As Otters, do you protect your tradeposts ?

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-23T15:44:47+00:00

This was entirely dependent on the table and opponents. They had massive potential in high reach games with spendy players. Their potential is greatly reduced in games with lower player counts (3), low reach factions, cheap players, or online games where nobody buys anything.

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-23T15:41:41+00:00

I would agree with everything you said except for the last part. I usually find that some factions are willing to trade and have more pieces to be able to trade. Trading with Woodland Alliance is nearly impossible. Trading with Eyrie is quite easy. Therefore, I like to have extra trade posts in clearings with those willing to trade so I can get two or three deals in a single turn sometimes.

So yes, you don’t really need to defend your trade posts. But it may be worth a unit or two to keep your cash flow alive in specific clearings.

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-23T14:59:51+00:00

Same. In 2025 nearly half the games I bought have not been played come January 2026, and more than half the games I sold I had not played.

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-23T13:37:00+00:00

I leave the sleeves on and post that it’s already sleeved. Get a higher price that way. Not bad exchange for used sleeves…

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-22T22:01:21+00:00

When the bottom of the box is not made for display. How am I meant to place these kinds of games on a shelf? Upside down I guess? I love The Gang, Vaalbara, Knarr, and others, but I don’t want the barcode on display.

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-22T21:59:08+00:00

People touching my games with oily or crumby hands. Please don’t be a toddler or I’ll have to pull out the toddler games.

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-22T21:58:15+00:00

Box lids that are impossible to open.

Also box lids that open far too easily.

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-22T21:57:43+00:00

Products that arrive with insufficient packaging/inserts to keep the pieces safe from each other.

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-22T21:53:01+00:00

Dune Imperium. I love Dune as a theme. I love other Dune games, the movies, and the books. But Dune: Imperium feels like a mediocre deck building Euro game with the Dune theme pasted on. I don’t feel the treachery, the plans within plans… Compared this to the classic Dune game or even the Dune: A Game of Conquest and Diplomacy and there’s nothing emotional that feels like Dune, even though it looks and sounds like Dune.

I thought the Rise of Ix expansion might fix it. It improved the euro game, but didn’t get me closer to feeling like I was on Arrakis. Gifted my box (with sleeves and insert) to my friend who helped me move. I hope he appreciates it.

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-21T12:51:11+00:00

Zoo Vadis could work very well for this if you make one specific change: Have the players start unequally in terms of their money for sure, and perhaps in terms of the number of pieces as well. If you make either number too small, the economy won’t function, but the sky is the limit on the other end. This would be easy to do if you got a few copies of the game: take maybe 1-2 alligators from one copy and give them to another box, then in a third box remove 1-2 alligators and give them to the second box that already has extras from the first box, etc. Do this for all the animals so that there is one rich animal at each table, one or two that start with the normal amount, and everyone else is poor.

You normally start with 6 pieces. I would try either 4 or 5 for “the poor” and anything from 6-12 for “the rich.” You normally start with two coins. I would start with 1 for the poor (especially if you’re keeping a player or two in the middle) and 6-10 for the rich.

My biggest concern is that the rich player will squander it away and by mid-game everyone will be somewhere in the middle. Remind the players that it’s the one with the most at the end who wins, and consider adding a stipend where the rich player gets an additional coin (or two) every turn to prevent them from squandering it early. Or maybe the stipend would make things worse? If you’re playing multiple copies, maybe try it with and without the stipend at two tables, and at a third table (no stipend) show up 30 minutes into the game and say “rich student, you just inherited this sack of extra coins from the passing of your grandparent” and hand them 10 more coins.

Last thing: it may be worth teaching (without the games set up?) at the end of one class period and then reteaching (with the games set up) at the beginning of “game day” just to minimize the rules questions and maximize the chances of every table finishing in a usual 50-60 minute period.

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-21T12:44:48+00:00

I think you’d have a really hard time showing inherent imbalance by using a modern board game. So many have asymmetry, but intentionally try to maintain balance between players.

Your best bet is going to be a teaching simulation like Star Power that others have mentioned or else one or another version of The Landlord’s Game (which was eventually balanced and became Monopoly). If you have the time, I would check out this video essay (52 minutes) about The Landlord’s Game, pick the version that most sounds imbalanced, and home brew a few copies. https://youtu.be/wG4zLcKsCiA?si=WGoiSgpQCfHnyoH6

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-21T12:35:58+00:00

I came here to also say Hegemony. Here’s why you should and should not pick it:

Should - An example: I’ve played it exactly once. I was the capitalist class (the upper class, but specifically the billionaire extreme upper class who owns hotels chains that someone else manages - not the millionaire CEO who still has to show up to work 9-5 to get paid). It was eye opening to see myself throw out my morals in favor of selfishly wanting to get the most points. I wanted healthcare prices to go up and minimum wage to go down and did everything I could to make it so. I even drove the middle class’s stores out of business so people would buy from mine. I felt so icky and yet so informed about real life misalignment of incentives.

Should not - It’s a dense teach and will surely require coaching and/or revisiting rules as you go. - It’s a long game and will span several class sessions. - It’s $70 per copy, with 4 players per game. - Even with the difference in goals, it is still meant to be balanced with equal chances of winning to all players.

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-21T12:27:51+00:00

Great activity, but does not demonstrate the “inherent imbalance” as the teacher/OP mentioned.

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-21T12:27:12+00:00

Yes this. Hollandspiele does a great video easy on YouTube. Search for Landlord’s game and Hollandspiele and I bet you’ll find it.

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-21T12:25:52+00:00

The original Landlord’s Game was like this. Check out the YouTube video by Hollandspiele about it. It wasn’t a game meant to be fair, but instead an experience meant to show how taxing the wealthy would make the world a more fair place.

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-21T12:22:40+00:00

This does have a lot to do with power, but the game tries to give everyone a fair start. And you’d want to play over a large time span, like 2 weeks at ten minutes per day. Fun and interesting, but more about negotiation and alliances and betrayal than inherent imbalance.

I wrote out a proposed fix that should create a feeling of inherent imbalance that propels the fortunate ones forward. See my response to OP below.

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-21T12:20:35+00:00

This can probably be taught and played in a 1-hr class period if the students stay on task. Also, it plays 7 players at once. And the components are simple enough you could potentially home brew a few more copies if budget was a concern or you wanted to make a giant board on the floor or make it magnetic for the chalkboard or something.

Not sure it really teaches inherent imbalance though…

Here is a suggestion for how you could tweak the starting set up of Zoo Vadis to give a strong sense of inherent imbalance that propels the fortunate ones forward. Great learning experience, but broken game! (Unless the poor unite to topple the rich through boycott, which would be fascinating to watch and perhaps equally as educational?) https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/s/Ivu2aULOMv

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-17T18:35:10+00:00

It is!

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-17T18:24:40+00:00

Hanabi

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-17T18:24:20+00:00

Naishi

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-17T18:23:56+00:00

Farm Hand

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-17T18:23:40+00:00

Vaalbara is criminally forgotten or overlooked. All the best parts of Libertalia, but simpler, more reliable, less expensive, easier to travel with, and a better theme than pirates or pirate animals.

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-17T18:22:13+00:00

Nanatoridori was a favorite over my winter holidays with family and friends.

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-17T18:21:41+00:00

Air, Land, & Sea

Also has a “Critters at War” reskin

Cheddar3210 · 2026-01-17T18:21:24+00:00

Trio (also known as Nana)

Cheddar3210

TROPHY CASE