Board Game Arena

Kinda wild that we are expected to not use a fundamental strategy of every board game in existence in this one particular game under any circumstances. Reminds me of my toxic father who would cheat at Monopoly by using slight of hand to steal from the bank, then flip the board if we refused to sell him the property he wanted.

JuniHart wrote: ↑08 June 2025, 21:03 Kinda wild that we are expected to not use a fundamental strategy of every board game in existence in this one particular game under any circumstances. Reminds me of my toxic father who would cheat at Monopoly by using slight of hand to steal from the bank, then flip the board if we refused to sell him the property he wanted.

I'm on your side in this overall discussion, but (a) it's not much like the situation where your Daddy cheated and (b) there are many games where there's no inter-player conflict ("every board game in existence..."??). That's the issue. Boardgames have become increasingly about build-your-own stuff, score-some-points, that a lot of players now think conflict is poor sportsmanship.

I suppose if you're someone who was brought into the hobby by Wingspan or Cascadia or whatever, you tend to think all games should be played like that.

Strode wrote: ↑09 June 2025, 03:23

JuniHart wrote: ↑08 June 2025, 21:03 Kinda wild that we are expected to not use a fundamental strategy of every board game in existence in this one particular game under any circumstances. Reminds me of my toxic father who would cheat at Monopoly by using slight of hand to steal from the bank, then flip the board if we refused to sell him the property he wanted.

I'm on your side in this overall discussion, but (a) it's not much like the situation where your Daddy cheated and (b) there are many games where there's no inter-player conflict ("every board game in existence..."??). That's the issue. Boardgames have become increasingly about build-your-own stuff, score-some-points, that a lot of players now think conflict is poor sportsmanship.

I suppose if you're someone who was brought into the hobby by Wingspan or Cascadia or whatever, you tend to think all games should be played like that.

I guess it is a poor analogy, but my Father was playing his own Hotel game on Mayfair. In terms of generational differences, yeah, you have a good point. I am Gen X, I don't like games without direct conflict zones. So maybe I am part of the problem too. But a game based on late 19th century railroad tycoons, you bet the entire map is a conflict zone.

Is this really a thing? I cannot believe what I am reading...
I am not playing with 7 year olds who can't yet cope with in-game disappointments, right?

I think the blocking complainers must be trolling... Or just mentally/emotionally immature.

TheKnittingTherapist wrote: ↑09 June 2025, 20:05 Is this really a thing? I cannot believe what I am reading...
I am not playing with 7 year olds who can't yet cope with in-game disappointments, right?

I think the blocking complainers must be trolling... Or just mentally/emotionally immature.

If they are indeed genuine, I'm sure that, when they would play Noughts and Crosses (or Tic-Tac-Toe, as Americans will call it) as young children, they'd get just as upset about being blocked from making their three-in-a-row..

"Awww, why did you put your circle there?! Now I can't put three X's in a straight line!!"

I'm just saying that I'm a very average player, and I lose to very good players. Some of them win easily without blocking, without destroying my trains, while others deliberately destroy all my trajectories from the start. These latter players are not, in my eyes, at the level of the best.

I just played against a blocker, from the start he breaks my trains without trying to build his own, if it amuses him... it doesn't amuse me at all.

When you say it like that. It spunds like he may be dual-boxing and sacrificing his alt to boost his main. Which would be illegal, but only the mods would know for certain. I wouldn't report it unless it seems they are deliberately loosing.

The subject his a long debate on another forum topic.

This one specifically speaks about Arena originally, where it is competitive, so doing anything possible in the rules to win is expected in a competitive environment.

For those who want non-blocking game style, Arena is probably not suited, I would go for Simple games or even Friendly mode, with friends or other players who thinks the same about blocking.

Blocking other players when it's obvious where they need to build to get alot of points, without wasting to manny turns/cards/trains, is a no-brainer.
It's also not that difficult to acctually try to build in a way that isn't as easy to block without wasting alot of reasources.

For example, if i build miami -> new orlando before i build the crucial track new orlando -> huston, a block would be cheap for my oponent, and cause trubble for me. Same goes for the top left corner, and a few other tracks.

However, no one will spend 6 orange to block helena -> duluth when i easily can reroute by going via omaha.

So instead of wining about blocking, play so that you're more difficult to block. Begin with crusial tracks, and save the more flexible tracks for later.

Fanou15 wrote: ↑19 June 2025, 07:35 I'm just saying that I'm a very average player, and I lose to very good players. Some of them win easily without blocking, without destroying my trains, while others deliberately destroy all my trajectories from the start. These latter players are not, in my eyes, at the level of the best.

Sorry but you are getting the whole thing wrong. Good players don't choose to block or not based on "ethics" or level of skill like you think. Rather they choose based on the development of the game itself, especially on how good their tickets are compared to those of the opponent(s). If a good player has an insane set of tix he would never attempt a block, but rather will just go straight to complete his route and crush the opponent in 9 moves. On the opposite if he has a bad pair of short tix or even a dead one, any chance to block a long ticket is crucial to take in order to win.

Best players ALWAYS block when it's the case. And never do when it's not. Or they wouldn't be "best".