For the Call of Cthulhu LCG, what is the release order of the expansions? I would like to know where I can find a list of all the expansions to the core set and the release dates.

BoardGameGeek.com lists all the Asylum Pack Expansions, along with their order of release. The database does have a field for Release Date, but usually it is blank with only the year of release noted.

-1) Forgotten Lore: Spawn of Madness, Kingsport Dreams, Conspiracies of Chaos, Dunwich Denizens, At the Mountains of Madness, Ancient Horrors

-2) The Summons of the Deep: Spawn of The Sleeper, The Horror Beneath the Surface, The Antediluvian Dream, The Terror of the Tides, The Thing from the Shore, The Path to Y'ha-nthlei

-3) The Dreamlands: Twilight Horror, In Memory of Day, In the Dread of Night, The Search for the Silver Key, Sleep of the Dead, Journey to Unknown Kadath

-4) The Yuggoth Contract: Whispers in the Dark, Murmurs of Evil, The Spoken Covenant, The Wailer Below, Screams from Within, The Cacophony

-5) The Rituals of the Order: The Twilight Beckons, Perilous Trials, Initiations of the Favored, Aspirations of Ascension, The Gleaming Spiral, That Which Consumes

-6) Ancient Relics: The Shifting Sands, Curse of the Jade Emperor, The Breathing Jungle, Never Night Into Tartarus, Shadow of the Monolith

-7) Revelations: Written and Bound, Words of Power, Ebla Restored, Lost Rites, The Unspeakable Pages, Touched by the Abyss

Deluxe Expansions: Secrets of Arkham, The Order of the Silver Twilight, Seekers of Knowledge, The Key and the Gate Terror in Venice

FFG have now retired Asylum Packs for Call of Cthulhu and will now be releasing deluxe expansions every 4 months instead, beginning with the Seekers of Knowledge.


Can survivors with the jump skill jump into/off towers in Zombicide: Black Plague - Wulfsburg Expansion? The Jump skill states that:

  The Survivor can use this Skill once during each Activation. The Survivor spends one Action: He moves two Zones into a Zone to which he has Line of Sight. Movement related Skills (like +1 Zone per Move Action or Slippery) are ignored, but Movement penalties (like having Zombies in the starting
  Zone) apply. Ignore everything in the intervening Zone.

An interesting tactic is to be able to jump into/out of towers. Is this legal?

No, you can't use jump to move into/out of a tower, as the towers are surrounded by ramparts which specifically block movement.

From the Wulfsburg rules (page 5):

  Tower tiles feature both building and street Zones, bordered
  by ramparts ....

  Ramparts can’t be crossed but don’t block Lines of Sight.


Damage using Professor Kukui in Pokemon TCG Professor Kukui adds 20 damage to the Active Pokemon during an attack. Does this still occur if you attack a benched Pokemon? I know it shouldn't be added on if you poison the Active Pokemon as this is an effect of an attack.

No.  The card specifically states (emphasis mine):

During this turn, your Pokémon's attacks do 20 more damage to your opponent's Active Pokémon.

Damage to benched Pokémon is not affected.


What are some good house rules to balance the sides in Saboteur? My group of gaming buddies, after playing plenty of Saboteur, has found that the "good dwarves" can pretty easily win consistently once they learn which pieces are most valuable and how to best respond to revealed saboteurs.

What are some good house rules to even things up?

One technique we've used is to ensure that the saboteurs know each others's identities before starting the game.

After everyone has checked their role cards, everyone puts their heads down.  One player calls out for the saboteurs to put their heads up and identify each other.  They put their heads back down, then everyone puts their heads up and starts playing.

This lets the saboteurs be much more effective and strategic - if one of the other saboteurs reveals himself, you can play more cautiously to reserve for sabotage later.  You can also collaboratively lie about Map results if you want.

With my group of (fairly experienced) players this rule has resulted in a much more balanced ratio of wins for the good dwarves and the saboteurs, while not going so far as to outright allow the saboteurs to directly communicate.

Another house rule we use is to always guarantee the maximum number of saboteurs, rather than having a chance for one fewer as in the normal rules.  Otherwise the saboteurs are typically screwed when they're one man down.


What happens when a creature with Persist AND Undying dies? ('return to battlefield' issues...) Say I have a creature with Persist and I give it Undying until end of turn. Later this turn, it is put into the graveyard, and I choose for the Persist ability to resolve before the Undying ability. Persist resolves, returning my creature from the graveyard to the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter on it.

At this point, I can think of three different things that might happen:

Undying returns it to the battlefield with a +1/+1 and a -1/-1, which then cancel out.
Undying never resolves because the creature can't be returned to the battlefield if it's already there, so it just keeps the -1/-1.
Undying returns it to the battlefield as if it was just summoned with no counters on it, and then puts a +1/+1 counter on it.

I would assume that the second ability would 'fizzle' as explained in this question because the creature is not longer in the graveyard, making #2 correct, but I'm not completely sure. Could someone explain what happens after my poor death-resistant-battlefield-loving creature is put into the graveyard?

  Undying: When this creature dies, if it had no +1/+1 counters on it, return it to the battlefield under its owner's control with a
  +1/+1 counter on it.

  Persist: When this creature dies, if it had no -1/-1 counters on it, return it to the battlefield under its owner's control with a
  -1/-1 counter on it.

Both abilities trigger, and you decide the order that they resolve. If you choose to have Persist resolve first, then when Undying is trying to resolve, it fails to find the creature in the zone that it expects. Undying could normally find the creature that moved from the battlefield to a public zone (the graveyard), bu when Undying triggered it was looking for the Object that got moved to the graveyard where the object no longer is.

  400.7. An object that moves from one zone to another becomes a new object with no memory of, or relation to, its previous existence. There are seven exceptions to this rule:

  400.7d Abilities that trigger when an object moves from one zone to another (for example, "When Rancor is put into a graveyard from the battlefield") can find the new object that it became in the zone it moved to when the ability triggered, if that zone is a public zone.

This all, is of course assuming that both abilities triggered (you said that they did). It is even possible for both abilities to not trigger (as ikegame mentions). This could happen for example if your Undying+Persist creature was dealt damage by a source with Wither and it had a +1/+1 counter. State-Based Actions would be checked, and the creature would be sent to the graveyard at the same time that the counters got removed.

  704.5f If a creature has toughness 0 or less, it's put into its owner's graveyard. Regeneration can't replace this event.

  704.5r If a permanent has both a +1/+1 counter and a -1/-1 counter on it, N +1/+1 and N -1/-1 counters are removed from it, where N is the smaller of the number of +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters on it.

The Comprehensive Rules give an example for Undying illustrating this:

  704.7. If a state-based action results in a permanent leaving the battlefield at the same time other state-based actions were performed, that permanent’s last known information is derived from the game state before any of those state-based actions were performed.

  Example: You control Young Wolf, a 1/1 creature with undying, and it has a +1/+1 counter on it. A spell puts three -1/-1 counters on Young Wolf. Before state-based actions are performed, Young Wolf has one +1/+1 counter and three -1/-1 counters on it. After state-based actions are performed, Young Wolf is in the graveyard. When it was last on the battlefield, it had a +1/+1 counter on it, so undying will not trigger.


Effects depending on an impossible effect? Sometimes, when a spell or ability resolves, part of what it does is impossible to do. In these cases, the following rule applies:

  609.3. If an effect attempts to do something impossible, it does only as much as possible.

I understand that. But what if some effects on the card depend on what you did, when you didn't do what you couldn't do. Most of these effects will not do anything, because you cannot do anything with a card you couldn't reveal from an empty library. But some have effects that you could still perform.
An example: Merfolk Branchwalker reads:

  When Merfolk Branchwalker enters the battlefield, it explores. (Reveal the top card of your library. Put that card into your hand if it's a land. Otherwise, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature, then put the card back or put it into your graveyard.)

So what if this effects resolves, when you have an empty library? Obviously no card is not a land card, but is the +1/+1 counter put on it? Or is this effect just skipped because it depends on an effect that could not be done? What about cards that care about any values (cmc, power,...) the card has? Are they just interpreted as 0?

Some other examples include Counterbalance and Candles of Leng. There might be examples outside of effects that affect the top of your library, but I didn't find any unclear ones.

If a creature explores an empty library, the creature gets a +1/+1 counter and nothing more happens. There is no general answer to what happens with multiple, partially impossible instructions.

The relevant rules of the explore mechanic are:

  701.39a Certain abilities instruct a permanent to explore. To do so, that permanent’s controller reveals the top card of their library. If a land card is revealed this way, that player puts that card into their hand. Otherwise, that player puts a +1/+1 counter on the exploring permanent and may put the revealed card into their graveyard.

You can't reveal a card because there are none remaining in the library. Therefore, no land card has been revealed, so you can't put it in your hand and you continue resolving the ability with the "otherwise" instructions. Note that the "otherwise" condition refers to both the "card" and "card type: land" requirements that both have to be true to make you take the first branch of the instructions.

In the second branch, you do as much as possible: You put a +1/+1 counter on the creature and, since you didn't reveal a card, can't choose to put the revealed card into your graveyard, so nothing happens on that instruction.

It would have been possible to word the second branch so that the creature gets a counter if and only if you actually put a card into the graveyard, i.e. the creature would not get a counter on exploring an empty library. In that case, it would get another instruction branch nestled into the second branch:

  Otherwise, you may put the revealed card into your graveyard. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.

Because of the flexibility of the rules, it's impossible to give a general answer as to what happens when there are multiple instructions and some of them are impossible. It always depends on the wording of the card(s) involved.


When is it worth playing around "s" in Scrabble? I.e., trying not to spell words that "s" can be appended to for a parallel word I often find myself in situations where I have to choose between a high scoring word where the opponent can stick s to score highly, or if I should pick a lower-scoring word that you can't add "s" at the end of to make a parallel word. I suppose it's different for every board, like depending on tile position and lead, but as a general rule, what cases, if any, should I play around "s"?

This is a balance between how many points you are scoring now and how many points you can potentially give up. If you play the lower-scoring word, how many points are you losing? Do remember that opponent might not be able to take advantage either, if they don't have an S.
Usually for any square except a triple word score (TWS) tiles, it's not worth giving up many points in order to avoid the potential hook. With TWSes you need a bit more math. How many outstanding tiles are there that can hook? For example if your word is ITCH, then there are exactly four tiles that hook to the end: the two Y's and the two Blanks. If all four tiles have already been used then you should have no qualms about using it. On the other hand there are significantly more tiles that hook to the front of ITCH. Therefore the potential front hook is much more dangerous than the back hook.
Because whether it's worth it to play around an S depends strongly on how many tiles have been used, what the score is (if you're behind you must take chances), etc, it's not possible to give more precise guidelines.
One more tip: if both blanks and three S's have already been used, and you're holding the last S, you should absolutely play the word without the S and keep the hook for a later play.


Can I give my creature Persist and Sacrifice it to Greater Good to save it from destruction by Beast Within? I have Child of Alara and my opponent targets it with Beast Within. I then cast Cauldron Haze to give persist to the Child of Alara and sacrifice it to Greater Good. Does my creature come back with the -1/-1 counter or is it dead?

It's up to you. Since both of the leave the battlefield effects on Child of Alara are yours, you choose the order they go on the stack. This gives you two options:

Persist on the stack first - Persist goes on the stack, and then the destroy all nonland permanents goes on the stack. Destroy comes off the stack first and resolves, destroying all nonland permanents, Then persist resolves, returning Child of Alara to the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter.
Destroy on the stack first - Destroy all nonland permanents goes on the stack, and then persist goes on the stack. Persist resolves first returning Child of Alara to the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter. Then destroy resolves, destroying all nonland permanents including Child of Alara. A new destroy trigger goes on the stack and will resolve.

Usually option 1 would be the better option, as it leaves you with a creature, but if your opponent has a lot of persist themselves, or effects that make tokens when their creatures or other permanents die, you may want to use option 2, so that Child destroys all nonland permanents, including itself, making it destroy all nonland permanents again when it dies the second time.

Beast Within is put into the grave yard doing nothing no matter which choice you make, since it no longer has a legal target.


What actions can be taken as a free action? I just got my first model for X-Wing Minis (an E-Wing) and received a card in the box called "Advanced Sensors". It's a 3-point card granting "...1 free action..." "Immediately before you reveal your maneuver,...". My question is What can I do as a Free Action using this card? All I can find in the rule book is that it is "something specified in a card or a game type" and nothing else.

Free actions are actions that are specified on the ship's action bar, other cards or special mission rules. You can normally only perform actions during the Perform Action step of the Activation phase.
Advanced Sensors allows you to perform any one of these free actions outside of the regular step at the cost of skipping that step.
From the X-Wing Rules reference (pg 12)

A free action is an action granted to a ship through a card ability or other effect. It does not count as the one standard action that a ship performs during the “Perform Action” step.
• A stressed ship cannot perform free actions.
• A ship can perform free actions even if it skipped its “Perform Action” step due to overlapping an asteroid obstacle or another game effect.
• If a ship is specifically granted a free barrel roll action or a free boost action and cannot complete the action in the desired direction, it may choose a different direction. It cannot choose to perform a different action.


Taking back turns, and forgotten privileges A generic question across most board games: once a player has taken their turn (taken their finger off the piece they are playing), should they be allowed to change their mind?

Similarly, if a player forgets to take a privilege, such as an occupied building in Puerto Rico giving an extra worker, or plantation, if they remember a few moves later, should they be allowed to take the privilege?

Very few rules explicitly express how these events should be dealt with, so they are generally left up to the group. However, my group's rules will change depending on the personality of the players playing (not all members are available each time we play). I would like to make this consistent, and would appreciate feedback on how others deal with this scenario.

I like the following rule:

  If no new information has been disclosed since a decision, then a player is allowed to take back any action or inaction where this is practical.

Information could be cards in a deck, rolls of dice, but also intentions of a fellow player.


Arkham Horror heralds with new cards Playing Arkham Horror with a herald. In the Herald variant rules, it doesn't say to shuffle the new cards in their respective decks.

Does this mean that the herald variant is played without the new cards?

It means that the variant only describes the rules that are different than usual.

Note that it also doesn't say to shuffle the old cards in their respective decks.

This variant doesn't prevent you from using other components from the same expansion, components from other expansions, or rules from other variants.


Marking white borders with black marker Is it legal in competitive play to fill in the border of white-bordered MtG cards with black marker?

Which marker would be best to use, and why?

Yes, but only if the head judge agrees. The Mtg Tournament rules require that the card has white or black borders (no UN cards or World Champion cards), and the alteration cannot make the card marked. As ghoppe points out, you might have to worry about bleed unless you use Opaque card sleeves. If you choose to do this, a judge will likely still be called to verify that the cards aren't marked for randomization purposes if sleeves aren't used, and the cards are legal white\black bordered cards and not World Champion cards in either case.


Does Small World's Dragon Master allow conquering non-adjacent regions? Dragon Master:

  Once per turn, you may conquer a Region
  using a single Race token, regardless of the
  number of enemy tokens defending it. Once
  conquered, place your Dragon there...

Does this allow you to conquer any region on the map, even if it's not adjacent to a region you already control? In a game I played last night, it was ruled that it could do this. However I don't agree with that ruling since it doesn't explicitly grant that exception.

The Dragon does not fly or give the race flying.  (Therefore you can normally* only conquer adjacent areas).

The Dragon does not do the conquering, only allow you to conquer an area with a single race token.  You place the Dragon after you conquer the area.

*normally used as I don't have all the expansions and for all I know there is an edge case out there!


Starting on a tile edge Can't even do the solo game without a question!

Just opened and punched Castle Ravenloft.  Running the intro solo adventure.

Place Strahd's Crypt
Put your hero anywhere on the tile

I put my Hero right on the edge of the crypt.  After all, the further he can get from Strahd the better!

The turn order is

Hero phase
Exploration phase
Villain phase

So it appears that during my first turn, I have a 4x3 area on Strahd's Crypt to explore.  (There is nothing there).  I can find no rules on placing new tiles during your hero phase so I don't believe my hero can move off the tile edge and needs to wait for the exploration phase to place a tile.

Is this interpretation correct?

I feel like I have to be missing something here.

This is correct.  Tiles are normally placed during the exploration phase.  I haven't found a time when they are placed any other time.

With this scenario, the first turn is, basically, "skip your hero phase", then explore, battle monsters and possibly deal with an encounter.


Tactics to fight or deter Diplomatic races in 2 player games Last night I was playing a two player game and my opponent swapped to a Diplomatic race partway through the game. they managed to surround me, effectively hemming me in and limiting my score. In the end I lost by two points.

What tactics can be used when facing an opponent with a diplomatic race? Are there any preparations I should make when playing knowing that a diplomatic race is in the available race selections, even if it's not yet selected?

As @bwarner commented, I'd say abandon all regions and start invading from the maps borders

From the rules (emphasis mine):

  If a player wishes to free up some more Race tokens, he may opt to entirely empty up some - or all - Regions, leaving no Tokens there; but in this case, these now abandoned Regions will no longer be considered his, nor bring him any Victory coins. If the player chooses to abandon all the Regions he previously occupied, his next conquest must follow the same rules as its First Conquest (see First Conquest, p. 4).


Instant and sorcery lifelink multiplied by targets or just casting? If I give an instant or sorcery lifelink, like in the case of Firesong and Sunspeaker, and it hits multiple creatures, in the instance of Fiery Cannonade, would that be a lifelink value of 2, or 2 times however many creatures are effected?

You gain life equal to the total damage you dealt; which in this case would be 2 for each non-Pirate creature.

  702.15. Lifelink

    702.15a Lifelink is a static ability.

    702.15b Damage dealt by a source with lifelink causes that source’s controller, or its owner if it has no controller, to gain that much life (in addition to any other results that damage causes). See rule 119.3.

If Fiery Cannonade dealt 4 different creatures 2 damage each; then Fiery Cannonade dealt 8 damage. All that matters is how much total damage was dealt.


Is Ticket To Ride Asia played with stations? In Ticket To Ride US Edition there was no stations, but in Europe Edition there were.

When playing Asia Edition, do you play with/without stations or is there no set rule about them?

I couldn't spot it in  the rules so I decided to go without stations, but I just wanted to check if there was a consensus on this.

Stations are specific to Europe and could potentially break (or perhaps make) games on other continents. Since Asia and other expansion maps can be played with both US and Europe base sets, the largest common denominator would be to not use stations in expansions.

I have not tried using stations for Asia or India, perhaps it could be worth a test run, but I can see discussions coming up on combinations with Mandalas for India. Asia is more traditional in style (read: more like US) and tension remains mostly because of possible blockage by other players.


Ticket to Ride, Warehouses and Depots: How to collect train cards? We have T2R Europe, and just tried out the 1912 Expansion pack which includes warehouses and depots.

To my knowledge one must put the first train card to any given players warehouse before drawing to themselves.
Each player also gets a free action, which is the option to take one or more depots and place them on the map, in their turn.

But here's where the rules are not clear enough. For us that is:
When one player uses their turn to put a new depot onto the map and they also claim a route. Is it then possible to put a depot to a city where they, in the same turn, are claiming that route to?

Here's an example:
You are in Paris, and it is your turn.
First you place a depot in Frankfurt (as a free action).
Then you claim that route: Paris - Frankfurt. When you do that, according to the rules regarding claiming a route into a city where there's a depot, you can "buy" the cards by discarding one of your own depots. But, can you do that in the same turn?

That's like 3 actions in one turn.
1. place depot
2. claim route
3. empty a warehouse

To me that feels a bit too much and a bit suspicious, but how is the rules to avoid such a scenario?

This is exactly how it works by the rules. Yes, you can clear your warehouse whenever you want, but by doing so you expend 2 out of 5 of your depots, so you probably also give up a bonus 10 points for having the most depots by the end of the game.

Compare this to claiming cards from already placed depot: you can still do that instantly just by connecting route there and spending 1 depot. It isn't that much different.


Are there any alternative rules for Settles of Catan to rely less on luck? Are there any rules to reduce the luck component is Settlers of Catan?

I know there is one stated here, but I didn't understand this. How does this work? Are there any others?

There is actually a commercially produced event deck. When using it, you reveal a card every turn to get a number from 2-12 instead of rolling the dice. A card that reshuffles the deck is mixed in the bottom 5 cards, so the exact composition when the deck gets thin cannot be exactly guessed. (The cards also feature events that affect the game in other minor ways, if you choose to use them that way.)

Other games in the Catan series explore the idea of providing resources or compensation for players who strike out at the dice. Cities & Knights of Catan features an upgrade that gives you a resource of your choice whenever a number that doesn't produce anything for you is rolled. In a similar vein, Settlers of America gives any player Gold tokens who otherwise strikes out on a turn; gold can be later traded for other resources.


Forests you control vs Forests in play I was playing MTG with a friend last night when we had a slight disagreement about the wording of some cards. Sometimes cards will be marked as having a special ability "for each forest you control" ... and other times cards will be worded as having a special ability "for each forest in play". There is quite the difference in the wording between those.

My belief is that when a card explicitly says "for each forest you control"  I thought they are actually talking about individual forest cards, not the mana produced from those forest cards but the actual number of forest cards. So if I had a forest with Wild-Growth enchantment attached to it (which gives an extra forest mana when it is tapped) even though it produces TWO mana when tapped, it is still counted as ONE forest that I control. Is that correct?

If I were to play a card like "Howl of the Nightpack" which lets me place a two/two wolf creature token on the battlefield for "each forest I control" ... if I had a forest with wild-growth on it, would that allow me to put TWO wolf creatures down because it produces two mana, or ONE wolf creature down because it is only a single forest??

I might be completely wrong which is fine but to me it seems like the words "Forests-in-play" means that the spell works with any forest-mana that has been generated by whatever means (un-tapping / re-tapping lands, wild-growth, etc). But that "Forests you control" means the literal number of forest-cards you have no matter what enchantments or untapping/retapping of those lands takes place.

I read "forests-in-play" (or sometimes I read as "X" amount of mana) as allowing any extra special shenanigans the player might invoke to their lands to generate the final total of mana.

This has big implications for spells like Cabal Coffers and others that directly specify "lands you control" and not "lands in play".

Can anyone help point me to the section in the rule-book that addresses this? Thank you

When cards refer to "forests," they are always referring to the land cards and not to the mana they produce; when referring to mana, they specifically say "mana" or use the appropriate mana symbol (including X where necessary to be abstract).  That means that in both cases, it is referring to the principle you are thinking about in your first statement.

For example, contrast the wording on Dungrove Elder with that on Omnath, Locus of Mana. One refers to "the number of Forests you control", and the other refers to "each green mana in your mana pool".

The difference between the phrasing "you control" and "in play" is the difference between controllers - in the former, it only counts forest cards on your "side" of the board, where as in the latter, it refers to all forests controlled by all players, totaled up.


In Gin-Rummy, who start after a round was played to the wall? In Gin-Rummy, when the deck reach the last 2 cards and no player have knocked, the rounds end in a draw.

Who starts the next round?

Same player deals again.  From thesprucecrafts

  If only two cards remain in the draw pile after a player discards and neither player has knocked, the round ends in a draw and the same player deals again.


Effective way of shuffling small form cards My shuffling skills leave a lot to be desired, in particular when it comes to small form cards, such as those found in Arkham Horror and number of other Fantasy flight games.

What are some effective techniques at shuffling these small cards without damaging/bending them? If I've sleeved the cards, I just push equal piles of them together and it seems to work, but not all my games have been sleeved.

I almost always use Overhand shuffling when dealing with board game cards.
Video shows it on poker cards but it can be applied to smaller formats as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZByHu_NUJs


Removal of cloudform If Cloudform is in play and is attached to a face-down (manifested) creature card, what happens to the face-down creature card if just the Cloudform enchantment itself is destroyed by another spell?

Does the face-down manifested creature remain in play, and can it still flipped up by paying its casting cost, or is the face-down card destroyed along with the enchantment?,

The manifested card remains as a 2/2 creature without abilities.
The manifest event is independent of Cloudform being attached to it.

701.33. Manifest
701.33a To manifest a card, turn it face down. It becomes a 2/2 face-down creature card with no text, no name, no subtypes, and no mana cost. Put that card onto the battlefield face down. That permanent is a manifested permanent as long as it remains face down. The effect defining its characteristics works while the card is face down and ends when it's turned face up.

Cloudform simply gives the manifested card flying and hexproof, and destroying the aura simply makes the creature lose those abilities. It will remain a 2/2 creature, however.
Turning the manifested card face up is also independent of Cloudform:

701.33b Any time you have priority, you may turn a manifested permanent you control face up. This is a special action that doesn't use the stack (see rule 115.2b). To do this, show all players that the card representing that permanent is a creature card and what that card's mana cost is, pay that cost, then turn the permanent face up. The effect defining its characteristics while it was face down ends, and it regains its normal characteristics. (If the card representing that permanent isn't a creature card or it doesn't have a mana cost, it can't be turned face up this way.)


Running out of cards in Exploding Kittens In the Exploding Kittens game, the rules say

  You won't ever run out of cards in the Draw Pile, so there is never any need for a reshuffle.

In every game I've played all the cards end up on the discard pile fairly quickly and there is nothing left in the draw pile, so we have to reuse them.

Is this meant to happen? Are we doing something wrong?

You are missing a critical step.  Every time an Exploding Kitten is drawn it needs to go back into the deck if it is defused.

From the rules:

  Defuse:

  If you drew an Exploding Kitten, you can play this card instead of dying. Place your Defuse card in the Discard Pile.

  Then take the Exploding Kitten, and without reordering or viewing the other cards, secretly put it back in the Draw Pile anywhere you’d like.

As long as you do that, and you had the correct number of exploding kittens in your starting deck (1 less than the number of players) the deck will never run out.


Can you tell if one board is balanced or not compared to the others? I've been playing 7 Wonders for a while now and I really enjoy it. I've played the standard game and with Leaders, Cities and Wonder Pack extensions.

I'm amazed that the wonders are pretty balanced. I mean, I do better or worse with one or the other, but that depends on my skill and luck on that game.
So I assume a lot of effort was put into balancing them somehow.

I've also seen a pack that contains a lot of other wonders, for example the fan pack "Lost Wonders". Some of the wonders in this one seam pretty overpowered to me, or others seam weak. I don't have facts to prove this, it's just my opinion which can be biased by my skill level and style of play.

Is there a way to compute (mathematically) the fairness of a wonder? Or should I trust the creator (which may not be the creator of the game)?

I mean is there a way to transform a wonder into a number (or approximate number) or something that can be comparable so it can be compared to the others?

Let me offer an example.
Let's take the standard wonder Halicarnassus side B.
At a first glance being able to look 3 times (once for each stage of wonder) in the discarded pile would look pretty fair to me.
But the author added 3 extra victory points on it (2 for stage 1 and 1 for stage 2).
3 points don't seem to be that much, but I'm thinking there is a reason they were added, to keep the fairness compared to the others because otherwise it would be under-powered.

I'm asking this because I would like to check the fairness of a (non standard) wonder before including it in the game.

[EDIT]

I'm not asking about sides being balanced. But about a way to compare 2 wonders based on a score or a range of scores based on a formula or algorithm, if any.

You probably could produce a mathematical formula taking into account the different factors that obtain you points based on your wonder. It would be long and arduous to figure out, especially considering all the different ways you can approach winning the game.

I think it's important to remember that a key component of Game Design is iteration. The designers will have played the game and redesigned it so many times during development that how the wonders originally looked is totally different to how they are now. Only through actual play can you truely determine how "balanced" a certain part of the game is. Sure you can use maths, but with so many different variables to take into account the level of work involved to get to some formula that calculates power compared to another wonder just doesn't seem worth it.

If you find some wonder out the fan pack is too overpowered, you can always erata it yourself to make it more balanced. I've done this with games before a lot. You create house "rules" or edits that help to improve the gameplay for everyone involved. It's like how in Monopoly you have free parking reward you. It's not an original mechanic, but something other people came up with as a catch up mechanic.


Is a draw possible in Quarto with the advanced rules? Quarto has a set of basic rules which describes the winner as the one who align 4 pieces sharing a common trait. The alignment can be horizontal, vertical or diagonal.

An advanced rule states that if 4 pieces share a trait and are disposed to form a 2*2 square then it is a winning position.

The board being 4*4, the advanced rule adds 9 winning positions.

Is a draw possible with this advance rule ?

A draw is definitely possible. For example here is a game I played against myself on an Android app.

However I've not seen any results about whether this version of the game is a draw with perfect play or not (in contrast to the basic game which is known to be a draw). The extra victory condition might mean that perfect play results in a win for one of the two players.


Captive Audience vs. Teferi's Time Twist In a MTG Arena match, my opponent played Captive Audience on me, which I exiled/blinked using Teferi's Time Twist. I expected CA to return under the opponent's control, but it entered on my side.

The relevant wording on Captive Audience:

  Captive Audience enters the battlefield under the control of an opponent of your choice. ...

and on Teferi's Time Twist:

  Exile target permanent you control. Return that card to the battlefield under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step. (...)

What do the rules say about this kind of interaction?

That ability on Captive Audience is a replacement effect that modifies how it enters the battlefield. Effects like this are described in the replacement effects section of the rules:

614.1d Continuous effects that read “[This permanent] enters the battlefield . . .” or “[Objects] enter the battlefield . . .” are replacement effects.
614.12. Some replacement effects modify how a permanent enters the battlefield. (See rules 614.1c–d.) [...]

When you exiled it and then brought it back, it would have entered the battlefield under the control of its owner, your opponent, but the replacement effect modified that so that it entered the battlefield under your control instead.


How important is Bankroll Management in Texas Hold'em Poker, and why? How important is Bankroll Management in Texas Hold'em Poker, and why?

The bankroll is your safe haven. The bankroll is what makes you different from a gambler, betting, bet again, breaks and puts more money in the game.

The bankroll is a fundamental part of you being a poker player. Treat it with due importance.

The bankroll should be large. It's more than you think you need. It is much larger than you want it. The truth is that you need a lot.

Why you need a lot? Because of something called a variance.

You know that poker is a game of skill, but in the short term, luck plays a great importance. Even the best players end up having to go through hard times. This is part of the game and every player should be able to handle it.

The fact that your bankroll vary up and down over the course of the game is known as variance. The more aggressive style, the greater the variability. And the more you play a game of high variance (as MTT or 6-max), the greater the ups and downs will meet your bankroll.

There is no escaping the variance. Even if you are prudent and cautious, your bankroll will experience ups and downs.

When in high, it's just joy, but the low that you need a good bankroll. You need a box that allows you to resist the bad times without breaking. Because if you break, will not be able to enjoy the sound stage, which will certainly come back.

The bankroll should always be calculated in relation to buy-ins or stakes of the games you want to play.

A bankroll of $ 1000 can be big or little ... depends on the buy-in. If you're playing $ 5 SNG's (Sit and Go) tournament, this is a pretty good bankroll. Have to play $ 50 SNGs, it is little.

A bankroll of $ 2000 is big enough for you to face without fear NL cash tables 0.10 to 0.20. But the same bankroll can not stand the jolt of the NL tables 1-2.

There are methods to calculate the bankroll according to your ROI, ie its return on investment. I do not advise a beginner to use this method. To know your ROI and you need a good time and a lot of hands in poker tournaments or played (even many). Moreover, the game changes, changing tables, opponents change. Your ROI will not be the same as six months ago, it will fluctuate a lot over time.

So for those just starting out, I suggest being guided by the amount of buy-ins. It is simpler and is guaranteed.

As I said above, in relation to the bankroll, you better be cautious. Here are my recommendations:

Cash games

6-Max: 100 buy-ins

Down to level 60 with buy-ins

Full Ring: 80 buy-ins

Down to level 55 with buy-ins

Tournaments

Sit and Go: 50 buy-ins

Level down to 30 buy-ins

MTT: 100 buy-ins

Down to level 60 with buy-ins

These numbers mean the minimum number of buy-ins that you must have to a certain level and when you should go down a level.

For example, if you want to play SNG tournaments of $ 2, your bankroll should be $ 100. If your bankroll drops to $ 60 or less, switch to the $ 1 SNG.

If you want to play $ 10 SNG, the bankroll should be $ 500. The bankroll has dropped below $ 300? Change to the $ 5 SNG. No need to take into account the rake calculation.

In cash games, is the same thing with just one more detail: if you play with full stack, the value of each buy-in is the sum of 100 big blinds. If you are a shortstacker each buy-in is worth 20 big blinds.

So if you want to play 6-max 0.10-0.20, your bankroll should be $ 2000. If your bankroll drops below $ 1200, go to the games of 0.05-0.10.

If you are entering a shortstacker with 20% of the buy-in, your bankroll at 6-max from 010 to 0.20 to be $ 400. Where to stay under $ 240, get off of level.


Why are MUD decks called MUD? I have done numerous Google searches, and come up with nothing remotely definitive for the reason for the name MUD given to MUD decks.

The definition of MUD appears to be, an artifact deck, that uses Mishra Workshop, AND Metal Worker.  If the deck doesn't use Metal Worker the name to the deck is a "shop" deck.

Generally, quite a few older deck names aren't really meaningful — they're a weird in-joke or just a random word someone pulled out of nowhere — and that tradition has been carried forward to the modern day in Legacy/Vintage as well. This is how you get the likes of Fruity Pebbles, Cephalid Breakfast, Team America (which is BUG, not red-white-blue), and Tinfins.

Sometimes there's a story behind it, but that story amounts to "I liked this reference" or "We had waffles at this restaurant the day before." About the most interesting story you're going to get from these is Boat Brew (created for a cruise; achieved massive hype quickly; lots of people today joke that it was an awful pile of a deck).

I've seen various backronyms for MUD, but really what you need to know is:

MUD plays gobs of artifacts
MUD decks are usually defined by Metalworker
Artifacts (used to) have brown frames

The rest seems to be speculation and folk tales.


Is there a penalty for constantly calling a revoke to disrupt the play? A player in duplicate bridge constantly calls a revoke to disrupt the play. Is there a penalty to this player's side for this discourtesy?

Absolutely! This type of disruptive behaviour is in no way acceptable by any player.

The Laws of Duplicate Bridge (2017) provide mechanisms under which the Director can act in such a circumstance of disruptive play.

  LAW 90 - PROCEDURAL PENALTIES

  A. Director’s Authority

  The Director, in addition to implementing the rectifications in these Laws, may also assess procedural penalties for any offense that unduly delays or obstructs the game, inconveniences other contestants, violates correct procedure, or requires the award of an adjusted score.

  ...

  Law 91 - PENALIZE OR SUSPEND

  A. Director’s Powers

  In performing his duty to maintain order and discipline, the Director is empowered to assess disciplinary penalties in points or to suspend a player or contestant for the current session or any part thereof. The Director’s decision under this clause is final (see Law 93B3).

  B. Right to Disqualify

  The Director is empowered to disqualify a player or contestant for cause, subject to approval by the Tournament Organizer.

Where I have seen this procedure used (Matchpoints only), the escalation sequence was as follows:

First offense
A specific warning on the conduct, specifying the penalty (see below) to be applied on a subsequent offense.
Second Offense (of the same kind)
A penalty of 1/4 of a board assessed to the player (not the partnership). A warning as above given that a third offense will result in suspension from the event.
Third Offense (of the same kind)
Player suspended from the event for cause. The Director also files an Ethics Report with the ACBL in regards this player.

However, I suspect that the player involved is also not adhering to the proper procedure for Inquiring About (Law 61), Correcting (Law 62), Establishing (Law 63), and Making Adjustment For (Law 64) a failure to follow suit. More details on the precise circumstances, and timing and sequence of events, would allow a more precise determination of correct and appropriate action.

Note that under Law 61, any inquiries concerning a revoke are limited as follows:

  B. Right to Inquire about a Possible Revoke

  Declarer may ask a defender who has failed to follow suit whether he has a card of the suit led.
  69
  (a) Dummy may ask declarer [but see Law 43B2(b)].

  (b) Dummy may not ask a defender and Law 16B may apply.
  Defenders may ask declarer and one another (at the risk of creating unauthorized information).

Any violation of Law 61 A will result in an immediate penalty as outlined in that law and all referenced laws concerning Unauthorized Information. Any such behaviour, when repeated, also remains subject to Procedural Penalties under Laws 90 and 91.

Note that if a Defender explicitly points out an Established Revoke prior to the conclusion of play, whether by his Partner, Declarer, or Dummy, and whether correct or not, this almost certainly constitutes Unauthorized Information to his Partner. The appropriate time and means to point out an Established Revoke is at the conclusion of Play, by calling the Director before the score is agreed or the hands shuffled and returned to the Board.

Also, competed tricks can only be inspected as described by Law 66C:

  LAW 66 - INSPECTION OF TRICKS

  A. Current Trick

  So long as his side has not led or played to the next trick, declarer or either defender may, until he has turned his own card face down on the table, require that all cards just played to the trick be faced.

  B. Own Last Card

  Until his side has led or played to the next trick, declarer or either defender may inspect, but not expose, his own last card played.

  C. Quitted Tricks

  Thereafter, until play ceases, the cards of quitted tricks may not be inspected (except at the Director’s specific instruction; for example, if necessary to verify a claim of a revoke).

  D. After the Conclusion of Play

  After play ceases, the played and unplayed cards may be inspected to settle a claim of a revoke, or of the number of tricks won or lost; but no player should handle cards other than his own. If the Director can no longer ascertain the facts after such a claim has been made, and only one side has mixed its cards, the Director shall rule in favor of the other side.

Thus there is no value to claiming a revoke prior to conclusion of play, as quitted tricks cannot be inspected until after play completes.


Can the diver swim around the outside of the island? If the diver is able to reach the edge of the island, are they then allowed to swim around the edge to reach another tile on the edge of the island?

Logically this would be sea, just as removed tiles are, but I suspect that this is not allowed.

In addition to being able to move normally, the Diver may move through one or more adjacent missing and/or flooded tiles for 1 action. A missing tile is one that has sunk. This has been confirmed by the game's creator.


When first prototyping a new board game idea - how do you start? I've been working in online gaming for many years but i've always had a love for board gaming.  I'm a great believer in paper prototyping any game or feature too.

I wondered what are the major pitfalls or techniques that board game designers use when they come to designing a boardgame to methodically work through the problems they find?

Having the ideas is the easy bit, but what can I do to effectively work from prototype to completion?

Any tips are welcome.

This may be too niche of an "answer" but I occasionally go to a Beer & Board Games event at a local pub where people in the group bring their games and it's like there's a mini board game library running for the night.

Anyhow, sometimes someone shows up with a "prototype" game and advertises that he's developing his board game and would like to play test it. It's basically small scale closed beta testing to help test and polish game mechanics. It also helps that he can rotate through pools of play testers rather than reuse the same group each time.

So basically, get your game into a "sort of playable" state and take it out to board game events or get friends to come play it then iterate based on how that goes. What you change and why is, of course, the tricky part. :p

Also, don't worry about NDAs or people "stealing your idea"... you have more important things to focus on.


Can Dive Down protect a creature against Pacifism? If my opponent casts Pacifism on my creature and in response I cast Dive Down, what happens?

Dive Down resolves first (since it's the last spell on the stack) and will give your creature Hexproof.

Then, Pacifism (an Aura, which by rule 114.1b is a targeted spell) tries to resolve, but its target has become invalid, so it will not resolve and end up in your opponent's graveyard.

  608.2b If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal. A target that’s no longer in the zone it was in when it was targeted is illegal. Other changes to the game state may cause a target to no longer be legal; for example, its characteristics may have changed or an effect may have changed the text of the spell. If the source of an ability has left the zone it was in, its last known information is used during this process. If all its targets, for every instance of the word “target,” are now illegal, the spell or ability doesn’t resolve. It’s removed from the stack and, if it’s a spell, put into its owner’s graveyard.

(source: Comprehensive Rules, emphasis mine)


Did the first version of Ticket to Ride released in Europe have a USA map or a Europe map? In the United States, the game called simply Ticket to Ride has a map of the United States. Was this the case when it was originally released in Europe?

I’m curious to know if it was branded differently in that region, like if Europe got Ticket to Ride USA and what Americans call Ticket to Ride: Europe was the original game released in Europe.

The German Wikipedia article is pretty clear on this.

Name              | Erscheinungsjahr   | Spielplan
                  | (Publication Year) | (Board Map)
--------------------------------------------------------
Zug um Zug        | 2004               | USA
Zug um Zug Europa | 2005               | Europa (Europe)

The first version to be released in Germany was the US board in 2004. This went on to win the prestigeous Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year) award in the year 2004; awarded by a jury of critics.

A game is only eligible to win Spiel des Jahres in the year it was published in (unless it was published in the previous year after the list of nominees had been closed). And there has not been the case of a spin-off version winning Spiel des Jahres if the main one did not. In fact, while I don’t have sources it is very unlikely for spin-offs even to be considered, since they typically follow the same principle as the main game which would have been eligible earlier.

The Europe board was not released until the following year, 2005. The table at the bottom of the Wikipedia article indicates that.

Incidentally, the game did receive a minor rebranding in Germany by getting a new (German) name: Zug um Zug. In Scandinavia (specifically Finland, where I bought the Scandinavia version), the original name was kept.


Liliana, Untouched by Death and Ashes of the Fallen Interaction? How does Liliana, Untouched by Death's +1 ability interact with Ashes of the Fallen (naming Zombie)?

This question was asked about a similar interaction between Ashes and Necromancer's Stockpile, but I'm not sure if there was a definitive answer.

I'm curious if the wording of the cards makes a difference here. For example, Necromancer's Stockpile states "if the discarded card was a Zombie card" (i.e. before it was discarded) whereas Liliana's +1 states if a milled card "is a Zombie card" (i.e. after it was milled into the graveyard).

Liliana, Untouched by Deaths' +1 considers every moved creature card a Zombie card with Ashes of the Fallen naming Zombie on the battlefield.

By the time Liliana's ability checks the three cards for their type, they are already in the graveyard, and the creature cards among them are Zombies because of Ashes of the Fallen. Ashes of the Fallen has a static ability which creates a continous effect.

  604.2. Static abilities create continuous effects, some of which are prevention effects or replacement effects. These effects are active as long as the permanent with the ability remains on the battlefield and has the ability, or as long as the object with the ability remains in the appropriate zone, as described in rule 113.6.

Since activated abilities resolve in the order they're written, the cards are Zombies as soon as they enter the graveyard. The next instruction checks for the cards being Zombies and finds that they are.

I can't explain the difference in wording ("was" and "is") between Liliana and Stockpile, even though they seem to do very similar things: move cards from a hidden zone to the graveyard and check if they had certain properties. Generally, there seems to be a difference between "If something was a" and "If something is a", but I don't understand the pattern enough to draw general wording rules from it.


Can I throw more than one cargo overboard during a single Traitor's turn? In Mad Zeppelin, during each turn, each player gets two chances to play a Traitor card and take actions with that Traitor. Each traitor searches for cargo and gold, then activates their ability and/or throws cargo overboard.

The exact phrasing for throwing cargo is just slightly vague, though:

  Throw Cargo overboard. If your current Traitor’s color has been rolled on the dice, show a Cargo card from your hand. You must then pay Gold to the Safe equal to the number of Gold coins on the card.This represents bribing the ever-present guards on the Nostria. After paying the guards, the Cargo card is “thrown overboard.” Keep it face-up in front of you.

Does this mean only throwing one cargo overboard per Traitor played, or can a Traitor throw cargo overboard more than once per turn?

Yes. Per a post on Board Game Geek where game designer Oliver Pauwels responded to concerns about the vagueness of the rule book:

Can more than one cargo be thrown off in a single round?
Yes, as long as you have enough gold to pay : )


Card interaction: Basilisk and draw then discard. Was playing a round and had the Basilisk in play and trying to play an ally (can't remember which one off the top of my head) that says draw then discard.  Since Basilisk is out you can't draw but do you still have to discard to have it count as played for cards that have a secondary affect for playing an ally?

There's a comprehensive FAQ compiled from answers to questions from the game designer

Q: If a Villain blocks part of a card effect, can you or must you execute the rest of the action?
A: Yes.  For example, Lockhart says “Draw one card, then discard any one card.”  If the Basilisk is in play and you choose to play Lockhart, you would not draw the card but you would still have to discard.  Neville could thus use Lockhart to discard his Remembrall to gain two influence.
Source: https://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/24479506#24479506


Why can't I play a card for its alternative cost after searching for it with Bring to Light? According to the card rulings on Gatherer, I can't, say, fetch Reveillark from my deck with Bring to Light, and then cast it for its Evoke cost instead (which is what I was hoping to do). While this is applicable to all alternative costs, what rules prevent BtL from allowing this, when, according to the card text, all it seems to care about is whether or not the CMC is less than or equal to the number of colors used to play it?

I'm not trying to bring this ruling into question, as disappointing as it may be, I just want to understand the logic involved.

It is because Bring to Light and Evoke are both alternate costs, and you can only choose one alternate cost when casting a spell. Since Bring to Light is what is giving you permission to cast the Revilark in the first place you have to use its alternative cost, you can't Evoke it (by paying mana) off of Bring to Light. Compare this to Omniscience which also gives your Revilark an alternate cost, in this case you could choose to cast it without paying its mana cost or pay its Evoke cost but not not both (paying no mana for its Evoke cost).

  117.9. Some spells have alternative costs. An alternative cost is a cost listed in a spell’s text, or applied to it from another effect, that its controller may pay rather than paying the spell’s mana cost. Alternative costs are usually phrased, “You may [action] rather than pay [this object’s] mana cost,” or “You may cast [this object] without paying its mana cost.” Note that some alternative costs are listed in keywords; see rule 702.

  117.9a Only one alternative cost can be applied to any one spell as it’s being cast. The controller of the spell announces his or her intentions to pay that cost as described in rule 601.2b.

  702.73a Evoke represents two abilities: a static ability that functions in any zone from which the card with evoke can be cast and a triggered ability that functions on the battlefield. “Evoke [cost]” means “You may cast this card by paying [cost] rather than paying its mana cost” and “When this permanent enters the battlefield, if its evoke cost was paid, its controller sacrifices it.” Paying a card’s evoke cost follows the rules for paying alternative costs in rules 601.2b and 601.2f–h.


Drawing an event that moves you, do you still do tile text? For example, I just discovered the Attic, which states:

  When exiting, you must attempt a Speed roll of 3+. If you fail, lose 1 Might

Now I draw The Left Hand as the event card for this room,  and choose this option:

  Keep your hand. Lose 2 Sanity, gain 1 Might, and move to the nearest room with an Omen symbol and draw an omen card.

Do I still have to make the Attic's speed roll to go to the nearest room?

Yes, you must always roll for the bad stuff that can happen to you for leaving a room, no matter how or why you are leaving the room.
From the official FAQ (which for some reason stopped being linked on the Wizards/Avalon Hill websites with the release of Widow's Walk):

Attic, Graveyard, Junk Room, Pentagram Chamber -- If something like the Mystic Slide causes you to leave one of these rooms involuntarily, do you still make a roll?
Yes. You roll no matter what causes you to leave.


Can you sacrifice yourself to use an Elder Sign in Arkham Horror? The cost to use an Elder Sign to seal a gate is 1 Sanity and 1 Stamina. If you are at 1 on either one of these (or both), can you essentially sacrifice yourself in order to use it? Will the sealing occur before you become insane/wounded/devoured?

Yes,
This is explicitly allowed in the rule book, p18

To use an elder sign, do the following:
The player removes 1 Sanity and 1 Stamina from his
investigator sheet. This may knock the investigator
unconscious or drive him insane, but the elder sign still
takes effect.


What are good games to play during a one-hour lunch break? On any given day we can have any number of players, up to ten, so that's not a limitation. Keep in mind that setup, play and packing up needs to be done in the hour. My coworkers are all experienced board gamers, so complexity is not an issue.

Dominion is a great game for lunch. It's  the only strategy game I can think of with a playtime under a half hour. We can often get through two rounds during lunch at my office.


Maze Game - Late 70's / Early 80's - Battleship-esk - What's it name? I am looking for the name of a Late 70's / early 80's board game.

The basic design was based on Battle Ship. Each of the two players had a clam shell case where they built their own maze at the bottom and tracked their opponent at the top. Read and green cases, with blue green chips used to build the mazes.

The goal was to follow your opponent's maze by blindly bumping into corners, trying to figure out the path to the goal, which was capturing the other guys pawn before he got to yours.

It was a great strategy game and I would love to dig up, or recreate a copy to play with my kids.

Any hints at the name of this game? And who the manufacturer was?

This sounds to me like Pathfinder which was a game of my childhood.

BGG link - https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2884/pathfinder


When can an object have an owner and no controller? Rule 616.1 has an interesting line about an object having no controller but having an owner.  Under what conditions is this possible?

  616.1. If two or more replacement and/or prevention effects are attempting to modify the way an event affects an object or player, the affected object’s controller (or its owner if it has no controller) or the affected player chooses one to apply, following the steps listed below. If two or more players have to make these choices at the same time, choices are made in APNAP order (see rule 101.4).

Only objects on the battlefield or on the stack have controllers - everything else is only owned

  108.4. A card doesn’t have a controller unless that card represents a permanent or spell; in those cases, its controller is determined by the rules for permanents or spells. See rules 110.2 and 112.2.

But there are many cards that can affect cards in hand, library, graveyard, and exile - for those cards, choices are made by the owner because nobody controls them.


How can 7NT be played for this hand? I played a deal online as South and ended up as 3NT +3 (490 points). The deal analysis page indicates that this deal can be played at 7NT.

I retried several times, went straight for 7NT, but all attempts ended up as 7NT -1. West's ♠K is a serious problem that I failed to avoid.

Anyone suggest how this deal can be done at 7NT, with South as the contractor and West plays ♣Q as the first hand?

Note: All other three players are robots and know all cards, so tricking them into thinking the wrong way is impossible.

There is a pentagonal squeeze on this hand. One line of play:
Win the club lead in dummy, cross to hand with the spade ace, take the diamond finesse, and play on diamonds, pitching spades. Eventually, west has to unguard a round suit to keep the spade control, and now you have a double squeeze, with west controlling spades and one round suit, and east controlling both round suits. Cash your hand's winner in the round suit controlled only by east, then return to dummy with the heart king. Now we've gotten to a standard double squeeze position; cash the last diamond, forcing east to unblock one suit, pitching the suit that east keeps. West will be forced to let go the last guard to one of your suits, and your thirteenth trick has materialized.
I've put together one possible play sequence.
(Thanks to Forget I was ever here for pointing out an error in my initial answer, and Mycroft for pointing out places that I had confused hand and dummy).

Here is the 6 card end position after winning ♣ Ace; coming to hand with ♠ Ace; and running ♢ after a successful finesse of ♢ Q:
         ♠ J
         ♡ K 7
         ♢ 3 2
         ♣ 7

 ♠ K            ♠ T
 ♡ Q 9 5        ♡ J T 6
 ♢ -            ♢ -
 ♣ J T          ♣ 9 8
         ♠ 5
         ♡ A 8 2
         ♢ -
         ♣ K 6

On the ♢ 3 East and South discard their last ♠ and West must unguard a round suit; establishing the double squeeze. Best defense is for West to pitch a
♡, as if South has ♡ J it's either doubleton, or West was always going to be victim of a successful ♠-♡ simple squeeze. (If West was dealt ♢ J or T instead of ♢ Q he should pitch a ♣ instead. Since South cannot see, or likely read, any of these cards, this option selection should be opaque to Declarer.)
On play of ♢ 2 East now discards ♣ 8 and South must guess the situation. If West is believed to be guarding ♣ (best above) then South must discard ♡ 2 and cash ♡ A and ♡ K in order to squeeze West in both black suits.
If West is believed to be guarding ♡ then South must discard ♣ 6 and cash ♣ K and ♡ K in order to complete the major suit squeeze on West.
Declarer's best bet for reading the situation is that East, whose ♣ attitude to the opening lead is known to all once Dummy comes down, probably gave an honest count signal in ♣'s at trick one. If East is astute enough to have seen the double squeeze coming that early, tip your hat to him as the better man/woman on this day.


Does State Parlor give bonus for dwellings added after the fact? When the state parlor is built, and a dwelling is later added, does the player get the two food bonus?

One school of thought is that the bonus is applied only once for the parlor itself.  Another school of thought is that the bonus is applied to each dwelling once.

This has implications for the milking and weaving parlor as well.

In the revised English language appendix (page A5), it states (all bold and italics in the original)

  When building the State parlor, immediately (and only once) get 2 Food from the general supply for each Dwelling that is (horizontally or vertically) adjacent to the State parlor.

This unambiguously indicates that later dwellings do not provide a further 2 Food bonus. The same language is used for the milking and weaving parlors.


What happens if two forces of unequal strength attacks the same province? I'm the gamemaster for a diplomacy game played between a couple of friends, and we encountered a situation where we didn't really agree. I've looked through the rules and searched the internet, but I still couldn't find an answer.

What happens if two forces of unequal strength attack the same province?
The rulebook clarifies that an underpowered unit in such a situation has to make a retreat move, but it doesn't seem to mention what happens if there is no defending unit, only attacking units.

To clarify the situation I'll give you an example:

Germany:

A War - Gal
A Sil S A War - Gal

Russia:

A Boh - Gal

Here we see that Germany's attacking force is stronger than Russia's, and there are 2 possibilities (I think) of what happens next arises. Either the unit in Bohemia stays in Bohemia and the unit in Warsaw moves to Galicia, or the unit in Bohemia has moves to Galicia where it then has to make a retreat move and the unit from Warsaw stays in Galicia.

Is there any rule that I have overlooked which answers my question, or do you have any opinions of what might be the proper way to handle the situation?

There are lots of different versions of the rules, so it is hard to give an exact quote and page reference, but they all agree on the resolution of this. The version I found says "A unit moves with its own strength combined with all of its valid supports. Unless it is opposed by a unit that is equally or better supported, it can complete its move." In this case Bohemia was opposed by a better supported unit, so it cannot complete its move and stays in Bohemia.

So in the case that two or more attacks occur on the same province, and one is stronger than all the others as well as being stronger than the existing defense, the strongest attack succeeds and the others all fail. Any units participating in those attacks remain where they were (unless they are dislodged by a different attack on their own province) and any units that started in the attacked province are dislodged and will need to retreat. You can only be dislodged from the province that you started the turn in.

If there are multiple attacks on the same province, and there are two or more attacks tied for the strongest (or tied with the existing defense), then all the attacks fail. This can result in an unsupported defender holding a province against two supported attacks as long as the supported attacks are of equal strength.


Identify game with ~30 pegs and 30 holes Found 2 boxes with content shown below and wondered if it is a game and what is named? The boxes contained no rules but had a certain "homemade" feel about it why the option of it being a game is not ruled out by missing rules.

Content in each box:

2 boards with 3 x 5 holes each
32/31 pegs (one box contains 32, the other 31), one end is rounded and one is flat

Edit: Picture of pegs in holes

Dara would fit. You'd only need 12 pegs each. Extra could be just in case you lost some. From Board Game Geek-Dara:

A game from Nigeria that may be played by two players or teams. Traditionally the game was played on an area consisting of 5x6 spaces using sticks or stones for pieces.
The game begins with the players taking alternating turns placing one of their twelves pieces in an empty space. Once all of the pieces have been placed, the players alternate moving one of their pieces into an adjacent empty space. Diagonal movement is not allowed.
When a player moves a piece to cause three of their pieces to be in a row, that player may remove one opposing piece that is not part of a row of three such pieces. Players are not permitted to make a move which results in more than three of their pieces being in a row. A player wins the game when the opposing player is unable to make a a row of three pieces.


Omnispell Adept and Alternative/Additional costs of Sorceries/Instants Can I use Omnispell Adept's ability to cast spells with alternative or kicker cost?

Can I cast Roil Spout for its Awaken 4 - 4WU cost?
Can I cast Saproling Migration and paying its kicker cost?

Or can I only use the default mode when casting spells with Omnispell Adept?

Alternative, no; kicker: yes. The rulings below the card in Gatherer state so:

If you cast a spell “without paying its mana cost,” you can’t choose to cast it for any alternative costs. You can, however, pay additional costs, such as kicker costs. If the card has any mandatory additional costs, such as that of Severed Strands, those must be paid to cast the card.

Basically, Omnispell Adept's ability is already an alternative casting cost and you can't replace that. The relevant rule is 117.9:

117.9. Some spells have alternative costs. An alternative cost is a cost listed in a spell’s text, or applied to it from another effect, that its controller may pay rather than paying the spell’s mana cost. Alternative costs are usually phrased, “You may [action] rather than pay [this object’s] mana cost,” or “You may cast [this object] without paying its mana cost.” Note that some alternative costs are listed in keywords; see rule 702.
117.9a Only one alternative cost can be applied to any one spell as it’s being cast. The controller of the spell announces their intentions to pay that cost as described in rule 601.2b.


If something happens to a vehicle, what happens to the creatures that crewed it? I'll give an example of my vehicle. It is Conqueror's Galleon a 2/10 with crew 4, but when it attacks it'll be exiled.

During your  next untap phase it'll return as Conqueror's Foothold what happens to crewed creatures?

Crewed creatures are considered wholly separate from the vehicle themselves. They are not "on" the vehicle, and they don't share its fate in any regard or have any ongoing relationship with it. Crewing the vehicle merely means the creature gets tapped and has no further implications.

When a Vehicle is exiled then returned to the battlefield later, only that Vehicle is exiled, and only that Vehicle is later returend. The creatures that crewed it are not affected in any way, and won't be exiled in the first place. Similarly if the vehicle is destroyed or dies, this doesn't mean anything for the crew.

(Your Conqueror's Galleon gets exiled only at the end of combat, by the way, meaning it will do combat damage. It also returns to the battlefield transformed immediately, not at the next untap step.)


Is it unsportsmanlike to concede when you believe you cannot win? I've had a long running debate with some folks I play with regarding concession. Some argue that is it is unsportsmanlike to concede a game if you are not doing very well. I contend however, that if it often more frustrating to sit there and be miserable if you know the outcome of the game; this is particularly true of longer games such as Catan with Cities and Knights.

Now, I'm not really talking about "just quitting" every time you don't get your way. And I'm certainly not talking about being rude, snide or otherwise contemptible in such cases. I've been on the other side of the fence too and it seem appropriate to "just call it" in many instances but some would rather drag it on.

Is there an acceptable middle ground or technique for dealing with these types of situations? Where one person has clearly won before they have actually won?

In a two-player situation I could see how this might be acceptable, but with more players I'd be very cautious. For instance, it may appear to you that player three is the foregone winner, but perhaps player two has a victory Development Card, along with a Road Building that could catapult him to longest road, if he can just get another brick to make one more road along with it. Let's imagine this would steal the longest road from player three, and result in the players being tied neck and neck. To you, it may look hopeless, but for player two to refute your assertion that such is the case, he will have to reveal that he sees a path to winning, which could cause player three to be more cautious, resulting in the spoiling of player two's plan.

The last time I played I won, and was ahead the entire time, and yet until the very end at least two of the other players (six-player game) had a fighting chance, one unbeknownst to me (two victory points from Dev cards conveniently left in his lap). It's not fair to the other players for you to decide it's time to call it.


How does Circu, Dimir Lobotomist interact with defeated players in a Free for All? Could an opponent cast a card with the same name as a card exiled by Circu, Dimir Lobotomist after you defeat the owner of the card in a Free for All?

Since there is some confusion about the original wording of the question, let's first assume you control Circu, Dimir Lobotomist, used it to exile a couple of spells from an opponent's library and that opponent is now defeated.

  800.4a When a player leaves the game, all objects (see rule 109) owned by that player leave the game ...

The exiled cards owned by the defeated player leave the game, and don't count for Circu's ability anymore:

  607.2a If an object has an activated or triggered ability printed on it that instructs a player to exile one or more cards and an ability printed on it that refers either to "the exiled cards" or to cards "exiled with [this object]," these abilities are linked. The second ability refers only to cards in the exile zone that were put there as a result of an instruction to exile them in the first ability.

Your other opponents can cast those spells again (unless you've also exiled said card from a library of an opponent who is still in the game).

If you meant to ask what happens when an opponent controlling Circu, Dimir Lobotomist is defeated; the exiled cards stay exiled, but Circu's static ability stops functioning: it's no longer on the battlefield, and you (and other opponents) can cast spells with the same name as the exiled cards once again.


Choose a leader when copying the Courtesan's Guild with Olympia (B)? 7 Wonders with Leaders extension

Situation

Alice has the wonder Olympia (B) and builds her 3rd wonder stage (= at the end of the game she can copy a guild card of one of her neighbours).
Bob plays the Courtesan's Guild and places the Courtesan token at a leader card of his neighbour Carol.
At the end of the game, Alice copies Bob's Courtesan's Guild.

What to do?

{Variant 1}: Alice gets another (virtual) Courtesan token and has to choose a leader card of one of her neighbours herself.

{Variant 2}: The leader card chosen by Bob is "imprinted" in the Courtesan's Guild and therefor Alice copies this leader card by copying the guild. (However, the points for this leader card are calculated as if she would have played it herself)

Or something else?

Follow-up questions if {Variant 2} would be correct

Let's say Bob would have placed the Courtesan token at a leader card of Alice instead of Carol. Would Alice get points (if any) for this leader card two times?

Let's say there weren't any other leader cards in play when Bob built the Courtesan's Guild, so he could not use the Courtesan token. Can Alice now use the token at the end of the game?

Discussion elsewhere

boardgamegeek.com: Olympia vs. Courtesans' guild
boardgamegeek.com: Olympia (B) stage 3 copying Courtesan's Guild?
boardgamegeek.com: Courtesan's Guild (And yes, Olympia B)

On boardgamegeek.com, Jacek Deimer says he has asked Antoine Bauza, the author of the game:

  Can I chose new leader for the copy or am I forced to copy leader that already has Courteasan Token on it?
  For example: I copy CG that copies PLATO, will I have to copy PLATO again or can I copy different leader?

Antoine's answer:

  You can copy any Leader from your two neibhourgs

So, {Variant 1} would be correct.

(note however: there is no source to verify that statement)

Here is a statement by a Éric Franklin (credited for "Revision" in the rule book) confirming that the interpretation described in {Variant 1} is correct.

Update (2013-02-18): Repos Production published an official FAQ, containing this question:

  Q: With stage 3 of Olympia’s B side, I copy the Guild of Courtesans. Do I then need to copy the effect of the Leader where the Courtesan token is, or do I get my own virtual Courtesan token which I can use as I want?

  A: You get your own virtual courtesan token.


How to play AKJx opposite xxx for 3 tricks at matchpoints Say I need 3 trick from the suit AKJx opposite xxx to make my contract at matchpoints. I recently discovered that the best line is to cash AK and then lead to the jack (winning when the suit breaks 3-3, Q onside or Qx offside). However this line gives up on overtricks when Qxx is onside.

Should I play to maximise my expected number of tricks? I think this involves cashing the ace and finessing the second round (since Qxx onside is more likely than Qx offside).

Is there a standard line 'the room' would take and should I vary my play accordingly? I'm assuming I'm in a normal contract that most pairs will find themselves in.

Example hand:

I was considering this suit combination when reading 'The Rodwell Files' and this 3NT hand appeared,

  ♠ K7                   A2
  ♡ AJ83                K42
  ♢ AQ42                K55
  ♣ J76               K8532

On a spade lead Rodwell wins in hand, then plays on diamonds finding a 3-3 split. The ninth trick can then come from finessing the club Ace and falling back on the heart finesse, or by playing the heart Ace
King and lobbing towards the Jack. Rodwell gives both lines a 76% chance but says he would favour the latter line at teams (because of the slight chance of well placed singleton Ace or Queen of clubs).

The best line for maximum tricks is to cash the Ace and then finesses the Jack. This has an 18% chance of success and averages 2.87 tricks per occurrence (from hardcopy of The Bridge Encyclopedia). This is a losing play in Matchpoints; unless other considerations exist.

The real trick in Matchpoints is to make losing plays that work, and avoid winning plays that fail. Barry Crane is alleged to have been able, when he really needed a top, to incite a revoke from opponents. ;-)

However, making these subtle choices requires complete information on the hand. Not to be rude, but the fact that you are asking this question, a rather basic one on declarer play, without specifying the other conditions suggests that you actually have no idea how to judge if a contract is normal or not. There are several contributors on this site who can help you learn how to properly make those judgements, if you can provide more detailed information.

For this particular card combination, I would much rather be looking for a squeeze or endplay to get my extra trick. That requires an exact count of opponents distribution as well as our own, and a better than random guess at the high point locations. I also need to know how hard to try for the extra trick. Hence all the questions asked in my comment above.

Let's review some basic end game techniques to emphasize why full disclosure of the hand is necessary. Fundamental to all Squeezes is rectifying the count, meaning losing the desired full number of losers early. Fundamental to all Throw-Ins is losing the desired full number of losers late, possibly to a specific opponent. What are my prospects of doing so on a given hand? Only after that is answered does one even begin to think about taking optional random finesses.

More on Crane, for anyone interested, by Grant Baze, who was one of his regular partners.


In 7 Wonders, does getting a VP for all yellow cards include the card mentioning it? In 7 wonders, there is a yellow card whose icons say "get a VP for each yellow card I have played".   If I already have 3 yellow cards in play, is my total VP from yellow cards 3 or 4?

If you look at the last page of the rules, it clarifies that the card does count itself, so you would get 4 VPs.


What card game is popular today, fun for kids, and is a worthy investment at a reasonable cost to my wallet? So my son, who is 8 years old, is just noticing his friends getting into card games like Pokemon.  I collected sports cards when I was his age and still do.  I never got into the card games like D&D, Magic, Pokemon, etc.

I'm trying to figure out the balance between what's popular today, fun for an 8 year old to play, and what would be a good investment for him down the road, if he were to collect them as a hobby as well as play.

Can the Card Game Gurus enlighten me as to what card game is popular today, fun for kids, and is a worthy investment at a reasonable cost to my wallet?

Collectible Card Games (CCG) wax and wane in popularity....

For example, both Pokemon an Yu-Gi-Oh! cards were extremely popular over a decade ago. There are still sales of these cards and older cards sell well, but both games have shrunk considerably.

The exception:
Magic: The Gathering which has had pretty solid sales, organized play, and card values over the course of the last 2 decades. If there are game shops within your area, chances are very high that they sell both new cards (decks and booster packs) as well as buying and reselling cards. There will also likely be organized tournaments and play events at these shops as well.

The Catch

Magic (and CCGs in general) can be described as money pits and aptly so. The pre-built decks you can buy work, but not nearly so well as building a deck using rares and uncommons found in booster packs to fight a specific strategy (or to counter one). They have yearly or quarterly expansions which drive players to continually buy new cards as well. Magic card values also have the usual collectable game catch-22 where they are only worth something if you never play with or even physically touch them which makes collecting for value something of an adult hobby vs. for your son.

The Solution

In recent years there has been a huge trend in Living Card Games (LCG). LCGs work on the same basic principle of deck vs. battles as CCGs except they completely do away with boosters and have a growth and expense rate of expansions for a boardgame. Two very popular and very well reviewed LCGs are The Lord of The Rings LCG and Android: Netrunner LCG.

Android: Netrunner LCG is a 2 player game Cyberpunk dueling deck game with 1 player taking the role of the Corporation (there are different ones, as different decks) trying to complete agendas and make money who is taken on by the other player playing the Hacker (again, different faction decks to choose from) who is seeking to hack into the corporation and expose agendas for money or for fame.

The Lord of the Rings LCG is a cooperative game where players take the role of different heroes from the Fellowship as the travel through Middle-Earth. Players work together to deal with enemies and dangers as they are dealt out. Everyone wins and loses together.


How to score 4 of a kind in cribbage after a go In Cribbage, we had a go after 3 Aces were played, but then the 4th Ace was played. Does the player receive 12 points for the 4 of a kind or do they receive 6 points for the 3 of a kind before the go and then another 12 for playing the 4th Ace after the go? In other words, how does the go figure in the total count?

No 4-of-a-kind. The Go interrupts the sequence.
From the rules at Bicycle:

The player who called Go leads for the next series of plays, with the count starting at zero. The lead may not be combined with any cards previously played to form a scoring combination; the Go has interrupted the sequence.


Where can I find the dimensions and weight of a game? I eant to order some games from the USA (I live outside the US).
Is there an online store or some other site that specifies the dimensions and weight of a board game or the entire order and not just the shipping fee before checkout?

Thank You.

Check with Board Game Geek.  On pages for games, they have a list of all versions with the size and weight.  For example, see this entry for Race for the Galaxy.  It states that pretty much all versions are 10.83 x 7.48 x 2.56 inches and 1.44 lbs.  Other games should also have version sections with similar information.


How is the card action phase resolved in 7 Wonders? My understanding is that each turn has three parts:

Each player selects a card and plays it face down simultaneously.
Each player reveals what they plan to do with their card (build it, scrap it for cash, build their wonder).
After resolving any payments, players hand their deck to the person on the left/right.

My question is - how is this second phase resolved? Do players do it one by one? What prevents a player from changing their mind about the card action?

According to the rulebook this phase is resolved simultaneously:

  Once every player has selected his or her card, they perform their action
  simultaneously. Three actions are possible with the chosen card :

  a. Build the structure
  b. Build a stage of their Wonder
  c. Discard the card to gain 3 coins

In other words, all players announce their action, build/wonder/discard, at the same time. It's out of the spirit of the game to see what other players are doing and then change your mind. For example, you might have two red cards at the end of Age III and you'd really like to know if your neighbor is going to build one, so that you can discard yours for money or not. You have to decide before phase #2.

When most players are newbies, it's a commonplace to resolve the cards one at a time, so that they can follow, but you should normally resolve the actions simultaneously.

Technically, it's also illegal to decide which neighbor to pay after resolving the actions. You're supposed to decide beforehand who to pay; for example, you cannot decide to pay Olympia, see that he just built the Arena, taking $9, and then decide to pay your other neighbor.


How do you determine the winner of a hand? In Texas Hold'em poker, there are some cases where a particular card, often called kicker, acts as a tiebreaker between players to determine who wins the pot, or if the pot has to be shared.

For some combinations such as three or four of a kind, there is no doubt: the kicker is the 5th card of the chosen combination, and determines the winner.

Example

  Alice has 7 and 10
  Bob has 7 and K
  On the board are 7, 7, 2, 3, 4

In that case, both have a three of a kind. But because Bob has a king and Alice only a 10, he wins.

Most of poker websites explaining the rules clearly mention the role of the kicker applying to three of a kind and double pairs. But much fewer say something about colors, straights and full houses, and I found many contradicting answers. I also asked the question to some used online poker players and they also gave me contradicting answers.

I have tried to search for official tournament rules, but most of them only explain what happens with bad behaviors, bad deals, incorrect or confusing betting, showing cards when you shouldn't, acting when it's not your turn, etc. without mentioning subtleties about combinations at all.

To simplify my question, I will take three examples; I think it's better to start with examples before getting to the general answer if one exists. So, what's happening in the following 3 examples? Could you give a more generalized answer?

Example 1 - Flushes

  Alice has 2♣ and 3♣
  Bob has 4♣ and 5♣
  On the board are 6♣, 8♣, 10♣, 2♥, 5♦

Contradicting answer 1: it's a tie, because the highest card included in the flush is the 10, which everybody chooses to include in their 5 showdown cards.
Contradicting answer 2: Bob wins, because he has the greatest private card that is part of the flush

Example 2 - Straight

  Alice has 6 and K
  Bob has 6 and J
  On the board are 4, 5, 7, 8, 10

Contradicting answer 1: it's a tie, because the greatest card in the straight is the 8 for both Alice and Bob
Contradicting answer 2: Alice wins, because she owns an extra king, compared to the jack of Bob

Example 3 - Full house

  Alice has 3 and 7
  Bob has 3 and 6
  On the board are 3, 3, 2, 2, 5

Contradicting answer 1: it's a tie, because one is supposed to choose only five cards to make a combination, and a full house is already five cards. There couldn't be any kicker, and thus their showdowns are strictly equals.
Contradicting answer 2: Alice wins because of her extra 7, compared to the 6 of Bob

Thank you very much for your answers.

Note: I'm unable to post next to you, so I edit my own post; strange not be able to answer to an answer.

Ok, So if I summarize what you are saying :

In the flush case, Bob wins because at some point, their hand differs. Technically, I can continue comparing the highest private card to decide who wins. I had it correct.
In the straight case, if the highest card of the straight is public, then it's technically always a tie, no matter what the players had as second private card (asuming that only one of the two cards was part of the straight).
In a full house if both players have the same triplet and the same pair, it's always a tie, no matter what the players had as second private card (assuming again that only one of the two was part of the full house).

Please confirm me that what I summarized is correct.
Thank you for your answer.

The first thing to mention is definitely that there are no extra cards. Poker hands are evaluated with exactly five cards. Sometimes you use all five community cards as your best hand, in which case your pocket is useless (bluffing aside, of course). So strike that right away: if you can't beat your opponent with five cards, you've lost (or tied).
This is true even if all players are using the community cards. In the extreme example, say a Royal Flush comes down in the community cards. Everyone gets a Royal Flush (in which case, obviously, you go all in hoping your opponent makes a mistake.) You're not forced to say "Well, I had an ace in my hand, so I break the tie between the two of us." No, no, and no, you all have the community cards, you tie, split the pot and move on to the next hand.
The next step is to evaluate the hands. It starts like this:

Does any single player have a straight flush? A straight flush is having both a straight and flush at the same time. A flush is all 5 cards being the same suit. A straight is having 5 consecutive cards, consecutive being defined with the order A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A. Ace is in the list twice, but you cannot overlap A. Thus, A, 2, 3, 4, 5 is a straight, 10, J, Q, K, A is a straight, but Q, K, A, 2, 3 is not. A Royal Flush (10, J, Q, K, A of the same suit) is sometimes considered a special straight flush, but in reality it's just the best straight flush.

If yes, that player is the winner.

Do multiple players have a straight flush?

If yes, the winner is the one with the highest card. (A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest straight, while 10-J-Q-K-A is the highest straight.)
If multiple people share the highest card (either in a different suit or because there is a straight flush in the community cards) they split the pot.

Does any single player have 4 of a kind?

If yes, that player is the winner.

Do multiple players have 4 of a kind?

If yes, the one with the highest 'set of 4' is the winner.
If multiple players have the highest set of 4 (which is not achievable with a standard poker deck, but is with a double deck or community cards), the one with the highest kicker (highest card not in the set of 4) is the winner.
- If this card is the same, they split the pot.

Does any single player have a full house?

If yes, that player is the winner.

Do multiple players have full houses?

If yes, then keeping in mind that a full house is a 3-set and a 2-set, the player with the highest 3-set wins the pot.
If multiple players share the highest 3-set (which isn't possible without community cards like in hold 'em, or a double deck) then the player with the highest 2-set is the winner.
If the 2-set and 3-set is the same, those players split the pot.

Does any single player have a flush? A flush is defined as all 5 cards of the same suit.

If yes, that player is the winner.

Do multiple players have a flush?

If yes, the player with a flush with the highest unique card is the winner.
This hand is similar to 'high card' resolution, where each card is effectively a kicker.
Note that a flush requires the same suit, not just color. While the colors used on the suit are red and black, two each, there's nothing to that connection. A club is no more similar to a spade than it is to a heart - only suit matters. The colors are red and black for historical purposes and so the same deck can be played for other games where that might matter.

Does any single player have a straight? A straight is 5 consecutive cards that do not wrap around the Ace. See full explanation in the Straight Flush description.

If yes, that player wins the pot.

Do multiple players have straights?

If so, the player with the highest straight wins. (A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest straight, while 10-J-Q-K-A is the highest straight.)
If multiple players share the highest straight, they split the pot.

Does any single player have a 3 of a kind?

If yes, that player wins the pot.

Do multiple players have 3 of a kind?

If yes, the player with the highest 3-set wins the pot.
- If multiple players have the highest 3-set, the player with the highest kicker wins the pot.
- If multiple players tie for highest 3-set and highest kicker, the player with the highest "second kicker" wins the pot. (For example, A A A K Q beats A A A K J - here, A A A are the 3-set, K is the kicker, and Q and J are the second-kickers.)
- If the players tie for the highest 3-set, highest kicker, and highest second kicker, the players split the pot.

Does any single player have 2-pair?

If yes, that player wins the pot.

Do multiple players have 2-pair?

If yes, the player with the highest pair wins the pot.
- If multiple players tie for the highest pair, the player with the second highest pair wins the pot.
- If multiple players tie for both pairs, the player with the highest kicker wins the pot.
- If multiple players tie for both pairs and the kicker, the players split the pot.

Does any single player have a pair?

If yes, that player wins the pot.

Do multiple players have a pair?

If yes, the player with the highest pair win.
- If multiple players have the highest pair, the player with the highest kicker wins.
- Compare second and third kickers as expected to resolve conflicts, or split if all three kickers tie.

At this point, all cards are kickers, so compare the first, second, third, fourth, and if necessary, fifth highest cards in order until a winner is resolved, or split the pot if the hands are identical.

Note that when comparing two hands, all suits are equal in Poker - the ranking of suits from games such as Bridge and Five Hundred have no bearing on evaluating Poker hands. Bridge order is, however, used for certain "bring in" tie breakers, such as 7 card stud.