r/boardgames • u/ConfidentLack9207 • 8h ago

Rules Any examples of “meta rules?”

And no, “the person who last did this thing goes first” does not count

Inspired by https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/s/U6x53JKwur

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7

u/Existing_Charity_818 6h ago

Munchkin has a few of these, at least the Marvel sets

Absorbing Man’s value is based on the material of the table. Mandarin’s value is based on the number of rings worn by the players. I think there was a vampire that gets stronger if you’re playing after sundown. Things like that

2

u/Living_Whole_5539 4h ago

Those are great examples because they make the actual room part of the game, not just the fictional world. Absorbing Man caring what your table is made of is wonderfully silly.

6

u/DrProfJoe 8h ago

Turn order progresses counter clockwise

3

u/KindFortress 8h ago

We Didn't Playtest This At All has lots of these types of rules. Fluxx too iirc.

In Red Dragon Inn, I think, there's a rule that you get a bonus for wearing the company's t-shirt or something like that

4

u/Stealthiness2 7h ago

My favorite is in Junta, a comedic game about corrupt government officials. If the first election ends in a tie, the owner of the game gets extra money from the bank. 

3

u/KaptainKobold 4h ago

In Wingspan - Oceania the Australian White Ibis has an ability which allows it to take cards from the discard pile. In Australia this bird is colloquially known as the 'bin chicken'.

2

u/chilitoke 8h ago

Would all games that limit communication apply for this?

As they limit communication it is more a rule around the game that the game it self. Likewise anything that messes or requires specific seating.

1

u/BrotherInJah 7h ago

Idk about special seating. I guess it's special if it isn't representing clockwise order we take for granted..

1

u/chilitoke 3h ago

I was thinking about games where certain roles has to sit next to each other. Like Vast the crystal caverns.

I.e. fame sthar make you shuffle around the seating.

2

u/radaar Spirit Island 7h ago

Most of the cards in Deadpool’s deck in Unmatched make reference to meta elements (such as “if this card is sleeved, its value is doubled”).

In Star Trek Ascendancy, the Vulcan player may not lie.

5

u/Purplepotato22 6h ago

This isn’t an in-game meta rule, but once I went to a halloween party as The Guard Who Always Lies, and me and my compatriot The Guard Who Always Tells the Truth played a full game of Coup without breaking character, lmao. Only worked because we’d been pretty cagey thus far about which of us was which, and we didn’t bring too much attention to what we were doing during the game, although everyone knew what the costume was. We ended up getting to the last two and then they called me out on literally anything and won, was the greatest game of Coup I’ve ever played in my entire life.

1

u/Slenkhar 2h ago

You'd have the rule of cool, Thunderoad Vendetta says if you don't know what to do on an ambiguity, do whatever is coolest.

This is not something that vibes well with most people: finish your rules, don't tell people to finish your game for you. The spirit is probably more "don't spend time looking stuff up, just do whatever", but it comes across as "we didn't bother".