Tabletop Feature: How to be the Best Boardgamer

Published April 29, 2016

International Tabletop day is almost upon us. (Literally it’s tomorrow!) Like with any social event though it’s important to remember that there are some Social Rules that are involved with making sure everyone has a good time while board gaming. Whether your playing at someone’s house with friends or at a public event it pays to keep the following in mind:

1) Don’t be a Dick to yourself

Everyone likes to talk about the Don’t Be A Dick rule for social interactions and that’s important but it doesn’t quite cover one vital part of social interaction: Being kind to yourself. The fact is you will one day have to game or game near someone you don’t like very much or at all. You might be expected to deal with a game that you don’t enjoy. You don’t have to keep yourself in those situations though. Excuse yourself from a game before it starts, clear your head, play something else. It will make your gaming much more enjoyable if you don’t let yourself worry about everyone but yourself.

2) Make sure everyone is alright

This goes hand in hand with the above, you need to display a bit of empathy for your other players. If people aren’t comfortable in a space they’re not likely to come back and even less likely to suggest others go there. Don’t force people into playing games they don’t want to. Geek communities are rife with gatekeeping as it is, the last thing the culture needs is people coming into it only to find out that it’s full of people that treat them exactly the same as every other bully does.

3) Play with your audience

I started board gaming because I play and ran a lot of RPGs. I still do. One thing I learnt was that it’s pretty critical to know play with your audience. Are there kids at the table? Keep your language appropriate. New players? Don’t dominate their game play, and make all their moves and plays for them. Rather talk them through the steps and tactics. Let them make mistakes, and then guide them through where they went wrong. Players are far more likely to remember a rule if you show it to them than just tell them they’re wrong or chastise them.

4) Don’t be a Greedy Goblin

Another thing I learnt from RPGs is to let everyone have a turn to shine at the table and enjoy others successes. A Greedy Goblin is that player that can’t stand the spot light being on them. They interrupt others turns, they don’t pay attention when it’s not their turn. They throw their toys and sulk if they’re losing. They’re not fun to play with. Unlike RPGs though you can’t have the other player characters viciously murder their character and be done with it when you’re board gaming. If you run into a greedy goblin while playing board games it’s probably best to just talk it out with them.

5) Have Fun

Look this is pretty obvious but sometimes you have to state the obvious: Have fun board gaming. It’s meant to be fun. Don’t let yourself get dragged into an obsession with winning.

Super secret tip 6) Let the Wookiee win

They’ll rip your arms off!

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The Stubbs

Tabletop Author

The Ubergeek made up of parts from lesser geeks in a lab somewhere. He also likes RPGS and useless facts.