Playing games with my family is like wandering into a pit full of vipers. It’s every man or woman for themselves and things get UGLY…

And most of it seems to happen because people are constantly making up or revising the rules as the game progresses. It’s not a pretty scene, people…

But I guess I’m not alone, because all kinds of other people have extra rules for board games and card games.

Let’s see what folks on AskReddit had to say about this.

1. A total scammer.

“In Monopoly, we have a rule that my sister can’t be the banker.

Otherwise, it’s like watching Oceans 11.”

2. Improvising.

“My grandmother was deaf/mute so when we played Uno instead of saying “Uno” we knocked on the table quickly twice.”

3. Taboo.

“Taboo.

You can play 3 player (cutthroat) Taboo. The rules don’t really change but the scoring does. There’s a Ref (watching for taboo words), Guesser (can’t see the card) & Talker (can see the card)

The guesser and talker will get 1 point each for each successful guessed word. Taboo words are scored 1 point to the Ref.

At the end of the round, roles rotate like normal (clockwise). After everyone has two turns “talking”, rotate the the other way (counterclockwise). This lets everyone get a turn guessing and talking with each person.

I prefer this way because you don’t get stuck on a winning, or losing team. Everyone plays with everyone. and there’s never a 4th person out.”

4. The game of world domination.

“We had a variation on Risk where everyone write down their moves and attacks and all the moves and attacks were carried out simultaneously.

First the troops were relocated (only able to move one country). Then attacks rolled (once again, you could only attack a neighboring country and if you won, you could occupy it. But you could not keep pressing the attack until the next turn.

If 2 or more countries were attacking each other, they all rolled the max number of dice. Ties were then rerolled.”

5. Good idea.

“In Scrabble, the person who can make the longest word goes first, highest points breaks a tie.

This makes the game more fun by ensuring there are lots of places to play your letters.”

6. New rule.

“In every coop game (Pandemic, Castle Panic, whatever), there is usually someone who tries to tell everyone what to do.

I can accidentally be this person. So, I implemented the “right hand man” rule. IF the person whose turn it is want advice (IF), they can only get it from the person on their right.

Nobody else can say anything. Makes things way more enjoyable.”

7. This is good.

“Rule for my kids with all board games.

Winner cleans up, loser or lowest score picks next game, tantrums/rage quitting gets you banned from the next game session all together.”

8. Never heard of this game.

“Waddingtons Go (a game of traveling around the world).

Rule in the actual game was you had to roll exact to get into a place, but it ended up with too many dice rolls doing absolutely nothing. One player ended up just stuck in one place for literally half an hour, before then getting somewhere else and then being stuck for another half an hour. They did virtually nothing all game. (Really, that rule means the game should be called Waddingtons Stop.)

To combat this, we came up with a house rule that you have a “3 strikes and in” – if you fail to get the right number 3 times, you automatically get to your destination, to stop the game being dull.

We haven’t actually tried this yet because since playing it (when at the end of the game we came up with the rule) we’ve had a pandemic that has prevented me from going back to visit my parents who have the game…”

9. Hurry up!

“One rule used for many board games: If someone takes too long with his/her move, anyone can fetch the 3-min hourglass from the shelf and set it on the table. once the time runs out, the move is over, regardless of.

Another rule for Scrabble: Any word is valid if you can find it in any book in our library within three minutes.”

10. Time for some Trouble.

“Trouble is a fun little game.

Unfortunately, with the wife and son, we only have three players. Four players makes it even more fun, so we have a fourth player we call “Bob.” Bob gets the last turn in the cycle. Someone rolls for Bob, and then the three of us agree on what Bob’s best move is.

It’s especially fun when you have to agree that Bob’s best move is to take out one of your own pieces.”

11. Haha, that’s good.

“My uncle told me stories about how whenever he played Monopoly at a friend’s house, he would always bring a few $500 bills from his own set and use them.

He never let them win.”

12. This is pretty in-depth.

“In Clue, once the killer has been discovered, and it’s one of the pieces in play, the game becomes a chase.

The remaining player turns are rolls to get out of the mansion through the doors in the Hall. The killer tries to catch the remaining pieces and kill them. Secret passages only work if you roll even numbers in that room.

The killer rolls twice per turn and cannot use secret passages.

Edit: If the killer wasn’t one of the played pieces, then the game is over—they couldn’t defend themselves and surrendered after being discovered.

The killer kills other players by landing on the same space as them between rooms, or by rolling a higher number than them in the same room. If there are two players in a room with the killer, Killer must announce who they’re going after. After one attack, killer’s turn is over.

Players must escape by leaving the hall through the doors. Entering the hall is one move. Leaving the hall is another. You should try to have at least one more move upon entering the Hall to get out safely. If rolling a 3 would get you into the Hall, a 4+ would get you out.

If no players make it out alive, the killer wins, stacks the bodies in the cellar, locks it, and pretends that none of this has ever happened.

Extra fun: at the start of the game, before dealing to players, place an evidence card face down in each room. When you enter the room, you can look at the card and place it back face down. You’re sleuthing, after all. If all players have seen the card, you may turn it face-up.”

Did your family ever have any unusual rules for games?

If so, tell us about them in the comments.

We can’t wait to hear them!