a Gin on the first turn, she must take the face-up card and arrange at least 10 out of the 11 cards in melds. In an earlier question we found out that the probability of 10 random cards to form a Gin is about 1 in 115,733.  Great explanation for the counting process here.


texts:
I downloaded the zyzzyva program and have been using it to sharpen my anagram solving skills, but it isn't great to learn new words with. I'm probably not using it right, but it seems like there are better ways.

I watched a few Scrabble games from the tournament and they of course know all sorts of words. How do they learn them though? What's the best way to go about learning and making sure you retain what you learn?


texts: I am out of coins. I need 2 Euros to acquire my next route. Loans are 5 Euros. Do I get 3 Euros in change? My competitor say the rules do not specify change, so I don't. I say change is logical, so I do.


texts:
I'm looking for help figuring out what exactly makes a game a microgame. Some considerations I have for what might make a game count as microgame include:

How many 'pieces' (chits, dice, cards) are too many?
If a board is included, what size limitations are acceptable? Is folding allowed?
Is there an agreed on size for Microgames (within an Altoids tin, etc.)
Are there any gameplay or other considerations I should be thinking about in terms of this definition?


texts: Is it possible for an opponent to have zero deadwood when I gin?

texts: While playing Gin on an app, I knocked with gin and my opponent showed zero deadwood. Given I had gin, my opponent was unable to play any cards on mine; so, is it possible for a player to have zero deadwood if the opponent knocks with gin?


texts: When using Talix's power in a two player game, do you return one or both cards to the turn deck?

texts:
Talix's, available on Aeon's End: The New Age, power reads:

Destroy two sparks in hand. If you do, shuffle your turn order card into the turn order deck. OR Gravehold gains 5 life.

If you are playing a 2 player game, each player has two turn order cards. Then, if you use his first power on your second turn that round (meaning both your turn order cards are in the discard pile) do you place both your turn order cards into the pile or just one?
While the wording on the power seems to indicate it is a single one, it also reads like you just have one "your turn order card". In a two-player game, you have two, so it might make sense to move both back? Is there an official answer?


texts: What are some good tactics for Khet 2.0?

texts:
I recently bought Khet 2.0 and I've played it a couple of times (we used the "Classic" starting position both times). I didn't really feel like I knew what I was doing as regards tactics / strategy, mostly I seemed to be waiting for my opponent to make a mistake.

What tactics or strategy can I use to help me win?


texts: Can you tell spymaster you know the word they gave a clue for?

texts:
In a game of Codenames, Team 1 field operative guesses a wrong choice for a word. During or before their next turn they say, "oh, I know which one you meant for last code".

Would that be against the rules?


texts: Damage assignment with multiple attackers and blockers

texts:
I'm returning to Magic and I have a scenario that I can't seem to settle. In the case where I have two 4/4 creatures which I use to attack an opponent who then decides to defend with two 1/2 creatures, how is the damage allocated? Neither the 4/4 creatures or the 1/2 creatures have any special characteristics (i.e. not flying, not trample). I'm wondering which of the following is the right way:

Each of the opponent's creatures block each of my creatures, and their two creatures die.
The damage of one of my creatures destroys one of theirs, and then the remaining damage is assigned to the next 1/2 blocker creature. My second 4/4 is then free to attack the player.

Any help in understanding the order of operations for this situation would be greatly appreciated.


texts:
"Jund" is the red-black-green shard from Shards of Alara.

More importantly, however, it's a term for a midrange archetype in those colors, using a mixture of quick disruption, multi-faceted removal, and powerful creatures, with lots and lots of 2-for-1s, via cards like Bloodbraid Elf, Hymn to Tourach, or Thragtusk. This is clearly a powerful strategy since we've seen periods where Jund decks were ascendant in Standard, Extended, Modern, and Legacy — often multiple formats at the same time!

Magic pros have said things like, "Jund is at best 55% and at worst 45% against everything." Still, having a "55%" matchup against Jund is much better than a "45%" matchup; and when Jund decks are powerful, it's useful to at least have a good sideboard plan against the deck.

For example, the Jund Standard decks at Pro Tour Gatecrash featured these elements:

Hand disruption: Liliana of the Veil, Rakdos's Return, Duress
Resilient threats: Thragtusk, Garruk, Primal Hunter
Powerful removal: Dreadbore, Abrupt Decay, Victim of Night, burn spells
Plentiful sources of card advantage: Thragtusk, Huntmaster of the Fells, Olivia Voldaren, Mizzium Mortars, Rakdos's Return
Incidental lifegain on cards that are great even without it: Thragtusk, Huntermaster of the Fells
Aggressive utility lands: Kessig Wolf Run (compare to the plentiful use of manlands in other formats)
Occasional mana acceleration: Deathrite Shaman, Farseek, Arbor Elf

What kinds of cards and strategies are particularly strong against Jund?

("Jund" is a broad category of decks, but it is a very clear archetype. Feel free to focus your analysis on one format, e.g. Standard.)


texts: Can Mewto and Mew Tag Team GX's Perfection ability be prevented from using by using Golduck's amnesia attack?

texts: In Pokemon tcg, I got a card named "Mewto and Mew GX", and the "Perfection" ability looks cool. But when I put it into combat, I encountered a problem. For example, golduck's attack amnesia does 20 damage and chooses an attack from the defending pokemon, and that pokemon cannot use that attack during the next turn. So, what if golduck faced Mewto and Mew GX? Can golduck prevent Mewto and Mex from using the ability, or is it that because it's an ability, "Perfection" cannot be prevented from using during the next turn? I'm quite confused so someone pls help me!


texts: How can I determine the value of very rare cards?

texts:
I recently bought a large collection of very old Magic cards. While sorting through them, I found two cards that I don't have an immediate answer for their value.

(Promo from the first Pro Tour, in 1996)

(Autographed Blue Ward (might be Dan Frazier, revised))

Google / magiccards.info didn't have any information.

tcgplayer.com came up with this result, a 'Collectors Edition' Winter Orb,
but that page says that the card type is 'Continuous Artifact' and has different text for the ability.

Is there a concrete way to determine the values of these cards?