Board Game Arena

Friendly mode is awesome. You don't have to worry about ELO or any penalties. Yet I was just obliterated. Is that okay, or is it more of a talking point in friendly mode that, even though you can get however many routes, there isn't really a limit on how many you can choose? Is it still cool to grab however many and then run up the score?

I don't think there is a specification, even implicit, that in friendly mode you have to go easy on your opponent.

The mode is supposed to be relaxed as far as the external elements are concerned. The actual gameplay, however, seems like it can be however you want it to be, as in any game.

Friendly mode (probably not the best name for it) only refers to turning off ELO and time restrictions. It does not dictate play style. And games are generally played to be won, after all, while also having fun with it too.

I don't know what would have been "unfriendly" about taking lots of routes in TTR. If someone can pull it off, as your opponent did with 25 completed, more power to them. It's a risk as they are negative points if uncompleted, as I'm sure you know, so that would inherently temper the volume. (I assume that 25 route game was the game you referred to.)

You both did incredibly well looking at your > 300 and > 200 scores. Your opponent's 25 routes COMPLETED is crazy impressive to me. Probably knows the card deck well and also got lucky with the draws. They seemed to have well-earned the win with that bold strategy.

Looking at the game, they were able to match and autocomplete 2 to 4 routes each draw, nearly every time. I wonder if it is a quirk (or flaw) in Big CIties Europe that there are one or more optimal networks which give you this opportunity and sort of break the game. I'm not expert enough to know for sure, but I suspect there are threads about it on BGG or elsewhere.

Or they just got really lucky.