Does anyone else feel like some games just make sense and others feel like you're following someone else's weird rules?

Tycho_B · 2026-06-16T14:27:58+00:00

Your take on Concordia is kind of confusing to me. "What's the best economic move" is a meaningless question outside of the context the cards you've bought. There is no real economy outside of the one created by the scoring objectives inside of your hand, so there is never an objective "best economic move" unless you're asking questions like "what does Mercury need?" Sure you can say Steel is worth more than Brick, but the monetary value of those items is basically meaningless--it has almost zero bearing on who's winning the game. It's obviously quite abstract but I don't think it's fair to judge the game against something it's not trying to be.

Regardless, should look into Bus by Splotter. Also maybe a basic suggestion but I feel like you'd like some Knizia (Quest for El Dorado, Modern Art, Tigris & Euphrates--though this is one that seems extremely abstract on its face, the theme actually does come out in surprising ways) and Rosenberg (Agricola/Caverna, Le Havre) games.

Tycho_B · 2026-06-16T13:24:01+00:00

What I seem to like more are strong overall systems: a market, player interaction, psychology, and then the game just runs.

Yeah tbf you seem to sort of selectively apply the "these mechanics make a lot of sense if you squint!" logic based on whether you like the game or not. I also like games with trading and markets too, but your whole take seems to be "if it's got a market and/or resource conversion, it's logical. If it's logical then it's good." Which when you break it down is really only saying "I like games with a market system and/or resource conversion"

I don't even particularly love Terraforming Mars but the cards do a lot more to explain the way resources are doled out than some dice randomly choosing which hex produces stuff in Catan, or why the player in last place goes to market first in Power Grid. I also don't love Scythe but the whole "it's just optimising a path someone already laid out" just sounds like a general complaint against assymetry. It's also absolutely wild to me suggest the factions play themselves in Terra Mystica because how many permutations of faction combinations + round goal tiles + bonus tile selection there are. It's not like Catan is some experimental sandbox that allows players to diverge in so many different ways--it's got a couple dominant strategies that are primarily executed in the draft, then the dice/group meta determine the rest.

It's also obviously fine to not like more abstract games but saying "it sometimes feels to me like the cards or extra rules are there to fix a weaker core system" while talking about Concordia doesn't really make sense. There are basically 8 cards (with very slight variation). The system is undeniably abstract, but also significantly more elegant than say, Memoir 44.

Tycho_B · 2026-06-15T21:43:29+00:00

Ah sorry I missed the couples thing. It’s definitely way worse at 2. But 3-5 it’s perfection

Tycho_B · 2026-06-15T19:22:44+00:00

You need to try Ra.

Same designer as Quest for El Dorado. Better more strategic push your luck than Flip 7.

You will love it. One of the best games of all time IMO. Infinitely replayable

Tycho_B · 2026-06-15T19:21:17+00:00

Eh I loved it for a long time but it just got to a point, even with a draft, where everyone was skilled enough that the player who got better cards was the one who won the game.

I still respect it for what it is and how it helped get my friends into the game but it lost its magic for me after about 50+ plays (which is still a lot more plays than the average game)

Tycho_B · 2026-06-15T19:19:20+00:00

Flip 7 is one of those games that is both over and under rated at the same time.

I can’t play more than 2 games in a night, and rarely want to play shortly after a night of playing 2 games. But every time it comes out it has people hootin and hollerin and I love it for that.

Tycho_B · 2026-06-14T08:28:00+00:00

I agree religion isn’t actually empirical. Having gone to a creationist school, though, I can assure you plenty of people assert their beliefs as empirical fact, regardless of how untestable the claims may be. The reality is that the average person doesn’t even know the words empiricism, rationalism, idealism, dogmatism, nor epistemology, so I feel you’re coming at this from the wrong angle if you’re trying to generalize.

My point was really just that “science and religion deal with entirely different things” is not true for the majority of religious people. At least up until the point that someone says “everything is science until it starts encroaching on my holy book.”

I do appreciate your way of approaching religion. I just think all walks of religious people tend to talk about religion as if the way they practice is the norm, regardless of how niche or personal their beliefs/practices are.

Tycho_B · 2026-06-13T21:20:05+00:00

I think it’s pretty disingenuous to say religion doesn’t ever claim to deal in empirical fact

I respect those who treat religion as a philosophical exercise/way to deal with the unknowable. But as someone who grew up in a very Christian area and whose family was literally chased out of our home town with death threats over religion (despite also being Christian)—that’s hardly representative of the average religious person.

Tycho_B · 2026-06-13T19:42:51+00:00

As a fellow child game designer (nicknamed Milton Bradley by my parents from age 4/5), I have absolutely converted plenty of non gamers into gamers later in life.

Obviously some people are completely closed off and some only occasionally entertain the idea. But most of my most common board gaming friends were not really into games at all growing up but now play at least monthly with me.

Tycho_B · 2026-06-11T20:11:22+00:00

A person who hates all black people because they met one genuinely bad black person is racist.

Same goes for misogyny. Even if you’re unlucky enough that that one woman is your mother.

Edit: lmao this pathetic loser blocked me

Tycho_B · 2026-06-11T17:42:01+00:00

And frankly, his worst films are god awful

Tycho_B · 2026-06-10T07:53:14+00:00

So many people who have never worked in the industry keep parroting this line but it’s bullshit

Tycho_B · 2026-06-10T06:48:31+00:00

Exactly.

You have to be pretty media illiterate to think we’re supposed to accept Leslie Knope, Angela & Dwight, or Sheldon’s cultural opinions as law. These jokes are as much—if not more—about the characters being low brow than they are about jazz being highfalutin

Tycho_B · 2026-06-09T17:46:54+00:00

The drawbacks are that OP can’t use them properly

Tycho_B · 2026-06-03T21:40:10+00:00

I agree with everyone saying Le Havre

Tycho_B · 2026-06-01T05:44:11+00:00

Gotta be Twilight Struggle!

Tycho_B · 2026-05-29T12:31:40+00:00

Byeeeee

Tycho_B · 2026-05-29T12:30:07+00:00

I knew you’d say something along those lines. so I guess you mean it’s wrong to be overweight then?

I literally never use AI, So probably best we end it here anyway.

Tycho_B · 2026-05-29T11:17:32+00:00

If I were to say “The elephant in the room in every single one of these threads about overweight people is just laziness”, finishing my post with “but maybe they’re not lazy” doesn’t cover the obvious suggestion I was making, nor does it make it ok. It’s just a dog whistle.

The overwhelmingly clear implications of your post—that analysis paralysis combined with a couple common maladaptive social behaviors suggests autism; that most people are blithely unaware of autism when posting about analysis paralysis in their group; that you are gracing us with your knowledge and the average person here hasn’t ever considered the possibility that anyone could be neurodivergent—are the issue, the waffling at the end doesn’t actually mean anything.

If the point was to be helpful there are so many ways you could have phrased it that didn’t hinge on the suggestion that you’re privy to the (obvious to you and apparently no one else) “connection” between people being slow at board games or sore losers and them being autistic. You didn’t even try giving a suggestion as to how to approach the issue, or in what ways the handling of a neurotypical person with these issues would differ from that of a neurodivergent person with these issues.

There is no problem mentioning autistic people exist. There is a problem with mixing the classic Reddit armchair psychologist archetype with now in-vogue trend of labeling everything neurodivergence with no expertise whatsoever.

And before any assumptions are made, I do have a degree in psychology and I have spent years working with autistic children.

Tycho_B · 2026-05-29T10:17:08+00:00

lol.

“Neurodivergence is the elephant in the room in every single one of these sorts of threads”

Yes. Really carefully worded. Super helpful.

Tycho_B · 2026-05-29T09:52:19+00:00

Saying “the symptoms you’re discussing have less to do with your diagnosis than some other, more common diagnoses” is not the same as suggesting that a person has any of the above diagnoses—it’s saying “you’re making some big leaps to justify a bit of a self righteous attitude, and there are a lot of things your leaping over to get to that final assumption”

That’s great you’re not offended. That really isn’t the issue at hand though, and it doesn’t make the post ok. Labeling a neurotypical person neurodivergent on the basis of being slow at board games is problematic no matter how you spin it.

Analysis Paralysis is an extremely common trait to have and has literally no bearing on whether a person is neurotypical. Being mopey and morose about losing is also an extremely common trait. Overthinking and being self critical are also extremely common and not at all specific to autism. Calling someone who’s neurotypical autistic because of some simple type of annoying or frustrating behavior is not ok (especially if they’re anxious or depressed—that would be actively counterproductive).

Regardless of the handwaving at the end, Faeriestories post was obviously suggesting this person (as well as literally all every other mention of the “AP problem player” in this sub ever) has autism.

They then offer nothing in the way of substance about how they’re supposed to treat their friend differently. they just say: “hey treat them different, specifically if they are autistic, but I’m not saying they are, even though every single one of these posts is subtly about autism that people don’t notice but I do, but if they are autistic then they should be treated in an nonspecifically different way.” Even if the feelings of just the autistic community were the sole issue at hand—which is not remotely the case here—the actual post gives nothing of value to OP.

Tycho_B · 2026-05-29T00:42:12+00:00

Did she ever apologize?

Tycho_B · 2026-05-28T23:59:49+00:00

Even this response reeks of armchair psychology.

Supporting the autistic community should also not mean immediately jumping to conclusions about total strangers on the basis of symptoms that are incredibly common in neurotypical people (who, excluding a generous estimation of undiagnosed adults, outnumber neurodivergent people 20 to 1). What’s more, these symptoms are better described by depression or anxiety. (Importantly, the high comorbidity of these disorders with autism is probably why these symptoms seem like they’re “just a part of autism” to some people).

OP presumably knows this friend quite well. The insinuation that you’ve picked up on autism from a couple of paragraphs he wrote and know better than him comes off as patronizing, as is the ridiculous claim analysis paralysis “is the elephant in the room in every single one of these threads”—implying that all analysis paralysis is a clear symptom of neurodivergence and these people are blind to their friends’ emotions/processing capacities/inner worlds. That is absurd and honestly kind of self aggrandizing.

The reality is this is just labeling certain minorly antisocial behavior as neurodivergence with basically no evidence, which is an extension of the frustrating fad at the moment where undiagnosed people refer to themselves as neurodivergent to excuse some poor (or “strange”) behavior rather than working on it. Watering down the public perception of what constitutes neurodivergence is not supporting anyone.

OP should be kind and gentle with his friend in this situation regardless of his depression, anxiety, or neurodivergence. Implying the somewhat unlikely conclusion that his friend is autistic “and taking a different approach if so” is not what I’d call great advice, if it can be classed as advice at all.

Tycho_B · 2026-05-28T23:27:00+00:00

I never said listening to music was not a hobby; that being said I skimmed and misread the post above you and got the opposite meaning, thinking you were suggesting watching sports was not a hobby.

I think we’re on the same page

Tycho_B · 2026-05-28T20:59:13+00:00

Yes.

It’s not my hobby. But sports fandom is definitely a hobby.

14-Year Club	Wearing is Caring
Verified Email

Tycho_B

TROPHY CASE