Board Game Etiquette

One of the first rules I would like to mention...

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I realize that you are likely focused on game etiquette within the context of the game, but in my experience, the more serious breaches of etiquette are player behavior at the table but not within the game.

Spilling a drink on a game can be an expensive disaster, so I ban food and beverages from being on the table during a game. I have nice wooden tv dinner type tables arrayed around the game table that are lower than the table, and people are welcome to put their drinks there. And I strongly discourage phone usage during a game. If it's an urgent call, fine, we will all take a break. But if it's just somebody with a compulsive need to pay more attention to their phone than the game, then we are better off without that player.

As for in-play rules, we already have the rules for each game, and that is enough. In many games, picking on the leader and not picking on the weakest player is just sensible strategy. But some games require player elimination or just opportunistically preying on whoever is nearby, especially if the game has a significant geographic element like a DOAM game.

A generally good list.

I find my “table manners” are different with people I don’t know well versus those I do. My favorite people to play with are the friends I’ve been rolling dice with for the last two to three decades. We are more family than friends and we can all be our gaming selves - our best and our worst - and have the greatest times together. We text weekly about games and people we’ve played with, reminiscing about great narratives and complete meltdowns, “remember that time…” or “remember that person…”

With strangers, I’m more shy and less confrontational. I’m downright pleasant!