This guy at a con in Portland tried to tell me my favorite game was 'broken'

I was at a small game con in Portland last year, just playing a demo of Root with some friends. This guy, maybe in his 40s, leans over and says, 'You know, that game's fundamentally broken, right? The Vagabond faction ruins the whole balance.' He went on for like five minutes about win-rate stats and how anyone who enjoys it is just ignoring the math. I mean, idk, maybe it's just me but I was having a great time? It wasn't a tournament, we were just goofing around. It really stuck with me because it felt like he cared more about proving the game was wrong than seeing if people were having fun. Has anyone else run into someone who just has to 'correct' your enjoyment of a game like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_claire6d ago

Portland has a game con? That's the real shocker here. Dude sounds like he missed the whole point of a casual demo. Some people just can't let others have fun.

susanb346d ago

My friend got yelled at for laughing too loud at a demo once.

milarodriguez6d ago

Wait, why do we let these people get to us? It's just a board game at a demo, not some big life choice. The guy probably went home and wrote a ten page essay about it while you and your friends were still having a good time. Like @susanb34's friend getting yelled at for laughing, it's the same energy. Some folks treat a fun hobby like it's a job they need to be right about. If the game was truly broken, nobody would play it, but here we are.