Majesty: For the Realm - GameNight! Se5 Ep23 - How to Play and Playthrough 

I´m impressed by that every time

Yup. That's what I was going to say.

Agreed! I am the official "splainer" for our group, so I really appreciate Dave's skill at this. He excels at explaining the rules in a logical order, skipping certain bits and circling back to cover them later, when the players have more info to give context and meaning to the explanation of that particular bit. Does that make sense? ;-)

LOL, makes sense to me :) And thanks, you guys.

I played it a couple weeks ago. It was fun, but we messed up on a couple minor rules (that had major impact). After playing, I caught one rereading the rules (we were sending one person to the Infirmary per the difference between swords and shields, which was brutal. We should have only been sending one no matter how outnumbered shields were. Nikki would have had all her cards in the Infirmary at one point if they had played the same way). The other I noticed from this video is that the community payouts of the Brewery and the Inn are 2 and 3 coins respectively. We were playing everything on a 'per' basis. Giving 2 for every card on a Mill when we played on a Brewery, and 3 for every card on a Brewery when we played on an Inn. We should have simply been getting 2 or 3 coins no matter how many were at the Mill or Brewery. I won handily, but the game has to be replayed now since those were game changing mistakes. We thought it was quick and fun, though. Maybe a little too much chip manipulation (I'll echo the frustration at not having a 5 denomination), but I think it's a solid game and I'm glad I bought it.

We're guarrrrrrds.

It is hilarious that all of the chip handling does seem like craps.

I’m not sure why they chose chips for score-keeping. Seems like a score board would be easier and move things along a little nicer.

I saw a similar comment on a previous video and have paid attention to that ever since. It's now so obvious to me and frustrates me that Dave and Lincoln give so much "advice" to Nikki about what she should do on her turn. I'm not sure if it is because she's a woman (which was the suggestion in the previous comment I read), or whether it's more to do with helping Nikki learn the game... but it does come across as patronising, even if that is not the intention, especially as similar "advice" isn't given to Mike in this episode.

While it might come off a bit harsher... quite honestly, I think the opposite. It's not Nikki being patient with everyone else, it's everyone else being patient with Nikki. And throw out the presumptions of misogyny, because gender has nothing to do with it. Just as someone from the outside looking in, it always seemed like Nikki was a player who has a harder time learning new games and planning ahead. Players like these aren't uncommon, and all it takes is one of them floundering and getting frustrated to ruin the fun for the whole table. It may come across as patronizing to some, but as someone who "Rules Lawyers" quite a bit, giving advice in those circumstances is very rarely more than a genuine attempt to help new, struggling players understand the game a bit more, and make the game fun for everyone involved. Note the key word there; struggling. Watch the video again. Nikki's first five cards? Nothing more than people informing her how many points she gets when she asks. They even let her take the cottage as her third card without a word, which was objectively the worst card she could have taken from what she had available. Then her sixth card rolls around, and she has the guard pointed out as an option, as everyone else sees that she is going to get hit without it. She sticks to her guns, Lincoln gives her the benefit of the doubt, the turn passes without much incident. By her next card, she's already felt the ramifications of her actions by losing a card in an attack. She then passes the knight for the brewer, which immediately comes back to bite her as she immediately loses two more cards as opposed to one. On card eight is when players start taking notice that she's struggling. She's already lost three cards to knight attacks, and is focusing on how to keep from losing more. She has also been seemingly trying to avoid using meeples as much as possible, so as a result, she elects the nearest knight opposed to the guard, which is further away, thinking at this point the guard isn't worth it. However, once again, this results in Nikki losing a card to a knight she could have blocked with the guard. By card ten, she is EXTREMELY hurt by her own misplays, and is now lamenting not taking guards to the point where she's considering taking them, despite the fact that their usefulness is long gone by this point. Dave gently suggests against it, and Nikki heals... to the ends that she may get a cheaper guard. On her next turn, she does. And this, I assume, is the heart of the issue, where Dave tries his best to explain that a guard is the worst card for her at that point. Whether Lincoln asked for clarification for his own sake or for Nikki's I can't say, but regardless, Nikki sticks to her guns again. Dave takes the guard on his turn to defend one of his bonuses from the Knight. Lincoln tries his best to find the best way to salvage Nikki's last turn, suggesting the Healer. Nikki takes the Knight as her final card instead, preventing an attack. But Mike gets another Knight on his turn anyways, making the play moot. Now, let's cycle back to what's been mentioned about this episode. "Nikki is almost entirely referred to as ‘she’." I mean, she's female, that's to be expected. But I'll take a bit of a logical leap and say you're referring to people talking ABOUT her and her actions. If that is what you're trying to imply... sorry to say, that's not really the case. This only really happens once overtly, in Nikki's aforementioned Guard grab, when Lincoln asks for clarification on why that was Nikki's worst play. "[Nikki] regularly has her turns taken for her by others around the table." Look at the above break-down real quick. How many times did people try to help- sorry, 'take her turn' for her? Three, tops. And how many times did Nikki actually wind up listening to the advi- sorry, 'have her turn taken' by someone else? Only once, because it fit what SHE wanted. I'd argue she NEVER had her turns 'taken for her,' because for that to happen, she would have to LET it happen. Needless to say, she really didn't. And the table didn't persist in it either, further supporting that they were trying more to help Nikki understand rather than take away her ability to make mistakes. "[The advice] does come across as patronising... especially as similar 'advice' isn't given to Mike" I refer back to my point on advice being brought up more readily to players who are struggling. Where Nikki started hitting a HARD deficit from round six onward, causing her turns to slow as she struggled to figure out what she should do, Mike never once gave that impression. His turns were always quick and rather calculated, and he came out in a VERY close second. He picked up on the game almost immediately, so it never seemed like he actually needed any advice. It has nothing to do with gender, and it has nothing to do with superiority. It's nothing but an attempt to help a friend in need so that everyone at the table can have a fun Game Night. ;D (Side note: I would like to elaborate that, although it seems Nikki has a bit of trouble in games she's new to, she is by no means a bad player. At ALL. In Game Night episodes where she's familiar with the game, she generally DOMINATES, or at the very least comes out at the head of the pack. It just so happens that most Game Night episodes feature brand new games, so more often than not, she winds up in a position where she needs a bit more elaboration and advice during the game than she normally would with games she's more familiar with)

while watching other episodes you might have realised that Nikki sometimes needs a little more time. I think the guys try to help her keeping up but at times it gets a little out of hand. I don´t see the connection with her being a woman though. But if there where a modern woman should be able to speak up for herself if she feels patronised. Still, maybe a second woman on the table more often would help mix up the group dynamic.

I didn´t see your elaborate answer bevore. Very well analysed.

Thanks so much for your take and analysis. Nikki is a great player and can certainly wipe us out handily. She does sometimes have a time wrapping her head around the game as do all of us once in a while. You may think Nikki is letting us take her turns but you should see her when she feels we are trying to make her plays for her. She does not put up with that. And as you note, part of what goes on in GameNight! is exposing strategies for the viewers. It's one of the reasons I like at least a few of us to not know how to play the game. The other reason is that our show is for entertainment. If we all know the game everything is quiet and we have our heads down in the game with no discussions concerning strategy or our understanding of the game. Thanks again for your note and for watching.

Mark Nicosia Please.....really?

Different people, different tastes 🙂

Haha!

Wait until you hear him say "orange" :)

I'd say it correctly if there was a paycheck involved :)

Scott Jacoby it already seems way too mean seeing how Nikki couldn’t get any guards and was destroyed! Way too mean of a game in my opinion (and apparently Mike and Niki’s) for what it’s other focuses are.