Games That Can Be Ruined By One Player

Over the years, I've played a lot of games. RPGs, CCGs, boardgames, Twister, you name it. Most of those experiences were fun, which is why I spend so much time playing games. However, I have had a few negative experiences while gaming, which is why I host my own boardgame group on an invite-only basis. But sometimes screening players isn't enough, sometimes one of my close friends is just having an off day, and it can really mess with certain games.

A classic example is Kill Doctor Lucky. All it takes is one player who doesn't really feel like playing, and Doctor Lucky will quickly die. A big part of the game is the brinksmanship. When someone tries to kill Doctor Lucky, everybody else wants that attempt to fail. But to be specific, they would prefer that other players use up their failure cards first. So it takes good judgment and gut instinct to assess whether the next player clockwise has enough cards to make this kill attempt fail. But when the last player in the rotation decides they are done with the game, all calculation goes out the window as they refuse to play any failures. Doctor Lucky is dead, and so is the game.

Even my all-time favorite boardgame, Arkham Horror, failed due to good players gone bad in our last game. We were playing with everything except the Kingsport map, but the married couple in our group (two loyal players in my Call of Cthulhu campaign) objected at the start of the game to the Epic Battle cards. "They make the game too hard." Ummm, since when is playing Arkham Horror about easy victories? We took a vote, and Epic Battle cards were in, 3-2.

The husband played normally for most of the game, but the wife arbitrarily decided that she was curious about the encounters at the Boarding House, so she wasted five turns there drawing encounters before one sent her to the Silver Twilight Lodge and back into the action. I kept trying to persuade her to help us out, even taunting and mocking her gently for being a secret cultist. She stubbornly continued to be useless until things got dangerous at the Lodge.

We were up against Y'Golonac, and one of his special features is that every time a tome is drawn, the Doom Factor increases by one. I just plain forgot about that, because we've only played against him once before, but I got a stark reminder when I drew a tome at the Curiositie Shoppe. Then I had an insane insight (for you CofC rpg fans), "Oh shit, we can't shop at the Curiositie Shoppe, there are lots of tomes in the Unique Item deck."

Next turn, the wife shows up at the Curiositie Shoppe to shop, and guess what... she draws a tome. I carefully and urgently explained to her why that was a bad idea and that if she needed a way to do magical damage, she should go to Ye Olde Magick Shoppe, where they sell spells and not tomes. Instead, she stays to shop the following turn. I begged her to not do it, but she said, "It doesn't matter, because we're going to lose anyway. Those Epic Battle cards make the game too hard." Then she draws three unique item cards, including two tomes. Time for final battle with Y'Golonac, and none of us were ready, because the Doom Factor increased 6 points in the last three turns.

Yeah, we lost. But we didn't lose because the Epic Battle cards are so hard, we lost because one of our most experienced players deliberately played like a dumbass. And that's bad for Call of Cthulhu, because the game is already hard.

On the other hand, while I am no longer a big fan of Cash'n'Guns, I think that it's immune to One Bad Player. Somebody whining? Shoot'em. Rules lawyer jerk? Shoot'em. Somebody pissed about getting shot? Shoot'em again.

What other games are especially vulnerable to One Bad Player? What games are sturdy enough to endure One Bad Player?

But sometimes screening players isn't enough, sometimes one of my close friends is just having an off day, and it can really mess with certain games.

If it's a close friend, go out for beers or a movie instead. Or if you know ahead of time they're 'off', don't invite them unless you think it'll pick them up.

I wouldn't play any game with someone not wanting to play.

Sometimes it's not obvious. Maybe there's a group discussion about what to play next, and though the majority want to play, for example, Kill Doctor Lucky, maybe one person was advocating Fury of Dracula. They seemed to be okay with Kill Doctor Lucky at first, but then start making little negative remarks here and there. And then wham, Doctor Lucky dies very abruptly after just a few turns.

In my overly-detailed example of that recent Arkham Horror game, the only warning sign was the disagreement about the Epic Battle cards at the start of game. We were playing Humans!!! before that, and had fun. But when they lost the vote regarding Epic Battle cards, the wife secretly decided that she didn't feel like playing anymore. But it wasn't completely obvious until those last two turns.

I've always broadcasted the games to play before the night hits. Those that are there for the social aspect won't care, while those that are discriminatory can make their choice well ahead of time.

"Come over to my house sat night for a creature feature double-header of MMA and FoD."

However, after those games are played we usually get into some small quick games. But at this point it's usually a bit later and people leave if they need to or aren't interested in Condotierre (or whatever).

I think going to someone's house not knowing what you're going to play isn't the best idea. But at the same time, I don't host these huge game gatherings at my place with 3-4 tables going either. It's usually 4-6 folks and easy to manage.

If it happens after the game starts, like your AH example, I'd suggest seeing if those interested wanted to play a side game. Of course, be diplomatic in how you word it.

Any of the Axis and Allies games. If you have one player that's unhappy about playing Germany or Russia they can take alot of steps to make sure the game is over quickly.

How about the Dracula player in FoD?

Good points Jack. I've got a few really long games that never hit the table, and I suspect it will only happen if I pitch in advance as a specific event. I did it once a few years back when I got ahold of the 25th Anniversary edition of Divine Right. We had five players, all ready to play for the whole afternoon. It got dragged down by one rules lawyer, so we ended up quitting early after three hours to play other games, but it could have worked fine otherwise.

Jack Hooligan wrote:

How about the Dracula player in FoD?

Hmmm. Old school FoD could be ruined by a cheating Dracula, but the new version makes it pretty likely that a cheating Drac will be discovered. The rules even offer a harsh penalty for a cheating Dracula. But if you mean something else, like maybe a suicidal Dracula... I don't think it's a problem. Yeah, the good guys will find Drac easily if he wants, but the resulting beatdown will still result in a reasonably fun though short game for the hunters.

Or do you mean a Dracula player who tries really hard to avoid confrontation with the hunters? I don't see that as a problem, that's the way the game was designed. Hunters will still accumulate those points to spend, and judicious use of those points can pin down Dracula's location, at least enough to chase him down. If players are easily bored when they can't find Dracula, they are probably playing the wrong game anyway.

But if you mean something else, like maybe a suicidal Dracula... I don't think it's a problem. Yeah, the good guys will find Drac easily if he wants, but the resulting beatdown will still result in a reasonably fun though short game for the hunters.

The suicidal Drac is what I meant. They could end the game quickly to move on to another. Though, you're right the hunters might enjoy it, and if their goal is to make life miserable this wouldn't be the case.

Perhaps a bad example.

The Battlestar Galactica game is pretty vulnerable. Being a secret cylon takes a lot of effort, and a player who isn't into it makes the game fall apart. Or even a card-counting human who informs the group of exactly what they need to do each turn.

I'm wondering if TI3 is immune? Bored players in TI3 tend to screw people over randomly, or side up with another player. To me both of those things are obstacles that can be overcome and keep the game fresh.

AH, Fury of Dracula and BSG are 3 games that I'm becoming more and more careful about who I play with. I use to be pretty open to playing games with almost anyone. And with a 30 - 60 minute Euro there isn't much to lose when playing with a jerk or loser. But when your playing a 3 hour Ameritrash co-op or team game it's vital you pick your buddies carefully.

It's funny that I've actually had great times playing these type of games even with people who are yelling and screaming at each other as long as they're into playing the game. The problem I've had is with the people who aren't into the game. It's usually been the friend or girlfriend that's been dragged into one of these games.

Ambush.

What about Runebound? Never played it, but since it's basically a multiplayer solitaire game who cares what the other guy does.

Diplomacy is the worst. It can be fun in the right circumstances, but when someone takes it too seriously, it can be horrible.

When I was a freshman we had a wall mounted diplomacy board in our hallway that we played a turn of every day. It was all good at fun at first, until Germany started winning, then got nailed by a couple of backstabs. He quits. Someone fills in, then Russia gets crushed, quits in a tantrum. Same thing for Austria. People took it way too much to heart, and made a huge arrogant fuss about winning, then quit when things looked ill. What a bunch of cocksmokers.

Partini.

If Mad Dog is playing.