A new "Tournament rules" variant is available

[Een]

Hi diggers (& sabs!),

In 2016 the first Saboteur World Championship was organized in Hungary.

On this occasion, the designer Frederic Moyersoen and the publisher Amigo decided on ]tournament rules for this championship. These rules reduce the luck factor for roles attribution and earning gold points, in order to allow for more competitive play.

This "tournament rules" variant has now been officially announced by the designer Frederic Moyersoen on Board Game Geek: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/209029 ... ment-rules

And as of today, this variant is available on Board Game Arena! You can select "Tournament rules" as an option when creating a new Saboteur table.

Have fun diggin'!

[Respublik]

The 2018 World Championship saw configuration changed to only 1 selfish player in both six-top and seven-top tables. Will this going to be reflected here?

[Een]

The 2018 World Championship saw configuration changed to only 1 selfish player in both six-top and seven-top tables. Will this going to be reflected here?

If the designer publishes an updated reference on BGG we can update it here.
But actually, this championship variant has not really met many interested diggers, it's really rarely played on BGA.

[Een]

Update! The roles distribution for the "Tournament rules" variant has been changed to match the latest championship rules:

5 players : 1 saboteur, 3 dwarves, 1 selfish dwarf
6 players : 2 saboteur, 3 dwarves, 1 selfish dwarf
7 players : 2 saboteur, 4 dwarves, 1 selfish dwarf
8 players : 2 saboteur, 5 dwarves, 1 selfish dwarf
9 players : 3 saboteur, 5 dwarves, 1 selfish dwarf

You may also be interested in knowing that from looking at statistics, the designer found that the most balanced configuration with tournament rules is with 6 players (and thus, the final match of the championship is played with 6 players).

Have fun diggin'!

[Shobu]

Update! The roles distribution for the "Tournament rules" variant has been changed to match the latest championship rules:

5 players : 1 saboteur, 3 dwarves, 1 selfish dwarf
6 players : 2 saboteur, 3 dwarves, 1 selfish dwarf
7 players : 2 saboteur, 4 dwarves, 1 selfish dwarf
8 players : 2 saboteur, 5 dwarves, 1 selfish dwarf
9 players : 3 saboteur, 5 dwarves, 1 selfish dwarf

You may also be interested in knowing that from looking at statistics, the designer found that the most balanced configuration with tournament rules is with 6 players (and thus, the final match of the championship is played with 6 players).

Have fun diggin'!

What is the most popular BGA way of playing on Saboteur1? Recently received the physical game, but i don't know which one to try ... The above tournament rules or the so-called "Max Saboteur" variant ?

[Sammy McSam]

For players new to the game, it is quite enjoyable with Maximum number of Saboteurs Off, Tournament rules Off and any table talk allowed.
The game rules state the number of Sab : Digger role cards.
Table talk benefits Diggers because they are the majority.

For experienced players who have played a few hundred games, the most common Sab 1 tables have:
Maximum number of Saboteurs On always (otherwise it is near impossible for Sabs to win without multiple unforced errors from Diggers).
5 players (2 Sabs : 3 Diggers). No table talk allowed to help Sabs. Diggers still have a slight advantage. Most played because it is the minimum number of players needed for a good game.
7 players (3 Sabs : 4 Diggers). Any table talk allowed to help Diggers. Sabs still have a slight advantage. Takes too long to wait for 7 experienced players.
10 players (4 Sabs : 6 Diggers). I can't remember the last time I saw this many players, but as the ratio is the same as 5 players, it should be the best option.

The Selfish Dwarf role behaves as a Digger because they need to reach gold themselves and also a Sab because they don't want any Digger to reach gold.
In my experience playing a few 6 player tournament rules games, players view the Selfish Dwarf role as too much of a Digger and not enough as a Sab. As a result the Sabs rarely win and the Selfish Dwarf usually wins.

Also note that BGA uses the old 2004 rules by default instead of the current 2013 rules which is equivalent to the New Mine variant that basically no one uses on BGA. More info in this report.