These Board Games Are Great, But Have One Annoying Rule

Sometimes, you may feel like you've discovered the perfect board game. The mechanics are interesting, but not too complex. The game feels like it has endless replayability. It feels like a dream come true! And then, you learn that the game has one truly annoying rule that almost ruins the fun for everyone.

These board games are totally emblematic of this experience. They're fantastic games all around, but some of the rules just feel downright annoying, unfair, or stacked against the players. Be wary when diving into these games for the first time, and remember not to judge a tabletop game by its box art.

Mysterium

Can't Place Tokens On Your Own Guess

In Mysterium, one of the key mechanics you need to understand is how to use Clairovyancy Tokens. Throughout the game, the psychics will have to use Clairvoyancy Tokens to essentially 'bet' on whether or not their fellow players' guesses are right or wrong. However, when doing this, you are not allowed to be on yourself, or whether you think you're right or wrong.

This is frustrating for a few reasons. One, it makes no categorical difference whether you're betting on yourself or another player, as you have the same number of Clairvoyancy Tokens regardless. Second, sometimes, you run out of incorrect Clairvoyancy Tokens, but you may really come to believe that your fellow players are not right. This can prove incredibly challenging and can work against your long-term strategy.

Blood On The Clocktower

The Drunk

I'm all for misinformation in a social deception game like Blood on the Clocktower. However, depending on the version of this game you're playing, you may discover that there's a little bit too much misinformation going around. I, for one, really enjoy roles like the Poisoner, in which players on the evil team can poison good players to give them incorrect information.

However, roles like the Drunk, for example, seem a little bit too mean. These types of roles mean that basically one player is going to be getting incorrect information the entire game, effectively rendering them useless. This can be incredibly frustrating to find out late in the game, especially if you end up getting executed because of it.

Gloomhaven

Can't Share Resources

In a cooperative game like Gloomhaven, it's surprising to discover that some rules in the game actually inhibit players' abilities to work together. Depending on how you play, technically speaking, most of the time, players aren't really allowed to share resources during scenarios.

We can go back and forth all day long on realism or balance issues, but ultimately, not being able to share items and such during the game feels against the spirit of being cooperative. It's not that I want Gloomhaven to be competitive; instead, I just wish some of the rules encouraged cooperation instead of discouraging it.

Settlers Of Catan

The Robber

I want to start out by saying that I understand why the Robber is a thing in a game like Catan. It can make for some interesting long-term strategy, and help balance out players who got access to the best spots on the board early on just due to sheer luck. However, after a while, the Robber just starts to feel more annoying than anything else, especially if it gets stuck on one space for too long.

Personally, I like to house rule that if the Robber is on one spot for a certain number of rolls, we consciously move it back to the desert to give everyone a fair shake. Otherwise, one player can end up feeling incredibly punished by the end of the game. This is not only frustrating, but sort of defeats the entire purpose of playing a strategy game like Catan anyway.

Kill Doctor Lucky

Playing Defense

In Kill Doctor Lucky, whenever a player makes a murder attempt, the other players must take turns playing cards to foil the attempt. While I understand that this rule is in place, it is widely encouraged that players should not engage in table talk during the defense phase, which can prove downright frustrating for a few reasons.

One, no table talk forces the player who goes first in foiling the murder attempt to sometimes overplay their hand. Because of the synergy that Kill Doctor Lucky employs, if one player is making multiple murder attempts in back-to-back rounds, this can really drain the resources of one player unfairly. Ultimately, depending on the group I'm playing with, sometimes I'll encourage the group to work more cooperatively. This tends to be more fun and loosens up the turn of play just a little bit, making the game more fun overall.

7 Wonders

Spending Unearned Coins

In 7 Wonders, there's a sneaky little rule that a lot of people ignore, myself included. Whenever you're taking actions that would require coins, you can't use coins that you might earn in that round. Instead, you have to use only the commerce and coins you've developed from previous rounds.

This makes a lot of logical sense, but can sometimes mess up your strategy several rounds into the game, especially if you're low on resources and need to buy some from your neighbors. Having to stockpile coins is never really a fun way to play this game, and these rules just force that element of gameplay a little more than is desirable. But, again, ultimately, I understand why this rule is in place, so I can't fault it too hard.

Love Letter

Spies

In certain versions of Love Letter, there are additional cards known as Spies. Now, not to sound overly traditional, but I much prefer playing Love Letter without this card in play. This card does require some strategy to be sure, but it feels like an unfair way to earn Influence Tokens. Or, at least, a less fun way.

When you play a Spy, nothing happens. However, at the end of the round, if you're the only player who played a Spy, you can earn an Influence Token as if you had won the round. This can speed up gameplay a little bit, which is helpful depending on the size of the group you're playing in. However, I tend to take these cards out of the deck when I play unless someone feels strongly about it. To me, the fewer victory conditions, the better.

Council Of Verona

Final Influence Token

Council of Verona is a very unique card game in which players place bets on certain characters from Romeo & Juliet. Throughout the game, you have a limited number of Influence Tokens at your disposal, and you'll need to be strategic in where you place them, all the while trying to make sure your bets pay off.

However, and this is a minor gripe to be sure, at the very end of the game, all players can place one final Influence Token. This always felt like a cheap way to earn points at the last minute, as by that point, you can basically see which agendas are going to pay off or not. Ultimately, this doesn't reward careful strategy, but more so luck.