What is the probability of obtaining the right, left, Ace, King, and Queen of trump in a 5-card hand in euchre?

Edit: the original question had two potential methods, one of which was correct and one of which was not.  For posterity, here are the two methods, paraphrased from the original question.

Method one (correct):

5 cards are chosen without replacement and without the order mattering from a deck of 24 (9, 10, J, Q, K, A in four suits). Then a sixth card is chosen. The 5 cards must be JQKA in one suit and J in the other suit of the same color. The sixth card must be 9 or 10 of the JQKA suit.

There are 42,504 possible hands of 5 cards. There are four possible "best hands" corresponding to the four suits. Once one has fixed a best hand, there is a 2/19 chance of the sixth card being one of the two chosen ones.

Therefore the probability is (4/42504) * (2/19), approximately 9.90619 x 10^-6.

Method 2 (incorrect):

Suppose you want the first two cards to be jacks and then the remaining cards to be QKA of a corresponding suit. Perform each draw sequentially.

You have a 4/24 chance of getting a jack with your first draw.
Then you have a 1/23 chance of getting the complementary jack on the second draw.
Then you have a 6/22 chance of getting one of the possible remaining cards (queen, king, or ace of either jack suit).
Once this happens, the suit is determined and there are only two possible remaining cards, so there is a 2/21 chance of getting one of the possible remaining cards at this stage.
Then to get the last necessary card is a 1/20 chance.
Finally, there is 2/19 chance that the sixth draw is as required.

4/24 x 1/23 x 6/22 x 2/21 x 1/20 x 2/19 = 9.90619 x 10^-7

The first method is correct.

The problem with the second method is that it assumes that the first two cards in the deal are jacks and the third, fourth, and fifth cards are the non-jacks. One could fix this by multiplying the probability by 5C2 (you are choosing which two of the 5 dealt cards are the jacks).

There is no problem with ordering within the two jacks because there is no assumption about which jack came first. There is no problem with ordering within the other three cards because there are no assumptions about which one was which.

Multiplying by 5C2 = 10, one obtains exactly the answer as via Method 1.

Further edit:

As pointed out in a comment, the rules (and thus the probability) are different for the dealer. The dealer must add the sixth card to her or his hand and then discard one of her or his six cards.

The sixth (face-up) card must then be a jack, queen, king, or ace of one fixed suit and the dealer's original hand must be the other three of these cards, the complementary jack, and an arbitrary other card. The chances of the sixth card being a jack, queen, king, or ace are 16/24. Then there are precisely 19 cards left to be the arbitrary card in the dealer's original hand (and the other four cards are fixed). Then there are 19*16 deals that result in the dealer having the best possible hand. The total number of deals (including the sixth card as a separate choice) is again 42504 * 19. Then the probability for the dealer is 16/42504, approximately 3.76 * 10^(-4), quite a bit more likely than for the other players.


How should Bone Splinters and Mirrorwing Dragon work?

If you cast a spell on a Mirrorwing Dragon as its only target, that spell will be copied for and target each of your creatures.

  Whenever a player casts an instant or sorcery spell that targets only Mirrorwing Dragon, that player copies that spell for each other creature he or she controls that the spell could target.

"Her or she" refers to the caster of the spell. See also the first ruling on the gatherer page for Mirrorwing Dragon:

  The copies are only created targeting creatures that the spell’s controller controls. Copies are not created for all creatures on the battlefield, and the affected creatures may be controlled by a different player than the controller of Mirrorwing Dragon. Notably, if you cast Murder targeting your opponent’s Mirrorwing Dragon, your creatures will each get a Murder, not your opponent’s.

Alternatively, since you said that "he killed one of my creatures*", you may be confusing the creature sacrifice cost of Bone Splinters with its effect. After the sacrifice, however, the spell would still be copied for each of your creatures.


No. The red three played to the table counts for the player (100 points). The red three in the player's foot count against the player (-100 points).
When adding the score, a 100 added to a -100 will cancel out, of course, but that shouldn't be confused with deducting the 100 from the penalty, lest you confuse that for leaving the player with no penalty and just the 100 points.
From the rules:

Red threes count 100 points toward your score if they are on the table and 100 points against your score if they are in hand.

If your opponents ‘go out’ (get rid of all their cards) before you have grabbed your ‘foot,’ and there is a red three present, that three counts against you.


Is voluntarily revealing a card from your hand considered proposing?

You can reveal your hand and cards at will. It doesn't count as casting.

3.12 Hidden Information
Hidden information refers to the faces of cards and other objects at which the rules of the game and format do not allow you to look.
Throughout the match, a draft, and pregame procedures, players are responsible for keeping their cards above the level of the playing surface and for making reasonable efforts to prevent hidden information from being revealed. However, players may choose to reveal their hands or any other hidden information available only to them, unless specifically prohibited by the rules.


How about a foamcore insert?  I just finished my Agricola foamcore yesterday. I haven't benchmarked the setup and breakdown times (yet). There are no zip top bags to open, it should only take a minute.

I have friends who get a little tacklebox organizer for each game.  This takes more effort than that, but it's much more customizable.

For a crash course on how to make something like this, check out this video series: Using Foamcore by The Esoteric Order of Gamers.

Updated with a new version:
v1 v2


Can the owner of the largest army move the robber every turn?

This is not an official rule; that is why you didn't find it in the rule book.

The reason this isn't a rule is because it would detrimental to the game experience. The player with the 'largest army' has already moved the Robber at least three times and has 2 victory points. Giving the player the power to move the Robber each turn, without a roll or playing a Knight card, allows them to squash the efforts of the other players.

Thusly empowered, the player with the Largest Army could 'attack' the other players who are trying to gather resources. It would be hard to build the Longest Road, or upgrade their villages to Cities for Victory points, the robber keeps shutting down the resource tile you're depending on. From here, the optimal strategy would be to create and maintain the Largest Army, than hold down your opponents while racing for the other eight Victory Points.


In Carcassonne Rivers, does the Abbey Tile stop a road?

It plays as illustrated: the road is unbroken.
See the scoring example that shows the road is "not ended":


Yes, the creature's controller will gain life.

Infect and Lifelink are both abilities that modify how damage is dealt. They're not exclusive in any way; they just mean that the damage dealt has some effects different to what damage normally does. They can happily coexist.

  119.3b Damage dealt to a player by a source with infect causes that player to get that many poison counters.
  ...
  119.3f Damage dealt by a source with lifelink causes that source's controller to gain that much life, in addition to the damage's other results.

The damage is still damage in every way. So it'll still trigger an Ophidian Eye, get doubled by Furnace of Rath, get prevented by Samite Healer and so on.

The Scars of Mirrodin FAQ document says:

  Damage from a source with infect is damage in all respects. If the source with infect also has lifelink, damage dealt by that source also causes its controller to gain that much life. Damage from a source with infect can be prevented or redirected. Abilities that trigger on damage being dealt will trigger if a source with infect deals damage, if appropriate.


If I sacrifice a Sultai Emissary to a Gurmag Drowner's Exploit ability, which triggered ability resolves first?

You choose what order they happen in, because you control both abilities, and they both trigger from the same event. Rule 603.3b says

  If multiple abilities have triggered since the last time a player received priority, each player, in APNAP order, puts triggered abilities he or she controls on the stack in any order he or she chooses. (See rule 101.4.) Then the game once again checks for and resolves state-based actions until none are performed, then abilities that triggered during this process go on the stack. This process repeats until no new state-based actions are performed and no abilities trigger. Then the appropriate player gets priority.

Specifically, here's how it plays out:

Gurmag Drowner enters the battlefield, and its Exploit ability triggers.
The Exploit ability resolves, and you choose to sacrifice Sultai Emissary.
Now, since the last time you checked you chose to sacrifice Sultai Emissary, so Gurmag Drowner's second ability triggers because you exploited a creature, and Sultai Emissary's ability triggers because it died. You choose in what order they go on the stack.
First, you resolve whichever ability you chose to put on top of the stack. Then you resolve the other one.


Mystery at Stargazer's Manor: Doable with only 2 players?

Yes, Escape the Room: Mystery at Stargazer's Manor can be played with any number of players, even one.

With that said, I would recommend 2-4 players. As with most escape room-type games, the more the merrier, although there is only so much physical material to pass around between players.

Source: personal experience™


Is the luck factor indeed overwhelming in the Catan Card Game?

No, not in my experience. In fact, the Catan Card Game has a great depth of strategy and many ways to offset the luck of the dice.

Your chances will be greatly helped if you've found a Scout card, certainly. It should ALWAYS be one of your starting cards if you have the chance. If you don't, then you know there's one in the three stacks that neither of you searched to start with. Use the ability to cycle a card from hand, and pay two useless resources (gold, or sheep or corn) to search more stacks for a Scout.

When you do get a Scouted settlement, choose the numbers carefully. I try to choose a brick or ore that has the same number as my gold hex, so I get a real resource on every number. You could do the opposite and deliberately seek out both 5s so that you have a natural choice to Alchemist for.

After a game or two you acquire something of an instinct for which cards are good early, good late, good all the time (Merchant), or never good. Cycle your hand aggressively: you should always be aiming to draw a card per turn unless you have a really perfect hand.

There are several different approaches / strategies for how you deal with the event die, depending on your attitude to the luck of the game. If you're playing cautiously, you'll try to keep windmill points at least balanced with your opponent so they can't steal from you, and try to seek out tournament-point knights to get the tournament resources. I personally tend to go for the windmill token anyway as one of my 11 VP.


Do you still get experience for wounding an opponent who makes a successful armour save?

According to yaktribe's FAQ, which cites the 2000 living rule-book (LRB), the answer is no:

  Q: Do I get experience awards for shots that I take that hit a target and then are saved by the targets armour since I did wound him?

  A: [LRB] Per the Armour Rules on page 18 of the LRB 'If the dice roll is sufficiently high then the wounding shot has struck the armour and not hurt the wearer at all.' This means you do not get the experience award. This also holds true for all game mechanics that prevent a wound from being inflicted, like say event deck cards, wyrd powers, skills, etc.


If my Consul's Lieutenant dies while its second ability is on the stack, does the ability do anything?

Yes, the ability will resolve and grant +1/+1 to the 1/1.

The condition on Consul's Lieutenant's second ability ("if it's renowned") is an "intervening if" clause.

  603.4 A triggered ability may read “When/Whenever/At [trigger event], if [condition], [effect].” When the trigger event occurs, the ability checks whether the stated condition is true. The ability triggers only if it is; otherwise it does nothing. If the ability triggers, it checks the stated condition again as it resolves. If the condition isn’t true at that time, the ability is removed from the stack and does nothing. Note that this mirrors the check for legal targets. This rule is referred to as the “intervening ‘if’ clause” rule.

As the bolded part indicates, the Lieutenant's ability only triggers if the Lieutenant is renowned when it attacks, and the ability only resolves if the Lieutenant is still renowned when the ability resolves.

So when the ability is about the resolve, it asks "Is my source renowned?" But in our scenario, the Lieutenant doesn't exist at this time. So how is this question answered? It's answered using Last Known Information.

  112.7a Once activated or triggered, an ability exists on the stack independently of its source. Destruction or removal of the source after that time won’t affect the ability. Note that some abilities cause a source to do something (for example, “Prodigal Pyromancer deals 1 damage to target creature or player”) rather than the ability doing anything directly. In these cases, any activated or triggered ability that references information about the source because the effect needs to be divided checks that information when the ability is put onto the stack. Otherwise, it will check that information when it resolves. In both instances, if the source is no longer in the zone it’s expected to be in at that time, its last known information is used. The source can still perform the action even though it no longer exists.

When it ceased to exist on the battlefield, the Lieutenant was renowned, so the ability will resolve.

Supported by a ruling on Polis Crusher.
Supported by a ruling on Quest for the Nihil Stone.
Supported by Wizard's Rules Q&A forum.
Supported by Ask a Magic Judge


Mistake on Josekipedia after probe & invasion on keima shimari?

White Q19 is a mistake.  The correct move is R18.  Then Black can't connect at Q19 because the stones would still be in atari.

$$c White survives!
$$ ---------
$$ ..63512.-
$$ .XXOO4OO-
$$ .XOXOOX.-
$$ ..OXXX.X-
$$ ......X.-
$$ ........-

After the capture, a and b are miai to make White a second eye.

$$c Resistance is futile!
$$ ---------
$$ ..Oab.O.-
$$ .XXOOOOO-
$$ .XOXOOX.-
$$ ..OXXX.X-
$$ ......X.-
$$ ........-


Betrayal at the house on the hill movements/attacks

Monsters never automatically attack; they only attack based on the haunt-specific rules that traitor has. It’s possible for a specific haunt to have a rule such as what you are asking about, but it is a turn-based game; and normally characters only get to act on their own turn.
Since you brought up how it works thematically (it is a game based on theme after all), the -1 movement when you leave a room with a monster kind of explains it... think of it as moving extra slowly and spending time going the long way around the room in order to avoid the monster and sneak by it.


Can Shapesharer copy an enters the battlefield ability, like Stoneforge Mystic's?

No. Shapesharer does not enter the battlefield when its ability resolves: it was already in play. Stoneforge Mystic's ability only triggers when it enters the battlefield.

Of course, you could use the Shapesharer-Mystic's activated ability after resolving the copy effect.

Note that if you used a different copy card such as Clone, you would get the Mystic's triggered ability, because the copy effect would replace the regular act of entering the battlefield.


You each make the best 5 card hand you can. You have QQQJ9, your opponent has QQQA9 which is a higher hand, and so your opponent wins.


In UNO, do you have to choose a color before setting a rule when using a customizable wild card?

It is unclear what you mean by “setting your rule”, but you don’t choose a rule when you play the card. You are supposed to write rules on the cards before you play a game. Then, when you play the card, the rule is followed. In general, the rule wouldn’t be something that matters whether you choose your new color before or after it happens (like it is with the normal wild card draw 4 card). If it is something where it actually matters, that could be specified as part of the rule itself. From the rules:

Wild Customizable card – Use a #2 pencil to write any house rule you wish on a card. The only limit is your imagination (and the consent of the other players). Before the game begins, decide how many of these cards to include. You may use only 1 or all 3, it’s up to you. This is a wild card so you may play it on your turn even if you have another playable card in your hand. Also, you choose the color that resumes play. If this card is turned up at the beginning of play, the person to the left of the dealer chooses the color that begins play. NOTE: the cards are erasable, so you may write a new rule each time you play!


Assuming you have Bloodthrone Vampire and 10 other creatures:

You have successfully activated Brutal Hordechief's ability.
During the declare attackers step you declare 11 attackers. Brutal Hordechief's ability triggers, you gain 11 life and the opponent loses 11 life.
During the declare blockers step, you can choose how enemy creatures block since you activated Brutal Hordechief's second ability. You can choose all 15 creatures to block one of your 10 creatures.
After this, you get priority and you can sacrifice 10 of your creatures to give your Bloodthrone Vampire +20/20. Assuming the opponent doesn't have anything to respond, Bloodthrone Vampire will deal 21 damage (for a total of 32 damage).

Some extra strategy tips:

Also note that you can deal even more damage if you choose not to sacrifice creatures with power more than 2 (and even 1 unless you fear your opponent can get rid of a group of small creatures).

For example, say 2 out of 10 creatures are 1/1, 4 are 2/2 and 4 are 3/3. You can choose enemy creatures to block one of your 1/1 creatures, sacrifice them, and you will deal 5 damage with your vampire, 8 damage with your 2/2 creatures and 12 with your 3/3 creatures, with a total of 25 damage. Add 11 life loss to that - opponent loses 35 life this combat phase, and you still have 9 creatures alive if the game goes on.


What happens when two cards both modify what I'm allowed to do?

But is this just an arbitrary decision?

No, it's not.

That specific interaction is governed by one of Magic's "Golden Rules", specifically CR 101.2, which states:

  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.
  Example: If one effect reads “You may play an additional land this turn” and another reads “You can’t play lands this turn,” the effect that precludes you from playing lands wins.

This is valid for any interaction of this kind. Therefore, the answer to your question is that the effect preventing you from taking an action has precedence over the effect allowing you to take that action.


When a creature comes back to the battlefield from the graveyard, does it trigger its abilities?

Yes, enters-the-battlefield abilities triggers regardless of a permanent's previous zone, unless explicitly stated.

Channeler Initiate will force you to put -1/-1 counters when coming into play, regardless of it being played from your hand, coming back from the graveyard, from exile, etc...

Here's the related bit of rules :

  603.6a Enters-the-battlefield abilities trigger when a permanent enters the battlefield. These are written, “When [this object] enters the battlefield, . . . “ or “Whenever a [type] enters the battlefield, . . .” Each time an event puts one or more permanents onto the battlefield, all permanents on the battlefield (including the newcomers) are checked for any enters-the-battlefield triggers that match the event.


Monopoly Deal: Fairest way of removing extra cards

There are two options:

The rules as written say that they should go on the bottom of the deck.
You could opt to have players put extra cards face up in the public discard instead.

The official rulebook says the following (my emphasis):

If you have more than 7 cards in your hand at the end of your turn (not including cards on the table) discard extras to the bottom of the draw pile so you only have 7.

This is an unusual way for games to handle discards; I think that this is an inelegant solution, and it sounds like you do too.  monopolydealrules.com is non-authoritative collection of rules clarifications and improvements sourced from the community, and suggests a discarding face-up to the discard pile.  Their "general rules" say:

At the end of a turn, a player cannot have more than 7 cards in their hand. If they do, they need to discard the excess cards into the discard pile in the middle.

This is only a meaningful difference if you actually go through the entire deck in the game, which is unlikely.  I'd recommend going with having discards go to the discard pile, as it's a more normal way to handle discards and it addresses the concern of players potentially manipulating the deck through discards.


Do any Cluedo versions have different numbers of variables?

While all printed (the original patent had 10 characters) editions of the classic Cluedo have the standard 6-6-9 ratio, there have been a number of variants that include additional or changed options.

The first variant to include additional characters was the Clue VCR Mystery Game in 1985 with 4 additional options, then followed by Super Cluedo Challenge in 1986 with a 3 additional options of it's own.

The following is a potentially incomplete list of variants with non-standard ratios
(w = weapons, r = rooms, s = suspects, m = murdered):

Clue VCR Mystery Game : (1985) 10s:1+m:5w:5r
Super Cluedo Challenge : (1986) 9s:9w:9r
Clue Master Detective : (1988) 10s:8w:12r
Clue FX : (2003) 8s:6w:9r
Clue Discover the Secrets : (2008) 6s:9w:9r
CLUE: Unravel the Clues and Crack the Case


Can I simply ignore some effects on a card when there's no target for them?

No, he could not legally cast the spell in the first place.

Declaring targets is one of the steps of casting a spell. For each instance of the word "target", you must choose a legal target. You haven't legally cast the spell until you have chosen all the targets.

You can never just ignore a part of a card instruction unless it says "may" or "choose".

  601.2c The player announces his or her choice of an appropriate player, object, or zone for each target the spell requires.

Decimate works as a good example of what you are talking about. Because the word "target" is used 4 times, you must choose an object 4 times. See the Gatherer rulings for Decimate:

  [...]If the spell or ability uses the word target in multiple places, the same object or player can be chosen once for each instance of the word “target.” For example, you could choose Tree of Tales for both the artifact and the land. You still need a legal target enchantment and creature as well.

Note that if any of the targets become illegal before the spell resolves, then the spell will still resolve unless every target becomes illegal. So if you were the only player with a creature; but wanted to cast Decimate for the other effects; you could target your own creature, and then if you had a way to make it illegal (bounce or flicker effects, shroud, etc); then the spell would still resolve as you want.

  608.2b If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal. A target that’s no longer in the zone it was in when it was targeted is illegal. Other changes to the game state may cause a target to no longer be legal; for example, its characteristics may have changed or an effect may have changed the text of the spell. If the source of an ability has left the zone it was in, its last known information is used during this process. The spell or ability is countered if all its targets, for every instance of the word “target,” are now illegal. If the spell or ability is not countered, it will resolve normally. Illegal targets, if any, won’t be affected by parts of a resolving spell’s effect for which they’re illegal.


What happens when I cast a spell incorrectly?

If The Spell Never Had Any Legal Targets

You cannot cast a spell that requires a target unless there is a legal target for the spell.

If you try to cast a spell that requires a target, and discover that there is no legal target for that spell, it is considered an illegal action.

The comprehensive rules on handling illegal actions:

  717.1 If a player realizes that he or she can’t legally take an action after starting to do so, the entire
  action is reversed and any payments already made are canceled. No abilities trigger and no effects
  apply as a result of an undone action. If the action was casting a spell, the spell returns to the zone it
  came from. The player may also reverse any legal mana abilities activated while making the illegal
  play, unless mana from them or from any triggered mana abilities they triggered was spent on
  another mana ability that wasn’t reversed.

So, you would essentially "rewind" the game state, untapping your lands and returning the card to your hand.  Unfortunately, this misplay does mean that your opponent has earned some free information (i.e. they now know one of the cards you have in your hand).

If The Spell's Target Becomes Illegal After Casting It

In this case, your spell has already been cast, because you chose its target while casting it and at that time the spell had a legal target, but during the resolution of the spell, that target is discovered to no longer be legal.  This can happen, for instance, if the card Ranger's Guile is cast in response to your spell, giving the target of your spell Hexproof.

When your spell is resolving, it checks again to see if the target is still legal.  In this case, since the creature now has Hexproof, it will be determined that the target is not legal, and the spell will go to the graveyard and have no effect.  You will not untap your lands.  You simply lose that mana and that spell's effect; similar to if your spell was countered.

The relevant section of the comprehensive rules states (under the heading "Resolving Spells and Abilities"):

  608.2b If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal. A target that’s no longer in the zone it was in when it was targeted is illegal. Other changes to the game state may cause a target to no longer be legal; for example, its characteristics may have changed or an effect may have changed the text of the spell. If the source of an ability has left the zone it was in, its last known information is used during this process. If all its targets, for every instance of the word “target,” are now illegal, the spell or ability doesn’t resolve. It’s removed from the stack and, if it’s a spell, put into its owner’s graveyard. Otherwise, the spell or ability will resolve normally.


Microbot Alpha: how far does it consider others Microbots?

Yes. All minions are considered Microbots. So everything that applies to Microbots applies to all your minions in play.

However, as included in the Pretty Pretty Smash Up rules, page 10:

  "A minion" or "minions" means any minions in play unless stated
  otherwise.

So minions in your discard pile are NOT affected.

See also this discussion on Boardgamegeek.


This came up in a game of my own yesterday, and seeing that there was no answer here, I asked over at BoardGameGeek.

According to Matt Hyra (the lead developer of the game) Creature cards in your spell are in play as long as they're revealed.

Therefore unresolved creature cards in the same spell do count towards the resolution of Baconus the Butcher's ability. Other players' face down creatures do not count.


Babel tower tile #15 (ignore resource cost for Wonder) overpowered?

You have played correctly; tile #15 indeed lets you construct wonder stages without paying the resource cost. It's very true that some Wonders will benefit much more: Gizah B, with its massive 4 stages, will be able to take 20 points for "free" (using 4 actions), even if other players conspire to lock this player out of resources, which is very possible in 3-player or 7-player games. On the other hand, Rhodes B would benefit little, with only 2 stages to construct.

Furthermore, your feelings are justified; yes each Babel tile tilts the game to one way or another. They are not meant to be "fair for all". However, in general you may find both tiles that tilt the game to either way; take for example the opposite tile, tile #16: every player will have to pay a tax for each wonder stage; Gizah B would effectively have to pay 10 coins (+ any resources, if applicable) to construct all wonder stages. In another example, tile #22 double the penalty for losing a Military battle, while tile #19 diminishes the points gained by the victors, making military less or more important, respectively.

Finally, if you feel that one tile turns "god mode" on for a specific player, there's always a solution: conspire with other players to cover the tile. If you do it correctly, it won't stay there for more than a single turn.


First modern Naughts and Crosses/Tic Tac Toe?

Having spent a little while looking into this, the only clear thing is that there is no firm evidence for any distant historical first date for Tic Tac Toe. Although many people claim the Romans played this game, in the form of Terni Lapilli, and point to the large number of historical boards that exist, scratched into walls, this seems unlikely, not least because Tic Tac Toe isn't a very interesting game:

  Terni Lapilli is considered to be identical to modern Tic-Tac-Toe.
  However, although Terni Lapilli boards are found throughout the
  Empire, scratched on walls, floors, and roofs, no X's and O's
  accompany the markings. Obviously playing pieces were being used for
  this game and the would surely be the same ones used for both
  Latrunculi and Tabula. Bolesden says that three pieces were used in
  this game but if that is true, this is not Tic-Tac-Toe.

  Judging from the number of Terni Lapilli boards found around Rome it
  would seem this game was more popular than Tic-Tac-Toe, and therefore
  we must conclude that it was not, in fact, Tic-Tac-Toe since this is
  not really a game and could not sustain such interest.

Three Men's Morris, on the other hand, which uses an identical board, is much more challenging, and has a board from Egypt dated to 1400 BCE.

One suggestion is that the etymology of "Tic-Tac-Toe" is based on "Tit-Tat-Toe" (as in tit-for-tat retaliation), apparently from the 16th Century, but this is completely unsubstantiated.

Wikipedia's information, dated definitively to 1864 and widely re-gurgitated across the internet, is based on the OED, which quotes a Boston periodical, The Living Age:

  1864   Littell's Living Age 22 Oct. 182/1   Mr Babbage..has proceeded
  some way towards the invention of an automaton intended to play at the
  very simple game called indifferently ‘noughts and crosses’ or
  ‘tit-tat-to’.

You can read the full reference for yourself online: The Living Age, 22 October 1864, p.182.

It is known is that there are many historical examples of so-called "games of alignment", from all around the world:

  ...in Europe, Asia, and Africa many people have long been playing similar
  games which require the alignment of five or nine symbols in a row.
  Most of these latter games are played on boards scratched in the
  earth, carved into wooden or stone benches, or cardboard or wooden
  boards constructed for these variations. There are at least nine
  different board configurations for these games.

  These games are grouped together because they all have the same
  purpose - that is for two players to each place a symbol on the board,
  one symbol at a time during alternate turns of play, with the goal of
  aligning a series of agreed upon symbols in a "row", while at the same
  time attempting to prevent the other player from doing the same thing.
  In each version of the game, as the number of symbols are increased,
  the goal does not change, nor does the primary mode of play. In
  versions using five or nine symbols, additional procedures are added
  to the play of the game.

It seems very likely that the game existed in the distant past, but being a less than engrossing pastime for anyone other than young children, distant historical references are lacking.

Key references for further research:

H.J.A. Murray, A History of Board Games Other Than Chess
Claudia Zaslavsky, Tic Tac Toe: And Other Three-In-A Row Games from Ancient Egypt to the Modern Computer
R.C. Bell, Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations
An extensive bibliography of books covering board game history
Many links to period board game references and reconstructions


Are discarded tiles reusable or removed from the game?

Discarded tiles are out for the remainder of the game. While the rules don't specify this, they never allow for reshuffling of the draw pile. This would also force you to maintain separate discards for your defeated tiles and your discarded-from-hand tiles, which is an unnecessary and unspecified complication.

As further proof, the behavior in the Neuroshima Hex 3.0 mobile game is that discarded tiles are, simply, discarded (permanently).

I'm sorry that I don't have anything more official to cite here, but I believe that both the behavior of the official app and nature of the rules stated are sufficient as proof that discarded tiles are truly discarded.


What are some good games or techniques for helping kids learn to "lose gracefully"?

Well, I personally suffered from this condition for a long time---and still do to some extent.

In my opinion, the ability to lose gracefully is dependent on one's self esteem. It is much easier to shrug off a defeat if your self esteem is secure than when your whole life is a battle for every scrap of validation. With age (I'd say 20+) it does get easier to recognize and control such tendencies in oneself.

Things that help:

Playing games where no one loses. There are games that do not employ the competitive aspect of most games. A good game shop should be able to help you find them.
Playing games where winning and losing is shared among multiple players. Team based or completely cooperative games.
Not rubbing in defeats. Kinda obvious but there it is.
Help the child see what they did well. Point out good moves, complement them when they show self restraint during a loss.

Things that don't help:

Telling the child they're a bad loser. The child is not going to see it that way. Any insistence on the topic is just gonna piss them off even more. Not only does it rub in the fact that they failed to win the game, but it aggravates the damage by insisting that they also failed at failing to win the game.
The amount of self reflection necessary to recognize one has this problem comes only much later in life.
Letting the child win. While sometimes effective as a stop gap measure it bears two dangers:

Children are quite smart. If they figure out that you've let them win they're gonna be pissed off even more.
The child is not going to learn without having to face defeat.

Playing more so it can get accustomed to defeat. Without the inner strength to withstand one defeat you can't train someone how to withstand ten of them.

Disclaimer: I'm not a psychologist or child expert - just someone talking from his own experience. Take all of this with a grain of salt.

Final Toughts: In my opinion such behavior - especially if it persists - is only a symptom of an underlying problem. As I said in the beginning, it's a matter of self esteem and that can be heavily eroded over the years even by the smallest things. Do you often have arguments with the sore loser because they're stealing attention from their siblings at social events? Are they by any chance the older or middle child? Are they the less reliable one? If your answer is yes to any of these questions I suggest you go see a professional to determine IF you are unwittingly undermining that child's self esteem. I don't want to paint you a horror picture - I might easily be wrong.


In situation 1 nothing will happen. This is explicitly covered in the rules under the expanded text for the Baron card (page 10 in the Premium edition rulebook).

Situation 2 is also covered in the rules. On page 6 of the Premium edition rules linked above:

  In case of a tie, players add the numbers on the cards in their discard pile. The highest total wins. If there is still a tie, then all tied
  players are considered to have won the round.


How does metalcraft work in Two-Headed-Giant?

In a word, no.
Players do not share control of permanents in Two-Head Giant.
In addition, with the exception of "attacking player" and "defending player," all of the referents in THG are the same as regular Magic. "You" is you. "Target player" and "target opponent" refer to a single player. "Your opponents" are two players, individually.
Here are the relevant comp rules:

810.5. With the exception of life total and poison counters, a team’s resources (cards in hand, mana,    and so on) are not shared in the
Two-Headed Giant variant. Teammates may review each other’s    hands
and discuss strategies at any time. Teammates can’t manipulate each
other’s cards or    permanents.
810.7b Any one-shot effect that refers to the “defending player” refers to one specific defending    player, not to both of the
defending players. The controller of the effect chooses which one the
spell or ability refers to at the time the effect is applied. The same
is true for any one-shot effect    that refers to the “attacking
player.”
Any characteristic-defining ability that refers to the " “defending player” refers to one specific    defending player, not to
both of the defending players. The controller of the object with the
characteristic-defining ability chooses which one the ability refers
to at the time the nonactive    players become defending players.
All other cases in which the “defending player” is referred to actually refer to both defending    players. If the reference involves
a positive comparison (such as asking whether the defending    player
controls an Island) or a relative comparison (such as asking whether
you control more    creatures than the defending player), it gets only
one answer. This answer is “yes” if either    defending player in the
comparison would return a “yes” answer if compared individually. If
the    reference involves a negative comparison (such as asking
whether the defending player controls    no black permanents), it also
gets only one answer. This answer is “yes” if performing the
analogous positive comparison would return a “no” answer. The same is
true for all other cases    that refer to the “attacking player.”


Game where you draw a path on an overlay

Maybe do you talk about the game "Loony Quest" ?
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/136991/loony-quest

I hope I helped you!


The Dominion rules contain the following note:

Note: Curse cards are present in every game, however, they are rarely used in the basic game other than with the Witch card.

I believe you can buy them just like any other card.  The question is, why anyone in their right mind would ever want to!  Just to show off, I guess :D


What caused this world-class player' to respond inappropriately to her partner's transfer bids?

This looks like one of those tantrums that happen when both partners want to control the hand.  The argument gets out of hand. Both partners think they know what is best and fail to yield until it is way to late.  I wonder if south thought "take that then" when she placed the last pass on the table.

I hate to admit it but I've been there done that.  Please never again.

I suppose it is possible that south thought the the redoubles showed hearts but i strongly doubt it.


Voracious Wurm and Trostani, Selesnya's Voice: Which trigger happens first?

Voracious Wurm has a replacement effect that modifies how it enters the battlefield; thus, it would come into play with 0 +1/+1 counters, and you will gain two life.

If Voracious Wurm had a triggered ability (such as "When ~ enters the battlefield, put X +1/+1 counters on it, where X is the amount of life you've gained this turn"), however, you would be able to place the triggers on the stack in whatever order you choose, meaning you could gain 2 life and put 2 counters on, or put 0 counters on and gain two life.

Relevant rules:

  603.3b If multiple abilities have triggered since the last time a player received priority, each player, in APNAP order, puts triggered
  abilities he or she controls on the stack in any order he or she
  chooses. (See rule 101.4.) Then the game once again checks for and
  resolves state-based actions until none are performed, then abilities
  that triggered during this process go on the stack. This process
  repeats until no new state-based actions are performed and no
  abilities trigger. Then the appropriate player gets priority.

  614.1. Some continuous effects are replacement effects. Like prevention effects (see rule 615), replacement effects apply
  continuously as events happen -- they aren't locked in ahead of time.
  Such effects watch for a particular event that would happen and
  completely or partially replace that event with a different event.
  They act like "shields" around whatever they're affecting.
  614.1d Continuous effects that read "[This permanent] enters the battlefield . . ." or "[Objects] enter the battlefield . . ." are
  replacement effects.


Exiled Players/Betrayer Dead of Winter TLN

Yes.
When the players vote in favor of exiling a player, the exiled player must immediately draw 1 exiled secret objective card. This text of that card follows the following template:

If you are not the betrayer: Reveal your secret objective to all players and remove it from the game. Your new secret objective is now the following: [...]

If you are the betrayer: The 1st goal on your secret objective has changed to the following: [...]

So you must implicitly reveal that you are the betrayer by keeping your original secret objective card.


Why didn't Crawling Barrens grow larger when mutated with my Gemrazer?

Mutation isn't a power/toughness setting effect
A creature's power and toughness are governed by the layer system, which is fairly complicated but usually fairly intuitive. This happens to be one of the few times when it isn't.
Crawling Barrens has a power/toughness setting effect.  That comes in at layer 7b.  When multiple power/toughness setting effects apply to the same creature then they are applied in timestamp order.  That means that the last one played will set the power.
But Gemrazer does not have a power/toughness setting effect.  Mutate comes in at Layer 1, effects that modify copiable values.  And that's at the bottom of the layers system, and is overwritten by the Barren's p/t setting effect, even though it was played later.  So Barrens/Gemrazer stays as a 12/12 until the p/t setting effect wears off at end of turn.
(Incidentally, the +1/+1 counters are applied in layer 7c)
Relevant Rules:

613. Interaction of Continuous Effects
613.1. The values of an object’s characteristics are determined by starting with the actual object. For a card, that means the values of the characteristics printed on that card. For a token or a copy of a spell or card, that means the values of the characteristics defined by the effect that created it. Then all applicable continuous effects are applied in a series of layers in the following order:

613.1a Layer 1: Rules and effects that modify copiable values are applied.
613.1b Layer 2: Control-changing effects are applied.
613.1c Layer 3: Text-changing effects are applied. See rule 612, “Text-Changing Effects.”
613.1d Layer 4: Type-changing effects are applied. These include effects that change an object’s card type, subtype, and/or supertype.
613.1e Layer 5: Color-changing effects are applied.
613.1f Layer 6: Ability-adding effects, keyword counters, ability-removing effects, and effects that say an object can’t have an ability are applied.
613.1g Layer 7: Power- and/or toughness-changing effects are applied.

613.2. Within layer 1, apply effects in a series of sublayers in the order described below. Within each sublayer, apply effects in timestamp order (see rule 613.7). Note that dependency may alter the order in which effects are applied within a sublayer. (See rule 613.8.)
613.2a Layer 1a: Copiable effects are applied. This includes copy effects (see rule 706, “Copying Objects”) and changes to an object’s base characteristics determined by merging an object with a permanent (see rule 721, “Merging with Permanents”). “As . . . enters the battlefield” and “as . . . is turned face up” abilities generate copiable effects if they set power and toughness, even if they also define other characteristics.
...
613.4. Within layer 7, apply effects in a series of sublayers in the order described below. Within each sublayer, apply effects in timestamp order. (See rule 613.7.) Note that dependency may alter the order in which effects are applied within a sublayer. (See rule 613.8.)

613.4a Layer 7a: Effects from characteristic-defining abilities that define power and/or toughness are applied. See rule 604.3.
613.4b Layer 7b: Effects that set power and/or toughness to a specific number or value are applied. Effects that refer to the base power and/or toughness of a creature apply in this layer.
613.4c Layer 7c: Effects and counters that modify power and/or toughness (but don’t set power and/or toughness to a specific number or value) are applied.
613.4d Layer 7d: Effects that switch a creature’s power and toughness are applied. Such effects take the value of power and apply it to the creature’s toughness, and take the value of toughness and apply it to the creature’s power.


This is answered in the FAQ:

  Q: If House Greyjoy plays his “Victarion Greyjoy” House card against
  House Baratheon’s “Sallador Saan” House card, are the participating
  Greyjoy Ships still reduced to 0 combat strength?

  A: Yes.


Can I use a meeple the turn after begging?

Per the second edition rules:

  During the worker placement phase, players take turns placing their workers on board locations and
  executing their effects.

This makes it clear that workers "on board" are used. It never mentions which board, so that would imply that workers placed on any boards are used, and cannot perform other actions.

Also note that your "worker supply" is placed off to the side of your player board, and never directly on it. (A lot of people like doing that, hence why the "lay the worker down" language was added in the second edition rules, but officially unused workers are not on any sort of cardboard.)

The spirit of the game rules is that begging is a last resort option for someone who needs food but does not have access to it via the normal methods. It's not supposed to be an "extra" loan, and especially not to pass ones turn (which in very rare cases might have strategic value!)


Identify a card game where you need to play a higher card or pickup the discard pile?

I believe you are describing Shithead, or one of its MANY variants.
I played this at school in 1990's and when I went to University people from different places had the numbers special powers have slightly different names.  But what I played broadly matches your description.  As stated in the wikipedia link the game does have many regional variations. I am describing this from UK.
In the version of Shithead I played there were 3 cards face down to each player.  3 face up on those cards and players could then swap those face up cards with ones in their hand.  In the version I played all cards were dealt out and sometimes we played with multiple decks in a large group.
In the version I played 2's reset the deck.  7's were transparent and could be played on anything and 10s 'burnt' the stack removing them from the game.
Once a player had emptied their hand they would play with the 3 face up cards and then finally the 3 face down cards were played blind on a players turn.


Can I use Moonlace to allow a Lightning Bolt to target a creature with protection from red?

Moonlace only works on Lightning Bolt when it's a spell, i.e. an object on the stack. To get it there, you have to cast it, which includes specifying a legal target. As you indicated, Repentant Blacksmith isn't one.

What would work is casting the Lightning Bolt on another target (e.g. your opponent), Moonlacing it so it becomes colorless, and then change the target with another card, e.g. Misdirection.


Should the Awakening Center be rezed to host cards?

Yes, card text is only active on rezzed cards. Awakening center must be rezzed to host ice.


According to Wikipedia, they are one and the same.

  A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) or customizable card game, is a kind of card game that first emerged in 1993 and consists of specially designed sets of playing cards.

From Wikipedia the definition of a CCG (and hence TCG) is:

  Collectible card games (CCG) are generally defined as those where the player acquires cards into a personal collection or library, from which they create customized decks of card within the game's ruleset to challenge other players in matches.


When we moved into our house, there was a hand-made storage unit in the basement that I ended up commandeering for all my board games because of its near-perfect size.

The interior storage area of each shelf is 9 1/2" tall, 14" deep, and 48" wide.   If you make the interior dimensions a little deeper and wider, you should be able to affix doors to the front.

The storage unit has no doors, so a few games hang out by a quarter- to half-inch, but otherwise, the dimensions are spot on, assuming you don't mind stacking games on top of each other.

Almost all of the games I have are no wider than 14", and 1" or 2" tall, which makes things nice and consistent.

To give you an idea of what it can hold, I'm able to fit the following games onto two shelves horizontally except where noted as being rotated 90 degrees with an asterisk:

Shelf 1:  Carcassonne *, Puerto Rico, Risk, Axis & Allies, Dungeon, Hunt for Red October, Horus Heresy, two Munchkin games *, Boggle (Horus Heresy and Axis & Allies are stacked on top of each other with no more room; that should give you an idea as to how many "big-box" games you can stack on top of each other)

Shelf 2:  Chaos in the Old World, Lord of the Rings, Mastermind, Power Grid, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Scrabble, Monopoly, Upwords

Fireball Island and Battle Masters have to sit on top because they're too darn big.

Hope that helps!


What aspects of a game are not protected under copyright?

Fundamentally, the OGL exists to (1) allow D&D 3.0 supplements to be made by 3rd parties and (2) to ensure the 3.0 Dev Team could take their mechanics with them if they got fired.

(1) can be seen in the explosion of material in 2000-2002.(2) can be seen clearly in Pathfinder and Arcana Unearthed.

While mechanics can't be copyrighted, and the US Patent Office almost never¹ grants patents on game mechanics, the Open Gaming License provides a means of reusing the literal text, and is a two-way license. Any mechanics you don't declare as product identity are likewise open.

This sharing could have been bidirectional with Wizards, but they appear to have decided not to go that route in the 3.x era.

The ability to use the literal text, combined with the lack of a formal OGL mark², only the D20 STL one, at the time of inception, allowed D&D-compatible d20 System games to flourish; they all "required" the D&D core rules³, and thus helped drive sales.

In general, it made D&D 3E one of the most used game systems in print... at least until Wizards moved on to 4E. And the D20 SRD is still one of the most used reference documents in the open gaming movement; D&D 4E no longer is part of that. (It will be interesting to see how 5E fares, and if it uses the OGL or not.)

Sidebar: Fonts

ML-111 specifies that typefaces are not copyrightable in the US unless individual characters constitute recognizable works of art.

ML-443 reads, in part:

  Pursuant to Congress's judgement in the 1976 act and case law, the Copyright Office does not regiser claims to copyright in typeface designs as such, whether generated by a computer program, or represented in drawings, hard metal type, or any other form.

It does note that the program to generate a picture might be copyrighted, but the font itself can't be even if the font-as-program is.

The earlier  ML-393 notes that font-as-program is unregisterable as the font itself is in fact not copyrightable, with the exception of fonts that are comprised of recognizable artwork.

It should be noted that the particular "look and feel" is a viable and defensible trademark, and for games, Fonts are part of that look and feel.

This isn't legal advice; for legal advice, contact an attorney at law licensed for your jurisdiction.

Notes

¹: The exceptions are few and thus highly notable. Wizards' patent on "Tapping" in card games being the most notable of the lot.
²: The OGL mark is a later add-on; Wizards only released the d20 system logo and a license for it requiring one to not include certain mechanics...
³: not that most of them can't be played without them. The missing content issue was solved in several d20 games by simply publishing an OGL-only web-enhancement with the missing rules.


Is this interaction of Grunn, the Lonely King, and Run Amok correctly examined

You have it correct; you can cast Run Amok before Grunn's triggered ability resolves.

During the Declare Attackers step of the combat phase, players each get priority after attacking creatures have been declared.

  508. Declare Attackers Step

    508.1. First, the active player declares attackers. [...]

      508.1m Any abilities that trigger on attackers being declared trigger.

    508.2. Second, the active player gets priority.

So after Grunn's ability triggers when you declare it as an attacker. When you get priority, you will put that triggered ability on the stack, and can then cast Run Amok in response to the triggered ability.

Grunn's ability will double the power and toughness as it is when the ability resolves, which will include the +3/+3 it got from Run Amok.

The Gatherer rulings for Grunn say:

  If an effect instructs you to “double” a creature’s power, that creature gets +X/+0, where X is its power as that effect begins to apply. The same is true for its toughness.

It doesn't matter what the power is when the ability triggers, or when it is being added to the stack.

The comprehensive rule that backs up this ruling:

  701.9b To double a creature’s power, that creature gets +X/+0, where X is that creature’s power as the spell or ability that doubles its power resolves. Similarly, an effect that doubles a creature’s toughness gives it +0/+X, where X is that creature’s toughness. Doubling a creature’s power and toughness gives it +X/+Y, where X is its power and Y is its toughness.


Monopoly hotel sell to pay debt to opponent

The rules clearly state that houses and hotels are a finite resource:

  BUILDING SHORTAGES: When the Bank has no houses to sell, players wishing to build must wait for some player to return or sell his/her houses to the Bank before building. If there are a limited number of houses and hotels available and two or more players wish to buy more than the Bank has, the houses or hotels must be sold at auction to the highest bidder.

Furthermore, the rules for selling houses and hotels are clear:

  Houses and hotels may be sold back to the Bank at any time for one-half the price paid for them.
  All houses on one color-group must be sold one by one, evenly, in reverse of the manner in which they were erected.
  All hotels on one color-group may be sold at once, or they may be sold one house at a time (one hotel equals five houses), evenly, in reverse of the manner in which they were erected.

The rules do not clearly cover the situation you describe, but I think they implicitly force you into selling more than you need to cover your debts.

Specifically, if there are only two houses left on the board, you would have to sell your hotels and houses in the reverse order you build them until there are enough house and hotel pieces available on the board to accurately reflect what you've done. In your case this means selling from a full set of hotels down to two houses.

Strategically I'd recommend a different play. If the hotels are the only improvements you have on the entire board you're probably screwed anyway, but if not I'd consider selling houses you own on other properties first.


Does Sheltering Word remove an existing enchantment?

No, Auras do not target the creature they are attached to once they are in play.  Auras only target a creature while they are a spell on the stack. Yes casting Sheltering Word in response to Defang would make your creature untargetable, and therefore Defang would be countered on resolution.

114.1b Aura spells are always targeted. These are the only permanent spells with targets. An Aura’s target is specified by its enchant keyword ability (see rule 702.5, “Enchant”). The target(s) are chosen as the spell is cast; see rule 601.2c. An Aura permanent doesn’t target anything; only the spell is targeted. (An activated or triggered ability of an Aura permanent can also be targeted.)
702.11b “Hexproof” on a permanent means “This permanent can’t be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.”


Where can I play Carcassonne or Colonists of Catan online?

Brettspielwelt hosts Carcassonne and Settlers (as well as a number of other games) which you can play against other people, and Catan.com hosts Settlers, again against other people.

For playing against the computer, or other people, JCloisterZone is a great, free, downloadable clone of Carcassonne.


Yes, there are. A creature with shroud can't be the target of spells or abilities, but it still can be effected by ones that don't target.

Some examples are ones that destroy all creatures like Wrath of God, deals enough damage to all creatures like Blasphemous Act, or gives all creatures -X/-X like Black Sun's Zenith.

Another common way of dealing with shrouded creatures is by forcing its controller to sacrifice it with something like Diabolic Edict, though this require them to only have one creature, or want to keep their other creatures more than the wall.

You can also remove shroud from the wall either with Arcane Lighthouse or cards that remove all abilities without targeting like Polymorphist's Jest.

You could also give smaller creatures that it blocks deathtouch with something like Coat with Venom.


If I fail a spell check to gain a combat check bonus, am I unable to equip another item?

That hand is used up for the combat round.  Next round you may equip other items/spells with that hand.

This is covered in the FAQ.

  Q: During combat, how long does a failed attempt to cast
  a spell use up an investigator’s available hand(s)?

  A: A failed attempt to cast a spell uses the specified number
  of hands for an entire round of combat (i.e., for one
  iteration of combat steps 2 and 3.). In subsequent rounds
  of combat, the investigator may switch to a new weapon
  or try to cast a different spell.


Origin of scores for letters in Scrabble (in relation to their frequency in a langauge)

That is touched upon in the official History of Scrabble by Hasbro, the owner of Scrabble.

  Legend has it Butts studied the front page of “The New York Times” to make his calculations for the letter distribution in the game. This skilled, cryptographic analysis of our language formed the basis of the original tile distribution, which has remained constant through almost three generations and billions of games.

I have misplaced (or more likely given away, again) my copy of Everything Scrabble, but I remember bits of what I think I remember reading there (hows that for reliable source?).

From what I remember reading, the letter distribution in Scrabble has continuously slid in favor of people who memorize things like 2-Letter Lists and Q without U words. Even with two well-read players who have never really studied the English language as it relates to Scrabble, the distribution is off-kilter for the normal vocabulary in 2015.

It's not your imagination, there are too many Is. People who know that QI and ZA are words, really tip the value (and risk) of those letters.

Only Hasbro can change Scrabble, but Words With Friends is gaining popularity in part because the tiles more closely represent the way the English language is used today.

Should the tile values change with the times?

Is ZA really a word?

Has X become the best letter in the alphabet?

These are hotly debated subjects.

The history of how the tiles got their distribution seems pretty clear, even if it is described in the official history as a legend. What is less clear is the origin of the point value of individual letters. I think the point value is a part of the same thing, unchanged since the Scrabble name, but that the values were printed on the scorecard, not the tiles. Unfortunately, I have no citation for that, it's one of those things that I read somewhere - or maybe I saw an antique scorecard on display - who knows? But I am fairly certain that the official Scrabble point value per letter has remained unchanged along with the distribution of 100 letters.


How many points are Jacks and Queens worth?

Either 10 each or 11 and 12, depending on which rules set you use.
Wiki says it's played with cards numbered 1 through 13, sometimes with a dedicated deck and sometimes with a standard deck, indicating that the J and Q are worth 11 and 12 respectively:

The game uses a dedicated deck of cards with each suit numbered from 1 to 13, ... Cabo can also be played with a standard playing card deck, and goes under names including Cambio,...

The reference it gives there for "standard deck Cabo" is this one, which says

Jack is worth 11
Queen is worth 12
King of diamonds (the one-eyed king) is worth 0 points
The other three kings are worth 13 points

This set of rules also gives the 11 and 12 values:

Points correspond almost directly with the face value of the card (Ace = 1, 2 = 2…. J = 11, Q = 12) with
the exception of the Kings. A black King is 13 points (bummer), and a red King is NEGATIVE 2 (this is the
best card, we like these).

While this one says 10:

Face cards: 10 points
Ace: 1
Red King: -1
Joker: 0

As does this set:

Red King: Gives you -1 points, meaning, the lowest possible score is -2 if you have both red kings and no other cards.
All card’s worths correspond with their value: J, Q, black Kings and 10s are worth 10 points, 5 is worth five points and so on, Aces are worth 1 point.

While the Android App rules are ambiguous (and I haven't installed it to see which way the app actually scores it):

Every card is worth its number except the K of hearts and the K of diamonds, which are worth -1


A player to skip combat phase in Two-Headed Giant

The whole team is affected, according to rule 805.8 as of the 28 August 2016 revision of the comprehensive rules:

  805.8. If an effect gives a player an extra turn or adds a phase or step to that player’s turn, that player’s team takes the extra turn, phase, or step. If an effect causes a player to skip a step, phase, or turn, that player’s team does so. If a single effect causes more than one player on the same team to add or skip the same step, phase, or turn, that team adds or skips only that step, phase, or turn. If an effect causes a player to control another player, the controller of that effect controls the affected player’s team.

(emphasis added)


When is the game state checked for "Whenever you cast [...]" triggers?

A spell is cast and will trigger any 'on cast' triggers when all of the steps of casting the spell are complete and it is on the stack

  601.2h. Once the steps described in 601.2a-g are completed, the spell becomes cast. Any abilities that trigger when a spell is cast or put onto the stack trigger at this time.

At that point it only matter what the spell currently is. The game does not look back to the steps of playing the spell to see what it was at various points during the process.

Here are the steps required to cast a spell, detailed in 601. Casting Spells:

Announce (and place on stack)
Choose (modes)
Target  How (to divide)
Total (costs)
Mana (abilities, activate)
Pay (costs)


What happens to a creature enchanted with totem armor if both are destroyed at the same time?

On the rulings for hyena umbra:

  If a spell or ability (such as Planar Cleansing) would destroy both an Aura with totem armor and the permanent it's enchanting at the same time, totem armor's effect will save the enchanted permanent from being destroyed. Instead, the spell or ability will destroy the Aura in two different ways at the same time, but the result is the same as destroying it once.


In Small World: Underground, do the Iron Dwarves keep their hammers from turn to turn?

Yes

You are playing this correctly.  Perusing the rules and the BGG forums (where the designer posts occasionally) there isn't any doubt that the hammers accumulate to their maximum of 7 every turn.

It is also noted that the races and particularly race/power combinations are not meant to be balanced in Small World: Underground.  Players should be expected to have to overpay when powerful combos show up and to be teamed up on in 3+ player games when they do get the powerful combo.


Do effects that remove abilities also remove counters?

Abilities and counters are different things. Effects that remove abilities do not remove counters, and effects that remove counters do not remove abilities.

Abilities are defined in rule 112:

  112.1a An ability is a characteristic an object has that lets it affect the game. An object’s abilities are defined by its rules text or by the effect that created it. Abilities can also be granted to objects by rules or effects. (Effects that do so use the words “has,” “have,” “gains,” or “gain.”) Abilities generate effects. (See rule 609, “Effects.”)

and counters are defined in rule 121:

  121.1. A counter is a marker placed on an object or player that modifies its characteristics and/or interacts with a rule, ability, or effect. Counters are not objects and have no characteristics. Notably, a counter is not a token, and a token is not a counter. Counters with the same name or description are interchangeable.


Reduce toughness and cast dmg spell - cause of death?

If you reduce a creature's toughness from 6 to 3 you just treat it as a creature of toughness 3. So dealing 3 damage to it can be regenerated. The 3 damage does not reduce the toughness to 0. It will still be a creature with toughness 3 with 3 marked damage on it that will usually die but can be saved with regeneration.


If I lose my central tile, do I lose the round?

There are four cases where you give up:

If you choose to give up (which you can only do before revealing the next adventure card).
If you reach an Open Space card with zero engine power.
If an adventure card leaves you with no human crew on board.
If you are lapped in turn order (i.e. the player in the lead loops around the board and overtakes you) [courtesy of Samthere]

While the most obvious place to have human crew is in your starting tile (and indeed it will always start with two humans in it, never an alien), if you have another crew cabin with humans in it as part of your ship then it doesn't matter if you lost the starting tile or the crew in it, you can continue your flight.


Does the Visionary's Mass Levitation power apply to Scum and Villany?

Mass Levitation does not apply in this case, for exactly the reason you expect.

The key word here is "deals": Mass Levitation prevents damage dealt by the environment. The environment card doesn't deal damage though - it actually causes the villain to deal damage - so Mass Levitation has no effect here.


How long does it take to play Le Havre with different numbers of players?

The rules say this (for the long version.  I don't play the short version and don't know anyone who does).

Players   Minutes(Rules)    My estimates
1           60               Depends on YOU (30-300)
2          120                 90
3          180                135
4          200                180
5          210                225

I've played about 20 games with at least a sampling of all player sizes.  I don't think Solo is worth considering time-wise.  You'll spend however much time you want, nobody will be uncomfortably shifting in their chairs or humming the Jeopardy theme song to hurry you up.

From experience I can tell you that a 2 person game runs 90 minutes if you are both fairly familiar with the game and have a good setup procedure.  If, when you last played you dumped all the components in the box without organizing them, add an extra 30 minutes...

Each player after that is going to add a fairly static amount.  Perhaps 45 minutes.

This assume mythical standard players of course!  :)  If anything Le Havre is going to bring out the worst in the players that like to know they are making the right move by calculating out as many possibilities as they can.

Each additional player is going to add a good amount of time to the game.  Le Havre is also difficult to plan ahead.  Your options can really shift depending on what the other players do.  Unlike say, Agricola, where you may know on certain turns what you have to do (like acquire food) or Puerto Rico (time to SHIP!), Le Havre doesn't really have forcing actions.  There are always options.

The player right in front of you can easily open up options by buying a building unexpectedly, or moving off of a crucial building.  They can also screw you up by sitting on a needed building for a third dang turn!  I find that these sorts of things happen quite often which doesn't reward folks for thinking ahead (at least in terms of reducing the time it takes to play the game).  It's likely that folks with more experience than me will see more gains here.


How should I determine whether a deck is legal in a particular format?

When checking whether a decklist is legal in a particular format, you should follow these steps:

Check that every card in your deck has a non-silver border or no structured border, rounded corners, and a normal card back, and that they are sleeved if you can tell any of them apart from the back.
Check that your deck follows the deck construction rules for your particular format. Most formats follow the general deck-building rules laid out in the Comprehensive Rules 100.2-100.5. Some formats have additional constraints though. Highlander, for example, requires that each deck have at least 100 cards (as opposed to the usual 60), and that you have only one of each card that's not a basic land.
Determine what sets are legal in your format, and make sure that each card has been printed in a legal set. The version of the card that you use doesn't have to be from one of those sets, as long as it was once printed in that set. Standard, for example, only allows cards from the last couple of years (with some exclusions), but if one of those sets contains a card originally printed in Beta, you can play the Beta version.
Check the ban list for your format and make sure that none of those cards are in your deck.
Check the restricted list (found on the same page as the ban list) for your format and make sure that your deck has no more than one of each of those cards. Note that currently, only Vintage has a restricted list.

Websites exist that will help you determine your deck's legality automatically. A few popular examples are:

deckstats.net
deckbox.org
tappedout.net


Yes.

You can't cast spells without being able to choose a legal target for each target it requires. Liliana's Influence, however, doesn't require you to choose any targets.

  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.

Because of that, you may cast the spell even without any creatures on the battlefield, likely ending up putting a -1/-1 counter on zero creatures.

In the same way, you can cast this card without a card named Liliana, Death Wielder in your deck - you will still have to shuffle your library if you choose to search for her, though.


How do I Decide to Sacrifice or Preserve "Smaller" Naval Units  (E.g. Subs) In Axis and Allies?

After having left a "partial" answer to try to frame the discussion a week ago, I'll now try to finish it.

In purely NAVAL terms, a sub is worth more than 8 IPCs. Specifically, a 24-IPC battleship has four attack and four defense rolls. So do two subs. On this basis, a sub might be worth 12 IPCs, about the same as a fighter. And more than a transport PLUS an infantry.

A sub also has "first strike" and "early withdrawal" capabilities that battleships and fighters do not, adding to their value.

Unlike the others, a sub cannot fight air or land units. You could say that diminishes the value of the sub, or at least that this balances out the sub's special capabilities.

So if we're valuing the units for their purely naval capacities, there's probably nothing better (for the money) than a sub. The reason to use the sub as "cannon fodder" is if we want to save planes or battleships for non-naval functions like land bombardment or anti-aircraft. And that these needs took priority over what was going on at sea.


How to speed up reaction time in Settlers of Catan?

One way to speed up the game is to increase resource production. There are two common approaches to this:

During setup, each player's second placement is a city. This gives a boost to everyone's economy/engine from the start.
Play a 3/4-player game with the map layout for 5/6 players. There will be many more spots, more valuable spots, and less blocking throughout the game.

Obviously, neither of these addresses the issues with turn length and trading. It sounds like your friends need to hurry up and make a decision!


Does a creature have its abilities while being on the stack?

Syr Eleonora's ability is a static ability, and the general rule with these is that they only apply on the battlefield:

113.3d Static abilities are written as statements. They’re simply true. Static abilities create continuous effects which are active while the permanent with the ability is on the battlefield and has the ability, or while the object with the ability is in the appropriate zone. See rule 604, “Handling Static Abilities.”
113.6. 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.

13 exceptions to 113.6 are listed but this situation isn't one of them, so a Counterspell on Syr Eleonara costs {UU}, not {2UU}.
An example of a creature with a static ability which does function on the stack (and not on the battlefield) is Akroma, Angel of Fury. It's printed as "Akroma, Angel of Fury can't be countered." but the updated Oracle text is more clear: "This spell can't be countered." It's a static ability of the creature spell, not the creature itself. This is an example of exception

113.6f An object’s ability that states it can’t be countered functions on the stack.


Can I cast "Find Gate" when delayed in Other World?

Spells (and other items) will usually have some casting phase or timing defined on the card that states when they're allowed to be used.

http://www.arkhamhorrorwiki.com/Find_Gate

Find Gate has Movement: on it, so you can only cast Find Gate during the Movement phase. So if you were drawn through a gate due to an Arkham Encounter that said some thing like 'A Gate and a Monster appear!' you wouldn't have the opportunity to cast Find Gate before your first Other World encounter. But you would be able to cast it the turn after that.

This has been resolved as per the FAQ page 7 under spells:

Q: Can a delayed investigator in an Other World cast Find Gate?

A: No the only things a player whose investigator is
delayed in an Other World may do during his Movement
Phase is stand his investigator marker up and/or trade with
another investigator in the same Other World area.

This answer previously held links to places where the rules around the Find Gate spells was discussed. Since the final ruling from Fantasy Flight Games i have removed this information and the links.


Can I target any number of creatures, even if the ability would have no effect?

No.

  601.2d If the spell requires the player to divide or distribute an effect (such as damage or counters) among one or more targets, the player announces the division. Each of these targets must receive at least one of whatever is being divided.

This is also mentioned in the Gatherer rulings for Aurelia's Fury:

  You announce the value of X and how the damage will be divided as part of casting Aurelia’s Fury. Each chosen target must receive at least 1 damage.


Seeker of Slaanesh Threat Card Clarification

The card is not intended to include any extra "loss" effect. In other words, if you lose the battle you still just lose 1 Life like normal without taking any additional effect.

In addition, the statement of "If you do not…" in the "win" effect is in reference to whether or not you discarded a Corruption card from the first effect. If you have no Corruption cards to discard or choose not to discard one, you draw 1 Corruption card.


Does Medomai the Ageless + Supplanter of Identity give me infinite turns?

If you copy a legendary creature with Supplanter of Identity, the exiled creature will return first and the legend rule kicks in.

In the turn structure, the last two steps are the End step and the Cleanup step. The creature exiled with Supplanter of Identity returns at the beginning of the end step, but Supplanter of Identity itself will remain a copy of that creature until the Cleanup step, causing the legend rule to apply.

  Ending Phase

  512.1. The ending phase consists of two steps: end and cleanup.

  End Step

  513.1. First, all abilities that trigger “at the beginning of the end step” or “at the beginning of the next end step” go on the stack. (See rule 603, “Handling Triggered Abilities.”)

  513.2. Second, the active player gets priority. Players may cast spells and activate abilities.

This is where the exiled legendary returns. The return trigger resolves, players would get priority, the legend rule (a state-based action) kicks in.

  704.3. Whenever a player would get priority (see rule 116, “Timing and Priority”), the game checks for any of the listed conditions for state-based actions,

  704.5k If a player controls two or more legendary permanents with the same name, that player chooses one of them, and the rest are put into their owners’ graveyards. This is called the “legend rule.”

Lastly, the Supplanter returns to its original, if it's still on the battlefield.

  Cleanup Step

  514.2. Second, the following actions happen simultaneously: all damage marked on permanents (including phased-out permanents) is removed and all “until end of turn” and “this turn” effects end. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack.

Note that if there is a Mirror Gallery in play, your combo would work. Medomai's limitation of being unable to attack during extra turns only means it can't be declared as an attacker. However, it is the Supplanter that would be declared, who has no such limitation. The act of declaring it as an attacker triggers the its copy ability. Only now would it become a copy of Medomai, and it would keep attacking and creating extra turns.


How can I speed up a game of High Frontier?

I've found a few suggestions on how to speed up this game, both from the living rules and from users on Board Game Geek. I've also found a number of people who believe it is impossible to actually speed up a game of High Frontier. I'll explore each option below, ending with reasons that none of the suggestions may work. If you don't want to wade through the reasoning and arguments, skip right to the conclusion. It's what I think the best way to speed up the game might be.
Straight From the (Living) Rule Book
In the most recent version of the living rules for High Frontier (found here), there is a single rule suggestion for shortening games:

3.3 SET-UP FOR A SHORTER GAME
For a shorter game, after set-up per 3.1 or 3.2, each player draws one card from each deck at random into his hand.

This is meant to speed up the start of the game by allowing players to build rockets earlier.
Adding Extra Water to the Beginning of the Game
A user on BGG doesn't like the Living Rules suggestion because it a.) adds an element of luck to the game based on your initial deal and b.) eliminates early auctioning altogether. His alternative is to give all players extra water at the start of the game, discussed here. Initially he says 13 total for each player, but after some discussion, settles on 9. This takes out the randomness of dealing cards while leaving the initial auctions intact, but with slightly more resources to bid. This would potentially decrease game time because people wouldn't wait around as long before launching their first rocket. This leads another user in the same thread to think this is a bad option:

I think starting with more water is a mistake. It will disturb the [balance] between the strategy of A: "start flying as soon as possible with a tiny rocket" and B: "stay on Earth until you have a monster rocket".
...
If everyone starts with 13WT in the beginning, the balance between strategy A and B is disturbed, and it seems to me that pretty much everyone would want to do strategy A (except they would fly a medium rocket). Yes, this would get everyone in space sooner. But, the cost will be fewer paths to victory.

This user is probably correct in noting that this would reduce the number of strategies since everyone would be able to launch bigger rockets earlier, eliminating any attempt to launch a small rocket first to try and outrun the "big rocket" players. So the suggestion of allocating more water at the start is going to be dependent on your group's style. If everyone just wants to make huge rockets, this may be a good option. If there are players that employ a strategy of using smaller rockets, this will significantly impede their ability to do so.
Use a Quick Start
In the same thread, one user mentions that they used a "quick start" during a board game convention. They describe it like this:

I've only tried a "quick" start once, at a convention. We were dealt 6 cards (one of each) for the advanced game, keeping 3 and getting 9 water for the other 3. So we started out with scads of water, and a tech boost. But we did still see one person mounting missions earlier than others, and a fair diversity of destinations. I found it to be a nice way to cut down on the play time.

This is a mix of the above two ideas. Instead of only one card at random from each deck, each player gets two (I'm assuming there was a typo in the original post when they said "6 cards" and "one of each"). Each player can only keep three cards, and must sell the other three for water. This reduces the randomness of getting only three random cards while also increasing the initial starting resources for each player. This technique also falls victim to the critique about adding extra resources, but will give players cards so there isn't a bidding war over valuable ones. Of the suggestions I've seen, this seems like the best way to speed up the game because you get more resources and don't have to use them on bidding for cards.
Enforce Time Limits
In that same thread, a user suggests two things that enforce limits on the amount of time players take to play since a lot of slowdowns happen because of decision making (discussed in the section on why you can't speed High Frontier up). He suggests:

(b) impose a time limit on auctions; (c) have everyone prepare what they want to do during their turn while they wait for their turn, so when their turn comes up, they are all ready to go;

A lot of games slow down when people aren't prepared for their next turn or haven't thought about their potential actions ahead of time. One of my all-time greatest pet peeves in Magic: the Gathering is when a player takes an inordinately long amount of time to make a decision, especially when they decide to either take no action or ultimately don't do anything complicated anyway. The player playing mono-red isn't going to deal with the enchantment that's keeping everybody from attacking; stop wasting everybody's time while you pretend you might have an answer. Tangent aside, the inability for people to make decisions in a timely fashion will cause problems, so try to reinforce the idea that people should have some foresight and have a good idea about their next move. There's another question on B&CG that deals specifically with this problem here.
Limiting auction times will also help, although probably only marginally. It'd be worth doing if you feel like the auctions in your game go on longer than necessary. I would encourage the use of one or both of these with another option, as they don't guarantee a shorter game but may help a little.
Adding Resources Each Turn
A suggestion on a separate BGG thread is that each player receives water at the beginning of each round:

I am thinking about this after last session. At the beginning of each round (including the first round), all players receive an amount of water tanks. I am considering to try 2 WT/round -1 for each factory and Space Venture the player possesses (no negative WT as tax, though)
PROS: It doesn't direct a player's strategy like the default express setup and does not turn the initial players' turn into a spending spree. No book keeping needed beyong giving WTs at the beginning of each round (not each player turn). It benefits players who are behind the factory/venture race.
CONS: This is the slowest express setup.

I think they lay out the pros and cons nicely.
Why It's Possible No Alteration Will Speed Up Your Game
One user argues strongly they don't think a game of High Frontier can be realistically sped up. I've collected some comments below from this thread addressing this.

James Moore: Personally, I don't like any of these variants, and I'm dubious that they really speed up the game in any significant way. The slowdowns we see are when people need to think about what they're doing, and have to take extra time to make a decision. (And don't get me wrong, decisions are what makes a good game - this isn't a criticism.) None of these variants would change that. In fact, I think that having more WT might make the game longer since it's sometimes harder to optimize when you have more resources.
...
I think you're mistaking correlation for causation. HF does not have an unreasonably slow game start. HF has a steep learning curve, so it feels like it's got a slow start with inexperienced players.

Conclusion
If I were trying to speed this game up, I'd do the following based on the suggestions I've seen:

Give each player six cards at the beginning (two from each pile)
Each player may only keep three cards, selling the rest to get 9 water
Strongly encourage players to be thinking about their next moves so that decision making time is reduced
Start imposing auction time limits if it seems that people are taking too long to make decisions during auctions (find a sand-timer that matches the length of time you want to limit this to)

While none of this necessarily guarantees a faster game, it should help trim a lot. Good luck!


7 Wonders scoring question (Olympia B, copying a guild) on BSW

I agree with your assessment of how the scoring should've played out, so I would guess it is a bug, likely because copying that guild gives you 0 purple points so it thought that Blue's guild was better (failing to recognize that it gave you more science points).


Settlers of Catan: Building Roads 'Through' Settlements

The reason it is no, is because when you build something new (except for the set up rounds) you need to build roads and settlements connected to something you have already built.

When you reach someone else's settlement with a road, it 'fills' up the intersection and by building a road past you would be trying to build onto their settlement not your road.  It works the other way too, if you have a long road and someone build a road to an open intersection on your road they can build a settlement on the end of their road and thus split your road into two.  So this is a reason not to go crazy building roads without settlements.


Difference between a knight and a meeple

The meeples are any of the roles in the game. Knight, thief, farmer or monk. The big one counts as two.


Chandra, Awakened Inferno vs Gods Willing

Correct, protection from red would cause the ability to fizzle and your creature to survive.
A creature with protection from red can't be targeted by abilities from a red source:

702.16b A permanent or player with protection can’t be targeted by spells with the stated quality and can’t be targeted by abilities from a source with the stated quality.

When someone activates a targeted ability, the player has to check twice whether the target is legal: once on activation, and again on resolution. If all targets of that ability become illegal between the checks, the ability "fizzles", i.e. it is removed from the stack without having an effect.

Casting Spells

601.2c The player announces their choice of an appropriate object or player for each target the spell requires. [..]

The rules for casting spells and activating abilities are the same as far as targeting is concerned.

Resolving Spells and Abilities

608.2b If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal. [..] If all its targets, for every instance of the word “target,” are now illegal, the spell or ability doesn’t resolve. It’s removed from the stack and, if it’s a spell, put into its owner’s graveyard. [..]


Can negative toughness effects kill a creature?

A creature with 0 or less toughness will be sent to the graveyard immediately, so yes, getting -3/-3 can kill a creature.

Note that this is not technically being "destroyed", it is a different way of sending the creature to the graveyard. This matters for things like regeneration.

From the basic MTG rules:

  Your creatures go to your graveyard if the damage they’re dealt
  in a single turn is equal to or greater than their toughness,
  or if their toughness is reduced to 0 or less.


Is the "snake" turn order for Blokus fairer than the traditional turn order?

I would say not. The advantage to those on the ends of being able to place multiple pieces consecutively is far greater than the disadvantage of going last in this game, IME.

First, the single most successful opening strategy is to get across the board as fast as you can, so you don't end up boxed in to your corner of the board. It's been my experience that even with perfect play by the players immediately to the left and right of any one player, it is impossible to effectively "corral" a knowledgeable player attempting to do this, because even if all three other players reach the center first, they will be unable to stop a concerted effort by the player they're attempting to corral to "squeeze out" through one of the gaps left by the other players in their mad dash to the center. A player typically ends up corralled when they focus on building a compact arrangement of pieces in their own quadrant, and that's such a basic strategic mistake that the game designers saw fit to advise against it in the one-page instruction manual.

Second, the snake arrangement is typically most equitable when the style of the game is such that any player could make exactly the same move, and would want to make that move about as much as any other player, and so an arbitrary decision of who can make the most desirable move in the round or game is perceived as unjustly biased. "Draft"-style decisions, such as worker-placement games, are an obvious example that typically benefit most from a variable player order of some kind. Catan's another common example; the last player to place their first settlement is the first player to place their second, allowing them to choose a pair of locations that work well together, compensating for the disadvantage of having the worst first pick.

Blokus is not that type of game; the number of situations in which two players can make exactly the same move, and the move would be equally advantageous to either player, are sharply limited overall, despite anecdotal evidence to the contrary. Even in those cases, it's very rare that the two players would see equal advantage from the move, as while the piece to be played might be exactly the same, the places the player could go based on that move are likely different.

Given these two points, the advantage conferred on the last player (and eventually the first player) in a snake turn order is enormous; in this game, being able to play two pieces consecutively is like being able to move two pieces on the same turn in chess. You get the opportunity to make a coordinated sequence of moves, and in this game that often creates a far larger advantage than the disadvantage you would have by going last.


I don't know any games that use decision trees, at least not visually. The only game I can think of that lets you manipulate rules to reach a certain goal, is fluxx.

To keep with the visual decision trees, you could use a single card per node:

Cards could be decision nodes and terminal nodes, and you would need a starting node for each tree.

Alternatively
You could use concentric pie charts to visualize the type of directional graph you're describing:

Just start at the center and follow the labels.


Do you know any good miniature wargame that is fairly easy to learn and play?

We used to play Necromunda years ago--I'm not sure if it's still around. Like Warhammer it is/was a Games Workshop game, but I think it could suit your purposes. It came with enough "terrain" in the box to support a game. It would be well suited to a multi-player game (think of an urban gang-fight free-for-all). Only a few miniatures were needed so that barrier is low and a quick gang could be set up quickly by new players while the seasoned set up the terrain.


Why isn't "Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small" called "Agricola: All Creatures Great and Small"?

I am almost certain this is a UK / US difference. Specifically, I believe it was named this way because of a marketing decision by the US publisher.

Research:

Although Agricola's creator is Uwe Rosenberg: "a German game designer", the main publisher is Mayfair Games:
"an American publisher of board, card, and roleplaying games"

As you mentioned "All Creatures Great and Small" is a well known UK book/tv series.
This page, shows release titles in different countries. Each language's word for "Great" (Spanish: grandes, Italian: grandi, Dutch: groot, Polish: duze, Russian: большие) all translate to "big" or "large". Even though that is one of the definitions of great, they don't immediately translate to "great". "Big" is a simpler translation that cuts straight to it's meaning.

Why is that simple direct translation relevant? Because that's one common difference between UK and US English. Americans tend to simplify English (some might prefer to say "dumb-down" haha). Check out this page for US/UK spelling comparison, where in every example the US version is just simpler.

I would bet that if the TV series, "All Creatures Great and Small", were remade in the US, that they would change "great" to "big", just like they did with this movie, "All Creatures Big and Small".

If we take a look at that movie's release titles in other countries, the title chosen for UK is "Two by Two". Perhaps they knew the phrase wouldn't sound right in the British ear, and "All Creatures Great and Small" was an already well-known title there.

Moving on, let's find the phrase in a dictionary.
The only one I could find that accepted the phrase is OxfordDictionaries.com. Both phrases using "great" or "big" bring up only the phrase "All Creatures Great and Small." So I would call that the proper or truer phrase. Found on this page.

Did Americans change other phrases using the word "great"? Dictionary Time!
Not only other phrases but if we look at some of the example sentences given for the definitions in this Oxford UK dictionary, a few don't sit right in my American ear.

UK Dictionary: "I was a great fan of Hank's" --- US preference: "I was a big fan of Hank's"

UK Dictionary: "You great oaf!" -- US preference: "You big oaf!"

UK Dictionary: "My father was a great one for buying gadgets" meaning an enthusiast (In US, this sounds like he was skilled at buying gadgets at good prices)
-- US preference: "My father was a big one for buying gadgets" (communicates more of a liking and enthusiasm for it, in the US)

UK Dictionary: "to a great extent" -- US preference: "to a large extent"

(Note that the "US preference" is my personal American ear's preference, so I'm curious if other Americans disagree with any of those.)

Wish I could find more definitive proof, but hopefully this is enough evidence to at least satisfy your curiosity, in case we don't hear back from the game's creator, Uwe Rosenberg.


Do you need to be in the same region to attack Collossus?

As I understand it, the Defender can be anywhere. It is placed in the Collossus mouth when its card is drawn, if there is no other Defender in the Collossus mouth.
There are no restrictions on attacking the Collossus with other Defenders, the restriction is only on the Defender which is being swallowed.