Boggle - Letter distribution and face orientation of each die

I believe you'll find that the answer doesn't matter for your specific case:

If we assume every die is a fair die (which means every face has exactly 1/6 chance of coming face up, and is what you should strive for when building the cubes for your version of the game), the position of the letters in each die will not matter, since every face will have the same chance of showing up in your grid, and each die can only ever show a single face.

Therefore, all that matters is the distribution of these letters, which will ultimately affect how many instances of a letter you'll see in your board; and you seem to have found a pretty solid distribution for the standard English language scrabble.


What does it mean to "interrupt movement"

You may interrupt the figures movement in any place between the starting point and ending point. Including the starting and ending points.

This can be argued By the official FAQ (v.2.0)

  Q:
  If a player has the
  Navigation
  tech and is moving a figure
  across water but cannot end in water, and his opponent
  stops that figure’s movement in a water square using the
  resource ability on the
  Communism
  tech, what happens?

  A:
  The figure stops in the water square. In this case, the
  resource ability on the
  Communism
  tech overrides the rule
  that figures cannot end their movement in water

In this case, the moving player was intented to move from the other side of the lake/river to the other side. The movement was interrupted with the spy between the starting and the ending point.

In practice, if for example my friend is attacking me in his turn, coming from 5 tiles away and says "draw your cards, I'll attack you", I would respond "hold on a second, mate. I'll got a spy in you camp.. ;).Now just say that which route you used to come over here..?". He now shows the route and I use my spy and say "This is the place where my spy came in and interrupted your movement".

The Itchis huge summary of Official and Unofficial rules and clarifications in BGG has more notes on the Communism tech.


How does an Oblivion Ring interact with a Commander in EDH?

The Commander can still go to the command zone, or exile, its' owner's choice.

  903.12. If a commander would be put into the exile zone from anywhere, its owner may put it into the command zone instead.

When Oblivion Ring leaves the battlefield, it triggers an ability that attempts to "return the exiled card to the battlefield under its owner's control." When it can't find the card in the exile zone, it fails to do anything.

You do not get your Commander back on the battlefield (as he is currently in the Command Zone).
The +2 additional mana cost can never loose/subtract/lower in cost, it always increases for each previous time you have cast your Commander from the Command Zone.

  903.10. A player may cast a commander he or she owns from the command zone. Doing so costs that player an additional {2} for each previous time he or she cast that commander from the command zone that game.


Does Finn Edwards have to pay to upkeep his Bank Loan?

That's absolutely correct (although there's also the additional penalty to the end-game scoring if you do that thing). You can always choose to default on a bank loan and lose all of your items. Since Finn doesn't have to discard items, he gets to keep everything. Basically, the Bank comes a-knockin' and all of his stuff is stashed away. It seems to me like this is just the situation a Holdout would be wanted for.

Now, you could choose to interpret the 'pay $1 or discard' as a cost rather than a loss, which would prevent Finn's ability from protecting him. Much like the 'discard' section of the dynamite or the holy water is a cost of using the item, I could see an argument for the 'cost' of a bank loan being either paying $1 and repeating the process next turn or losing everything. But I've always seen it played that Finn's ability protects him from the Bank Loan.

The same question was asked here in the Kevin Wilson answers thread on the FFG forum (although the question wasn't answered by Kevin)


Can I use Bad Toys on other people's babies?

I finally took the time to ask directly on the Wyrd Games forums and someone from Wyrd responded:

  Yes, you may discard a bad toy to make any baby in play (including your opponent's babies) take unsupervised actions.

So the answer is yes, bad toys can be used to activate an opponent's Evil Baby's Unsupervised Action on your own Activity Step.


Can one use a Wordly Tutor to fetch Nylea, God of the Hunt

Yes.

Nylea is always a Creature card (among other things) in your library.

It doesn't matter that Nylea isn't just a Creature.

Ruling:

  The type-changing ability that can make the God not be a creature functions only on the battlefield. It's always a creature card in other zones, regardless of your devotion to its color.

If the ability was a characteristic-defining ability, it would function in all zones.

  604.3. Some static abilities are characteristic-defining abilities. A characteristic-defining ability conveys information about an object’s characteristics that would normally be found elsewhere on that object (such as in its mana cost, type line, or power/toughness box). Characteristic-defining abilities function in all zones. They also function outside the game.

But it's not a characteristic-defining ability because it fails criteria 5.

  604.3a A static ability is a characteristic-defining ability if it meets the following criteria: (1) It defines an object’s colors, subtypes, power, or toughness; (2) it is printed on the card it affects, it was granted to the token it affects by the effect that created the token, or it was acquired by the object it affects as the result of a copy effect or text-changing effect; (3) it does not directly affect the characteristics of any other objects; (4) it is not an ability that an object grants to itself; and (5) it does not set the values of such characteristics only if certain conditions are met.


What I do in my playing is give the players enough stamina and sanity tokens to reach their maximum, in denominations so that the player can "break" their stamina and sanity totals without ever having to put them back into the pool, or take new ones out (unless their maximum goes up, obviously).

For example, if an investigator has a maximum of 5 sanity, I'll give them one 3 sanity token, and two 1 sanity tokens, for a total of five.  If they take two points of sanity damage, they move their two single sanity tokens off of their investigator card (or onto their card, it doesn't really matter so long as they are consistent in how they do it).  If they then take a further point of sanity damage, they move the 3 sanity token onto the card, and put the two singles back.

The same can obviously be done with stamina.

There are no official rules that state that something happens when clues or money or explored tokens run out, so I would assume that it's safe to go ahead and replace those with stand-ins (small change works well for money: pennies for $1, nickels for $5, and dimes for $10, for example).

One thing that may be worth checking out if you have an iOS device is the Arkham Horror Toolkit released by Fantasy Flight Games on the App Store.  It can keep track of your sanity, stamina, money and clues.  It's not free, but it does have some other neat features (support for the expansions -also not free, but not too expensive), and a built in dice roller.


In a four person game of Quoridor, can a player be forced to pass a turn?

I would call this game a draw because there are no legal moves available to Yellow. Choosing how to resolve this on the spot would be unfair.

However, it is possible to come to an agreement to a solution before the game starts.

In a two-player game, this problem is addressed by allowing one to jump over an opponent.

Valid moves for "A"
╬═════╬═════╬═════╬═════╬
║     ║  ◎  ║  ◎  ║     ║
╬═════╬══╪══╬══╪══╬═════╬
║  ◎ ─╫─ A ─╫─ B ─╫─ ◎  ║
╬═════╬══╪══╬══╪══╬═════╬
║     ║  ◎  ║  ◎  ║     ║
╬═════╬═════╬═════╬═════╬

If I wanted to create a house rule to address this problem in four-player games, I'd simply extend the jumping rules.

Valid moves for "A"
╬═════╬═════╬═════╬═════╬═════╬
║     ║  ◎  ║  ◎  ║     ║     ║
╬═════╬══╪══╬══╪══╬═════╬═════╬
║  ◎ ─╫─ A ─╫─ B ─╫─ ◎  ║     ║
╬═════╬══╪══╬══╪══╬══╪══╬═════╬
║     ║  ◎ ─╫─ C ─╫─ D ─╫─ ◎  ║
╬═════╬═════╬══╪══╬══╪══╬═════╬
║     ║     ║  ◎  ║  ◎  ║     ║
╬═════╬═════╬═════╬═════╬═════╬

These movement options would be allowed at all times, not only when no other options are available.


Yes you must always tell the truth about cards in Hanabi. When you give information you give it about the card. If you give color you must give it for all cards of that color. If you give it about the number you must give it about all cards with that number. Given those two facts it is absolutely against the rules to lie.

Here is a link to the rules.

https://www.villagehome.org/blog/attachment/index.php/4923/1/regle_en_hanabi.pdf


What is a winning strategy for Italy with Diplomacy

Make sure EVERYONE knows that Italy is the weakest country, by reminding them of it constantly, both during the game and every time the subject of Diplomacy comes up in conversation generally.  Hopefully this will lull them into a false sense of security, so that you can actually get somewhere with your beleaguered green armies.  Certainly if anyone starts picking on you, you are entitled to complain loudly: "C'mon! Everyone knows that Italy doesn't stand a chance of winning this game! Stop hassling me!"

Of course, this meta-strategy can easily backfire: if you become just too annoying and whiny, people may start attacking you just in the hope of shutting you up!  But generally I think it's perfectly reasonable, given the common knowledge that Italy is far from the strongest position in the game, to present yourself as an underdog and no real threat... until you've rallied your forces sufficiently to strike.  It's all part of the fun of the game!


To quote 114.9a, with bold for emphasis:

  114.9a Just because an object or player is being affected by a spell or ability doesn't make that object or player a target of that spell or ability. Unless that object or player is identified by the word "target" in the text of that spell or ability, or the rule for that keyword ability, it's not a target.

That really seems as straight-forward as possible. Does the spell or keyword rule use the exact specific word "target"? No? Then "it's not a target". The only other thing I can think of that may help is to show them gatherer rulings from any number of cards. Look at any card with Overload, for example: Cyclonic Rift, Blustersquall, etc. Both of these have Gatherer rulings that specifically state "If you pay the overload cost, the spell won't have any targets."


How do I become a professional game designer?

An assortment of advice:

Don't forget the Board Game Designers Forum.

Attend Protospiel, or Protospiel South, or Protospiel North or West.

Play lots of games, and a wide variety of games, both modern and classic.

Start designing games, taking them all the way from concept to completion.  Do it over and over again.  I designed and released one free print-and-play game each month at Invisible City Productions.  I did this from January 2000 to December 2010.  The first seven games were pretty hard, but it got easier after that.

Learn how to playtest your games, and how to integrate feedback into your designs.

Attend the GAMA Trade Show.  Talk to publishers - especially smaller ones.  Take them out to dinner and ask them about the industry.

Brush up on your math – especially probability and statistics.  Learn how to mathematically  model dice pools, bags of beads, and decks of cards.


If Soulflayer is returned to play from your graveyard, does it retain abilities it was granted?

When it is in the graveyard, Soulflayer has none of those abilities, and it will not have them if it returns to the battlefield. When it is put into the graveyard, it becomes a card with no memory of its existence on the battlefield, and when it returns to the battlefield, it is a completely new creature.

Rule 400.7 says

  An object that moves from one zone to another becomes a new object with no memory of, or relation to, its previous existence. There are seven exceptions to this rule:

When you cast Soulflayer, you can exile cards from the graveyard to pay for its cost, and it keeps track of those exiled cards. While it is on the battlefield, it remembers those cards, and gives itself abilities based on what abilities those cards had. This falls under the third exception to that rule:

  400.7c If an ability of a permanent requires information about choices made as that permanent was cast as a spell, including what mana was spent to cast that spell, it uses information about the spell that became that permanent as it resolved.

Once the Soulflayer leaves the battlefield, it forgets about its previous existence, including the cards exiled when it was cast. If it returns to the battlefield, it no longer has any associated exiled cards, so it doesn't give itself any abilities.


What are the main results in game theory regarding Go?

On Numbers

The one big overarching result in mathematical Go starts with the use of surreal numbers to evaluate positions on the board. The surreal numbers is a class of numbers including the real numbers as well as many, many, infinite and infinitesimal numbers.

The surreal numbers are recursively defined; a surreal number is a pair of sets of previously defined surreal numbers, called the left set and the right set, where each number in the left set is less than each number in the right set. In Go, the left set represents White's possible moves, and the right set Black's! The surreal number thus defined is thought of as being between all the numbers in its left set and all the numbers in its right set. ("Less than" is recursively defined as well.) Zero is the first surreal number,

0 = ({},{})

that is, its left set is empty and its right set is empty. A more usual notation for this is

0 = {|}

In Go, 0 represents a situation where the players have reached a draw. Using 0, we can define more surreal numbers:

 1 = {0|}
-1 = {|0}

That is, 0 is to the left of 1, and 0 is to the right of -1. In Go, 1 represents a situation where the game has ended and Black is up one point, and -1 White is up one point. Using -1, 0, and 1, we can define

2    = {1 |  }
1/2  = {0 |1 }
-1/2 = {-1|0 }
-2   = {  |-1}

Already the surreal numbers become nontrivially useful for talking about Go! 1/2 represents a situation where Black is up a half a point. Notice that the contents of 1/2 are 0 on the left and 1 on the right, which means that if it's White's turn, White can change the position to a 0, and if it's Black's turn, Black can change the position to a 1. Thus the following in the middle of a Go board might have value 1/2:

$$Wcm31
$$ X X X O
$$ X . . O
$$ X X X O

The great thing about surreal numbers is that since they're numbers, you can add them. Adding them corresponds to having situations in distinct parts of the Go board. Then you can see what the whole game's worth (i.e., how much Black will win by). Of course, this is only practical in the endgame. See this Sensei's page for an example of a situation worth -10 31/32. And check out this pdf or this book by Knuth to get an introduction to surreal numbers.

And Games

When we throw away the condition that "each number in the left set is less than each number in the right set," and just let anything at all that was previously defined show up in either set, we get things such as

* = {0|0}

where the situation is not technically zero, but either White or Black can move to a position where the situation is zero. For instance, * is the value of a draw with one dame left in a ruleset where we are obligated to fill in dame.

Everything that we obtain in this way is called a game. Notice that then  Conway's book On Numbers and Games uses "number" to mean surreal number, and "game" to mean this. Follow the links on The Sensei's page on Combinatorial Game Theory to find out more specifics.

The Main Results

I would have to say the "elimination of dominated and reversible options" is one of the main results within combinatorial game theory applicable to Go. Pages 17-19 of this paper by Brit C. A. Milvang-Jensen explain it well. Unfortunately, as the Sensei's page on Canonical Form points out, the fact that a certain position may count as a ko threat may be lost when we eliminate dominated and reversible options, so the application of the result is not formally straightforward.

The most salient concept from combinatorial game theory in Go is probably that of temperature, or miai value, and cooling. Temperature is how much more Black would gain from playing in a position than from passing, and cooling is a method of reckoning in which one imagines having to pay a tax of a certain number of prisoners for the privilege of playing in a certain position.

The most thorough book on mathematical Go is probably Mathematical Go: Chilling Gets the Last Point by Berlekamp and Wolfe. This Sensei's page about it includes an example of a situation to which it's easy to apply the theory if you know it well, but professional 9-dans may puzzle over it to no avail.


How to effectively moderate an ultimate werewolf game?

I had a fantastic time being a first time moderator/first time playing with a decent number of people, so I would like to answer my own question as I learned a lot from the experience.

Choosing Roles

There were 10 people, including myself. No one had played Werewolf before (or even Mafia) except me. I thought it would be best to start simple, so the roles I included were:

1 Seer
1 Bodyguard
1 Cupid
3 Werewolves
3 Villagers
last person was moderator

Moderator Duties

Best best thing to do is to be really animated when being the moderator, and actually try to tell a story. Even simple things like a more dramatic tone made the game more fun. To that end, I also had people go around and introduce themselves as a "villager" with a medieval job of their choice.

As a first time moderator, I used a notepad with a simple symbol based seating chart just to remember who was who, and who was dead.

Keeping a strict time limit on the day cycle was also important, as it ensured the "dead" people wouldn't have to sit by with nothing to do, although they found it extremely entertaining just to watch.

After people learned the game, they were eager to moderate as well, and that made the game more fun because everyone brought something interesting to the role.

Setting

In addition, it helped to play in a social setting, with drinks at a bar (I picked a large biergarten with picnic table style tables) because it made people more relaxed and more willing to "buy into" the story and ridiculous scenarios.

Also, it solved the problem of people being "dead". They could just order another beer and laugh at the villagers' flailing attempts to find the wolves.


What happens to a spell if an oppenent runs out of mana while casting it?

That's impossible. There is no chance to use spend mana between the point where you start casting the spell and the point where you pay for it.[1]

  but in response I played Twiddle and tapped one of his lands.

"In response to" means "after it has been cast but before it resolves". When Ghor Clan Rampager is cast, the lands have already been tapped and the mana has already been produced.[1]

(Or did you mean in response to activating the land's ability? One cannot do anything in response to activating a mana source as it does not use the stack.)

You would have to cast Twiddle before he casts Ghor Clan Rampager (which means before he even mentions he's going to cast it), but then he could just tap the land for mana in response to you casting Twiddle, so it would have no effect.

Notes:

The steps to casting a spell or activating an ability are:

601.2a) Place card on stack.
601.2b-d) Make choices, including targets.
601.2e) Determine total cost.
601.2f) Activate mana abilities.
601.2g) Pay the previously determined cost.


Why couldn't I win in this situation with ron?

In order to win with ron or tsumo, your hand needs to have a yaku, in addition to having four sets and a pair (except for 7 pairs and 13 orphans hands). You can think of yaku as a specific pattern in the hand or a specific way to complete the hand. For example, tanyao requires that all of your tiles are numbered tiles between 2-8 (inclusive). Dora does not count as yaku.

Not directly related but you might run into this issue sooner or later: another requirement for winning with ron is that you must not be in furiten. There are three types of furiten and they are a bit complicated, so I will let you read about it from your favorite rule guide. Note that furiten never affects your ability to win by tsumo.


Why do some board games have long-lasting appeal?

I agree with Lo'oris' argument that most older well known games are still widespread mostly because they already are everywhere. How many people go out and buy chess boards compared to the number of people who simply have them around from previous generations?

I think there are some additional aspects:

Simplicity

In my experience games need a good balance between complexity and depth in order to be popular. Basically the ratio of options a player has divided by the amount of rules he has to learn. A lot of games that are popular in our family are relatively easy to learn but offer a lot of possibilities in comparison. This can be illustrated especially well with games that are in very similar but somehow one of them just feels better. Compare Pachisi and Dog/Tock. The have the exact same basic concept — move your pieces around the board one time and get into the safe haven. But in all the groups I've played in Dog/Tock has completely displaced all other Pachisi variants because with a few additional rules it has become a much more interesting game.

Uniqueness

Most modern boardgames aim to produce a specific atmosphere or experience that is perhaps unusual for the players — a feeling they would otherwise not have. With so many games out there a lot of times games can feel similar to each other. There are countless games where you throw dice, move along a path and do something according to the field you landed on — nothing special. And then there are games that somehow manage to capture something special. For example Pandemic expertly captures the rush of working together against an overwhelming threat, Bohnanza produces an intense trading atmosphere, and games like Werewolves or Battlestar Galactica allow people to play out their mischievous and paranoid traits.

Whenever a game is released that succeeds with a good combination of these two (and maybe other) aspects then it is likely to become quite popular. Of course others will try to copy and improve that mixture. Some will fail but others will eventually succeed. At that point a battle will take place between the improved qualities of the newer game and the established following of the older one.


If both players have Boros Battleshaper, can I cancel out my opponent's ability with mine?

No. If you tried, then the creature would have both “blocks this combat if able” and “can’t block this combat”. The latter would win. First off, the first one says “if able”, and it isn’t able. A tapped creature wouldn’t be able to block for the same reason.
Second, even if it didn’t say “if able”, it wouldn’t matter because “can’t” always wins.

The Magic Golden Rules

101.2. When a rule or effect allows or directs something to happen, and another effect states that it can’t happen, the “can’t” effect takes precedence.


Dominion Money Purchasing When Actions Lacking

The answer, of course, is it depends. It depends on what's out there and where your deck is going. As a general rule of thumb, buy more money than you think you'll need. It's rare to draw a hand full of silvers mutter a curse under your breath. Don't open not buying treasure or a money-producing card without good reason.

There's two issues tied up in this: making sure you have enough money to buy more/bigger cards later, and keeping the odds low of "collisions" of terminal actions so you can only use one. Buying a balance of action cards and treasure cards helps with both, but how much to buy depends on the specific action cards you're getting.

I try to create an overall strategy for the particular kingdom deck, and then try to get that deck working as quickly as possible. If you want several $3 or $4 card in your final deck, sure start buying them, but make sure you build the buying power to get the more expensive cards you want. Especially if you'll have extra buys (from Market, Goons, etc.) it's easy to pick up the small cards later. However, without Silver you might not get the big ones in time.

Some illustrative examples:

Village is a terrible buy before you have other actions. The point of village is to play 2 actions after it; if you only play one action after it having a silver would have been better. In most cases, I don't buy Village until I have a couple of terminal actions already. Great Hall is even worse, the only reason to buy a Great Hall early on is if you're going for a combo that it helps (e.g. Conspirator), but even then a first turn silver will probably help you more.

A card like Watchtower, on the other hand, can speed up your opening with it's card draw, and it mitigates the harm from collision with the ability to topdeck new buys, so Watchtower could work with another terminal or with money.

If there's a $5 or $6 card that you want to get ASAP (Witch, Mountebank, Goons), it might make sense to open Silver/Silver, though a Smithy or Watchtower could be just as effective. And an early Gold will help you buy those more expensive actions (and more Gold) for the rest of the game.

Caravan comes to mind as a card that doesn't produce money but I'll usually buy it whenever I hit $4 until there aren't any left.

Chapel is a great card and is most effective when bought before the first shuffle, but it needs to be paired with something that produces money so you can get rid of those coppers fast, which means Silver if nothing else is available. (This one probably has a lot of exceptions, Chapel/$5 attack card could be good, or Chapel/Wharf would be nice.)


Does Admin Privilege allow you to set your robot to any priority level?

Priority is based on proximity to the Radar Antenna ... only one robot has priority at a time, and the robot with priority is the one that moves. Admin Privileges lets you gain priority at any time, so you can go earlier in the turn, but you can not go later in the turn than when your robots priority should occur.

C|Spin|Zoom|Hammer

If C is the Antenna, and you are Zoom bot, Admin Privs would let you go before Spin bot, but not after Hammer bot.


From Wikipedia's List of patience (i.e. solitaire) games, there are three that I could find with a triangular layout, plus one with three triangles, that might be the one you're thinking of:

Pyramid
Bowling
Tree Solitaire
Tri Peaks

I'm going to guess Pyramid, since I believe it's more well-known than Bowling or Tree.


At the BGG website the various versions of the Aggravation game are listed on the following webpage:

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2272/aggravation/versions

Although Wikipedia states "Aggravation ... was first produced in 1960 by CO-5 Company," the first BGG version is listed as being produced (published in BGG lingo) in 1962. BGG lists two versions by CO-5 Company for 1962, one of which was for 6 players. There is also a Canadian version published in 1962.

4 player version for 1962
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameversion/33017/co-5-square-box-edition

6 player version for 1962
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameversion/33015/co-5-edition-1962
Clicking on the picture shows that version with a pair of white dice.

Does this information answer your question?


Various sites (e.g., rummyculture) list rummy variants with jokers, but not Gin Rummy specifically. But the rules could be adapted directly. Suggested set of rules:

Jokers are worth 30, as in most versions of Rummikub
Discarded jokers cannot be picked up from the discard pile (optional)
Jokers can be used in sets or runs, but not to make a 5-card set (the "missing" card must be one that exists).


Can you choose the role with the "New Assignment" event?

You can play it on any player (not just yourself) at any time.  That one player is then allowed to choose a specific role from the available ones.

The thread here has the game's designer clarifying that it is intended to only affect a single player.  He doesn't specifically comment about choosing versus random, but since earlier people mention choosing and he doesn't correct them, it seems this is the correct interpretation.

This makes the card quite powerful, but choosing a random role would be too weak (you're just as likely to get something less suited to your current situation), and allowing everyone to switch roles would be ridiculously overpowered.


You can untap Leech Bonder this way because the untapping is not occurring as part of the untap phase, which is what Leaden Fists is preventing.

That is, Leaden Fists is preventing the "normal" untap, not an activated ability untap.


Can the Wrack offer an impossible deal? Can the offer change?

First, let's make sure we are using the actual Eon texts (the ones given in another answer here are not the originals, as evidenced by the references to "ships" and "encounters"). Here are the originals:

You have the power to torture. As the offensive or defensive player, after alliances are formed, you may describe to your opponent a deal (see rules). If he refuses it you may torture him once for every token you have in the challenge. On each torture you put any one of his tokens into the warp, or one of his cards (drawn at random) into the discard pile. If at any time he accepts the deal, stop the torture and conclude the arrangement. If he never accepts, you have lost the challenge and he has won. Follow through with the outcome normally. If initially you elect not to torture, proceed with the challenge normally.
Super: You may stop torturing at any time before your limit is reached and continue with the challenge normally.

To answer your questions:

Nothing here says the deal has to be reasonable, or known to be possible. Wrack is not the Mind, so how could he even know with any certainty which deals are possible and which ones are not? While it might be easy to think that it's "unfair" for Wrack to dictate an impossible deal, this is not actually a problem. It's important to remember that if the opponent does not, or can not, accept the deal, then Wrack loses. He loses the challenge, loses his tokens, and (if he is the offense) loses the rest of his turn. He even loses the chance to get rid of a bad challenge card. A Wrack who constantly offers impossible deals is not using his power optimally.

The torture is iterative, but this doesn't mean Wrack can change the terms. The guys at Future Pastimes did (and still do) enjoy designing aliens and writing game text to be as flavorful as possible. The reason Wrack tortures one token at a time and gives the opponent another chance to accept after each token is for theme, drama, and tension. The logical thing would be for the victim to make the decision immediately and either accept all or none of the torture, but it doesn't always go down that way, as we will see in a moment. The definitive answer to this question was given by designer/editor Jack Kittredge in Encounter magazine, volume 1 number 6, on page 10:

from Dr. Robert Destro, Willingboro, NJ:
I have a question about the Wrack. Can he change his deal between token removal? ...
Ed: ... No, the Wrack can't change his deal because if he could he would propose something horrendous the first few tortures, and then become more reasonable toward the end. It is up to him to come up with something reasonable to start with. Rationally, the victim should consider it and accept or reject it right away and live with the decision. But there is a certain pressure once you actually lose a token or two that is hard to take. You do want the torture to stop. So I've seen a few deals at first rejected but then accepted after a torture or two.

There's probably an element of salesmanship skill here, too. If you are the Wrack, ideally you want to propose a deal that is good for you, torture a token or two, and then have your deal accepted. Some taunting, threats, chiding, pointing out unpleasant realities etc. along the way could theoretically help that happen.


planeswalker- Kiora on the battlefield and played Hydra and creature gained 7, does the counters fall away when planeswalker die

No. Bioessence Hydra Has 2 abilities that grant counters. The first is a replacement effect that gives it counters as it enters the battlefield. It doesn’t do anything else after that. The second is a triggered ability that gives it counters when planeswalkers gain loyalty. It never causes you to lose counters though.

Counters always stay on a permanent unless a specific rule or ability says to remove them. Even though the number of counters here is initially based on the planeswalker’s loyalty; there is no rules connection between the planeswalker and the Hydra.


What is the original purpose of Bazaar of Baghdad?

You get to draw two cards. This (at the time of printing) was 5% of your deck. At worst case, the two you drew were not as good as what you had in your hand and you will get rid of them, and chances also are that you had one card you would be willing to get rid of, or at least would be worth the risk.
You get to discard AFTER drawing the two cards. If the two cards you drew were crap, you don't have to keep them. It would be much worse if it was {t}, discard three cards: draw two cards.
You don't have to draw the cards you drew later. Key to the design of magic is the ability to make a comeback win, and this comeback typically comes with a top-deck bomb. Sometimes there's only one or two cards in your deck that can allow you to win, and the rest of your cards are just to keep you alive until this bomb gets on the board. So in that sense, this card could be {t}: draw two cards, then discard cards from your hand until you have one card left in hand. and it would probably still be sought after for that purpose. (Actually, the dredge crowd would salivate over this card even more if it did that...)


He is correct.

"Helping" in combat is clearly defined as one and only one other player joining you in combat.

"Bonuses" are granted by Items (as can be seen from the James Bomb card FAQ entry), or the rule books example of Mace of Sharpness or a Race as in the Warrior ability below. For example, the Pretty Ballons grant a +5 bonus to either the Monster side, or the Player side.

From the Munchkin FAQ:

  Playing/using a one-shot Item during a combat that aids the munchkins (and not the monsters) does not constitute "helping" in combat, as described in the rules. This means that in any given combat, any number of players can play cards to aid or hinder either side as often as they want, as long as they have the cards. Only one other player can actually join the combat as a helper, however.

  Q. Does a Psychic still get his +2 "fighting alone" combat bonus if he has a Sidekick?
  A. Yes. Sidekicks are okay. A Doppleganger is OK. And if another player throws a grenade or something to hurt the monster and assist you, you don't lose your bonus. It's only when another player joins the combat as your helper that you lose your bonus.

  Q. James Bomb says to fight him with only my Level and not my items. Can I use non-item bonuses in the combat, such as those given from trainings?
  A. That sentence should read "Level only, no items or other bonuses." So, no, your non-item bonuses would not count. (This is official errata.)

  If a Warrior had already discarded a card to get a +1 combat bonus, and then stopped being a Warrior, he would keep the bonus, but wouldn't be able to discard any more cards for the Warrior bonus.

From the Munchkin Rules:

  Anyone can carry any item, but some items have use restrictions: for instance, the Mace of Sharpnesscan only be wielded by a Cleric. Its bonus only counts for someone who is, at the moment, a Cleric.

  To fight a monster, compare its combat strength to yours. Combat strength is the total of Level plus all modifiers – positive or negative – given by items and other cards.


Can you use the Abort Switch option after seeing the other players' cards for that register?

It's not 100% clear, but I'd say yes, you can see the other players' cards.

The rules explicitly say that everyone reveals their cards at the same time, so if you reveal a card, everyone else's are visible too. (I'd probably try to avoid spending much time looking around at everyone else's moves and figuring out conveyor belts and so on, though!)


Shipwreck Singer: When can the first ability be activated?

"Attacks this turn if able" means: when the Attack phase comes around, if that creature is able to attack, it must. That doesn't come with an obligation to leave it able to attack, though, and your opponent may rightly wish to do something that leaves that creature unable to attack.

Your opponent can use Manaweft's Sliver ability. Then, when the Attack phase comes around, Manaweft Sliver won't be able to attack, and won't do so.


Caller of the Pack and Counter Placement

The copies are 8/6 because it's the printed values[1] that are copied.

706.2. When copying an object, the copy acquires the copiable values of the original object’s characteristics and, for an object on the stack, choices made when casting or activating it (mode, targets, the value of X, whether it was kicked, how it will affect multiple targets, and so on). The “copiable values” are the values derived from the text printed on the object (that text being name, mana cost, color indicator, card type, subtype, supertype, rules text, power, toughness, and/or loyalty), as modified by other copy effects, by its face-down status, and by “as . . . enters the battlefield” and “as . . . is turned face up” abilities that set power and toughness (and may also set additional characteristics). Other effects (including type-changing and text-changing effects), status, and counters are not copied.

If the continuous effect that's boosting the original's power and toughness is from a static ability, and if the copies match the criteria for getting the boost, then (and only then) will they get a boost.
For example, power- and toughness-modifying counters only affect the permanent on which they reside, so they wouldn't affect the copies.
For example, Gaea's Anthem would affect the copies, but a previously cast Marshaling Cry would not.

611.2c If a continuous effect generated by the resolution of a spell or ability modifies the characteristics or changes the controller of any objects, the set of objects it affects is determined when that continuous effect begins. After that point, the set won’t change. (Note that this works differently than a continuous effect from a static ability.) [...]
611.3a A continuous effect generated by a static ability isn’t “locked in”; it applies at any given moment to whatever its text indicates.
611.3b The effect applies at all times that the permanent generating it is on the battlefield or the object generating it is in the appropriate zone.

For cards, this refers to the values in Gatherer if they differ from the values actually printed on the card. For tokens, it refers to the values given to it when it was created.


The problem was that I ran it directly from the page: https://www.gokgs.com/applet.jsp - this doesn't allow to change the language (options are reduced).

Once I downloaded and installed CGoban3 at my computer (https://www.gokgs.com/download.jsp), it works as expected and I can change the language.


What are all the previous Oracle text revisions for Time Vault?

According to MtG Goldfish the different erratas of Time Vault are as follows.

1993, the original printing:

  Tap to gain an additional turn after the current one. Time Vault doesn't untap normally during untap phase; to untap it, you must skip a turn. Time Vault begins tapped.

1996, made some power level errata to make it go from broken to useless:

  Does not untap as normal. If Time Vault is tapped and does not have a time counter, you may skip your turn to untap Time Vault and put a time counter on it. {tap}: Remove the time counter from Time Vault to take an additional turn immediately before the next normal turn.

1998 & 2004, edited the template to match current rules. (this is the 2004 text):

  Time Vault comes into play tapped.
  Time Vault doesn't untap during your untap step.
  Skip your next turn: Untap time vault and put a time counter on it.
  {T}, Remove all time counters from Time Vault: Take an extra turn after this one. Play this ability if only there's a time counter on Time Vault.

March 2006, to stop an unintended combo with  Flame Fusillade abusing unlimited untaps:

  Time Vault comes into play tapped.
  Time Vault doesn't untap during your untap step.
  At the beginning of your upkeep you may untap Time Vault. If you do put a time counter on it and you skip your next turn.
  {T} Remove all time counters from Time Vault: Take an extra turn after this one. Play this ability only if there's a time counter on Time Vault.

July 2006, as far as I can tell there isn't a reason for this eratta (other than bad Mizzium Transreliquat combos):

  Time Vault comes into play tapped.
  If Time Vault would become untapped, instead choose one -- untap Time Vault and you skip your next turn or Time Vault remains tapped.
  {T}: Take an extra turn after this one.

2008, Wizards finally decides to remove all power level errata and returns Time Vault to its original functionality just with an updated template:

  Time Vault enters the Battlefield tapped.
  Time Vault doesn't untap during your untap step.
  If you would begin your turn while Time Vault is tapped, you may skip that turn instead. If you do, untap Time Vault.
  {T}: Take an extra turn after this one.


Let's check the Hasbro rules (http://scrabble.hasbro.com).
It's not verbose but it can be inferred from the text.
Rules are different for the first play and for subsequent plays.
Bold is mine.

  The first player combines two or more of his or her letters to form a word and [...].

Note that the rules for the first play say to form "a word", not "words". So one word is inferred.

  Play passes to the left. The second player, and then each in turn, adds one or more letteres to those already played to form new words.
  All letters played on a turn must be placed in one row across or down
  the board, to form at least one complete word. If, at the same time,
  they touch other letters in adjacent rows, those must also form
  complete words, crossword fashion, with all such letters. The player
  gets full credit for all words formed or modified on his or her turn.

Note that letters must be placed in one row to form a "complete word", "crossword fashion". So it's not explicit but to form complete words in crossword fashion seems to imply that subsets of words are not allowed (in crosswords each row across or down is a single word).


What is the current state of the art in hearts AI?

Update based on your comment: I gather that you are more interested in research than making a game. In that case I'll point you to a couple of papers that might be helpful. This paper talks about what makes Go a unique challenge, and the introduction has a quote (and some references) you might find useful:

  Minimax search variants are particu-
  larly effective in Chess, Checkers, Othello and Backgammon, whereas Monte-Carlo simulation has proven most successful in Scrabble and Hearts.

Regarding hearts, the reference is to this paper which is unfortunately not free but maybe you have access through an employer or university.

I hope that helps. I still recommend the programmers.SE question I linked below; there's some good discussion there about Monte-Carlo methods as they relate to card games.

State of the art? Maybe Deep Mind. It's a general purpose AI that seems to excel at a great many games. Not sure if it's been applied to hearts, but I don't see why it couldn't be.

Realistically? Maybe Monte Carlo. You can read some discussion of it here: https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/213870/best-techniques-for-an-ai-of-a-card-game

If you want to make a Hearts game, as opposed to an AI research topic, remember this: Games are supposed to be fun. An AI that could beat practically any human player wouldn't be fun for practically any human players. Fun AI is what Søren Johnson focused on for Civilization IV, and he has some good thoughts on it in this video. Furthermore, it's usually easier to develop an AI that's kinda smart that one that's really really smart.


How to successfully store games on edge?

I've also been trying to fit more board games in less space recently.  Some notes so far:

The modern medium-square-box style of game works fine on the side in a bookcase; e.g. pretty much anything by Fantasy Flight or Days of Wonder.  Catan and similar smaller boxes will work OK even on their end.
Old-style flat/thin boxes (Monopoly etc.) really don't side-stack well.  (But frankly, they're also often inferior to modern game designs, so I don't mind leaving them at the bottom of a pile.)   Other games pile really well sideways on top of a Monopoly box.  If you're strong: Monopoly and Clue can go at the bottom, be pulled out sideways, and then the one you didn't play be lifted up along with all games on top of it to slide your chosen game back in underneath.
A lot of older games have bigger boxes than they need.  If you don't care about resale value, your Monopoly and Clue sets will fit just fine in the Monopoly box.  (If you're not bothered at all by losing the boxes, consider just getting a bunch of clear plastic boxes which do stack and repacking all your games in them.  Add some sticky labels on the sides and you're done.)
In limited space, start by packing the biggest games in a corner first, then work outward.  This makes the larger games less accessible - but they're often also the longest, least-often-played.
If rubber bands aren't working for you, try a long strip of velcro fastener... usually comes in the form of a long fuzzy strip with velcro on the end.  It'll wrap around the box and seal to itself.
If you play any small pub card games (e.g. anything by Cheapass or Looney Labs), get a single case you can carry easily to fit them all in.

(I've got all my small card games and Icehouse pieces packed in a single old vanity case.  Not only compact, but easy to take to the pub.)

My hints on internal organisation of the games:

Plastic baggies are OK for games with few counters, but clumsy for many.  Any craft shop will carry subdivided plastic trays in various sizes, intended for storing beads and the like.  They work very well for storing counters.

(For example, my Galactica set has the boards underneath with a plastic box on top with all counters and pieces divided by type, and the decks of cards lying rubber-banded alongside.  All expansions fit neatly in the original box and we don't have to sort out the pieces before play, just take out the storage box and leave it by the board.)

Card decks rubber-band just fine.  (Leave a couple of spare rubber bands in the game box for those moments when they snap.)
Consider preferring games with good storage trays built in!  (Small World and Dominion spring to mind.)


Which expansion to get for BSG Board game?

The rules for both variants are available at FFG's site, so you can read them for the full details.  Both expansions contain an "alternate ending" which can replace the Kobol objective, kicking in when the fleet jumps to distance 7. Both have new character and skill cards.  Both expansions include the possibility that characters will be executed, not just brigged - it's a bigger feature in Pegasus.

Summary first, then discussion:

Pegasus

In general, this expansion adds a lot of "tweaks" to the gameplay; once you've got it, you'll probably use most of the new rules every game.

New characters: Admiral Cain, Ellen Tigh, Kat, Dee.
New cards: Lots of new and interesting crises, and most of the new skill cards are in this set.  There are an additional 1,2,3,4, and 5 card for each skill deck, with some useful new powers.  Compensating for this is the new "Treachery" skill, which only goes from 1-3 but is always negative, and has special text only usable by cylons.  Unfortunately it's not safe to discard either, as some booby-trap Treachery cards can hurt the humans if you do...  Anyone drawing treachery is good news for the cylons.  (And some new crises can force you to draw treachery.)
Major new rule: Pegasus.  The humans get an extra battlestar board with four new locations.  This gives the humans more effective guns against raider swarms, and another way to hurry up jumps.  It also adds the lethal "airlock" location - don't want to try to brig that suspect?  Just kill them!  Of course, a good cylon player can con people into executing other humans...

(This variant makes "destroy Galactica due to damage" cylon win nearly impossible, because the humans can soak 4 extra hits on Pegasus if need be.)

Minor variant: Cylon Leaders: Cavil, Leoben, Caprica Six.  These are playable characters, replacing one cylon loyalty card.  Effectively, they work like revealed cylons from the start, but can "infiltrate" and rejoin Galactica, playing cards as human crew.  They draw an "agenda" describing which team they have to support to win, but it also has a limitation - they mustn't win by too much.

(The idea was to replace the uncertainty of "I don't know who's a cylon" with "I don't know which side the cylon is on".  In practice implementation isn't perfect, and this variant reduces the uncertainty.)

Variant ending: New Caprica.  Instead of ending after a jump from distance 8, at distance 7 the fleet lands on a "New Caprica" board and is occupied.  They then have to take actions to release the civilian ships from lockup while waiting for Galactica to jump back, then defend them while evacuating.  Crises are drawn from a new deck of 'during the occupation' crises.

(This definitely favours the cylons, as it's harder than just making one extra fleet jump.  If the change from 8 to 7 even saved you one.  However, it's hardest if fleet attacks have been light, because there's more civilian ships left to protect, so it evens out a bit.)

Exodus

Fewer tweaks to the game, but several major new variants.

New characters: Sam Anders, Tory, Gaeta, Cally.
New skill cards: Some 0 cards for each deck, which have some other effect on the skill check when played.  (e.g. the 0 Tactics causes two extra Destiny cards to be played in.)  One 6 card for each deck, with special text so good you want to play it for that instead of the 6. (For example, Engineering 6 can be used to build a new nuke.)
New crisis cards: A lot of interesting crises that play off the new rules.  There are no new fleet attacks, so if you don't play the Cylon Fleet variant, you'll be sharply reducing the proportion of fleet attacks in the deck if you use them.
Major variant: Cylon Fleet.  There are no fleet attacks.  Instead, cylons build up forces on their own fleet board with it's own jump track.  When the cylons jump, they arrive en masse on the main board.  When the fleet jumps, surviving cylons move back to their board to build up for next time, but civilian ships are not removed.  They can be escorted off by vipers instead, but that uses up precious actions.  Humans get an extra title, CAG, which helps command unmanned fighters, as well as some better Vipers.

(This evens out the randomness of fleet attacks, but with competent cylons can make the buildup of raiders harder to deal with in the endgame... by the end most of the civilian fleet could be on the board.  Works better when used in conjunction with the Pegasus; otherwise the humans can be a touch outgunned.  You will need your nukes.)

Variant ending: Ionian Nebula.  This changes the game by making much more use of the cast of characters.  As well as the characters in play, you have random extra characters all over the ship, and a limited supply of "Trauma" tokens used to decide whether they do good or bad things when encountered.  At distance 7 you enter the Nebula and there's an extra round of personal crises (an extra random dilemma to face) and possibly executions, depending on how well you've done at getting rid of your 'bad' counters.

(So this variant emphasizes character interaction more, and gives you a whole new set of possible suspicious behaviours to indulge in.  Properly managed by humans it can result in a lot of extra fleet bonuses... but needn't.)

Minor variants: Conflicted Loyalties / Final Five.  Characters have additional personal goals that they have to accomplish to win.  Final Five Cylons, if used, also go in the "Not a Cylon" loyalty slots - they count as being on the human side and work like humans, but they make it much less safe to use 'peek at loyalty card' abilities.

(This variant makes life much harder for the humans, as they're wasting resources and suspicion dealing with extra side issues.)

Decision Notes

There's plenty to like in both sets. Which is "better" depends a bit on what you like most about Galactica, and especially on what you like least.

If you like the treachery/uncertainty, but play 4 or 6 player and think the weak "Cylon sympathiser" mechanic is a major flaw, get Pegasus.
If you dislike the random distribution of fleet attacks, and want to avoid games where there are very few or very many, get Exodus.
If you think the series cast should appear more, get Exodus.
If you don't play often, you'll get more out of Pegasus, as Exodus has fewer 'every game' rules changes and more major variants.


Something that only happens every X turns

I'm no game designer, so this is just off the top of my head:

I'd try and tie it to a mechanic that already exists in the game and which the players can't avoid, or at least get a obvious (maybe short term) advantage from, so it's unlikely to for them to forget.

Examples:

Each player gets 5 cards at the start of the game and must play one each turn. When everyone has no cards left, execute Brazening and everyone draws 5 new cards.
A pool of 5 times number of players tokens in it, and at the start of their turn a player must take a token and do something with it. When the pool is empty, it's time to Brazen and then refill the pool.

What kind of actions do the players take in your game? Maybe if you roughly describe the mechanics, we could find a simple may to modify them.


I've never seen odds and evens played in real life, but I have seen it several times presented in media. It appears to be a reasonably common method of resolving disputes, similar to rock-paper-scissors, with the advantage of draws being less of an issue. It does have the disadvantage, however, of the different options being less distinct; it is easier to switch two fingers into three as you see what your opponent is doing, than it is to switch paper into rock.


Understanding the rules of Knock-out Whist

Q: Trump suit here means that even if the category of the card is lowest, it will be considered higher than ACE too?

A. Yes. By category, you mean Rank.  Any card in the Trump suit is stronger than any non-trump suit card.

Q: What is the "first trick"? What is the meaning of "card may be led"?

A. in a trick each player play 1 card.  The stronger of the 4 cards wins the trick.  Leading the trick is the first card in the trick

Q: What is the meaning of "discarding or trumping"?

A. Players must follow the leading suit, however when they don't have that suit in their hand they can either play another non-trump suit and lose that trick for sure (discarding) or play a trump card (trumping)

Q: "unless a trump is played" - What is the trump in this case?

  one card is turned up to indicate that its suit is the trump suit for
  the first round

Q: What is a hand?
A. the cards a player is holding

Q: What is the meaning of "player who took no tricks"?
A. player that didn't win any trick when the round is over (all cards in hands where played).

Those are general Trick-Taking-Game questions.  I would start by reading the rules of simpler trick-taking card games like Whist and Spades, see https://www.pagat.com/whist/whist.html


In Vinci, the original game that Small World is based on, VPs are open.  In that game it can lead to end game kingmaker effects where a player can't possibly win, but can decide who does win based on who they attack.  With hidden VPs, the kingmaker effect is still there but its less obvious, as players who aren't precisely tracking every VP won't know when a particular attack will make a difference of who wins.


Can cards turned face-down by Ixidron be turned face up again?

Yes, you can.
It doesn't matter how a creature got turned face-down. All morph cares about is that the creature is indeed face-down. Face-down is a status like e.g. tapped/untapped.

110.6. A permanent’s status is its physical state. There are four status categories, each of which has two possible values: tapped/untapped, flipped/unflipped, face up/face down, and phased in/phased out. Each permanent always has one of these values for each of these categories.
702.36a Morph is a static ability that functions in any zone from which you could play the card it’s on, and the morph effect works any time the card is face down. [..]


How to encourage stealing of gifts in a white elephant gift exchange?

That's simple. Get two secret gifts worth at least as much as the exchange. At the end of the exchange, everyone votes for the most devious steal. Both the thief and the victim get one of the surprise gifts.

And great times were had by all!


How can I play a short/small, but still satisfying round of Diplomacy?

You probably need an odd number of players, say five, to make the game flow with a majority vs. a minority dynamic.

Second, you need to choose two countries to eliminate. Italy is the obvious first choice, least fun to play. Germany is the recommended second choice by the game designers. But that has the disadvantage of separating the board into England-France, and Russia-Turkey-Austria. In a game I once played, we eliminated Turkey, instead, as not really being part of Europe. It had the advantages of keeping the countries connected, and of making Austria fun to play with two fewer enemies. The game itself goes faster with two fewer people.

You put single armies in each city of these eliminated countries, and let human players defend these "city states" by supporting them.

The other rule is that a "minority-majority" wins. That is two people (a minority of five) can declare themselves co-winners if they control 18 (a majority) of the 34 supply centers. Not needing a single winner shortens the game. Alternatively, anyone that survives the whole three hours is a "winner."

In this game, Austria and Russia won. They carved up Turkey and the Balkans, then headed west, while England, France and Germany fought among themselves. Not hard for them to get 18. And the game lasted just over three hours.


They mean (infected) since the game is about infectious diseases (viruses probably, but possibly also bacteria), not physically ill such to induce vomitting. Long term conditions such as diabetes, heart conditions, or alcoholism are not what they are referring to.

It doesn't actually matter who goes first (because of the games co-operative nature), unless the cards that each person has in hand is open information to other players.


sacred mesa and activated abilities between untap and upkeep

Simple Answer
You can save Sacred Mesa by creating a Pegasus in response to Sacred Mesa's triggered ability.
Detailed Answer
Strictly speaking, you can't create a Pegasus between your untap step and your upkeep step because you don't have an opportunity to do so. The beginning of your turn has the following sequence of events:

Your untap step:

You untap your permanents

Your upkeep step:

Abilities that trigger at the beginning of the upkeep go on the stack
You gain priority.

You can only cast spells and activate abilities when you have priority, so the first opportunity to do so is during your upkeep, when the ability is on the stack though. This still lets you save your Mesa, though, because you can respond to the triggered ability by activating Mesa's activated ability. Because the activated ability went on the stack last, it will resolve first, and you will have your Pegasus before you need to sacrifice one.


In chess, what is the name for the tactics when a piece makes an attack by itself but also opens line(s) of attack for a friendly piece(s)?

The tactic in which one piece moves out of the way of a second so that the second can attack is called a discovered attack (and more specifically a discovered check if it results in check). The piece which moves may or may not move to a position to mount its own attack -- I'm not sure if there's a term for the specific case in which the piece that moves does mount an attack by itself.

You're correct that it's not a fork, which occurs when one piece simultaneously makes two or more attacks. Here you have two attacks but by two different pieces.


Can an investigator carry more than one weapon?

From the Attack Action section on page 9:

  Attacking a monster is a common action investigators perform. The
  player selects one of his weapon or attack Spell cards and chooses
  a monster as dictated on the card. Alternatively, an investigator
  may attack a monster in his space using his bare hands.

So an investigator is allowed to possess multiple weapon cards.


What are good resources or techniques to improve one's offence or finishing game?

Get a book of checkmate problems, and go through the whole thing.  Then find another, and do the same thing.  When you are done, you will have no problem attacking.

Once your feel comfortable with simpler checkmate problems, get a book of general problems.  After all, in a real game, not every move is forced checkmate :) One of my favorites (which is extremely challenging) is Winning Chess Tactics Illustrated by I.A. Horowitz.
Another very good site for these is chesstempo.com, which will adjust the difficulty of the problems it shows you based on how well you do.

After you get a bit better (after, say, 5000 problems), if you are still interested in improving your attacking skills, I highly recommend Vladimir Vukovic's book Art of Attack in Chess.  Also, study the games of World Champions Tal and especially Alekhine, widely considered to be the greatest attackers of all time.


How does the double strike mechanic interact with other mechanics like lifelink or trample?

I think the answer to this is actually not as complicated as first appears.  (I'm assuming you  aren't confused about what happens when a trampling, lifelink creature without double strike gets blocked.)  It all hinges off the following simple (ish) rule for resolving trample:

  702.18c If an attacking creature with trample is blocked, but there are no creatures blocking it when damage is assigned, all its damage
  is assigned to the player or planeswalker it's attacking.

Recall that a double striker deals damage in both the first strike combat damage step, and the normal combat damage step.  Now, it may very well be that the blocking creature was dealt lethal damage in the first strike combat damage (and some trample damage may additionally have carried over to the defending player).  In this case,  the blocker is in the graveyard by the time of the normal combat damage step, but, crucially, this doesn't mean that this damage step doesn't happen.

If the double striker didn't have trample, then the normal combat damage step would be basically irrelevant: the double striker still counts as having been blocked, and blocked creatures deal no damage to the defending player. ETA: Additionally, the dead blocker is no longer in combat to take more damage (which may be important if the attacking creature had lifelink). However, tramplers can deal damage to defending players; in fact, any amount of damage that isn't "soaked up" by a defending creature.  Which in this case is all the damage dealt in the normal combat damage step, as the defending creature isn't around to soak up anything.  As suggested by Rule 702.18c.

The lifelink is a bit of a side issue, I feel: it doesn't change anything in regards to the double strike or trample.   It just gives an equal amount of life to the creature's controller to the damage that creature deals, in either combat damage step, and whether that damage is to a blocking creature or a defending player!

So, yes, your interpretation is ultimately correct, I'd say!


Yes.  The relevant part of Mimic Vat's text reads:

  Put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of the exiled card. It gains haste. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step.

The text clearly tells you to exile the token that the Vat created regardless of whether it's a creature or not.  If a Licid token becomes an enchantment, it is still the same object and thus still the same token, and so the Vat's delayed triggered ability will still find it and exile it at the next end step.


Can two investigators trade the same spells?

Page 12 on the rules Reference Guide:

  As an action, an investigator can trade any number of possessions with another investigator on his space.  The two investigators may freely give any number of possessions to the other, as long as both investigators agree to this trade.

It's basically telling us that you can trade as many items as you want.  And since each spell is their own piece of cardboard, you can go ahead and trade those back and forth, since there's nothing that says you can't.  Hell, you could trade one clue token for another clue token, since nothing is stopping you.


Can a Pit Card Game be Won if two players refuse to trade with another particular player?

This is actually deceptively simple.  A full set includes every card of that type in the game.  If you possess a card in a specific set, then nobody else can complete that set.  If you possess cards from every set, then no set can be completed without trading with you.

The flip side is that if there is any set that you lack cards from, then that set can necessarily be completed without any trades to you.


What happens to the Capitol City during a Temporal Anomaly?

The Objective Location Card is unaffected.
The rules differentiate between regular Location cards, and the Objective Location card. (Page 2) Game Contents

35 Card Location Deck
1 Double-Sided Objective Location Card

You clearly cannot turn it over, since the rules tell you don't use the Historic Monument in the same game as the Capitol City (page 7).

(On the back side of this Objective Location card is the Historic Monument which can be used as an alternate Objective in later games once you have gotten a handle of the rules).


Does the first strike damage step happen even if no first strike damage is going to be dealt?

When a creature with First Strike or Doublestrike does combat, there will be a second combat damage step, whether or not that creature actually deals damage.

510.5. If at least one attacking or blocking creature has first strike (see rule 702.7) or double strike (see rule 702.4) as the combat damage step begins, the only creatures that assign combat damage in that step are those with first strike or double strike. After that step, instead of proceeding to the end of combat step, the phase gets a second combat damage step.

Nothing in that sentence indicates that one of these creatures has to be able to deal >= 1 damage for the second combat damage step to occur. The presence of "at least one attacking or blocking creature [having] first strike (see rule 702.7) or double strike (see rule 702.4) as the combat damage step begins" is the only condition for the consequences laid out in the rest of the rule. Also, "assigning" and "dealing" combat damage are two different things:

510.1. First, the active player announces how each attacking creature assigns its combat damage, then the defending player announces how each blocking creature assigns its combat damage. [..]
510.2. Second, all combat damage that’s been assigned is dealt simultaneously. [..]

If your suspicion were the case, even power-reducing effects like from Bewilder or damage-preventing effects like from Healing Salve, or any number of other effects that would result in no combat damage could prevent the second combat damage phase from happening, which appears even less plausible.


Dictate of Erebos and Undercity Informer stack question

You must pick another.

The Dictate's ability does not target, so the creature to sacrifice is chosen on resolution.

If you self-sacrifice the Informer in response to Dictate's ability, then it won't exist when the Dictate's ability resolves, so it won't be a valid pick for the Dictate's ability. You'll have to sacrifice a creature among the other ones you have (if any) when the Dictate's ability resolves.

If you wait for the Dictate's ability to resolve before doing anything, the Informer will no longer exist for you to activate its ability.

If the Dictate's ability targeted, the choice of creature to sacrifice would be made when the ability is placed on the stack, meaning you get a chance to respond after the choice is made. If the creature no longer exists when the ability is about to resolve (e.g. because you self-sacrificed it), the ability fizzles and you wouldn't have to sacrifice anything more.


Can you counter a spell with indestructible?

Yes, you can.
The entirety of the rules for indestructible is that a creature with indestructible cannot be destroyed:

702.12a Indestructible is a static ability.
702.12b A permanent with indestructible can’t be destroyed. Such permanents aren’t destroyed by lethal damage, and they ignore the state-based action that checks for lethal damage.

To destroy a permanent is not related to countering a spell in any way.
To get even more technical, the spell does not have indestructible until after it resolves and becomes a permanent:

112.6. Abilities of an instant or sorcery spell usually function only while that object is on the stack. Abilities of all other objects usually function only while that object is on the battlefield. The exceptions are as follows:

(None of the listed exceptions apply here).


That's right.  Just because the attack chart doesn't say what happens when Galactica attacks a raider or heavy raider, it doesn't mean galactica can't do it, just that the roll to hit is not different.  Blast away!


Your vehicle will return to the battlefield, uncrewed and not a creature.

The first part is because of rule 201.5:

  201.5. If an ability of an object uses a phrase such as “this [something]” to identify an object, where [something] is a characteristic, it is referring to that particular object, even if it isn’t the appropriate characteristic at the time.

Supernatural Stamina is using "this creature" as a flavorful alternative to "this object". :)

Meanwhile, it returns as an ordinary uncrewed vehicle because of rule 400.7:

  An object that moves from one zone to another becomes a new object with no memory of, or relation to, its previous existence. There are nine exceptions to this rule: [None of these exceptions apply here.]

Once it returns to the battlefield, it has absolutely nothing to do with the previous crewed vehicle object that was represented by that same card. It's a brand new vehicle.


How to reduce total screw-overs in Ticket to Ride so there's always a potential path toward victory?

In my opinion, there shouldn't "always be a potential path towards victory".  I've never found it a big problem to get my routes finished - though obstacles and impediments are often flung in my way!  There are a few things you should be doing to ensure that you always have the best chance of success, though:

(1) Obviously, don't overcommit.  Know how far 45 trains can actually get you.  Also, when calculating how many trains a route is going to take you, don't count up the optimum route.  Leave yourself plenty of wiggle room if a colour you were banking on doesn't become available... or worse, if another player starts building routes that you were planning on being the backbone of your strategy.

(2) Don't start building too soon!  My wife often does this, starts methodically building her cross-country route from point A, slowly and steadily towards point B.  This only succeeds in giving me plenty of warning where we are likely to come into conflict in the middle.  As such, I usually have plenty of time to save up for and grab those routes, she gets mightily teed off, and I get to sleep on the couch YET AGAIN.  But really, if she didn't telegraph her plans, I wouldn't find it so easy to thwart them!

Obviously, you can't fall too far behind the other players' builds, you don't want them to run out of trains way ahead of you.  But extra information is often a lot more valuable than being first out of the starting gate.

(3) Conversely, if a route really is essential to your plans, don't hesitate, grab it straight away.  This is particularly important in variants like Nordic Countries, where there are several key one-train routes linking the left and right halves of the board.  It's no accident that you get dealt some train cards BEFORE you have to choose which routes to take on; quite often I will only keep a route that relies on getting from one side of the board to the other if I have the right colour to snap up the link in my first turn.  Don't take risks on the really important stuff.

In general, I think you may be overvaluing routes.  Huge cross-country routes are worth a lot of points because they are hard to pull off without a hitch!  One of the players in my group has what I think is a possibly better, and certainly funnier strategy: she takes a few short, simple routes at the start of the game, that can't possibly give her any trouble.  She builds those and as many random obstructive long routes as she can, bringing the game to a speedy conclusion.  Very funny when this results in people getting -50 instead of +50 points, because all their destination tickets were too ambitious in the light of this playing style...

I know we've said "Ticket to Ride is a well-balanced game, don't mess with it", in response to your questions before, and you haven't really appreciated it, but I really do believe it.  There's more going on delicate-game-balance-wise than I think you appreciate, and I think you should try to learn to love it for a bit longer before you tamper with it!


That particular rule isn't particularly balanced, and is included for convenience. However, playing with fewer cards in hand also imbalances the game, as storytellers have fewer cards to choose from to come up with a good hint, and other players have fewer options to play in.

Turns as the storyteller aren't the same value as other turns either; the storyteller is probably more likely to get their 3 points, but other players stand to gain more points by misleading other players and guessing the card correctly.

One way to fix this is, as you mentioned, to reshuffle cards until everyone has had an equal number of turns. When I play, we agree to finish at the end of however many more rounds.

Additionally, if you have extra Dixit card packs, you probably don't want to keep playing until you run out of cards.


There are a lot of factors that need to be considered to make your deck competitive. I will address your concerns mainly in this answer though:

  "is it better not to have a variety of cards"

Yes in most cases your deck should have a direct purpose (decking your opponent with discard or mill spells/ burn for direct damage/ Ramp for big creatures and so on). To do this you need to take into consideration the synergy between the cards.  This means cards with the same effect or effects that compliment each other are majorly beneficial when creating a competitive deck. One example would be Pyromancer's Gauntlet in a burn deck then casting Lightning Bolt this is a synergy that gives you more direct damage to fire at your opponent.

  "is it easier to build a strategy when you decide to focus only on certain cards?"

It has become a sort of rule of thumb for a lot of players to stick with a "playset" of each card they want in their decks. A Playset is 4 cards of the same name. The purpose behind this is that if you have a combo that you want to build the deck around, or even if you want to be able to have access to a certain card a lot of the time, you would need to have the highest percentage of drawing that card possible. Having four cards of the same name gives you a 1 in 15 chance of drawing that card (with a standard 60 card deck). This also suggests that it is most effective to stick to the smallest deck possible of 60 cards.

Overall it comes with practice and an understanding of the game after playing many games and seeing other decks, you will learn where synergies are possible. it may also be best for you to look on deck builder sites such as Tappedout.net. this will let you browse decks without jumping blindly into a game.


Can I copy a spell that's in my graveyard?

No, because a card is a spell only while it's on the stack.

League Guildmage requires you to copy a spell, which is a certain kind of object:

  109.1. An object is an ability on the stack, a card, a copy of a card, a token, a spell, a permanent, or an emblem.

Spells only exist on the stack, which is the zone where spells and abilities remain until they resolve, are countered, or otherwise removed:

  111.1. A spell is a card on the stack. As the first step of being cast (see rule 601, “Casting Spells”), the card becomes a spell and is moved to the top of the stack from the zone it was in, which is usually its owner’s hand. (See rule 405, “Stack.”) A spell remains on the stack as a spell until it resolves (see rule 608, “Resolving Spells and Abilities”), is countered (see rule 701.5), or otherwise leaves the stack. For more information, see section 6, “Spells, Abilities, and Effects.”

In zones other than the stack and the battlefield, a card is simply a card and cannot be copied by the Guildmage.

If you find a way to cast that instant from the graveyard, for example through Jump-start, then you may copy it again, because it doesn't matter for the Guildmage from where you cast it. But you do have to cast it first.


Do you get a counter for each Tempered Sliver on the battlefield

The sliver in case would, in fact, get 2 +1/+1 counters.

This is because of rule 113.2c, which I quote, with the relevant bit emphasized:

  113.2c An object may have multiple abilities. If the object is represented by a card, then aside from certain defined abilities that may be strung together on a single line (see rule 702, “Keyword Abilities”), each paragraph break in a card’s text marks a separate ability. If the object is not represented by a card, the effect that created it may have given it multiple abilities. An object may also be granted additional abilities by a spell or ability. If an object has multiple instances of the same ability, each instance functions independently. This may or may not produce more effects than a single instance; refer to the specific ability for more information.

The part in bold font means that your slivers (including your Tempered Slivers) have, besides their other abilities, two instances of

  "Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, put a +1/+1 counter on it".

Both instances will trigger independently, giving your slivers two +1/+1 counters.


Can Trap Hole be activated in response to Denko Sekka's summon?

So my question can we activate Trap Hole against Denko Sekka?

No.

The reason is because Trap Hole effect activates after the summoning of Denko Sekka, thus her effect is already in place. This is exactly the reason why Denko Sekka's effect is powerful.

Reading Trap Hole's effect, emphasis mine:

  When [that is after the summon is successful] your opponent Normal or Flip Summons 1 monster with 1000 or more ATK: Target that monster; destroy that target.

You could, however, negate and prevent her summoning altogether, with cards like Solemn Warning as you correctly pointed out. From its text, emphasis mine:

  When a monster(s) would be Summoned, OR when a Spell/Trap Card, or monster effect, is activated that includes an effect that Special Summons a monster(s): Pay 2000 LP; negate the Summon or activation, and if you do, destroy that card.


Does "defeat" trigger before/after battle abilities?

Dungeon abilities are resolved before battles.  Thus, this would trigger prior to any Before Battle ability.


In Munchkin, can someone who doesn't participate in a combat play cards that benefit a player who is fighting a monster?

You can absolutely play cards to help other players, even when not involved in combat

From the rules (direct PDF link)

  You can interfere with others’ combats in several ways, including:

  Use a one-shot card. You could help another player by using a
  one-shot to strengthen his side. Of course, you can “accidentally”
  strengthen the monster with it, instead . . .

Emphasis mine


Can I use a Corpse Cur to get a Vector Asp back from the graveyard?

Corpse Cur says "return target creature card with infect." Although Vector Asp had infect when it went to the graveyard, the creature card Vector Asp in the 'yard doesn't have it. Not a valid target.


Those two abilities are called Linked Abilities, which means the second one is referring to cards exiled by the first one. Specifically, rule 607.2a says

  If an object has an activated or triggered ability printed on it that instructs a player to exile one or more cards and an ability printed on it that refers either to “the exiled cards” or to cards “exiled with [this object],” these abilities are linked. The second ability refers only to cards in the exile zone that were put there as a result of an instruction to exile them in the first ability.

So, the second ability does in fact mean

  Myr Welder has all activated abilities of all cards that it has exiled.

There's nothing wrong with the wording, though. The fourth definition of the word "with" on dictionary.com is

  by the use of; using

In other words, they are saying that it has all of the activated abilities of cards "exiled [using] Myr Welder".


All events are one shot and the "Monster" in the card is mainly flavor text to make it fit into the game more without just being a random mechanic.

Think of it this way, if the card removed the text would it take away from the game for you?

  You man discard this card and an item. If you do not the player to the right rolls a might attack of 4 against you defend with might as normal. If you take damage from this attack take the top 3 cards from the event deck and shuffle this back in.

In general event cards will inform you when they impact the game board in a long term fashion by instructing you to place tokens on the board.


Is there such a thing a 3 possible in Spades?

The possible trick winners of this hand are the three Kings and the short ♣'s which allows a 3rd trick ruff/cut.
Having only two spades is a weakness. It means that there is a higher probability an opponent has a long ♠ suit.
The game of Spades encourage conservative bids since an overtrick (bag) results in a smaller loss compared to an undertrick.
I would bid 2 with this hand almost always.  If I am at the 4th sit and the sum of bidding is 7 before my bid, I would bid 3. (probably when someone bids nil)
To answer the question of the headline, in the bidding phase each player must say a single number between 0 and 13, nothing more.  She can't say: "2 and maybe 3". Of course that in a game among friends she can say whatever.


From ThinkGeek:

  For those of you that loved the original Khet, you're gonna just flip
  for Khet 2.0, but we'll sum up game
  play for you who are new to the game.
  In Khet 2.0 Laser Game, there are four
  types of playing pieces, and two of
  them have mirrors. Game play is
  simple, and easy to learn, as there
  are only a few movement choices. The
  goal is to eliminate your opponent's
  Pharaoh. And, you eliminate the
  Pharaoh just like they did in olden
  times - by firing a red laser! And
  this is where Khet 2.0 kicks the game
  up a notch.

  In the original Khet, the lasers were
  part of the board. But in Khet 2.0,
  the lasers are built in to special
  Sphinx pieces that perch in the corner
  and can now rotate to change the angle
  of the beam (because of this change,
  the board is very slim and now built
  to travel)! Your laser is fired after
  your turn and bounces from mirrored
  piece to mirrored piece (always
  shooting off at a 90 degree angle). If
  the laser hits any piece on a
  non-reflective surface (with one
  exception we'll leave as a surprise),
  that piece is removed from play. If
  you eliminate your opponent's Pharaoh,
  you win. If you eliminate your own
  Pharaoh, you will be mocked for all
  time (because it is possible). Khet
  2.0 Laser Game is the next generation of the best laser game of all time.

So it seems that the form factor has changed, the lasers can be rotated, and there's a new piece added.


Does non-combat damage affect Commander damage?

Per the official rules on mtgcommander.net,

  If a player has been dealt 21 points of combat damage by a particular Commander during the game, that player loses a game.

"Combat damage" refers only to damage dealt in combat as a result of attacking and blocking; direct-damage abilities don't count. Note also that Obzedat, Ghost Council's triggered ability doesn't deal damage: it simply causes your opponent to lose life.


Playing Settlers of Catan with a D12 instead of 2D6

Significantly.  The thing about 2d6 is that you've got a range of numbers that have a certain probability of them showing up.

When you're rolling 2d6, your available numbers are 2-12.  You're dropping off the number 1.  Also, you have an escelating scale of percentage probability.  2's and 12's will happen 2.77% of the time (each).  3's and 11's will happen 5.55% of the time.  4's and 10's happen 8.33% of the time.  5's and 9's happen 11.11% of the time.  6's and 8's will happen 13.88% of the time.  And 7's will happen 16.66% of the time.

Result    Rolls with a 2d6        ≠  Rolls with a 1d12
------------------------------------------------------
 1        (impossible)                1
 2        1+1                         2
 3        1+2 2+1                     3
 4        1+3 2+2 3+1                 4
 5        1+4 2+3 3+2 4+1             5
 6        1+5 2+4 3+3 4+2 5+1         6
 7        1+6 2+5 3+4 4+3 5+2 6+1     7
 8        2+6 3+5 4+4 5+3 6+2         8
 9        3+6 4+5 5+4 6+3             9
10        4+6 5+5 6+4                10
11        5+6 6+5                    11
12        6+6                        12

As you can see, the closer you get to 7, the greater chances you have of something on those hex's from happening.  Because of this, the game has been weighted so that certain places will not show up as often as others.  That's part of the resource management and placement.  It's what makes the game interesting.

By using a 1d12, you have two things working against you.  One, you have a dead number that you won't be using.  And two, each other number will only show up 8.33% of the time (as much as 4's and 10's used to show up).  And they all have the same chance, so strategy would be very different.  I would think it would make it a whole new game.


What edition of Empire Builder do I have?

The linked picture is the first edition

The 1982 copyright suggests it may be a later printing of that edition (2nd edition was 1984)


There is no need to magnetise both the board and the pieces. Remember that magnets stick to iron, nickel and cobalt (and alloys comprised of these, e.g. steel). If you magnetise both the board and the pieces, then you risk making a mistake and the board repelling the pieces.

As mentioned in your chessboard example, the mechanics are that the pieces are hollow with a small magnet, and they are attracted to a thin sheet of metal placed under the wood. Depending on your pieces, gluing thin magnet strips may be a better option if making hollow pieces is going to be difficult.

The hardest part is testing the thickness of the board and strength of magnets to make sure that they stick as required, but are easy to move too. In this case you just have to experiment, but there are plenty of companies that produce magnets for miniatures. This site discourages specific product suggestions, but Googling something like "miniature magnets" will give lots of options.


What's the difference between the different Bohnanza expansions? How do they change the game?

I can't answer your question in its fullness, as the only one of these expansions I have played is Bohnaparte, and it was once and a couple of years ago!  But I can tell you what my impressions of that were...

Bohnaparte constitutes a pretty drastic reworking of the Bohnanza game (to use a topical example, it's on a par with how Zooloretto expands on Coloretto).  Instead of a simple bean-farming game, you are now playing a Napoleonic wargame!  Albeit a simple, cartoonish one.  You lay out a map with areas of varying strategic import, and you now have to conquer it with your bean-troops, as well as growing beans in the usual way to maintain your economy.

At the time, I wasn't really a fan.  It didn't seem to me like a particularly deep wargame, or a particularly logical extension to the Bohnanza theme.  However, I do recall some nice mechanics: I believe the "valuable" beans (like Red) are weak in combat compared to the "common" beans (like Blue) - so it was a lot less clear which were the best beans: do you put a premium on combat or economic profit?  On the minus side, I remember the scoreline of our game being very close, and the result being basically decided on one player getting an extra turn over me due to the vagaries of the seating order.  That is probably true to the spirit of the original Bohnanza, I guess, but I remember being quite miffed at the time!

I guess if you play a whole lot of Bohnanza, to the point where you're getting jaded, Bohnaparte will certainly inject fresh interest into proceedings!  But I did think it was more of a novelty expansion than a must-purchase.  Unless your two favourite things in the world are the Napoleonic era and Bohnanza.  Then you should almost certainly buy it without delay!


The Bohnanza rulebook on page 3 states that the "first card" in each player's hand is the one that is fully visible when fanned. Rulebook here.


Is it possible to lose Forbidden Island on the first turn?

Starting off with Fools' Landing being flooded is certainly a set-back, but all is not lost!

Naturally, due to its crucial nature, if Fools' Landing does become flooded, shoring it up becomes a top priority. Your first option is to immediately move adjacent to Fools' Landing, if you can, and use an action to shore up. Failing that, any player can play a 'Sandbags' card to shore it up as a free action.

If, sadly, you can't move that far and no-one has any sandbags in their starting hand (as can happen easily in a two player game) - Fools' Landing is left somewhat vulnerable to a Waters Rise card, but even then it's not guaranteed that Fools' Landing is re-drawn and sunk.

Fortunately, it's pretty rare that you start too far away and have no sandbags and Waters Rise and Fools Landing is drawn - but if it does happen, take solace that your end was a quick one, and hope for better fortune next time.


Information gain from discarded tiles in Mahjong

Like you said, you can't shuffle your tiles at will, but if I'm remembering correctly, you can put the tile you just drawn anywhere in your "hand", so you can't know when the discarded tile was drawn (at least not if you haven't a perfect memory ;) ).

However, each player has his own discard location, so you can easily see all tiles he has already discarded and maybe find a pattern in his discards which may prove useful to guess what he is waiting.

A player which is always discarding quickly the tile he just drawn is also a strong indicator that he is close to finish.


Robo Rally - Alternative rules for option cards?

This uses the online PDF from http://www.wizards.com/avalonhill/rules/roborally.pdf

You aren't allowed to "sit" anywhere.

First: You have to play cards. If you time-out, the player to the right plays random cards to fill out your non-locked registers. (p. 4) Locked registers WILL be played.

Second:
All movement Cards used but not locked are discarded, as are unused. (p. 4, 8) New ones will be drawn.

Third:
You only get one draw of an option card per turn, and only if you END the turn (and thus also Register 5's phase) on it. Crossing it during the turn doesn't get you the card. (p. 8)

fourth:
The odds are not good in 3p or more that you'll get the cards needed to return to your start space.

Camping on a repair spot is thus not as easy as it may seem. Especially since you retain only locked cards. If one gets consistently lucky enough to have the ability to return to start spot with cards alone, it's great. If one is using terrain, it's skill, more than luck.

In short, I suspect the problem isn't the option cards, but a misread of the rules.

If there was no misread, one simple solution is to use a 1 per space limit; put a (custom) player token on each upgrade spot, and when you draw an option card, put that token on it. When it's lost, put the token on an upgrade slot where you don't have one.

I've never felt it needed, and the people I've known who did usually were making one of three mistakes:
1) retaining unused programming cards, thus being able to plan multiple turns ahead
2) retaining used programming cards. This makes it a VERY different game.
3) allowing repairs and upgrades each register phase, rather than only at the end of the turn. This makes camping on a spot far more worthwhile.


Creating Scenarios for Mansions of Madness

Ok, so I'm answering my own question, at least in part.

First of all, I think the internets were greatly deceived when they spread the idea that each of the five scenarios (there are indeed 5) had only three variants. Some of the scenarios had what looked by my calculations to be upwards of 40 permutations.

Second, the Keeper's role is much more dynamic than I had previously realized. It strikes me that the Keeper's game is similar to the Demons' game in claustrophobia, a truly wonderful asymmetrical 2-player game. Like the Demons, the Keeper accrues Threat over time, which he must pay for all his actions. It seems to me that the vagaries of Keeper play will keep even an identical scenario from playing out the same way twice.

Finally, I think that the answer to my hackability question is a resounding no. The thing that has me so excited about MoM is that it provides narrative out-of-the-box. The game does a lot more storytelling than most. That very quality seems to make it hard to vary beyond the included scenarios. Each card is tied tightly to a choice or combination of choices and the stories will fall apart if not constructed properly.

This is my opinion as of having read all the books, but having played zero games. I will update this answer if that opinion changes.


Is Vivien of the Wilds + Wilderness Reclamation a competitive combo?

Let me start by saying this is a really cool idea, and it may be a very fun deck to play in casual format.  Alternatively, you could add this combo to an existing competitive deck that is already leveraging pieces of this combo in other ways (there is at least one suggestion in the comments).

However, this combo on its own is very unlikely to be competitive in standard given how many pieces you need for it to go off.  It's a three card combo at it's heart (Vivien + Wilderness Reclimation + Krasis) that also requires mana acceleration to go off on a reasonable timeframe.  The best-case you present is a turn 7 win, and your whole first 5 turns were spent setting it up, leaving you little buffer to react to your opponent or handle disruption.  On top of that, your plan is very brittle; most combos are vulnerable to control, but yours is also vulnerable to burn and aggro due to many of your key mana sources being creatures and one of your key cards being a planeswalker.

Compare your combo to Carnage Tyrant + Blanchwood Armor, which requires a similar mana base.  This creates a similar sized beater on a similar timeframe.  However, it has several advantages:

Carnage Tyrant is resistant to both control and burn
You can still win with Carnage Tyrant even if you don't draw Blanchwood Armor
It's mono-green, meaning you don't need a complex mana base and can't get color-screwed
You can do other things in your early turns, like Commune With Dinosaurs to help set you up or Vine Mare to defend you from an aggro deck or start an early offense against a control deck.

That is not to say Hydroid Krasis is worse than Carnage Tyrant.  In fact, Krasis is a competitive card in the current standard, but it tends to find its home in control decks rather than combo, especially since card advantage is a big focus of control and Krasis doubles as card advantage and a finisher.

Another thing to notice about decks that use Krasis in the current meta is that (aside from Llanowar Elves) they tend to focus on creatures with the "Explore" ability rather than creatures that tap directly for mana.  While Explore is slower in terms of mana ramp, it is more resilient as it is still relying on land-based mana, and it lets you do a bit of deck filtering/thinning as well.  In your case in particular, you want land mana rather than creature mana because Wilderness Reclamation only untaps lands.


It sounds like a Cube Fusion variant.

  The game includes a playing board with a 5x5 grid and 12 playing pieces. Each piece consists of two cubes, each with marbles in the center - one red, one green. Players take turns placing pieces on the board, trying to make a specified pattern in his color but not his opponent's -- all the while having to play both his color and his opponent's color each turn. There are several different games explained in the rules: make 3, 4, or 5 in a row (in 3D) before your opponent, form a square in your color, form more three-in-a-row alignments than your opponent, etc.

As far as I know the board is 5x5, although there are rules for 4x4. Picture is of Double Decker, one of the repackagings of this game: