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Gaming Advice

What do you do when one or more players cancel on game night? – Ask The Bellhop

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A player cancelling for game night is inevitable. At some point, one of your players isn't going to show up. Sometimes it's the GM who can't make it for a roleplaying game, or the host of the event has to cancel the entire thing at the last minute. What do you do?

This topic is inspired by the fact that I started off 2020 with a nasty case of Strep Throat and have had to cancel a variety of different gaming events due to that illness. [ READ MORE ]

25 of the Best Board Games for When You Have Exactly Five Players – Ask The Bellhop

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This week is a good contrast to last week where I talked about great games for a casual game night. This week we've got someone who wants 5 player games that aren't filler or party games. A gamer more after my own tastes.

Jay Gordon asks,
My game group usually consists of 5 players. It's really hard to find something that plays well with 5 players and isn't a filler or party game. Do you have any suggestions? [ READ MORE ]

What are some of the best two player board games for date night? – Ask The Bellhop

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One of the first questions I answered here on the Tabletop Bellhop blog was "What are some good two player games?" This is, by far, the most popular post I've written. It's also one that I still get a lot of comments on. Many of those comments are asking me for more specific two player game recommendations. People want to know what are the best board games for couples, or games to play on date night.

Playing games is something my wife and I do together often. When we do have a night out without the kids it often involves a nice meal, some craft beer, and some gaming. Over the years we've found quite a few games that work great for when it's just the two of us. [ READ MORE ]

Tips for Maintaining Focus while Teaching Board Games – Ask The Bellhop

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We return to the topic of teaching games with a question regarding how to maintain focus when acting as a board game teacher.

S Darkwell writes:
"A few months ago, I began a bi-weekly(ish) gaming night. My friends provide the location, and my girlfriend and I provide the games and teach them to play.
I've come to realize that I'm atrocious at describing how to play board games. I'm relatively new to these games myself, but if I were to simply sit down and play, I could do so without issue. The moment it comes time to teach others, however, my mind becomes scattered and I begin forgetting even fundamental rules. I regularly spend hours watching board game review/how-to-play videos, but they don’t seem to have improved my teaching skills in any meaningful way.
I suspect the issue is that in any given situation, my focus snaps to the social aspects of the environment. When I should be describing the board game, I'm instead noticing whenever anyone shifts their weight, glances elsewhere, or moves a component.
The irony is that in the past, I’ve been hired to give informative presentations on stage in front of hundreds of people and never had an issue. Something about the smaller more-personal environment makes teaching board games a far greater challenge.
Firstly, do you have any recommendations on how to better teach board games in general?
Secondly, do you have any suggestions on how to maintain focus on teaching the game instead of the people in the room? [ READ MORE ]

The Best Two Player Cooperative Games – Ask The Bellhop

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Cooperative games are becoming more popular and are actually pretty common now a days. What is hard to find is a great two-player cooperative game. Even harder to find is a cooperative game that is two-player only.

Ryan Peach writes:
“Looking for a good 2 player co-op. Specifically 2 player only. As a blind meeple asking this question I'd mentally discounted [many games] I play with sighted assistance. A game where the second player does something different but still interesting and where both parties can talk to each other would do.” [ READ MORE ]

What is the Fastest Path to Becoming a Great Game Master? – Ask The Bellhop

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Today I'm going to be giving out some RPG advice. Some things I've learned about becoming a better Game Master. This is based on a question about learning to DM from Brent McBride.

Brent asks:
“I have almost no experience in playing D&D or any role playing games but I think I would have a blast being a DM eventually. What's the fastest path to getting to be a solid DM?” [ READ MORE ]

What Makes for a Good Licensed Board Game and 14 of the Best Licenced Board Games – Ask The Bellhop

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Today I will be talking about what makes for a good licenced board game, by which I mean games based on popular media or intellectual properties. This topic stems from a question from Danielle Thomas who asked a related question during one of our AMA live show.

Danielle asked: “There are a lot of boardgames that come out linked to popular media. ie. movies. What is the best and the worst you've played?” [ READ MORE ]

Gaming for a Good Cause – Raising Money for Charity Through Tabletop Gaming – Ask The Bellhop

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In about a week and a half, the gamers of Windsor Ontario will be gathering at The CG Realm and playing tabletop games to raise money for charity. This is all part of the worldwide Extra Life charity gaming event that raises money for the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.

This is my seventh year helping to organize the local Extra Life efforts and one of the questions I get asked all the time is: "What can I do to help raise money through tabletop gaming?" [ READ MORE ]

Great Board Games For When You Have a Mix of Gamers and Non-Gamers – Ask the Bellhop

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What do you play when your board game table is a mix of experienced board game players and people new to hobby board games? That's what I will be discussing today based on this question:

Samantha Bryant asks:
What are some of your favorite games for when you've got a mixed crowd of mundanes and gamers? I'm looking for things that are simple enough that they won't overwhelm nubes, but interesting enough to engage gamers in the same group. [ READ MORE ]