My buddy's gaming group went from chill to cutthroat in like two months

I started going to this weekly board game meetup at a comic shop in Portland and for the first six weeks everyone was super friendly and laughing through our plays of Carcassonne and Ticket to Ride. Then one guy brought his custom painted Blood Rage minis and suddenly people were arguing about optimal turn order and calling each other out for 'kingmaking' during a casual Wednesday night game. Has anyone else watched a group's vibe completely flip when someone introduces that one competitive element?

2 comments

2 Comments

ellis.rose10d ago

Wait, was it the minis that changed things or the guy who brought them?

robinson.jake10d ago

Hear me out but I actually think the painted minis were a symptom not the cause. You can have friendly games of Blood Rage with people who love the hobby side of it. The real shift happened when that one guy started treating every decision like a championship play and everyone else felt like they had to level up to keep up. I've seen it happen with plain old wooden pieces too when someone starts backseat driving other people's turns or poring over the rulebook for edge cases. The vibe dies when people stop laughing at their own bad luck and start getting annoyed at someone else's good move. It's about the person not the plastic.