The Reddit Report for August 9th: "You're a little bit late on that one, Charlie…"

The Reddit Report is a weekly review of the most interesting and informative Reddit threads & comments, published every Saturday. But this week I was a few days late due to vacation.

Anybody know the reference in the title? (see below)

Now, on to 6 great Reddit threads from the past week!

 

  • What would you do if you had to organize a mini-convention for 150 people?

I wouldn’t know either. That’s why this Redditor needed help. The thread will give you a few ideas on how to organize a little board game block party for your neighborhood.

I just got hired to host a board game party for 150 people. Please help me (AlexanderSalamander)

 

  • Want some suggestions for great ‘backstabbling’ games?

Try Saboteur, Survive: Escape from Atlantis, The Resistance, Lifeboats, Battlestar: Galactica, Cosmic Encounter, and Intrigue. Check out the threads below to see why these games were recommended….

Best back-stabby, friendship-ending, table-flipping games? (Kamenosuke)
Best game to introduce “backstabbing” to players uneasy about betraying their friends? (ANum8)

 

  • Can a gamer make any money by playing his favorite games professionally?

Classics like Chess, Go, Scrabble, Monopoly and Backgammon have cash tournaments. But very few recent games do; Magic: The Gathering and Diplomacy come to mind.

Are there any board games played professionally for prize money…? (Cats_have_teats)

 

  • If Kickstarter is for poor indies to find funding for overlooked projects, isn’t it wrong for large companies to jump in and take most of the attention – and money – for themselves?

A number of Redditors countered that an established company putting a project – like a game expansion – on Kickstarter is merely akin to taking pre-paid orders.

Large companies doing Kickstarter projects (Icedpyre)

“Kickstarter is being used as a pre-order system by companies to gauge interest before spending the money to get it produced. When Steve Jackson Games were remaking Ogre they released a video explaining why they used Kickstarter that I suggest watching.” – Wassamonkey

 

  • Check out this really cool War Room-sized Risk table, with lots of awesome photos!

I’ve discovered that Risk is the #1 choice of DIYers…

Giant DIY Risk Board (jonnyc86)

 

  • How do you tell which is the best advice for teaching newbies?

There are lots of articles on the ‘Net about teaching games to newbies. But take it from a professional, paid to teach customers all the games available at Toronto’s well-known and well-loved game café, Monopolatte.

How to Explain Games: a Guide from a Professional Games Teacher (Monopolatte)

Number 1 “Do”…

Lead with the objective. As soon as you’ve set the tone with the game’s theme, players should know what they’re shooting for. When players know what their goals are, everything else falls into place. This will require some discretion: some games are straight-forward enough that you can describe the whole goal in one sentence. Others aren’t.”

And on the flip side… Don’t:

Ignore the theme. You can have the best explanation in the world, but if the game seems boring, why bother? Unless you’re playing a theme-centric game like Betrayal: House on the Hill, theme doesn’t usually take much effort to establish– but it has to be addressed, because it’s the spice rub on the meat of the game. Sometimes it helps objectives make sense…”

 

“You’re a little bit late on that one, Charlie” comes from the 1960 novelty song, “Mr. Custer” by Larry Verne. You can find the song on YouTube.

Are you a Redditor, too? Have I missed something interesting from Reddit that you want to share? Please let us know in the Comments!

(Reddit logo is in the Public Domain.)
  • Drew is a contributor to the Board Gamers Anonymous podcast. He's a curator by nature, compulsively reading and obsessively organizing what he's read. He's also been a gamer since the age of 3, which means he's been playing board games for... let's just say more than 40 years, and leave it at that...

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