A guy at the Gen Con tournament taught me to stop being a rules lawyer

I was at Gen Con in Indianapolis last year, playing in a big tournament for a heavy euro game. I was up against this older guy, and I caught him making a tiny mistake in his resource count. I pointed it out, the way I always did, thinking it was just playing right. He fixed it, lost a turn because of it, and I won the game. After, he shook my hand and said, 'You know, you won the game, but you lost the fun.' That hit me hard. I realized I was so focused on winning by the absolute letter that I was making the experience miserable for everyone, including myself. Now, at my local game night, I let small stuff slide if it's a first-time mistake or doesn't really change the outcome. The table is way more relaxed. Anyone else have a moment that made them chill out about the rules?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_lucas9d ago

Totally, I had the same thing happen playing Catan with my cousins.

karen_hill39d ago

That older guy at Gen Con actually shook your hand and said that?

miaprice9d ago

Yeah, he really did. I mean, what exactly did he say when he shook your hand? Because that's such a weirdly specific thing for someone to do. Was he trying to be nice or was it actually kind of creepy? The whole thing just seems off to me.

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