How to mitigate the intial luck factor in Race For The Galaxy?

In my experience, the most effective way to reduce luck at the beginning is to give players a choice of two start worlds. A world you know will be on the table the whole game is a much bigger deal than four cards, of which you'll likely only play one or two, and sometimes none. The implementation of Race for the Galaxy at keldon.net does this. (Side note: some of my friends think Rebel Freedom Fighters is overpowered. You can always just disallow a start world if you're in that camp.)

This said, I think you might be overstating the importance of the starting hand. It's not meaningless, but I can't reliably predict how well my game will go based on it. I've had scores over 100 when I started out with no clear path based on my start world and hand. You have to be willing to explore (+5) on the first turn sometimes. It really doesn't put you that far behind - at most one turn, and there's a good chance you'll get to piggy-back on someone else's develop/settle anyway. (Half the time you don't, it's because they explored too.) However it happens, each time you draw cards, it may completely change your game. Luck isn't just on the first turn, and I think that with a choice of two start worlds, the luck in the rest of the game will be more significant than the initial luck.

Finally, if you're not playing with the third expansion, maybe you should be. It adds the ability to do a one-time search for a chosen category of card; you can choose to search for a 1- or 2-cost windfall world (or 1- or 2-defense if you're going military). If you're really desperate to get going, it is more reliable than the +5 card explore on the first turn.

(Of your suggestions, I think mulligans are better - larger initial draws can improve average and good hands too. I think you'll probably be pretty satisfied with two start worlds, but if you do still want to allow mulligans, you might want to restrict it to "bad" hands by some definition, to keep from focusing too much on the mulligan decision, and possibly improving some okay hands.)


Problem #1 - No clear answer
There are a wide variety of variations on Hand and Foot. The versions I've played with people who "know the game" have always allowed a clean and a dirty of the same rank, and never allowed wild canastas. (The two variations I've learned both use the term Canasta for a completed meld; some versions of the written rules use the term books.)
For clarity - some terms:
Clean Canasta: No wild cards, 7 cards (or more)
Dirty Canasta: some wild cards, 7 cards (or more)
Wild Canasta: 7 Wild Cards.
Extending aka Burying: adding cards to a completed canasta
Clean/Dirty/Wild Meld: a group of cards that will become a canasta of the same type when built upon further
Build: to add cards to a meld in order to make it a canasta.
Book: synonym for canasta, also, to collect the completed canasta into a smaller pile, "closing" it.

Pagat.com, however, says only one meld of a given rank per patnership, and allows wild canastas, and extending.
Gocampingamerica.com makes no restriction either way on melds, and shows no scoring for wild canastas, and disallows extending a canasta, but allows larger than 7 cards melded before booking the canasta. It also notes the lack of standardization in Hand and Foot Rules
rummy-games.com does not allow multiple melds of the same rank, but allows wild canastas, and not extending.
The versions I learned both allow a second meld (see below), extending, and disallow wild canastas. They differ on shuffling protocol, burying of wild cards and wilds per dirty meld. (One allows 3 wilds in a dirty meld, and burying wilds; the other requires a meld to always have more naturals than wilds.)

In the Versions I learned
Yes, you can have a second meld of a given rank, provided:

the first one is dirty
you need a clean canasta in order to go out
you have your partner's explicit verbal permission to make the new meld.

Usually, this happens right after someone goes to their foot.
In versions with no extending and no oversize canastas
You can close a canasta and immediately start a new meld of the same rank (provided you have the 4+ cards of specific ranks to do so).
In your situation
Tactically, unless you needed the clean canasta, or the extant needs a single card to complete, they should have melded those 5's into the extant 5's.


You don't lose the Coin tokens on your Pirate Ship Mat when you use them in your buy.

I think the clue is in the fact that the rules refers to them as "Coin tokens", not just "Coins".  Confusion between them and coins is understandable, but basically they're something completely different: the tokens only serve as a reminder of how many Coins you receive every time you play a Pirate Ship and choose its second option.  Coin tokens do give you Coins, but they are not Coins themselves and are not expended in the same way as Coins!


In the Final Battle, when you remove doom tokens for rolling successes against an Ancient One do you stop counting successes for that roll?

I Just Read the FAQ:

Q: In combat with an Ancient One, how do cumulative
successes in the “Investigators Attack” step work?

A: To defeat the Ancient One, the players must do a total
number of successes equal to the number of players multiplied by the number of doom tokens on the Ancient One.

So, if 4 players are facing Yig (doom track of 10), they
need 40 successes to win. For every 4 successes they do,
they remove 1 doom token to track their progress. If the
investigators get 9 successes in the first round of combat,
they would remove 2 doom tokens, and 1 success would
carry over to the next round of combat.


Can a player collect nobles after a day ends in Guillotine?

The day doesn't end when the line becomes empty.  It ends at the beginning of someone's turn if the line is empty.

After your friend plays Escape!, the line is randomized and two nobles discarded, resulting in an empty line.  Your friend tries and fails to collect the first noble in line (there no longer is one).  Then the day ends, a new day begins, and twelve new nobles are added to the line.

Your friend is out of luck, I'm afraid!  No noble for him until at least his next turn.


There's a program called Gatherer Extractor which can extract all info and images from Gatherer. You can export it to an XML file which you can import easily into (eg) a MySQL database.

You can check the sets which you want to download, and the info you want.

Link: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=303454


Who Takes The Trick In Rage If Everyone Plays A Black Card?

According to the official rules (see p. 3):

  The first color or Wild Rage card played will determine the lead suit of the trick.  If only Action cards, not including Wild Rage, are played, the first card played in the round wins the trick.


Can I activate a Legendary creature's abilities before the Legend rule kicks in?

No, you cannot.

Let's go through this step by step:

  I use his ability to create the X tokens. Then, I play a Progenitor Mimic targeting Krenko. When the Legend Rule takes effect, I sacrifice the original Krenko.

So far, so good. A minor detail is that the mimic doesn't actually target, but that's beside your main question. You currently have an untapped Krenko with a duplication clause.

  Since the Mimic comes in untapped, on my opponent's turn I tap it for the X tokens. My opponent takes and ends his turn.

This doesn't work out so well. Yes, the Mimic came in untapped, but it has summoning sickness until your next turn. You'll need to give it haste somehow if you want this batch of tokens.

  Now it comes back to my turn. The Mimic untaps, and then copies itself during upkeep. Would I be able to tap the token copy after it's created for its X tokens, and then use the mimic later in the round for another X? Would the Legend Rule take effect before that could happen? Would I be able to tap the copy in response to the Legend Rule effect, placing the tap on top of the stack?

As soon as the Mimic's ability resolves, you have two Krenkos on the field, and lose one to the Legend Rule. This is a State Based Action, does not use the stack, and cannot be responded to. You could tap the Mimic in response to the ability triggering, then keep the token, but the token has summoning sickness, so you can't get an additional activation that way.


Where does the Shoggoth come from in story 1B?

The Objective card for 1B reads (at the top, emphasis mine):

  If there are 2 sample tokens on an altar reveal this objective and place a shoggoth in the Ceremony Room.

Once the keeper gets 2 samples using the Take a Sample Keeper action and gets them back to the altar, the fun begins. :)


Jace memory adept 0 ability with less than 10 cards

The player has to put as many cards as possible, up to 10, into his or her graveyard. He will lose the game whenever he tries to draw from an empty library

  609.3. If an effect attempts to do something impossible, it does only as much as possible.

An empty library is not a loss condition; only drawing a card from one is. Jace's 0 ability does not make the player draw cards, it only puts them into the graveyard.

  704.5b If a player attempted to draw a card from a library with no cards in it since the last time state-based actions were checked, he or she loses the game.


Can you play the Village Well (minor improvement) even if you don't own the Well?

The "return well" wording is a cost to play the card, just like when other cards show "1 wood" or "2 clay" to play them. So you cannot play a card that says "return well" unless you pay the cost of returning a well. So you need to first purchase the well before you can play Village Well.


If you are on land, you can build settlements separated by (at least) two roads.

If you want to go to another island, you should build a "road of" boats from a settlement. Until you reach land where you can build a settlement. From the settlement you can build roads again.

You can build boats along the coast as long as they start at a settlement.

You can not alternate between roads and boats without a settlement in between.

There is one exception. If you have two settlements and you build a road from one and a boat-road from the other, they can connect.

To summarize,

you can build a boat on an edge if:

nothing has been built on that edge
you have at least one boat in your stock
you pay a the build cost:

a sheep and a wood
or a card that enables you to build a ship

at least one of the hexes is a water hex
either one of the nodes has a valid connector:

the node contains one of your settlements
the node contains one of your cities.
one of the other edges leading to the node contains one of your boats.
the node does not contain an enemy settlement
the node does not contain an enemy city

you can build a road on an edge if:

nothing has been built on that edge
you have at least one road in your stock
you pay a the build cost:

a wood and a clay
or a card that enables you to build a road

at least one of the hexes is a land hex
either one of the nodes has a valid connector:

the node contains one of your settlements
the node contains one of your cities.
one of the other edges leading to the node contains one of your roads.
the node does not contain an enemy settlement
the node does not contain an enemy city


What happens if multiple people can cast the same card?

If one player controls a Vedalken Orrery that player gets to cast the Griffin first, if both control an Orrery the player whose turn it is gets to cast it first.
The Griffin gives you permission to cast it from a different location than normal (exile vs. hand), but doesn't change when you can cast it. Daxos also doesn't change when you can cast the exiled card, so without the Orrery normally you can only cast the Griffin during your Main Phase while the stack is empty.
What happens is during the Combat Damage step Daxos's ability is put on the stack and resolves. After it resolves the Active Player (Daniel) gains priority, and can choose to cast spells/activate abilities at this time. So if he has an Orrery and wants to cast the Griffin he can. If he can't or doesn't want to cast the Griffin he will pass priority to the Non-Active Player (Victor) who will then get the chance to cast spells/activate abilities including the Griffin if he has an Orrery.

116.1a A player may cast an instant spell any time he or she has priority. A player may cast a noninstant spell during his or her main phase any time he or she has priority and the stack is empty.
116.3b The active player receives priority after a spell or ability (other than a mana ability) resolves.
116.3d If a player has priority and chooses not to take any actions, that player passes. If any mana is in that player’s mana pool, he or she announces what mana is there. Then the next player in turn order receives priority.


Points of influence gained by Lord power

The rules say:

LORD: Earn 1 (influence), plus 1 (influence) per adjacent card that is
in your family.
Each adjacent card in your family earns you 1 (influence) regardless
of whether it is revealed or covered.

So you would count all adjacent cards.  if you have a total of 4 adjacent cards you would score 5 points.  one for the Lord and 4 for the adjacent family members, revealed, covered or not.
Note these need to be adjacent to the Lord,  just having family members in the row, as you give in your question, would not be enough.  Adjacent means they have to be part of a stack next to the Lord card.


Can I use the Grotesque Statue artifact on any effect and prevent loss on all affected targets?

From the FAQ/Errata (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/eldritch-horror/support/EH%20Errata%20&%20FAQ%202015-01-23.pdf):

  Q Can the Grotesque Statue Artifact prevent other investigators  from
  losing Sanity?

  A No. The Grotesque Statue Artifact’s second effect allows the
  investigator to spend one Clue to prevent himself from losing  Sanity
  from a single effect. It does not allow him to prevent any  other
  investigator from losing Sanity.


Yes, Thrun can be exiled
Let's go through Thrun's abilities:

  This spell can't be countered.

This ability affects Thrun while he's on the stack. It has no impact on him once he reaches the battlefield. Note that while Thrun is on the stack, he can still be exiled by effects such as Mindbreak Trap. This is because "exiling" a spell doesn't actually counter it; it simply moves the spell from the stack straight to the exile zone. It's also worth mentioning that Thrun's second ability, hexproof, only applies while he's on the battlefield, meaning that it doesn't prevent him from being targeted by spells such as Mindbreak Trap while he's on the stack.

  Hexproof (This creature can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.)

This specifically protects Thrun from all targeted spells and abilities. Magic cards are written in such a way that all such abilities specifically include the word "target", such as "destroy target creature", or "exile target permanent". As a result, Thrun is protected from a spell like Murder, but will still die to a spell such as Wrath of God.

  {1}{G}: Regenerate Thrun, the Last Troll.

Regeneration is an ability that creates a replacement effect when a creature would die due to damage, or be destroyed:

  701.14a If the effect of a resolving spell or ability regenerates a permanent, it creates a replacement
  effect that protects the permanent the next time it would be destroyed this turn. In this case,
  “Regenerate [permanent]” means “The next time [permanent] would be destroyed this turn,
  instead remove all damage marked on it and tap it. If it’s an attacking or blocking creature,
  remove it from combat.”
  701.14b If the effect of a static ability regenerates a permanent, it replaces destruction with an
  alternate effect each time that permanent would be destroyed. In this case, “Regenerate
  [permanent]” means “Instead remove all damage marked on [permanent] and tap it. If it’s an
  attacking or blocking creature, remove it from combat.”

It has no impact on a creature that's being exiled.

Outside of these cases, Thrun can be interacted with just like any other creature, including exiling it with a non-targeted spell, such as Final Judgement.


King of Tokyo (2016 version): Battery Monster and Friend of Children

No you don't because the card does not say to gain the energy but to transfer it from the card to your pool so you are not gaining but moving so it is available.

Battery Monster:

  (Keep) When you buy Battery Monster, put 6 [energy symbol] on it from the bank. At the start of each turn take 2 [energy symbol] off and add them to your pool. When there are no [energy symbol] left discard this card.

The Friend of Children Power Card states:

  (Keep) When you gain any [energy symbol] gain 1 extra [energy symbol].


You hold priority when you need to take additional actions before a previous action resolves, and those additional actions depend on the previous actions.

That is the general answer to your question. The list of specific examples would be endless, and so I'll only provide one example that falls outside of the "spell copying/redirect" category.

Example:

You have four cards in your graveyard.

Activate Jace, Vryn's Prodigy and hold priority.
Activate and resolve Minamo, School at Water's Edge to untap Jace.
Activate Jace.

If you had not held priority after activating Jace's ability, then Jace would have transformed before you had a chance to activate him a second time. By holding priority, you got a "bonus" activation out of Jace.

Note that in order for any spell or ability to resolve, both players must pass priority without taking any other actions. At Competitive and Professional REL, when a spell or ability is added to the stack, its controller is assumed to have passed priority unless they explicitly state otherwise. That explicit statement is what most players call "holding priority".

This answer to another question goes into far more detail about not only why holding priority matters, but why priority in general matters.


How many buildings can I buy per turn in Queendomino?

If you look at the rules,

  You must take the following actions, in the outlined order (Note that only actions A and E are mandatory. The rest are optional):

you can see that you can play each action at most 1 times.

For action C (Building):

  C - (Optional) Construct a Building:You need to have at least 1 “Town”
  square still in construction in order to construct a building, whether
  this is a square that was added to your territory during a previous
  round or the current one.

It clearly states a building, so you can only construct one for action C and because there is only one (or none) action C in your turn, you can only construct one building per turn.


A turn in Magic is divided into five distinct phases:  the Beginning phase, where you untap, to anything that triggers in the upkeep step, and then draw; a Main phase where you have the opportunity to play lands and Sorcery speed spells and abilities, the Combat phase, a second Main phase, and then the End phase where end of turn triggers happen and then clean up occurs.

Combat begins after all players have passed during the first Main phase while nothing is waiting to be resolved.  That is when Legion's Initiative returns creatures to the battlefield. This transition is before the attacker has declared whether or not any creatures (and which ones) are attacking.

If you use Legion's Initiative's ability before this point you will get the creatures back on the same turn. If you use it afterwards, you'll get them back on the next turn.

When a player finishes their first main phase, their opponent(s) can always respond before the Combat Phase starts.  But because responding there is uncommon, it's not unusual (particularly in casual or low level play) for players to announce who they're attacking with without first announcing the end of the main phase.  Feel free to remind your opponent to announce the end of the phase if they haven't been, particularly if you have a card out that has a desirable use at that point.


How do I put a double-faced card in my deck?

You can use card sleeves, as you suggested, or use checklist cards, which were included in booster packs of Eldritch Moon. These checklist cards are single faced, and included a list of all of the double faced cards in the set. I've also seen people write on basic lands to note the card (though this isn't allowed in tournaments).


What's the least amount of pieces on an Othello board where black or white can't make a move?

For the bonus, the shortest possible game that results in all pieces the same colour (9 moves) is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ehiWOSp_wk


Can a player trade 3 groups in one turn?

On Page 7 of the rule book, it says:

  Each Group exchanged counts as an action
  for the player whose turn it is, whichever way the Group
  moves. So if you trade a Group for a Group on your turn,
  that counts as two actions – one to move the first Group, one
  to move the second one!

Then, on Page 8, it says:

  When a Group is transferred to another player, its puppets (if any)
  must go with it, along with all treasuries involved. The player
  receiving the Group must immediately fit it, and its puppets, into his
  power structure...

(I know you already pointed that out, I just wanted to show the exact rules quotes.)

That would lead me to believe that you can trade off one of your own Groups (and any of it's puppets) for another Group (and any of it's puppets). Doing so will cost your both of your actions for the turn, one to 'release' the old Group and another to 'welcome' the new Group in. The puppets don't have a say in where they are going, so so they don't count as additional 'Groups' in this case.

So you are fine to trade away a parent Group with three puppets for another group, just as long as you get a good enough deal!

(Note, that if a player can't fit a traded group and all it's puppets into their Power Structure, some of the puppets may have to be released to the uncontrolled area.)


What is the limit on selling during your turn?

It is a redundant rule. This printing from Rio Grande Games doesn't even mention the 4 gold maximum per sale. Under Harvesting and selling beans (page 7), it only mentions restrictions on selling from a bean field with fewer than 2 beans only when both fields have exactly 1 bean. The other rule you mention is reiterated though. Therefore, you can earn 8 gold in the example that you gave.

  Players may harvest and sell beans at any time, even when they are not the active player. [...]


Are unused Start Worlds shuffled into the card supply?

Yes: per the Setup section of the rulebook:

  Find and shuffle the five start worlds. Deal one world face up to each
  player. These form  each player’s initial card tableau.

  Shuffle the unused start worlds together with the game cards. Deal six face down cards to each  player. Each player then examines these
  cards and discards two cards face down to the discard  pile. The
  remaining game cards form the initial card supply.

[Bolded by me for emphasis.]


Can warmachine Battle Engines gain stealth?

Concealment & Cover (pg 50) - This model never gains the DEF bonus from concealment or cover. It can get other effects (such as Prowl) though.

It's not explicitely said they can't get Stealth like Gargantuans, so they can.


Googling "space monopoly" brings up Solarquest.


Does a copy of your commander count as your "Commander"?

No, only your own original commander counts.
Generally, if the Lieutenant ability refers to your Commander, then the opponent's Commander would not count, since it's not yours, even if it has the same name. Also, a clone of your Commander would not count, because the Commander-ness of a card cannot be copied.

903.3. Each deck has a legendary creature card designated as its commander. This designation is not a characteristic of the object represented by the card; rather, it is an attribute of the card itself. The card retains this designation even when it changes zones.
Example: A commander that’s been turned face down (due to Ixidron’s effect, for example) is still a commander. A commander that’s copying another card (due to Cytoshape’s effect, for example) is still a commander. A permanent that’s copying a commander (such as a Body Double, for example, copying a commander in a player’s graveyard) is not a commander.


Premptive bid with too much strength in Bridge

Whatever the result of playing 3D was stands. Bidding incorrectly is not (usually) a violation of the laws of contract bridge.


What Programs Work Duing a Jak Sinclair Run

Some programs will still work during a Jak Sinclair run.  The key is the FAQ clarification on "Using":

  Any time an ability is optional, the player resolving the ability is “using” the ability. This includes all paid abilities and all optional conditional abilities (triggered abilities that use the word “may” or “allows”).

So any unconditional triggers on programs will still work.  Here are some examples:

Pawn and Au Revoir work completely (their triggers are unconditional).
Snitch doesn't work (it's ability says "may).
Datasucker and Medium half-work: they will give you virus counters if the run succeeds but their virus counters don't do anything during the run (Datasucker's is a paid ability and Medium's ability says "allows")


What's the Usefulness of Prognostic Sphinx's Second Ability?

Prognostic Sphinx's ability has no restriction on timing, so you can activate it whenever you have priority. This includes on your opponent's turn, or in response to another spell or ability.

Abilities that have timing restrictions will always state it, either directly on the card or in the rules for that ability. For example, the rule for Outlast has a clause "Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery." This clause restricts when you can activate the ability.

Creatures do not untap on your opponent's turn unless an effect specifically untaps them.

Tapping Prognostic Sphinx is not part of the cost of activating the ability. It is an effect. This is important because it means you can activate the ability even when Prognostic Sphinx is already tapped (although the instruction to "Tap it." won't actually do anything).


https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/21729/snake-lake

  The game is about a group of snakes wandering in the woods trying to eat the apples that fall down from the trees (and avoiding eating the poisonous mushrooms).

Search terms:

  snake board game apples -ladders

(The minus sign tells Google to return results without that term)


Based on how your question is worded, I assume you are talking about standard.

I believe you're really asking a more general question, "What are my cards good for once they have rotated out of Standard?"

They can still be played in alternate formats, such as Modern, Legacy, and Commander (and casual, as you've noted)
Some cards may be reprinted in standard again in the future, in which case you can use your old printings instead of buying new ones
From an investment standpoint, some cards may appreciate in value

I personally hang onto all of my old cards as my collection hasn't gotten too unwieldly in size yet. Whether or not your want to sell yours off is really just a personal decision about whether you think you'll be interested in different formats in the future.

If you don't want them anymore, you might also consider trading them for more current cards with players who do play other formats.


Recent semi co-op maze game designed to be played blind

The game is Nyctophobia. I spoke with the designer last weekend, and she said it's scheduled for a Gencon 2018 release.


Are there simplified rules for Race for the Galaxy?

I'm not aware of any simplified rules. I suspect it'd be pretty difficult to remove significant things without throwing the game out of whack.
But the base game does have suggested starting hands for your first game, which is easy to forget. From the setup section:

[normal rules for dealing start worlds]
Your first game: instead, for two players, use start worlds 1 and 2; for three, use start worlds 1-3; and, for four, use start worlds 1-4.
[normal rules for dealing starting hands]
Your first game: instead, each player uses the four numbered game cards
matching his start world’s number as his initial (preset) hand. After finding these preset hand cards, shuffle all the remaining game cards, including any left over start worlds and preset hand cards, together.

This is sort of like simplified rules in that your first choices are pretty obvious, and that initial setup will guide the rest of your game.
The quick summaries in the margins of the rules also provide a nice way of explaining the important things to new players without getting bogged down too much in details. Most importantly, you really don't want to explain a lot of individual cards' powers before you start playing - that can wait until you're looking at them in a game.
If you're playing with experienced gamers, that's probably enough; they can figure it out as they go along, especially with you watching out for anything they might misunderstand on cards. If you want to make it a bit friendlier, playing the first game open hands takes off a lot of the pressure and makes sure everyone gets to see how it all works. It can also be extremely helpful to run through an example turn before you start; some people don't really grok the whole selecting phases deal until they see it.

For what it's worth, by far the hardest and most time-consuming thing for new players is having to read so many cards during their first game. You have to do it all the time - not just when picking a phase, but when picking what to keep from explore, when picking what to spend to develop/settle, and so on. If you still really want to simplify the rules, that's probably the thing you want to attack. I'm not sure exactly what to suggest, but perhaps something like keeping half the cards you draw face down, so that they're purely resources to spend, not options to consider? It'd make your options more limited and slow everyone down, of course, but if it's only for the first game it might be tolerable?


When a shoe is shuffled (or reshuffled), all cards are shuffled, then the cut card is placed near the back of the shoe.  This card is only an indicator that the shoe needs to be reshuffled at the end of the current hand.  Thus, cards behind the cut card can and will be played into the hand.  The purpose of the cut card's placement is two-fold: first, it's to ensure that enough cards exist so the hand can be played out even under the worst conditions (e.g. 6 players splitting and drawing 5 could, theoretically require 60 cards).  Second, it's to discourage card counting as any form of keeping track of the cards seen increases one's odds as the shoe runs down.  Not using the last part of the shoe, thus, eliminates the worst of the counting problem, though it doesn't eliminate it entirely.


Does Thrumming Stone ripple after ripple

It does work like that.  That's part of the point of Ripple... if your deck is built correctly, you can just keep on Rippling all the way through it.

This ruling on Thrumming Stone in Gatherer may be instructive:

  If you cast a spell that already has ripple (such as Surging Flame,
  which has ripple 4) while Thrumming Stone is on the battlefield, both
  ripple abilities will trigger separately. Assuming you choose to do
  all "you may" actions, when the first instance of ripple resolves, you
  reveal the top four cards of your library, cast all Surging Flames,
  and put the rest of the cards on the bottom of your library. Any new
  Surging Flames are on the stack on top of the other instance of
  ripple, so they'll resolve next. Each of them also has two instances
  of ripple, which trigger separately, and the process continues until
  the ripple abilities don't reveal any Surging Flames.

As you can see, each new copy of Surging Flames has not one but two instances of Ripple (one granted by Thrumming Stone) which resolve.  Ripple keeps on going until there's nothing with Ripple left to cast.


The hostages tile counts as two obstacle spaces for John to shoot through (p.18), so they do not block line of sight.

Given that, I'd say that the Thieves can also shoot through the hostage tile (and it counts as two obstacle spaces when they do) as well.


On-attack triggers and removal for attacking or tapped creatures

their triggers leave the stack

That's where your reasoning goes wrong. Once an ability is on the stack, it's 'separated' from the original object:

  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.

(Emphasis mine)

Removing the source of the ability does not help countering the ability or removing it from the stack. You'd have to remove the player (see rule 800.4a) for something like this to happen. Of course, you can counter the abilities with cards like Stifle because you do get priority before they resolve.


Do you pay one or two mana to bounce a transformed Delver of Secrets with Repeal?

Two mana; for the converted mana cost (CMC) of a transformed card, you have to look at the untransformed side:

  711.4b While a double-faced permanent’s back face is up, it has only the characteristics of its back face. However, its converted mana cost is calculated using the mana cost of its front face. If a permanent is copying the back face of a double-faced card (even if the card representing that copy is itself a double-faced card), the converted mana cost of that permanent is 0.

Since Delver of Secrets' converted mana cost is 1, X = 1 and you'll have to pay 2 mana to Repeal it.

Insectile Aberration's side doesn't show a mana cost, and while for some cards that means they have converted mana cost 0, not so for double-faced cards

  202.3a The converted mana cost of an object with no mana cost is 0, unless that object is the back face of a double-faced permanent or is a melded permanent.

It used to be different; before Shadows of Innistrad, this exception didn't exist and Insectile Aberration had a CMC of 0. See this link mentioned by @J.Sallé in the comments.

Please note that 'flipped' is another (but similar) mechanic where a card is rotated 180 degrees but its front face stays up, e.g. Akki Lavarunner. The same idea applies there too, though (see rule 709.1c).


Can Cancel counter a creature on the battlefield?

A creature on the battlefield is no longer a spell.
(as Gendolkari says)
Once your opponent's Ajani's Pridemate makes it onto the battlefield, there is nothing Cancel can do to stop it's reign of attacking and blocking terror.  Here are the step by step actions that were taken, including the only time your Cancel can hope to stem the tide of destruction caused by Ajani's cat friend.

Your opponent chooses to cast Ajani's Pridemate from their hand.
They place Ajani's Pridemate onto the table and says "I cast Ajani's Pridemate" to explicitly indicate that they are casting the spell, rather than accidentally dropping it onto the table. The spell is now "on the stack".
They pay any costs involved in casting the spell (mana cost, and any additional costs such as sacrificing a creature for Fling).
Your opponent, having not explicitly stated they are retaining priority implicitly passes priority to you. The spell is in the process of being cast, but has not yet resolved. It is still a creature spell on the stack.

At this point, if you do nothing, the creature spell will resolve, it will make it onto the battlefield, and your Cancel will not be able to do anything about it. This is your first and last chance to prevent the otherwise inevitable cat invasion.
After your opponent passes priority, with the spell on the stack, you gain priority, and have the opportunity to cast any and all instants, or cards with flash, or activate any abilities of creatures you control for which you can pay the costs. This includes your Cancel.

You gain priority and with it the opportunity to cast Cancel targeting the Ajani's Pridemate spell on the stack.
You do so, your Cancel goes on the stack above Ajani's Pridemate.
You implicitly pass priority.
Your opponent has nothing else they can do, and so must state "Cancel resolves" or something equivalent, indicating that they too pass priority without doing anything.
The top card of the stack resolves, this is your Cancel. Cancel's effect happens, removing Ajani's Pridemate from the stack and sending it to the graveyard.
Everything is fine, the world is once again safe from marauding cat men.

I recognise the above is a long-winded and thorough answer to your question, and the majority of it is overkill for the interaction that you are asking about. However, it should give you some insight into the complexity of the game. We should be clear, there are games where every one of these steps is absolutely critical to the victory of a player, and doing things at the exact right time can make the difference between winning and losing.
TL;DR
The only time your Cancel can target the Ajani's Pridemate is the moment when they pay mana to cast it from their hand. At this point, before it officially enters the battlefield (even though it may be physically "on" the battlefield i.e. the table), you always have an opportunity to say "No, because I cast Cancel". After that moment, it would be too late.


What's this circular board with a spider in the middle

Well, the easy answer is that it's definitely a Carrom board. In particular, American Carrom which has much larger pockets than traditional Carrom boards: Your board exactly matches this image from BoardGameGeek, which is one of the board layouts the Carrom Company used for their Crown Combination Game Boards.

Of note, it's likely that the board is double-sided and would've originally had nets in each of the corner pockets (it looks like OP's picture shows the remains of one on the top right).

However, the design on the surface really has nothing to do with Carrom except possibly for the black line around the edge representing the base line (not sure if the measurements are correct for that) and the markings in the corner representing the diagonals. It's not uncommon for Carrom boards — especially American Carrom boards — to be printed with designs suitable for other games — often using the Carrom rings/discs themselves as playing pieces — so it can serve multiple purposes (checkerboards are quite common, for example). Many of these types of combination board were sold with the promise of "Plays more than 100 games," and the BGG page on American Carrom claims there are over 500 possibilities although that really depends on (a) what boards (if any) are printed on the other side, and (b) how loose a definition of 'different game' you use when counting.

The circular layout in particular seems to be used for a game called "The Spider and the Flies". I suspect the triangles around the border were meant for playing Backgammon (or any of the many many games one could play on a Backgammon board). The numbers on the corners, I can't even begin to guess at.

I do doubt darts was one of the games this was meant for though.


I am no expert but this would be my answer.

I would play it as a soft 12, like a soft 13, and hold on to a good position (18 to 21) unless it becomes a hard number. This seems to be the most practical solution I could think of.


When a creature is enchanted with 2 auras changing it's base stats, what happens?

If two continuous effects change the same characteristic in the same way, then those effects are applied in the order they were created (this is known as timestamp order).

In this case, both Ensoul Artifact and Lignify set the enchanted creature's base power and toughness. Ensoul Artifact entered the battlefield first, so Ensoul Artifact sets the creature's base power and toughness to 5/5, then Lignify sets the creature's base power and toughness to 0/4. The result is that the creature has base power and toughness 0/4.


What are some cards that allow for returning Monsters to my hand?

Well I'd say Penguin Soldier falls into your "what I'm not looking for", but as you mentioned SwapFrog it just came to my mind, that I used to have two penguin soldiers sending back each other and a second card.

Your very specific need might not be satisfied by it, but it actually sounds like there is no 'perfect' card for you?


How do you score the Mayor in a city with no pennants?

No points are scored.

From the Carcassonne Annotated Rules p58 (note 161)

  Question: Blue has a mayor in a city with no pennants. Does the city count as occupied? And if
  so, when the city is scored, will blue score points? Answer: The city is occupied. The mayor has no
  ‘strength’, so he counts as if there is no follower, and scores no points.


Do I draw a card in this situation with Oblivion Ring in MTG?

You will not draw a card.

When a spell or ability resolves it resolves fully, then all abilities that were triggered during that resolution are put on the stack immediately after.

Beast Within resolves fully, destroying Oblivion Ring and creating a beast.
Oblivion Ring's 'leaves the battlefield' ability it put on the stack.
The ability resolves, bringing back Wirewood Savage.

Modern versions of Oblivion Ring such as Ixalan's Binding use a different template.  For those, you would draw a card.

Ixalan's Binding reads

  When Ixalan's Binding enters the battlefield, exile target nonland permanent an opponent controls until Ixalan's Binding leaves the battlefield.

This creates a one-shot effect (exiling a permanent) that lasts "until" Ixalan's Binding leaves the battlefield.  As per rule 610.3:

  610.3. Some one-shot effects cause an object to change zones “until” a specified event occurs. A second one-shot effect is created immediately after the specified event. This second one-shot effect returns the object to its previous zone.

Wirewood Savage would return to the battlefield immediately after Ixalan's Binding leaves play.  Then you would create a Beast token, and because Wirewood Savage is in play, Wirewood Savage would trigger.


I am really confused on how corpseweft works?

You were correct. When your opponent activated Corpseweft's ability and exiled 3 creature cards from their graveyard, they should have put a single 6/6 black Zombie Horror creature token into play. There is nothing in the text of the ability about putting multiple tokens into play.

In the future, if you have a disagreement like this over how a card or rule works, you should always call a judge. Resolving disputes like this is their primary function.


Does sliding/shifting have to happen in a straight line, or can it be curved?

Unless otherwise specified, movement does not have to be in a straight line. Special movement modes follow the rules for normal movement, except where they specifically differ.
Shift and slide don't specify any extra limitations on the direction of movement, so we follow the default movement rules. If we wanted to, we could slide a creature back and forth one square at a time!
From these rules, pages 9-11:

MOVING
A creature can move a number of squares up to its Speed, entering squares one at a time.
Each new square a creature enters must be adjacent to the last, including diagonally adjacent. However, a creature cannot move diagonally around the corner of a dungeon wall (see “Terrain and Movement” below).
A creature can always move fewer squares than specified by an action or effect (including special movement modes).

SPECIAL MOVEMENT
Some creatures have special forms of movement that affect how they interact with terrain and with other creatures. As well, effects from Order cards might grant special movement to creatures.
SHIFT: When a creature shifts, it ignores the requirement to stop when entering a square adjacent to an enemy creature. If it starts its movement adjacent to an enemy, it can move up to the number of squares stated by the effect (however, its Speed is still 1 for the purpose of effects that state “shift its Speed”). It is still affected by terrain while moving.
SLIDE: Order cards can let you slide other creatures. Sliding a creature lets you move it regardless of who controls that creature.
A sliding creature doesn’t have to stop when entering a square adjacent to or occupied by an enemy and can slide the full stated distance even if it starts adjacent to an enemy. It is still affected by terrain while moving.

Additionally, from the diagram on page 11, we see an example of a Copper Dragon using flying movement. The rules for flying don't explicitly specify that the flying creature can change direction after each square, because that's covered under the normal rules for movement.


A quest is 'resolved' during the quest resolution step of the Quest Phase. This happens every quest phase. So Lindon Navigator's forced effect triggers after the quest resolution step of each Quest Phase regardless of the outcome. Note that this does not technically happen at the end of the Quest Phase as there is still an action window and the quest phase end step.

The quest card is discarded when the quest 'advances' (usually when the quest has progress tokens equal the current quest's quest points; this may happen outside of the quest resolution step by the way). This is different from 'resolution' which happens every Quest Phase during the quest resolution step (unless of course that step is skipped by a card effect).

Source: The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game Online Rules Reference available on the FFG website https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-card-game/.


Is Sanguine Bond + Exquisite Blood a potential game ender?

Either your opponent will have to lose life or you will have to gain life to start the process. Then, yes, unless someone does something to stop it, you'll enter a loop which will win you the game.

As hinted above, there are numerous effects that can change the outcome. If an opponent controls Platinum Angel, if they cast Angel's Grace, or if you control Abyssal Persecutor, the game will enter into a loop of mandatory actions which will end the game in a draw. If an opponent has hexproof or shroud for some reason (e.g. Witchbane Orb, True Believer), Sanguine Bond won't be able to target him or her and the loop will terminate. Voidslime can end the loop (but doesn't prevent from being restarted later).


Look at this question and its answers for Joseki databases on the net.

Black has a lot of possibilities here, including tenuki. None of your marked moves is really bad, but C is the least favourable of them.

I'd just play tenuki and take the last open corner. Even with a double approach, the two space approach leaves a lot of room to escape or to create a good position.


What are "Centipede" and "Greedy Roach"?

Yes, those are the correct Inititive cards
From the rulebook (page 15, or 17 of the PDF)

Greedy Roaches
Some encounters include ’greedy roaches‘. Greedy roaches use the same initiative card as normal roaches. When greedy roaches are placed on the board, all roaches in play become greedy roaches. When a greedy roach steals a cheese from a mouse, that cheese is placed on the minion cheese wheel on the story control board.

Jerry Hawthorne the Mice and Mystics' game designer, said in this thread to the question:

Q: When you fill the cheese wheel and a surge occurs, if the surge on the encounter card is a Centipede, which initiative card do you use? There doesn't seem to be a 'normal' centipede card - and there are two to choose from. Which one is used? They both appear to be 'named' centipedes with different special abilities and stats.
A: Use the Cave Centipede card.


Which rules advance the chapter end marker in Mice and Mystics?

The only things that move it are achievements and specific story line events that will be listed in the story book.  I believe Chapter 1 has one or two of those.

Some tips for keeping the pages from advancing too quickly:

Try to get the first attack.  Most rooms start with the monsters a ways away from you.  If you act first, hold back out of their range.  They will blindly charge forward and you will be able to get in the first attack next round.
Don't be too stingy with your cheese.  Using special abilities kills monsters faster, reducing the number of dice you roll that could come up cheese.
Don't spend a lot of time searching after you've killed the last enemy.  Try to have the last mouse on the track be in position to explore, and only let the people in between search.  Some times you can delay killing the last enemy to give yourself a bit more time, but this can also backfire.
Don't spend a lot of actions healing during battle.  Kill the enemies first, then heal before leaving the room.
If someone is getting close to an achievement like Roach Master, you can leave the final kills for them so that they can advance the end marker for you.


In bridge, can "good" players get away with bidding "light"?

"It takes 26 points to make a game" is clearly a rule of thumb, not a hard rule.  Anyone who has played more than a few hands of Bridge should be able to see that, sometimes, light hands combined with intelligent play make a contract; and, sometimes, a solid point count is brought down by a bad lie of cards or a clever defence.

I don't think any of this is at all controversial.  An expert is going to be able to read his/her hand for more than just a bare point count.  As you say, JT9 is worth more "points", in the right circumstances, than J32, though an absolute beginner may not yet understand why.  An expert is more likely to have the confidence to relish the challenge of trying to win out with a borderline hand.  An expert is more likely to have the arrogance to assume he/she can outplay the opponents, even from a seemingly unfavourable position.  If the expert bids correctly, the opponents may not even realise the cards and the points actually favour them, until it's too late!

I'd definitely worry slightly about a partner who is "surprised" by 24 HCP making a 3NT contract, I have to say!  It seems like they must still be missing something crucial in their understanding of what causes a Bridge round to be won or lost...


How does one set up a 1/4 board for Go – and is it a good way to start?

There is a lot of discussion on whether starting on 19x19 or 9x9 is preferable, the general consensus tends to 9x9. Personally, I started on 19x19 but would have preferred 9x9.

As a beginner, you first need to understand the most basic melee fighting tactics (atari, ladder, snapback, basic life and death, etc). Those can be learned on both big and small boards, but small boards avoid introducing complex strategic issues and make for faster games that are easier to review.

You probably should stick to small boards until you are familiar enough with the game to stop making "obvious" mistakes (crawling with a dead group on the first line, playing out ladders, stuff like that).


Yes

See this paragraph on p19 of the rulebook:

  Order is important. During battle, your rating on the Evilometer can
  change. This might make the paladin choose a different dungeon (as
  explained in the Paladin section above). The paladin will move
  immediately (along with any Damage Counters that are on him) so it
  is possible that the paladin will fight in multiple dungeons in the
  same round. Once the paladin is eliminated, however, he will move no
  more, regardless of the Evilometer.

The Paladin's justice is swift - if you become the most evil player at
any point, he will swoop down to punish you at once!  I believe I read
the game designer saying somewhere that you know you've gotten really good
at the game of Dungeon Lords when you are deliberately manipulating the
Paladin's movements - e.g. sending him to trash another player's Dungeon,
but then having him come back to yours with a few damage counters on him,
so he's easier to defeat.  I think it's very hard to pull off stuff like that,
though!

EDIT: Regarding whether the Paladin can enter play when  a player crosses
the "evil threshold" for the first time in the year during a battle, I see
no reason why not.  Here's the rules from the Paladin section:

  If your Evil Counter lands on or rises above the paladin space on the
  Evilometer, the paladin sets out to attack your dungeon. Take the
  Paladin Tile from the Central Board and put it in the large space near
  the entrance to the dungeon. The paladin will always be at the front
  of the party. Any new warrior will push ahead of everyone but the
  paladin. The paladin himself is a mighty warrior. And a priest. And a
  wizard. And even a bit of a thief. For the purposes of the rules, he
  does not count as any of these, but anyone who faces the paladin will
  realize that he is an adventuring party all by himself. If you cross
  the line, you attract the paladin immediately.

Yes, it's true that these rules normally entail the Paladin joining the
adventuring party while they're still outside the dungeon, preparing for
their attack.  But crucially, there's no contradiction between the above rules and the Paladin joining mid-battle.  During battle the adventurer tiles are still in the spaces near the entrance, and it's easy for the Paladin to join them.  Just because in some sense the party have left the entrance and are now several tiles deep into the dungeon, doesn't mean that it's hard for the Paladin to find them.

Fundamentally, attracting the attention of the Paladin happens instantly at any point that a player becomes evil (or more evil) enough.  The rules are quite clear what happens whenever this occurs, and there's no reason to suppose there should be any exceptions.


In Monopoly Deal, can you pay with houses or hotels?

From the Monopoly Deal FAQ (scroll down to near the end):

Q - WHICH CARDS CAN I USE TO PAY OTHER PLAYERS? (E.G. FOR RENT, BIRTHDAYS ETC.)
A - You can choose to pay:

from your Bank (with money or Action cards that you've Banked as money),
with Property cards, or
with a combination of both.

Remember, you can only pay with cards that are on the table in front of you, never with cards from your hand.

You cannot pay with Houses or Hotels you have on properties because they are not in your bank nor are they Property cards themselves.  If you had Banked them, you could use them to pay for things.


Are players required to make conquests on their turn?

No, it is not required. There's nothing wrong with just leaving everything exactly as is.

  Leaving in place one Race token in each Region they occupy,
  the player may take all his other Active Race tokens from the
  map back in hand and use them to conquer new Regions.

Note the "may".

Also:

  The active player can repeat this process to conquer as
  many new Regions as he wishes during his turn, provided he
  has enough Race tokens left to accomplish these successive
  conquests.

"As many new Regions as he wishes." 0 might be as many as you wish.


Submarines and "Defenseless" Transports in Axis and Allies

You played the right way.

Basically, the turn continues until 1) all the defending forces are destroyed, or 2) all the attacking forces are destroyed or 3) the attacker elects to retreat.

The defender cannot retreat. The exception is submarines, which can submerge (and retreat) if they get the right rolls.

Earlier on, you might have taken at least one transport as a casualty (8 for the transport, 6 for e.g. two infantry units, 14 in total) to save your battleship (15), the unit that has the best chance (going forward) to fight back. Instead, when you sacrificed your battleship, you doomed your transports because they can't fight back.


Brackets for tournament in a three player game


When a city outbreaks when using the Malaria Historical Disease, does it create one or two outbreak cubes?

Infecting and placing disease cubes are different things. It just so happens that infecting often (but not always, as in the case of an outbreak) causes a disease cube to be added.

The rules for Malaria state that you only place an extra cube when infecting. They do not say something like "whenever you would place a cube, place an extra cube".

Rules governing infecting a city:

  To infect a city, place 1 disease cube matching its color onto  the
  city. If there is a purification token in a region adjacent  to the
  city, however, remove 1 purification token from an  adjacent region
  (returning it to the supply) instead of placing a  cube. (If there is
  more than one adjacent region with a purification  token, the current
  player decides which token to remove.) If the city already has 3 cubes
  of this color, do not place a  4th cube. Instead, an outbreak of this
  disease occurs in the  city (see Outbreaks below). Discard this card
  to the Infection  Discard Pile.

Rules governing an outbreak:

  When a disease outbreak occurs, move the outbreaks  marker forward 1
  space on the Outbreaks Track. Then,  place 1 cube of the disease color
  on every city connected  to the city (or remove a purification token
  if any). If any of  them already has 3 cubes of the disease color, do
  not place  a 4th cube in those cities. Instead, in each of them, a
  chain  reaction outbreak occurs after the current outbreak is done

An infected city is only one for which an infection card is drawn.

Regarding your arguments for the other interpretation:

Use of the word "whenever":
This word is used to declare that it happens whenever an infection card is drawn for an uninfected city. I cant think of any other way to describe it without using "whenever" or a similar word. It does not imply there are other situations.

"Infect" vs "infect":
Doesn't matter. Infect is not a proper noun and was not made into one by the rules.

Flavor text:
Given my interpretation, infections ARE more severe.


Can I show my resource cards to other players in Settlers of Catan?

You cannot show other players your cards.
From the FAQ:

Resource Cards - Do I always have to keep my Resource Cards face down?
Yes.


Canasta: Rules to pick up discard pile when frozen or not frozen

You are mostly correct; except in your understanding of the wilds.

To determine if you are allowed to pick up the (entire) discard pile; follow these rules:

If the discard pile is frozen, you can only pick up the discard pile if you can immediately meld that top card along with 2 more of the same card from your hand. A wild cannot help you here; you need 2 natural matches, not including wilds. If you have never melded before; you need to also meet the minimum meld value (by melding whatever else you want from your hand at the same time). You can count the top card in the points for part of that minimum meld; but you cannot count anything else in the discard pile.
If the discard pile is not frozen, you can only pick up the discard pile if you can legally meld the top card of the discard pile. This could be melding it by just adding it to an existing meld; or melding it along with more cards from your hand (which could include wilds). There is no minimum meld to worry about, because if the discard pile is not frozen, you have already melded.

In either of the 2 cases, if you pick up the top card of the discard pile, you also pick up the entire pile.

The discard pile is frozen (for your team) if either there is a wild in the discard pile, or if your team has not yet melded at all.


According to page 6 of the rules, the last thing you do after scoring a base (after discarding minions, and moving the First Mate and its ilk) is to "Check to see if another base is ready to be scored. Score it too, the same way."

So every time you score a base, you check all of the other bases and see if they're ready to be scored. The player whose turn it is still decides what order to score them in.


Is it better to ask a question or guess with 3 characters left in Guess Who?

My original answer assumed that there was no penalty for guessing incorrectly. This answer assumes that you are playing with the rule that incorrect guesses cause a game loss.  My original answer is provided below this one

Never guess, unless a player has only a single character left

If your opponent guesses, then your odds of winning are 50% if they have two characters left or higher if they have more.  If you guess, your odds are 50% if you have two characters left, or lower if you have more.  Therefore, there is never any benefit to guessing - the odds are always equal to or better if your opponent guesses.  This only changes if your opponent have a single character left.  At that point the odds of losing jump to 100%, and any odds are better than that, so guess.  (Also, if you only have 1 character left you should obviously guess as well)

Guess. Always guess when there are three or fewer characters left

Any question you ask is guaranteed to divide the remaining characters into a group of one and a group of two.

Guessing also divides the characters into a group of one and a group of two.

Literally the only difference is that if the character is in the group of one and you ask then you need to take an additional turn to guess, whereas if you guess and the character is in the group of one then you've already won.

Your error is in assuming that asking a question has a 50% chance of putting the character in the group of one.  It's actually 1/3, same as when you guess.


Can Gullveig of the Nordic Ascendant be used as material for the summon of another Gullveig?

Does this mean the Gulllveig can be used as material for itself?

No it can't.
Link Monsters have no Level nor Rank. From the Wiki on Link Monsters, emphasis mine:

Link Monsters have a Link Rating in place of a Level or Rank. [...]
Link Monsters do not possess Levels or Ranks, therefore they cannot be used as material for a Ritual, Synchro, or Xyz Summon. Also, Level or Rank-modifying cards such as "Harmonic Waves", "Feedback Warrior", or "Xiangsheng Magician" do not affect Link Monsters.

As Gullveig specifically asks for a Level 5 or lower monster that means you can't use her as a link material to summon another copy of Gullveig.


There seems to be surprisingly little information about the origin of the name "Chinese Checkers". The game itself was first released in 1892 in Germany as "Stern-Halma" (literally "Star-Halma"), indicating that it was a variation of Halma that was played on a star-shaped board. But there doesn't seem to be any solid information about why the name "Chinese Checkers" became associated with the game.

The only thing that I could find was a history of the game on PlayChineseCheckers.com, which despite sounding authoritative is written by an anonymous author who doesn't back its claims (not to mention has a website that looks like a GeoCities page from the 90s) and so the following passage should be taken worth a grain of salt:

  The first Chinese Checkers game to be published in the United States was 'Hop Ching Checkers' in 1928 by J. Pressman & Co. This was exact the same game as the 1892 Star-Halma. The brothers Bill and Jack Pressman made up the name 'Chinese Checkers' during or shortly after 1928. The game was given a Chinese name and theme in keeping with the current interest in all things oriental (among them the discovery of King Tut's tomb in 1922 and the 'mah jongg' game that was introduced in 1923)

I'd like to stress again that despite this being a really solid-sounding explanation, the author is anonymous and there are no sources to back up this claim, so it's not clear whether or not this is true.

After a great deal of searching, I did not manage to find a more authoritative source on the subject, so the true origins of why the game is called "Chinese Checkers" may remain a mystery.


Are there online tools to solve card-based puzzles?

Tabletop Simulator gives you a sandbox board game world, so you could use it to solve card puzzles. However, it is not free.

For a free version you can try using this website. It doesn't have the best user experience, but it does the trick.


The original Microgames from Metagaming had a rule booklet no larger than 32 small pages (A5 size, approximately), and a counter sheet the same dimensions, plus a map that folded to that size to fit in the plastic envelope.  Counters have to be large enough to read, so there's a limit to the number of counters that will fit on that size sheet.

Another design criterion was that they should take no more than an hour to play, ideally half an hour for experienced players.

Worth noting that within this definition fell the original Car Wars, the original Ogre, the original Melee and Wizard (that eventually evolved into GURPS), and a space combat game called Warp War, among others.


How will using counters to represent money instead of facedown cards change the game?

It would sort of ruin the game for me, I think.  One of the things I like about Bohnanza is that superficially it's a pretty easy game: certainly you can bring it out with non-gamery types or children and it will be a hit, due to the colourful cards and the social aspect of the trading.

However, there are strategic undercurrents to Bohnanza that set it apart from, I don't know, Uno and the like.  And one of the main ones is the fact that, if you're paying attention, you can realize that, as the game progresses, the value of beans is changing as cards leave play to become gold coins.  If you are paying more attention than other players, you can be planting the most advantageous beans remaining while they carelessly plant beans most of whose brethren are sitting in people's coin piles.

If you remove the facedown cards rule, you still have a fun game, but I think it's a game that's almost totally ruled by charisma.  If you're the sort of person that people like trading with, you'll probably win.  (The ladies in our group are less cutthroat than the guys, and quite often do very well at Bohnanza, simply because we are obviously checking values of beans and saying "no, no, that's not a very good trade for me, I'd need another card" - so they stop trading with us!)  So it makes me much happier that there's an element to the game which allows good sense of which beans are in and out of the deck at any given point to make a profit.  I like that having some smarts can allow you to maximise your chances against the luck of the draw.

Having said that, Bohnanza is above all a supremely fun game, and when I sit down to it I quite often don't bother to obsessively card count, or go into "analysis paralysis" over my moves.  You could change the money-representing mechanism and I'm sure I'd still enjoy Bohnanza about the same: I'd be sad that the potential for some cunning and counting had disappeared, on some level, too though.

One final thing that you want to watch for is that the game will last a lot longer if cards aren't being removed from the deck in each pass.  I really like the fact that the first pass is a pretty leisurely affair, while by the third pass people are saying "holy moley, is the game that close to finishing?"  It adds a lot of tension to proceedings.  In fact, the ability to cash in or to hold up from cashing is a way that players have to control the pace of the game and the constituency of the deck: that's another way that changing the rules would adversely effect players' chances of being "clever" in the game!

In short, I think Bohnanza is a spectacularly well-designed game with a lot of depths that you might not notice on your first few games - as you'd expect from the great Uwe Rosenberg.  I personally wouldn't tinker with it, I think it would lose a lot.  But if you want a longer, more carefree, more socially-oriented game then it could be worth a try anyway!


Formal Format for Documenting the Game Design Process

Maybe this won't answer your question either, but it might get us closer.

First, a short glance at Jason Bakker's "A GDD Template for the Indie Developer" will stress the need for Breaking down components, keeping it simple, lists are a great tool for knowing what you'll do (as in a To Do or shopping list). Analysis itself being key in the process of game creation.
Second, I would suggest a good look at Stone Librande's suggestion of "One Page Designs". Stressing the need to show the relationship between elements in a more visual way.

Still, I agree with Steven, no tool will ever fit all needs. So:

Lastly, I would add a key component to the process of Game Design: Document Design itself. So we keep this ever-evolving and so that every project has the right document to it. Making the document is the process itself. A living document, changing all along the project.


How has the composition of Catan's development card deck changed over time?

It has stayed the same from the beginning (though Mayfair has changed some rules and the map in the last edition):

14 Soldiers
5 Victory Points
2 Monopoly
2 Road Building
2 Year of Plenty


Ticket to Ride: May a train segment count for 2 different routes?

From the rule book:

  The object of the game is to score the highest number of total points. Points can be
  scored by:
  ◆ Claiming a Route between two adjacent cities on the map;
  ◆ Successfully completing a Continuous Path of routes between two cities listed on your Destination Ticket(s);
  ◆ Completing the Longest Continuous Path of routes

You shouldn't think of it as building trains, but as claiming routes. The plastic trains are only there to show that the route is yours.
Once you've claimed a set of routes between Atlanta and San Francisco, you can (and should) use and re-use this route as often as possible.


How does DeGray's Pilebunker chip work when trashing Gems of size 2+?

You don't gain anything!

Pilebunker's actual wording is:

  Opponents reveal their hands, trash their largest [Gem chip], then gain that many [1 Gem chip]s.

Note that it's "then gain", not "then you gain" - each opponent gains the 1-Gems.
Pilebunker effectively splits their biggest gem in their hand into 1-gems, diluting their deck.


Yes, that's a reasonable simplification.
To be more precise, it's a 7/4 with 3 damage on it. This may matter in the case of another card which wants to know the toughness of the creature like Abattoir Ghoul. If you attack with the Knight and your opponent blocks with the Ghoul, they'll gain 4 life, not 1.
Also, resolving Provoke the Trolls is not enough; it needs to actually deal damage. If the damage is prevented, e.g. with Avacyn, Guardian Angel's first ability, it doesn't get the +5/+0 bonus.


How do Sphinx of Foresight and a discard effect on the first turn interact?

If a player reveals Sphinx of Foresight, that player gets to scry on their first upkeep even if the Sphinx gets discarded or exiled beforehand.

The Sphinx's ability creates a delayed triggered ability. That ability remains in the game no matter what happens to the Sphinx card. The ability only requires its controller's first upkeep to trigger, and its effect does not reference the Sphinx card as a prerequisite.

  603.7. An effect may create a delayed triggered ability that can do something at a later time. A delayed triggered ability will contain “when,” “whenever,” or “at,” although that word won’t usually begin the ability.


Is it possible to change or destroy goods that a scout is sending?

From the FAQ 2.0, page 2, we have the following:

  Q: Can a scout gather icons and/or resources from a square  in another
  city’s outskirts? What if the square contains a  building or a wonder?

  A: A scout can gather resources from a square in another city’s
  outskirts, even if that square contains a building or wonder. If  the
  scout sends those icons and resources to a different city,  the
  original city cannot also use those icons and resources.

  Q: When a scout moves into or out of a square with a coin  icon, is
  the coin total updated immediately?

  A: Yes. This can result in an economic victory.

Given this, it appears that two things are true.  First, when a scout moves, the tile it is sending to the city also updates (as evidenced by the coin example).  Second, if a scout is on a tile of one city, the resources from that tile can be routed to a different city or not, but cannot be double counted.

It would appear from this that the behavior of the scout is to have the tile it is on considered part of a city of your choice.  If the scout moves, the resources it is sending are changed to the scout's new location.  If the tile the scout is on is modified, the resources the scout is sending also update (exactly the same as if that tile were in the city radius of the city the scout is sending resources to).


Can you use ports or markets after playing all action disks?

You cannot use the ports or markets if you have no action disks left to play.

The easy way to think about this is:

On your turn:

Place one of your action disks on the board and take that action
(Before or After you place your action disk)

Use one Evolution card (optional)

(Before or After you place your action disk)

Pay one coin to use a port or a market (optional)
You can use each market or port you own once per round, and only one per turn.

So if you don't have any action markers, you won't be able to use a port/market.


For one who likes trading games like monopoly what's the closest 2-player game with similar dynamics?

How about Traders of Genoa?

  This is a game of trading, wares, and negotiation. The players take
  the roles of traders in Genoa in the 16th century. They fulfill
  orders, deliver messages, and take ownership of buildings in the city.
  Of course, this is not possible without the help of the other traders
  - thus, the need for clever negotiation. And that can cost money and other valuable goods! The player who earns the most in the game is the
  winner!

http://riograndegames.com/Game/200-Traders-of-Genoa

It's a fair amount more complex than Monopoly, but much less random and there's a lot more negotiation and trading involved. It plays with two, although it is better with more, much like Monopoly. It'll probably take about 90 minutes to play to completion with two.

Currently officially out of print, but you shouldn't have too much trouble tracking down a copy. It's sometimes known as "Genoa" rather than "Traders of Genoa" but it's the same game.


Will Heroic trigger if a spell would cause the creature to lose all abilities?

Yes, Heroic does trigger in that situation, and he does gain the 2 life. This is because Heroic triggers when you cast the spell, before it resolves and has any effects. Basically, it plays out like this:

Your opponent casts Turn to Frog targeting his Setessan Battle Priest. The Priest's Heroic ability triggers. Now there are two objects on the stack: the Heroic ability is on top of the Turn to Frog spell.
The Heroic ability resolves, and your opponent gains 2 life.
Turn to Frog resolves and the Priest loses all of its abilities.

The rulings on Setessan Battle Priest's Gatherer page also mention this:

  Heroic abilities will resolve before the spell that caused them to trigger.


Do markerlights put on a unit embarked in a dedicated transport remain on the passengers after the vehicle is destroyed?

No. The markerlights are on the transport, not the unit inside. Remember they are separate units, and generally you can not target units inside a transport (template vs. open topped being the exception). Any markerlights on a destroyed unit are removed with the unit.

The only way that would be possible, is if the targeted unit had a way to embark during your shooting phase. To my knowledge that's not possible.

Note: In 8th edition, this is still true, except that there are no templates anymore.


What is the name of this columns-based card game?

You describe a variation of sevens/Fan Tan, with the only difference being the use of nines as the bases instead of sevens, which effectively makes the same game, just with the number of cards above/below the base swapped:
23456 7 89TJQKA
AKQJT 9 8765432

That linked page above also references a Russian version that uses nines as the bases, but that one uses a 36-card deck.


Is it true that all computer chess programs can be forced into a three-fold repetition draw?

What your friend is saying isn't "fake news", it's outright bull****. Of course computers can recognize 3-fold draws, in fact just about the first step of writing a new engine is to tell the engine what the rules of the game are.

Here're the relevant lines in Stockfish's code:

bool Position::is_draw(int ply) const {

 if (st->rule50 > 99 && (!checkers() || MoveList<LEGAL>(*this).size()))
     return true;

 // Return a draw score if a position repeats once earlier but strictly
 // after the root, or repeats twice before or at the root.

 if (st->repetition && st->repetition < ply)
     return true;

 return false;
}


Is Ticket To Ride Asia played with stations?

Stations are specific to Europe and could potentially break (or perhaps make) games on other continents. Since Asia and other expansion maps can be played with both US and Europe base sets, the largest common denominator would be to not use stations in expansions.

I have not tried using stations for Asia or India, perhaps it could be worth a test run, but I can see discussions coming up on combinations with Mandalas for India. Asia is more traditional in style (read: more like US) and tension remains mostly because of possible blockage by other players.


Do all expansions have to be bought in pairs to maintain playability for 3-4 players?

Not necessarily. Post the core-set, expansions will be divided into scenario/encounter cards, and player cards. You only need one set of the scenario/encounter cards per play group; however, the expansions will only come with 1 playset of each player card.

So, if a new player card comes out and you and your friend both want to run a full playset of it, you'll need two copies of the expansion. But if you can play around that, you only need one.


How do Isochron Scepter and the Fuse mechanic interact?

You cannot use Fuse.

The reminder text reads "You may cast one or both halves of this card from your hand." The scepter allows you to cast a copy of the card from Exile. That it's not a card may or may not be relevant, but the addition of "from your hand" will surely be present in the rules, so it's pretty clear that Fuse cannot be used here.

As such, it's as if you were casting a regular split card. You can cast either side (even if the mana cost of that side is more than two), but not both.

UPDATE: The rules have been released, and the "from your hand" is indeed present in them.

  702.101a Fuse is a static ability found on some split cards (see rule 708, "Split Cards") that applies while the card with fuse is in a player’s hand. If a player casts a split card with fuse from his or her hand, the player may choose to cast both halves of that split card. This choice is made before putting the split card with fuse onto the stack. The resulting spell is a fused split spell.

  702.101b A fused split spell has two sets of characteristics and one converted mana cost. The converted mana cost of the spell is a number equal to the total amount of mana in its two mana costs, regardless of color.

  702.101c The total cost of a fused split spell includes the mana cost of each half. (See rule 601.2e.)

  702.101d As a fused split spell resolves, the controller of the spell follows instructions of the left half and then follows the instructions of the right half.


Who choses the targets of the Exotrireme II's ability in Twilight Imperium?

The Sardakk N'orr chooses the targets.
This thread on BoardGameGeek has an official answer from FFG on the subject:

I do have another questions about some of the "destroy abilities " in game.
Exotrireme II - sacrificial ability , Assault Cannon, Yin Flagship.
1.) Am I correct to assume that for any Destroy ability sustain damage cannot be used ?
2.) Who select unit destroyed for Exotrireme II ability? Norr player or Opponent?

Hey Fedor,
Exotrireme— 1) That is correct, sustain damage cannot be used against
abilities that ‘destroy’. 2) The N’orr player selects the units to be
destroyed.
Let me know if I can help further, –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Dane Beltrami Game Developer dbeltrami@fantasyflightgames.com

This is also consistent with the "Exotrireme" upgrade from 3rd edition, which read:

At the end of a round of Space Battle, you may destroy 1 of your Dreadnoughts present to destroy 2 present enemy ships of your choice.


In MTG Arena, does your "rank" affect what cards you can draft?

Not at all.

The cards you're shown in a draft on MTG Arena are a simulated version of what you would see in a paper draft of MTG cards.

This means that, for each pack, with some exceptions, there will always be 10 commons, 3 uncommons, and 1 rare/mythic rare.

As the draft goes around, simulated players (these would be real players in a paper draft) pick cards, and so the next packs that you see will contain less cards.

If you need more of an explanation, see: https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Booster_Draft


Yes, because you have to pay for any captured knights in any round (after the first round, obviously), and you fully play through the fifth round before scoring.

If you don't ransom a knight [at some point in the game, in particular the fifth round], that knight will not count towards your knight strength for end-game scoring.


If you have 2 "s" in your rack, do you score statistically higher playing the extra "s" immediately or saving it?

As noted in the comments, it very much depends on the board. In general, S is useful for tacking on various plays your opponent makes - especially punishing them for thinking that stopping a word short of the TW row is safe. Two S tiles lets you possibly tack two words that end in the same row or column, and plenty of words (in English anyway) have double-s.
Given the general utility of pluralizing a word already on the board to create space for yourself - I would personally look to use each S in its own move, but only after confirming that I don't have any options to pluralize two words in one play - scoring three decently long words is pretty strong.


Can your opponent counter the exert ability of Champion of Rhonas?

Champion of Rhonas's ability is a replacement effect followed by a triggered ability. You will be able to counter it during the Declare Attackers step by effects which counter triggered abilities. In the current Standard format, there is one card that does this: Disallow. (If the Exert effect has targets, you could also optionally make all of its targets illegal: this makes the rules counter the ability, and doing so is colloquially known as fizzling.) Currently this is true of all creatures with an Exert effect.

It is not an activated ability, and abilities are never spells and never count as a spell being cast. You will not be able to counter it with an effect which requires an activated ability or a spell as a target.

Activated abilities follow a specific format, which is (quoting the rules themselves):

  [Cost]: [Effect.] [Activation instructions (if any).]

That : following a cost (including {0}, as in Kazuul's Toll Collector) in an ability's text is the way to tell it's an activated ability. If there is no cost & colon, it's not an activated ability.

The Champion's exert ability comes in two parts as mentioned earlier: it starts as a replacement effect (because of the "as"), which modifies how declaring attackers works by giving the controller the opportunity to exert it. It is followed by a triggered ability that occurs if it is exerted. This triggered ability carries the "when you do..." portion of the effect, and it goes on the stack during the Declare Attackers step after attackers are declared.

All current creatures with an Exert effect work this way. Battlefield Scavenger and Trueheart Twins are slight exceptions in that their triggered ability is a separate ability, but it will still trigger in the same way.


Which games are most rewarding to review?

You should review games where you really put some thought into your moves.  If you play a quick game without thinking much, the mistakes you find will just be oversights and carelessness.  If you review games you've spent some time on, or better yet have a stronger player review them, then the mistakes are more likely to be real holes in your knowledge, or moves that were smaller than you thought.


The only real modification you'll need is the equipment. Otherwise you just need Commander Farsight, a Riptide, a Broadside, and 5 Crisis suits. The only really "special" thing about any of them aside from Farsight is how they are equipped.


You are trying to write a set of human understandable rules for a problem that a machine can do much better at.  What you have designed is a set of heuristics for what is fundamentally a statistics problem.  If you want to achieve true optimality, I recommend you start over entirely.

There are 9 rooms, 6 players, and 6 weapons.  This means that there are only 324 different valid guesses (9 * 6 * 6) in general, and if you restrict this algorithm to a guess given the room you are in, you only have 36 options.  While these are is too big for a human to evaluate in real-time, they are negligible to a computer.  What you want to write is a set of scoring criteria for each of these card combinations, and then to pick the card combination that has the highest score as your guess (breaking ties at random).

In order to talk further about optimal, we need to get rigorous about this scoring mechanism.  It sounds from your starting attempt like there are two things you care about:

Gaining as much information that you don't already know
Revealing as little information that you do already know to other players.

It's going to be quite complicated to handle both of these, so let's focus on just point 1 at first (as it's the more important of the two).

In order to gain information, you algorithm needs to have as input everything that you already know about where cards are.  This is:

How many cards each player has
Which cards you know the locations of (including your own cards)
Which cards you know certain players do not hold

You then build a probability model of the location of each card (including the middle).  Cards that you know the location of will have probability 100% associated with that location.  Then, for an arbitrary guess, you model what the players will do with that guess, namely show you a card or pass to the next player.  For this purpose, you probably want to assume the worst case, namely that if a player holds a card matching your guess that you already know the location of, that's the card you will be shown.  With all of this, you can determine the probability that you will be shown a new card versus it will get back to you with no one showing you anything.  You need to add in a bit of logic for figuring out what you learn if it gets back to you without anyone showing you anything.

But at the end of this, you have a probability of learning new information with a given guess.  At this point you could throw in some weighting for different types of cards (I believe rooms to be more valuable pieces of information because you have to get to the room to guess it), but you don't have to.  Compare this probability across each guess and take the one with the highest chance of telling you something new.

With such an algorithm, you could even run it on all 324 card combinations, look at the top 10 most valuable guesses, and from that determine the most valuable room to go to next (or maybe even add in some weighting for room distance).

At this point, you could now try to tackle part 2: giving away as little information as possible.  What you probably want to do is subtract some amount from the score of each guess for how much information it gives away, but this gets complicated quite fast as to do it optimally requires modeling everything the other players know.  You could just add a negative weight to any guess that would reveal a card you know to be in the envelope, but this would be a delicate thing to calibrate, and at this point we're back in the realm of heuristics rather than being able to talk about an "optimal" guess.  My recommendation is to not include this in your first attempt at this algorithm.


Your opponent can sacrifice the targetted creature before the ability resolves

The exact chain of events is this:

You activate Plagued Rusalka's ability, choosing your opponents' 1/1 creature as a target
While paying its costs, you sacrifice Plagued Rusalka itself, which triggers Grave Pact
Plagued Rusalka's ability is put on the stack, and Grave Pact's ability is put on the stack on top of it - you do not get to choose the order because of the way triggered abilities work

  603.3. Once an ability has triggered, its controller puts it on the stack as an object that’s not a card the next time a player would receive priority. See rule 116, “Timing and Priority.” The ability becomes the topmost object on the stack. [...]

At this point, everything's been put on the stack, but nothing has resolved yet. Assuming no player takes any other actions, all objects on the stack will attempt to resolve one after another:

Grave Pact's ability resolves, giving your opponent the choice to sacrifice any of their creatures
If they chose the creature targetted by Plagued Rusalka's ability, that ability will be countered by the game rules when it would resolve for not having any legal targets, and no creature will get -1/-1 until end of turn. This is usually referred to as a spell or ability fizzling.

  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. [...] The spell or ability is countered if all its targets, for every instance of the word “target,” are now illegal.

If they chose the other creature, the creature originally targetted will get -1/-1 until end of turn as expected, and put in the graveyard because of that.

Assuming your opponent knows about the rules of the game, there's not a lot of incentive to not sacrifice the creature targetted by Plagued Rusalka here.


Does the Tribal card type have inherent mechanical implications?

Tribal came about because of this rule

  205.3d An object can’t gain a subtype that doesn’t correspond to one of that object’s types.

Which meant that when Wizards wanted to make instants, sorceries, enchantments, etc. with creature subtypes, they couldn't.  At least, not easily.  Tribal was a work around.  By adding the Tribal type, it allowed Wizards to do an end run around their rules without having to rewrite their rules (I can only imagine what weird edge cases would crop up if any card type were allowed to have creature subtypes).

For reference, there are only certain subtypes a card with a certain type is allowed to have.

  205.3. Subtypes

  205.3a A card can have one or more subtypes printed on its type line.

  205.3b Subtypes of each card type except plane are always single words and are listed after a long dash. Each word after the dash is a
  separate subtype; such objects may have multiple types. Subtypes of
  planes are also listed after a long dash, but may be multiple words;
  all words after the dash are, collectively, a single subtype. Example:
  “Basic Land — Mountain” means the card is a land with the subtype
  Mountain. “Creature — Goblin Wizard” means the card is a creature with
  the subtypes Goblin and Wizard. “Artifact — Equipment” means the card
  is an artifact with the subtype Equipment.

  205.3c If a card with multiple card types has one or more subtypes, each subtype is correlated to its appropriate card type. Example:
  Dryad Arbor’s type line says “Land Creature — Forest Dryad.” Forest is
  a land type, and Dryad is a creature type.

  205.3d An object can’t gain a subtype that doesn’t correspond to one of that object’s types.

  205.3e If an effect instructs a player to choose a subtype, that player must choose one, and only one, existing subtype, and the
  subtype must be for the appropriate card type. For example, the player
  can’t choose a land type if an instruction requires choosing a
  creature type. Example: When choosing a creature type, “Merfolk” or
  “Wizard” is acceptable, but “Merfolk Wizard” is not. Words like
  “artifact,” “opponent,” “Swamp,” or “truck” can’t be chosen because
  they aren’t creature types.

  205.3f Many cards were printed with subtypes that are now obsolete. Many cards have retroactively received subtypes. Use the Oracle card
  reference to determine what a card’s subtypes are. (See rule 108.1.)

  205.3g Artifacts have their own unique set of subtypes; these subtypes are called artifact types. The artifact types are Clue, Contraption,
  Equipment (see rule 301.5), Fortification (see rule 301.6), Treasure,
  and Vehicle (see rule 301.7).

  205.3h Enchantments have their own unique set of subtypes; these subtypes are called enchantment types. The enchantment types are Aura
  (see rule 303.4), Cartouche, Curse, Saga (see rule 714), and Shrine.

  205.3i Lands have their own unique set of subtypes; these subtypes are called land types. The land types are Desert, Forest, Gate, Island,
  Lair, Locus, Mine, Mountain, Plains, Power-Plant, Swamp, Tower, and
  Urza’s. Of that list, Forest, Island, Mountain, Plains, and Swamp are
  the basic land types. See rule 305.6.

  205.3j Planeswalkers have their own unique set of subtypes; these subtypes are called planeswalker types. The planeswalker types are
  Ajani, Aminatou, Angrath, Arlinn, Ashiok, Bolas, Chandra, Dack,
  Daretti, Davriel, Domri, Dovin, Elspeth, Estrid, Freyalise, Garruk,
  Gideon, Huatli, Jace, Jaya, Karn, Kasmina, Kaya, Kiora, Koth, Liliana,
  Nahiri, Narset, Nissa, Nixilis, Ral, Rowan, Saheeli, Samut, Sarkhan,
  Serra, Sorin, Tamiyo, Teferi, Teyo, Tezzeret, Tibalt, Ugin, Venser,
  Vivien, Vraska, Will, Windgrace, Wrenn, Xenagos, Yanggu, and Yanling.

  205.3k Instants and sorceries share their lists of subtypes; these subtypes are called spell types. The spell types are Arcane and Trap.

  205.3m Creatures and tribals share their lists of subtypes; these subtypes are called creature types. The creature types are Advisor,
  Aetherborn, Ally, Angel, Antelope, Ape, Archer, Archon, Army,
  Artificer, Assassin, Assembly-Worker, Atog, Aurochs, Avatar, Azra,
  Badger, Barbarian, Basilisk, Bat, Bear, Beast, Beeble, Berserker,
  Bird, Blinkmoth, Boar, Bringer, Brushwagg, Camarid, Camel, Caribou,
  Carrier, Cat, Centaur, Cephalid, Chimera, Citizen, Cleric, Cockatrice,
  Construct, Coward, Crab, Crocodile, Cyclops, Dauthi, Demon, Deserter,
  Devil, Dinosaur, Djinn, Dragon, Drake, Dreadnought, Drone, Druid,
  Dryad, Dwarf, Efreet, Egg, Elder, Eldrazi, Elemental, Elephant, Elf,
  Elk, Eye, Faerie, Ferret, Fish, Flagbearer, Fox, Frog, Fungus,
  Gargoyle, Germ, Giant, Gnome, Goat, Goblin, God, Golem, Gorgon,
  Graveborn, Gremlin, Griffin, Hag, Harpy, Hellion, Hippo, Hippogriff,
  Homarid, Homunculus, Horror, Horse, Hound, Human, Hydra, Hyena,
  Illusion, Imp, Incarnation, Insect, Jackal, Jellyfish, Juggernaut,
  Kavu, Kirin, Kithkin, Knight, Kobold, Kor, Kraken, Lamia, Lammasu,
  Leech, Leviathan, Lhurgoyf, Licid, Lizard, Manticore, Masticore,
  Mercenary, Merfolk, Metathran, Minion, Minotaur, Mole, Monger,
  Mongoose, Monk, Monkey, Moonfolk, Mutant, Myr, Mystic, Naga, Nautilus,
  Nephilim, Nightmare, Nightstalker, Ninja, Noggle, Nomad, Nymph,
  Octopus, Ogre, Ooze, Orb, Orc, Orgg, Ouphe, Ox, Oyster, Pangolin,
  Pegasus, Pentavite, Pest, Phelddagrif, Phoenix, Pilot, Pincher,
  Pirate, Plant, Praetor, Prism, Processor, Rabbit, Rat, Rebel,
  Reflection, Rhino, Rigger, Rogue, Sable, Salamander, Samurai, Sand,
  Saproling, Satyr, Scarecrow, Scion, Scorpion, Scout, Sculpture, Serf,
  Serpent, Servo, Shade, Shaman, Shapeshifter, Sheep, Siren, Skeleton,
  Slith, Sliver, Slug, Snake, Soldier, Soltari, Spawn, Specter,
  Spellshaper, Sphinx, Spider, Spike, Spirit, Splinter, Sponge, Squid,
  Squirrel, Starfish, Surrakar, Survivor, Tetravite, Thalakos, Thopter,
  Thrull, Treefolk, Trilobite, Triskelavite, Troll, Turtle, Unicorn,
  Vampire, Vedalken, Viashino, Volver, Wall, Warrior, Weird, Werewolf,
  Whale, Wizard, Wolf, Wolverine, Wombat, Worm, Wraith, Wurm, Yeti,
  Zombie, and Zubera.

  205.3n Planes have their own unique set of subtypes; these subtypes are called planar types. The planar types are Alara, Arkhos, Azgol,
  Belenon, Bolas’s Meditation Realm, Dominaria, Equilor, Ergamon,
  Fabacin, Innistrad, Iquatana, Ir, Kaldheim, Kamigawa, Karsus,
  Kephalai, Kinshala, Kolbahan, Kyneth, Lorwyn, Luvion, Mercadia,
  Mirrodin, Moag, Mongseng, Muraganda, New Phyrexia, Phyrexia, Pyrulea,
  Rabiah, Rath, Ravnica, Regatha, Segovia, Serra’s Realm, Shadowmoor,
  Shandalar, Ulgrotha, Valla, Vryn, Wildfire, Xerex, and Zendikar.

  205.3p Phenomenon cards, scheme cards, vanguard cards, and conspiracy cards have no subtypes.

As far as actual mechanics Tribal adds, the answer is it doesn't.  It was a work around for a very large set of cards and rules that prevented having to change one of the game's most fundamental rules.

(The only thing that it does affect is the stuff pointed out in @erik's answer.)


Does Prince Arnaud cause someone holding the Princess to lose?

The player does lose.  The full rule book is explicit about this:

If you discard the Princess—no matter how or why—she has tossed your letter into the fire. You are immediately knocked out of the round. If the Princess was discarded by a card effect, any remaining effects of that card do not apply (you do not draw a card from the Prince, for example). Effects tied to being knocked out the round still apply (eg. Constable, Jester), however.
When you discard Prince Arnaud, choose one player still in the round (including yourself). That player discards his or her hand (but doesn’t apply its effect, unless it is the Princess, see page 8) and draws a new one.

Using the prince on a player with the princess is one of the main ways to eliminate a player during the round.  The big three ways to eliminate a player mid-round are:

Using a guard (and either guessing correctly or having advance knowledge of their card from the King/Priest)
Using the Baron
Using the prince on a player with the princess