text:
Silver Key and Shining Trapezohedron
How do the cards "The Silver Key" and "The Shining Trapezohedron" from Lovecraft Letter interact with each other? Specifically, if you are not insane and have both cards in your hand, do you need to discard both of them?
The rules for both cards state:"If you ever have the Silver Key/Shining Trapezohedron and another card, that has a number higher than 4, in your hand, you must discard the Silver Key/Shining Trapezohedron." Both cards have a value of 7, so they seem to trigger their abilities respectively and you need to discard both of them, thus losing the round.
There is no mention of an order of play within your turn or any specific rule in the book. I also looked around on the Internet and didn't find anything concerning this interaction.

Discard one of your choice.
Official answer from AEG posted on BGG by Ryan Dancey:

When you're not insane, both cards read: "You must discard this card if you have another card with a number higher than 4 in your hand".
Since you can't play 2 cards at once in Love Letter, you need to choose which you will be discarding.
If you discard The Silver Key, that's ok. You remain sane.
If you discard The Shining Trapezohedron, that's ok as well. Although since you weren't insane, you now become so (you have a card with an insane effect in your discard).

Note that the official answer continues beyond the quoted part above and goes into some obviously-wrong analysis. But the quoted part is the primary point, and seems defensible. For the rest, see https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1926432/double-7-while-insane


text:
Does this checkers-like game exist
I had a dream where my wife taught me a game she called Serendipity. I woke up and quickly programmed it. I don't believe that anything is invented in dreams, so I'm now searching for the real game that slipped into my dream. I want to know what the proper rules are. I'm tagging this as checkers for now because it is very much like checkers, but a completely different game.
If you want to simply see the game, it is at: http://shaunwagner.com/serendipity
Note: I wrote this very quickly this morning, so expect plenty of bugs.
The game is like checkers. All the chips are the same color (I call them stones to make it obvious this isn't checkers). The board is set up like checkers, but all the stones on both sides are the same color. The goal is to capture 13 stones.
Each turn has 3 steps: (1) Pick a stone and move it diagonally. It can be any stone on the board that can move. It can move in any direction. This is like a "kinged" chip in checkers. (2) Repeat step one, moving another stone. It has to be a different stone. (3) Pick any stone not used in steps 1 and 2 and jump with it. It jumps like a "kinged" chip in checkers. You can multi-jump or chain your jumps. You capture each stone you jump.
If, for any reason, you don't want to or cannot complete a step of your move, you pass to the other player. If both players pass, the game is a draw.

Sounds like an interesting game.  I don't recognize it, but I can see where it has some depth (maybe more than checkers).

Interesting concept. ARe you aware, however, that there already exists a board game named «Serendipity» ? BoardGameGeek reference : https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/34655/serendipity

A game by that name does in fact already exist, unfortunately it doesn't seem to be at all what you are looking for...

Thanks. I assumed a game like it existed. In my dream, my wife called it Serendipity, so that is the name I used.

This strikes me as a modified two player version of Peg Solitaire, rather than checkers.
Notably:

Players alternate turns except that a player is granted additional consecutive moves (i.e., captures) during a single turn, under certain circumstances.
Players must readjust two separate pegs prior to their first move of a turn, then they must move using a third peg. Consecutive moves must be made with that same peg.

This, of course, changes the win condition from "remove all the pegs, but one" to "mess up your opponents peg-capturing board state, worse than they mess up yours, and whoever gets the most captures, wins"
Best of luck marketing this game as well as the new Pandemic-killer, "fully cooperative peg solitaire," coming soon to your dreams!

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

sort: votes


text:
What are rules for completely blank tiles?
Few days ago I got a Mahjong set. The majority of tiles I could identify from standard rules, but there were 8 I could not.

4 of them are completely blank.
Another four have same desing of 2 red hieroglyphs in brackets (well, 2 straight angles around them).

What are they needed for? What rules should I look for?
Usually “mahjong joker” leads to endless web games pages.

NB. Set already includes all clearly identifiable dragons and flowers/seasons.

Here's a theory: http://www.mahjongtreasures.com/blank-mahjong-tiles/

Are you able to share a photo with us of the red one?

Done, photo shared.
Blank tiles being extras does sound credible

Given you've already received and accepted an answer for the blank tiles, it might be worth asking the identity of the other tiles as a separate question.

@Srv19 The other tiles read 百搭 “a hundred uses”, as they are jokers.

I know some sets use a blank tile for a white dragon. The red one could be a red dragon.
This page has a blank white dragon.
And according to this page (link provided by  L. Scott Johnson):

There are blank tiles in other sets too, including Chinese Bakelite and Bakelite sets. These tiles were always a bit of insurance that a lost tile would not make the set unplayable: one of the other tiles could be adapted. These sets tend to have carved White Dragons, so these tiles usually remain stored in the case until needed.

So it can be spare parts too.

In the set, there are tiles with green rectangle with "P" inside which i believe are white dragons - and also red dragons as they are usually depicted.

@Srv19 the last paragraph of the linked page states they're spares. Toon, if you update your answer cribbing that paragraph, I think that would over all the options. Better than having two answers linking to the same page.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
Is there an explanation as to what the DLCs add with the Talisman Digital Edition?
In short I bought the Talisman Digital Edition earlier in the week (oddly reminisced about the game that I hadn't played for 30 years in the morning bought it and the starter pack in the evening).
Have now bought the Season Pass because of a spot Steam Sale.
I added all the downloadable content (DLC) in but found myself a bit lost in terms of what was doing what (e.g. the Dragons and Dark and Light Fate tokens totally threw me).
Have started another game just adding in the base game, Sacred Pool, Frostmarch, City, Dungeon and Reaper expansions & it seems a balanced kind of game.
Is there a preferred amount of DLC to add in (or a preferred set of what to add?) and is there any explanation for what they add to the game (e.g. the Dragon tokens have totally thrown me)?
I am of the impression it's a virtual carbon copy of the board game so I'm figuring it might be appropriate to ask for advice here? (given the subject).
Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions.
Edit: asked a similar question on r/Talisman on Reddit and got broadly the answer I was after so as I'm happy enough with the answer below I'll mark this as an answer for closure.
Reddit answer https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/fbktfm/is_there_a_sensible_amount_of_dlc_to_add_in_on/fjaafwl

If you're looking for the rules applicable to all the various mechanics added by a given expansion, your best bet is to start reading the manual provided by nomad games. There are sections detailing the mechanics added by each expansion and their rules. This will also include the three released Digital Edition Exclusive expansions, which are not part of the Season Pass. (The Season Pass specifically only includes the physical expansions, the full Runestone card set, and a sizable bunch of extra characters with the notable [and then-controversial] exception of the Shaman character).
If you're looking to see what cards specifically are added by an expansion, you can go to My Collection from the Digital Edition's main menu, select the expansion (or even the base game), then Browse Pack. This will allow you to view all the cards from that expansion, including alternate endings and special cards like The Reaper and The Werewolf.
You can also try looking up information about the physical editions of the expansions themselves, but keep in mind that the following expansions do NOT have a physical version and only exist for the Digital Edition:

Realm of Souls Expansion (Players become ghosts when killed and interact on a separate plane until they revive or their ghosts gets killed off.)
Ancient Beasts Expansion (Adds Ancient beasts, some of which can "Apex" triggering an automatic game loss for everyone)
Clockwork Kingdom Expansion (introduces material cards and the ability to create inventions)

Thanks. Am going to have a read of all this and I think this may cover off my question. Am keen to just get a better feel for the DLCs as I started playing the base and Starter Expanisons (Sacred Pool, Frostmarch and City) - then added others in and was like what's going on here?


text:
Contract Bridge - Purpose of 4 diamonds bid by West
I'm a very inexperienced bridge player (currently in Series 9 on FunBridge) and played a following deal (sorry for posting an image, a PBN version is provided below) using SAYC conventions (all other hands were presumably bots):

After West opened in 1 ♠ and both North and East passed, I (South) immediately raised to 3 ♣ showing a strong hand (17 HCP) and strong club suit (6 clubs headed by AKQ), West raised to 3 ♦ and East bid 3 ♥. Now I doubled as  a takeout, asking North to show at least any support (after the hand was played, it turned that 4NT was makeable for North-South). Surprisingly, West raised to 4 ♦ which was doubled by North and stood. The contract was played down 4, totaling -1100 points to East-West. (Surprisingly, I was the only player who played in diamonds.)
So, the question is: Why West raised to 4 ♦ having not-so-strong hand and a minimum support from East? Did he try to make a save or preempt?
The hand in PBN format:
[Event ""]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "1"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "W"]
[Vulnerable "All"]
[Deal "W:AK962.3.K86543.J 854.KQ87.AQT7.63 7.JT6542.92.T974 QJT3.A9.J.AKQ852"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer "W"]
[Contract "4DX"]
[Result "6"]
[BCFlags "1f"]
[Score "EW -1100"]
[Auction "W"]
1S Pass Pass 3C
3D Pass 3H X
4D X AP
[Play "N"]
C6 C4 CQ CJ
C3 C7 CA D3
S4 S7 S3 SA
S5 D2 ST S2
H8 CT CK H3
D7 D9 DJ D4
H7 H2 HA D5
S8 H4 SJ SK
DT H5 C2 D6
HK H6 H9 D8
DA HT C5 DK
HQ HJ C8 S6
DQ C9 SQ S9

I expect a lot of this is due to the players not knowing what they, or their opponents, are playing.  I don't know if the other players are bots or human, but if bots, the bidding is odd.
The SAYC book doesn't talk about balancing much, but it does say about direct overcalls:
"Overcalls show 8–16 points (double and bid the long suit with a stronger hand)"
"Jump overcalls are preemptive, showing the same value as an opening bid at the
same level"
So I don't think anybody understood your 3C bid, and I think that causes a lot of confusion.  But you're nowhere near the only one.
I would read this auction (all players playing SAYC):

1S: 11-21, 5+S
P: nothing to say (legitimately.  You will see some people saying you have to get in here with a double, especially if you can correct 2C by partner to 2D without showing extra strength, a convention known as Equal Length conversion.  But it's ugly, and "standard" is pass).
P: bad hand (usually < 6 HCP, weaker hands with support may still bid)
3C: not exactly a preempt, in balance, but a "only plays in clubs, trying to freeze out opener".  x KTx Ax KQTxxxx or the like.
3D: I have shape, 5=4 or 5=5, and enough extra that I think I can play opposite your horrible hand.
P: Still nothing to say.  Reading Joe's comment, he's probably right that she should double this, though (for penalty). But it's likely that she thinks you have a real preempt, and the only tricks your side is taking is in her hand, and it's not enough.
3H: Yeah, my hand is worth zero tricks in your suits and two or three in mine, let's hope your hand has tricks for me.
X: I don't know what's going on, but this is a misfit and I have tricks.  Maybe I'm 1=4=1=7?
4D: I lied to begin with, I'm 5=6 not 5=4, and I'm panicking.
X: They aren't making this, partner, someone's finally bid my suit.

Out of the actual bidding with the actual hands, I like North, and, I guess, East.
Why did West open 1S and not 1D? He's bidding on shape not strength, lying about the shape because of the 5-card major is going to cause trouble like this hand.  It's also going to lead to 4S with 6D on with a different hand in partner. There's an argument for passing this and hoping to get in with a two-suited bid next round, as well, but if you open, you have to open 1D.  Yes, you can get into trouble with an auction where bidding spades shows reverse strength (good 16), but starting with spades causes this problem.
I'm guessing 3D is "hmm, I've totally misdescribed my hand, I need to show my diamond suit."  Never mind he knows they have max 15 high and potentially no fit.  Sure, you have a good preempt, but your partner has the rest of the cards, and no bid - so probably "my suit".
I don't mind 3H, because she's right - we're in trouble, and it plays a couple tricks better in the weak hand's long suit.  She doesn't know that partner has nowhere near the hand he claims to.  But I'm not doubled yet; I'd probably pass 3D and see if we can get out for 100 a trick.
Your second double is not takeout - for what suit? They've bid the other three.
4D is pure panic.  He knows that he has mis-described his hand to partner and they're in trouble.  He should still pass and hope to get out (and he won't).
A more common auction playing SAYC would be:
1D-p-p-X
1S-2H-p-3C
p-3S (looking for stopper)-p-3NT (I have one)
All pass.
There's a lot of ways this could go - West could pass the double; North could think he was too strong for just 2H; South could insist on clubs rather than look for NT (or look for slam, potentially and go past 3NT); in a non-YC game (or by pairs who "play" SAYC, but don't actually know what the book says), East could bid 2H over 1D Weak Jump Shift;...
I might be resulting getting to the only contract that makes, and it is truly unfortunate that 5C, never mind 6, goes down because East's hand is too good.
I expect a lot of minus scores on this hand, some very large ones and some North-South as well.  Misfits are always exciting, and very hard to bid, and sometimes get deeper into "nothing makes" territory before people learn to stop.  It's a common maxim: "When you know you're in a misfit, pass."
Finally, another of those common maxims is "don't bid your values twice".  If you really thought that 3C showed 16 or so and a semi-solid suit, then when 3H comes to you, you have nothing more to show.  Pass.  Partner with this hand will double 3H for the same 1100 (and somebody will double 3S or 4D if they run); with say xxx Qxx QTxxx xx (giving opener AKxxx Kx AKxxx x, a quite reasonable hand for 1S, then 3D), they'll hope it goes down one and that any plus is a good score.

I think 3NT is easily achieved in bidding without resulting, and your auction is a good one.  I don't agree with 1D at 5-5 with equal or more strength in spades, but that's my preference, it's a common choice with that hand, and definitely simplifies things.  I don't think you end up in 5c/6c over 3NT, especially with the clearly one-sided strength on defense and the clear stoppers; it would require either N making a non-pass call on the first go-round or S overselling the strength of their hand; or a failure of cuebidding somewhere.

West isn't 5=5, he's 5=6.  That's why I don't like 1S (even with AQxxx Kxxxxx).

Ah, my eyes are failing me apparently. The 5-1-5-1 distribution should've told me something...  I like 1d more there, though I still might 1s first given how lousy the diamonds are.  But with the low HCP 1d is stronger.

Great analysis start to finish. The one tidbit perhaps missed is inferences being made in three other hands that South's 3C call is implying short(er) Spades. it's incorrect, and South gets lucky this time, but helps to explain the other subsequent actions I believe.

This is a combination of two things: poor bidding and pretty much worst case distribution, which sometimes is just impossible to deal with in a good way.
West's opening is totally fine, of course; 5-5-2-1 distribution and 10 HCP in the long suits is a fine opening bid.  North's pass is a little shaky, but at Vul-Vul it's probably okay; NV it seems like an easy takeout double, assuming you play at least that much.
I don't necessarily agree with your 3c, though if that's what you agree that bid means, it's fine.  SAYC would probably hold that your bid is correct, to be honest, I just like playing 3c there much weaker, and using the double in that position to indicate such a strong hand (you have basically 7 quick tricks, as you'd usually count them, plus a firm stopper in spades for an 8th trick - you make 3NT with only one trick in partner's hand plus almost anything in clubs other than what actually happens).  But in SAYC I think 3c is actually doing what you want - inviting 3NT, which partner should consider bidding, though the lack of spades probably prevents them from doing so; I would probably bid 3S there in North's seat to show the lack of spade stopper.  But that's well beyond the capabilities of a SAYC bot, I suspect.
West's 3D rebid is perhaps where things go a little shaky at V-V.  10 HCP in two suits, 5-5-2-1, is tempting to bid there; but it doesn't really accomplish much, other than warning you all about a second risky suit in NT, and maybe giving their partner a second suit to lead if they run out of spades - but they have 0-4 points, and aren't really interested in leading things.  The only time that's really going to work out as a bid is if partner has a long diamond suit, and they can play 4DX for less points than 3NT will make; the times that's true AND they can't set 3NT seems ... iffy.
North's pass is one of the worst bids at the table, though it seems to have been helpful in some fashion at least in that it let E-W get in more trouble.  I'd want to hear something from North here; depending on your conventions it varies what N is supposed to bid, anything from 3S (invite 3NT with a spade control in s) to X (showing interest and maybe promising diamond control?) to 3H themselves (okay, this is mostly a bad idea, but it might be the only way to invite 3NT with no spade control with limited conventions).
3H by East is pretty bad, also; while it's attempting to find a third suit, West pretty much guaranteed a 2 suiter like they have; East should have more heart length there, and maybe also more heart strength.  6-1 distribution is what East should expect, and on top of that JT-led suit is just not going to play well.  Leave it in the 5-2 diamond fit, and maybe get a spade ruff at least in diamonds (as they did).
Your double is definitely not takeout, by the way.  You're penalizing them at this point.  You've already had the chance to takeout double - on your first call - and didn't.  Your initial bid defined your strength and distribution; X here is just whacking them. You're probably fine with the penalty at this point, honestly, though I might just bid 3NT also; but with north staying silent (despite having the second best hand at the table opposite a theoretically strong partner), X is probably the better choice.
4D by West is, again, fighting against partner, and asking for trouble.  This is a common problem for newer players; forgetting that bridge bidding is a conversation, and instead deciding they have all of the information and acting based on it.  Bad fits lead to this kind of messy bidding.  If you find yourself in this situation, maybe make the 3D bid (like I said, still not a great idea vul, but it's not the worst thing here) but then listen when your partner says no to your two suits.

The way this bidding should go, in my mind:
1♠ - p - p - X
2⋄ - X - p - 3⋄
p - 3NT- pass around
First X is a general takeout double showing strong hand.  2⋄ is much easier bid to make for west (and you could argue 3d is better here, being a weak jump shift and more accurately describing the hand, but Vul it's very risky and I think a poor idea.)  X for North shows probably 4 hearts and interest in game; many partnerships would allow a 2♥ bid there with four (after the first takeout double).
3⋄ is a "I don't have diamonds covered" bid (a "cue bid") seeking 3NT; this is a very specific agreement though and should be discussed, as with two outstanding suits it could have the opposite meaning.  3♣ would also be okay, and SAYC is probably better, showing that the original X was a stronger bid with a club suit and not hearts.  Then N would have to somehow indicate they were okay with diamonds and not with spades, or just take the leap of faith and bid 3NT. (This is why cue bids are important to discuss!)
Either way, this should be fairly standard to get to 3NT, or failing that you might end up in a basically unmakeable 5♣ contract (you ought to lose the first three tricks regardless of the direction, spade-spade-spade ruff).

One note: you use the word "raise" slightly wrong here.  You only raise when you bid partner's suit at a higher level.  Anything else has another word. Overcall is when you bid over opponent's bid; shift is when you bid a different suit over partner's.

Thanks! Yes, it was an overcall, not a raise. English is not my first language so I can use the terms wrong. And the intention of my double over 3D call was "I'm strong, North, please show if you can support me". I thought that 4C rebid was too high since it promises 7+ clubs.

Yes, don't rebid 4c; I don't think it promises 7 necessarily, and you have AKQxxx so that's a really good six, but bidding beyond 3NT in the minors is not to be done when you can avoid it, especially if you have the spade stopper as you do.  I don't think you should necessarily read the X there asking N for a bid - but it certainly shows strength, and N could bid again of course.  But if you want to X for strength, do that at the start.


text:
Is it legal to check the number of resources in the bank?
Could a player, during their turn, count the number of resources of each kind in the bank? I would typically do this before playing a monopoly card for instance.

You can only count resource cards after rolling, to determine if there are enough for everyone to get the cards they need.
From the official FAQ:

Resource Cards - May I count the Resource Cards in the supply stacks during play?

Yes, immediately after a production roll, before distributing the resources - but only if it isn't sure whether there will be enough cards for all players entitled to receive them.

This answer surprised me; we always used to count the resource piles to determine what would be a good resource for Monopoly. It’s impossible to prevent you from eyeballing the piles to see which ones are lower, though.

In almost every game, I just house rule that information that was ever public stays public. For Catan, that means that since it is always publicly known when resources enter or leave the bank, it should be publicly known how much is left (and hence players can count).

@BenjaminCosman While I understand the reasons for that; I also think it's fine for memory/tracking to be one of the skills that a board game puts to the test.

@BenjaminCosman wouldn't that imply that a player's hand is also public, since you know everything they've received, discarded, and spent?  even trades are generally discussed publicly

"only if it isn't sure whether there will be enough cards for all players entitled to receive them" - For this to be possible then "looking" at the pile is ok. Just don't pick it up and go through it. It is easy enough to see if a pile is nearly empty assuming the pile is somewhere around the table. I think this is an important point, but not worth its own answer.

@Eevee My group has sometimes gone either way on that one - trades can be semi-private, and stealing effects (e.g. the robber) are entirely private unless the players want to discuss what was stolen. When we have made hands public, it hasn't felt like it makes a big difference.

@GendoIkari I agree, but I'm also not very interested in memory tests, so if it's easy to remove one I often will and focus more on the other skills being tested. I'm not saying this is the right or only way to play, just the way I prefer :)  Also, memory components often hit new players especially hard, since they don't know what they should be tracking and have too much new stuff on their minds anyway. I'm fine with new players losing, but I'd prefer they leave thinking "Look at all those strategic considerations unique to this game" rather than "I lost because of memory. Again."

@BenjaminCosman In many games victory points are scored publicly but then are hidden. This is done so that people do not gang up on the leader making a less interesting game. Those games work poorly, if this information remains un-hidden

@AndrewSavinykh It depends on who you're playing with - if e.g. the result of keeping the points hidden is that players a) waste time and effort memorizing points as they come in and then still ganging up on the leader, or b) argue a lot over who's the leader, then pick someone (possibly incorrectly) and gang up on them anyway, then you're still better off keeping the information un-hidden. And for me, if the game is designed such that ganging up on the leader is both possible and makes the game not fun, then I probably won't like the game anyway regardless of if points are hidden.


text:
Catan Road Eligibility for Diplomat with Knight In Between?
I recently played a game of Catan with Cities and Knights. We had a situation like the following (excuse the horrendously crude art).  Where an Orange Knight (A) is breaking up some roads between two Red Settlements (B & C). My question is if orange played a diplomat card, would they be able to take either of the adjacent roads (indicated by the green arrows)?
The C&K rules say this under the Diplomat card details:

You may remove an “open” road (without another road or other piece at
one end). If you remove your own road, then you may immediately place
it somewhere else on the island (following all the normal building
rules) for free.
An “open” road means a road that is at the beginning or end of a chain of roads which does not have any knight, city, or settlement of
the same color at one end. If you remove an opponent’s road, it
returns to his supply. If you remove your own road, then you may place
it immediately on the board, free of charge (following the normal
building rules—connected to your own road or settlement/city). You may
remove your own road and choose not to replace it.

My contention is that yes, orange could take either road. I think this is the case because a knight has the ability to break up longest road, which to me, seems like a knight placed like this would break up any road into two separate parts. But I'm asking because the almanac is not explicit as to what a 'chain' in

An “open” road means a road that is at the beginning or end of a chain of roads

is. So although the roads would normally not be at the beginning or the end, now that there is a knight there, I believe that they are both 'ends' of a 'chain' of roads, which would mean they are eligible to be taken.
However, some of the other players disagreed. Is there anything that explicitly clears this up in the almanac or even in the FAQ's?

The tag edit seems wrong to me; as Cities and Knights is an expansion to Catan; shouldn't both tags be used?

I agree, not sure why that was done. I rolled back the changes to add the tag back

It looks like it was done for a bunch of different Catan questions. I didn't want to do a mass rollback without verifying first; wasn't sure if a Meta question is warranted.

Oddly this is clarified in the FAQ under When is a ship “open”?
The full answer is that a knight will interrupt a continuous road, but will not make the road "open", while this is a slightly confusing aspect of the rules it's there to prevent "orphaned" roads, which were not handled in the rules until the advent of volcanoes.
Essentially a road is only open if it is at the end of a trade route, not if both ends are connected to other pieces from the same player.
Archive link to old: When is a ship “open”? FAQ

I would up vote this if the link resolves to an FAQ.


text:
Conspiracy (Diplomacy Android app) possible bug or rules misunderstanding?
I am using the app Conspiracy for Android to play Diplomacy with my friends. I would like to know whether there is a bug or I am misunderstanding rules.
Spring 1901
Germany

F kie-hol
A ber-kie

France

F bre-ENG

Fall 1901
Germany

F hol-NTH
A kie-hol

Spring 1902
England

F edi-NTH
F lon S F NTH

Germany

A hol-lon
F NTH C A hol-lon

France

F ENG S A hol-lon

The rest hold every turn.
According to the simulation, every movement is negated in Spring 1902.
In my opinion, A hol-lon should not be negated. Am I right?

Are these all of your actions only?  What are the other players actions?

It's based on the classical setup. If you simulate it you can deduce which team makes every move. However I'm editing the post adding the teams

Edited. Is it more clear now?

Yes.  It is more clear.

ENG F lon S F NTH is supporting the German Fleet in the North Sea?

If by ENG you mean England player, yes.

Indeed, there was a problem with the resolution engine to manage this kind of situation in Conspiracy.
I've worked on it and it's now fixed. From now on the server has been updated and all the next resolutions will be managed correctly. In application side, the analyse engine will keep displaying this error as long as players are using the version 2.9.0 and lower. I invite anyone to update their application to the new version (v2.9.1), it's available in the PlayStore from March 21st 2020.
Thank you for reporting me this problem.
Here are screenshots that show you how things is now managed :

According to the rules of Diplomacy:
https://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/ah/diplomacy_rules.pdf
Which may be different from the game Conspiracy:
http://badfrog.info/conspiracy/home/
With the orders as written, Holland should successfully dislodge London.  The convoy holds and the attack is supported from the English Channel.
Results According to Conspiracy:
Orders:

Resolution:

Results According to RealPolitik:
Orders:

Resolution:

Conspiracy is an app made by fans of Diplomacy for fans of Diplomacy to play Diplomacy (as they state) so I'm pretty sure it's a bug. I will try to report it. Thank you

Apparently I can observe the game in the app, what is the name of the game?  Or a username?

It was not from a game but just a simulation. First, observe a random game with the classical (7 players) map. Next, hit the three-dotted button top right and Analysis. Then, top left choose Spring 1901 and then run the simulation as I wrote here. You can press the button on bottom right to pass to the next turn (in Analysis mode)

@user459312 I have done it now.  Agreed it's a bug.  If lon holds instead it gets dislodged.

I've just sent an email to report the bug. Hope it will be read soon. Thanks for the help


text:
Is it possible to defeat Azathoth when playing with only 1 Investigator?
I'm new to Eldritch Horror and am baffled by how difficult this game is. I've won difficult co-op's before (like Ghost Stories and Pandemic with 7 Epidemics) but Eldritch seems impossible. Thusfar, I've only played against Azathoth (the recommended Ancient One to get acquainted to the game) and only with 2 Investigators (although I've tried different combinations of Investigators). I've read posts like this one (https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/2an394/is_eldritch_horror_too_easy_with_only_2/) suggesting that it's too easy, and so I'm wondering if I'm missing something. I'm aware that Azathoth is not the Ancient One with the highest win rate, but it should be possible to win.
I've also seen this post (What is a solid basic strategy for surviving Eldritch Horror?) on basic strategy, but I have never lost from running out of Mythos Cards...every loss (5, now) has been from Doom hitting 0 (because awakening Azathoth is immediate loss). So here are my questions:

I always lose from Doom getting to 0, meaning I need to prioritize closing Gates. How can I effectively do this with only 1 or 2 Investigators?
How important is the choice in Investigators? (Again, I know there are stats, but I'm looking for a qualitative answer.)
Is the game difficulty significantly different with different numbers of Investigators? 1 Investigator seems dramatically more challenging than 2 due to the values on the Icon Reference.
I know some cards like the Icon Reference have been updated. How important is it for me to see if I have the old info or the new info (in terms of my success rate)?
This question is on some general rules that I'm unclear about. I've chosen the easier interpretation for each so far. When resolving a Monster Surge, do you place Monsters on Gates in which the color is covered by an Eldritch Token? E.g. With Azathoth, the Green Gate starts with an Eldritch Token; so does a Monster Surge happen when the Omen Token is on Green and a Mythos Card requires it? Similarly, does Doom advance for each Green Gate in this case or just the Eldritch Tokens on the space? Finally, do Reckoning Effects apply to Cards/Monsters that get drawn during the current Mythos Card?

Investigator count
Look at these statistics calculated from hundreds of logged plays: Eldritch Horror Statistics.
With the original reference cards, you can see the normal win rate for 1 investigator is 23% versus 66% for 4. If I play this game with four or fewer players, I always play with four investigators. I find this much more enjoyable.
The updated reference cards you've heard about are now considered a variant of the game: Revised Reference Cards. They make the game slightly easier for 1 or 5 investigators, and slightly harder for any other number (which you can see in the above statistics). But the difference between 1 and 4 investigators is still 32% vs 55%. So "easier" with 1 investigator is still harder than the "harder" 4 investigators.
Reckoning
From the rules reference, last bullet point on page 9:

If a Monster is spawned or an investigator gains a component while investigators are resolving [reckoning] effects, they do not resolve the [reckoning] effect on that Monster or component.

So no, reckoning effects don't apply to monsters or possessions gained during the reckonings step. Remember also that the icons on mythos cards are resolved left to right, and the event text is resolved last of all - so if a gate opening or a monster surge spawns a monster with a reckoning effect, or if the event spawns such a monster or gives players possessions with reckoning effects, those effects will not trigger this round because the reckonings step has already been resolved.
Eldritch Tokens
The eldritch tokens on the omen track serve one and only one purpose with azathoth: they cause you to advance doom even if no green gates are open. If green gates are also open, the eldritch tokens cause additional doom on top of the normal amount.

I can't comment on playing with one or two investigators because just about all of my experience is with 4-5, but here's a partial answer:
3) The game is easier with an even number of investigators than with an odd number, because a lot of things key off of half the number of investigators, and that is rounded up. So, for example, a mystery that requires some tokens equal to half the number of investigators requires the exact same amount of work whether there's one investigator or two.
5) The eldritch token Azathoth places on the omen track doesn't erase the covered symbol from the track. You still use that symbol for monster surges and advancing doom. And about reckonings - according to the rules reference, last bullet point of the "Reckoning" section, if a reckoning effect causes something else with a reckoning effect to enter play, you don't resolve that new effect this turn.


text:
Monopoly deal - Can I not use any of my cards during a turn and then let go excess cards?
Monopoly Deal - Suppose, I have 6 cards before I got my turn. I picked up 2 Cards from the deck. Now, I have 8 cards. Can I not use any of the cards in this turn and pass my turn? Which means I have 1 excess of 7 (so i will put 1 card back to the deck). Is this a valid move?

To be clear, your cards in excess of 7 get placed on the discard pile, not the draw pile.

Just curious what would be the advantage to drawing excess cards and then not playing any?

Yes. This is explicitly allowed by the rules:

On your turn:
  Play up to 3 cards ... You don’t have to play any cards if you don’t want to.

Drawing an excess number of cards is a legitimate tactic.
Suppose you have 6 cards at the start of your turn, 3 of which are "Pass Go" (i.e., play to discard pile, draw 2 new cards). In theory, you could finish your turn with 11 cards (6 + 2 drawn at turn start, + 3 for each Pass Go played), so you need to discard 4 of them to get back down to 7. You could discard property cards your opponent is seeking, denying them the chance to draw them / steal them, whilst freeing your own hand up.


text:
How does the strategy of attacking a support unit in a skirmish work?
I found strategy guide here
that states:

Killing supporting unit Imagine you want to kill a special unit (say,
  a hero) but don’t have the force to kill all units in his area. Let’s
  imagine you want to kill the Gantrithor, supported by a Zealot. Now,
  your enemy will be confident since the Gantrithor can’t be splashed by
  simply killing off the Zealot, a tactic you would normally use. But
  there is another way: simply set a air-unit like the Valkyrie against
  the Zealot. It shouldn’t be hard to penetrate its health, and then the
  supporting unit will be destroyed. The only defense against such
  things except of course to avoid these pairings in your areas is to
  build the Defense Module.

I understand that the Gantrithor should be immune to ground splash damage since the Zealot is a ground unit.
However the Valkyrie can only target air so it can't target the Zealot, did I miss a rule somewhere? Can you attack a support like this? Or is it just an air splash damage that triggers? You normally need to kill the front line unit for a splash to happen, if this was a Wraith I could see this working, but can someone help?
Edit:(I did miss a rule) The strategy is done WITHOUT using splash damage at all, see bolded part in the answer.

The edit on the title was wrong, because the strategy is getting done without splash damage. (the answer I shared makes it obvious)

o.k so edit the title such that it will represent the question.  "Question about a strategy" is too broad

How does this strategy work?  then xD

better to generally explain what strategy you are talking about.  something like "killing supporting hero with air unit",  or whatever you think is short and to the point.

I've had a response here
From a user named: David F:

It's invoking this rule. Bolded the part that's relevant for this.

rulebookwrote: Front-Line Unit Combat Capability Effects When
    resolving a skirmish, if a player’s final attack strength equals or
    exceeds the final health value of the enemy, that player’s attack is
    said to have “sufficient strength,” meaning that he normally will
    destroy an enemy unit in the skirmish. However, the involved units’
    types, combat capabilities, and arrangement in the skirmish will
    affect whether and which figures are actually destroyed. The following
    factors govern this determination, and are considered during the
    “Destroy Units and Discard Cards” step of skirmish resolution.

If a player has sufficient strength, and his front-line unit’s combat capability allows it to target the opponent’s front-line unit,
    the opposing front-line unit is destroyed. (The combat rules and
    examples on pages 26–33 assume this.)

- If a player has sufficient strength, and his front-line unit’s combat capability is unable to target the opponent’s front-line unit,
    but is able to target one of the opposing supporting units in the same
    skirmish, such a supporting unit is destroyed instead. (If multiple
    opposing supporting units are possible targets, the player who
    controls those units selects which one is destroyed.)

If a player has sufficient strength, and his front-line unit is unable to target any opposing unit in the skirmish, no opposing units
    are destroyed.

Deliberately put a Valkyrie in front, go "oh sorry I can't hit the
  Zealot. I guess I'll hit the air unit behind it then".
To counter this, use the Defensive Module from Brood War (ruled here
  that you can switch units within the same skirmish).

I accidentally thought I was on gaming.stackexchange.com and that this question was about the actual Starcraft video game. Had to read through this a few times before I realized why it made no sense to me at all!

@GendoIkari a lot of successful video games get tabletop versions, just like a lot of successful tabletop games (like say Warhammer) get video game versions. The video game to tabletop is the more common direction now, with how much more popular video gaming is in general, but it does still happen both ways.

There's even the tabletop simulator version on steam workshop.

The answer will be chosen tommorow since I cannot do it now.


text:
What should I study for designing card game?
I need to design a point-based card game to teach something in the classroom.
Which mathematical area discusses the principles of card games?
Is it "Game Theory"?
What I understood is, game theory analyzes existing games such as Poker and so on. Does it give clues to designing new games?
It would be helpful if someone supplies me with any book for getting started with desiugning card games.

Eric Lang once told me that the #1 thing he did to prepare for his career was to play a lot of games. So obviously that's a good start. I would argue that game theory should come way after you have immersed yourself in the modern tabletop (not RPG) scene, and studied probability/combinatorics.

The Complete Kobold Guide to Game Design would be my suggesting for an aspiring game designer.


text:
Can you pass GO backward?
There are some reasons in Monopoly that your piece might be moving backward.  Picking up "Go back to Xyz Road"
The word "Pass" doesn't have an implicit direction, it just means to go from one side to the other side.
Its possible you might pass GO while doing so, but in reverse.  Since you're passing GO, do you collect the $200?   Or only while travelling clockwise around the board?
Inspired by In Monopoly, if your Community Chest card reads "Go back to ...." , do you move forward or backward?

In the version of Monopoly I know, the only 'Go back to' card sent you back to the first space on the board. There was no way you could pass through the Go space on that route. Is there any edition of Monopoly where this would actually matter?

Does the arrow on the Go space not indicate that the you should collect your «salary» only when passing Go in the arrow's direction?

Voting to close for failing to state an example of where the answers would be relevant. (See first comment for details.)

Turns out this is a variation on https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/a/47257/32019 and should be closed as a duplicate of that question.

In short - this situation can't arise in Monopoly as long as the normal official rules are being followed.
The text on the chance card says

Go back to Old Kent Road
Do not pass GO.

Since Old Kent Road is the very first property, there is nowhere you can go back to it and pass GO.
All movement is in the direction of the GO arrow, unless you're instructed to go "backward"

If there are strange house-rules then that's up to the house to decide what happens.


text:
What house rules/modifications have you adopted to make a board game work well over webcam?
During enforced isolation we're seeking social activities: what board games work well with others over webcam (ie in video chat; Skype, Jitsi, Zoom, etc.)?
If you've played over webcam, was it better with one board, or multiple? Did everyone need to own the game in order for it to work?
Feel free to precis house rules that make any game work well this way. Thanks.

This is far too broad to actually answer, if you have a particular game in mind go and head and ask about that, but there's no way to really create general house rules for something like this (and some games don't need such rules anyways, people have already played chess by mail for instance)

@Andrew, have you a suggestion where I could get this question answered?

narrow the question. Ask about a specific game. No one could really answer this question broad as it is well.

(prerequisite: for games with hidden info, you'll probably want to use the rear-facing camera on a phone, or otherwise ensure that you can't see the picture that you're broadcasting)
For The Mind, we showed the remote player their hand, and added one card at a time, ordering them low-to-high as instructed. Then we just put their cards in a face down pile. Flip over their top card when instructed!
Of course, this changes the dynamic of the game somewhat, but we rather enjoyed it.

During this time I'm seeing lots of different ways this is being handled:-
I'm arranging online games with friends through the many different sites and using any of the various chat apps to do this.  I won't name specifics as this isn't a recommendations site but there are many options available for both.  I'm finding for my own design work that finding people to help with play testing has been much easier right now.  This is probably a better solution for playing board games online rather than using a webcam as these digital platforms are designed specifically for gaming.
As for webcam specific you will find lots of different vloggers are live streaming games played over webcam so you will probably see ideas there.  But my answer to you question is that there are many better solutions for online games available than a webcam.

We considered Table-Top Simulator first, but the kids wanted to "play a board game" and not a computer game. It worked well and seemed a far more human interaction and an experience they want to repeat soon - ergo the question. I guess it's like Cinema vs Stream-at-home .. you see the same movie but the experience is quite different.

We played Monopoly with a single board.
It was useful to have dice, money, and property cards for the remote player at their location. Locally we ghost played them - they rolled remote dice, we trusted their reported roll and moved their counter on our local board. We also did their money for them so local players could see it, but they duplicated that at their end. When doing transactions, they picked out the money from their remote stash and showed it to the camera (the bank acted as interchange).
Money and property names differed in the versions we had so we went through before hand to check the money was "normalised" (used an exchange rate of 1000). Properties were named by colour Brown1 being the first space after, and Purple2 being the last space before Go. Mention of a property at the local end was followed always by its list price.
Worked well, 2 local and 1 remote player using meet.jit.si for a 4hr game (including setup).

I have heard of DND groups having an extra camera for there dice roll.


text:
What type of hands are suitable for minor suit contracts after an NT opener?
I know that when you hold a 6-card minor suit and a really weak hand (such as holding Jxxxxx in the minor and not much else after 1NT opener), you would play some system to transfer into the minor.
However, if you held a stronger hand and no major suit fit, would you prefer a game in NT or the minor (since if the minor suit holding is strong/long enough, you can run it)?
How does

Overall strength (for partscores, games, and slams)
Overall shape
Suit strength
Suit length

factor into this?

This does depend on the scoring method somewhat as well as the cards, but "almost never".
Hamman's rule: "If you have a choice of reasonable bids and one of them is 3NT, then bid it."  You never want to play 5m instead of 3NT.  Sometimes you have to, however. It should be obvious from your hand (though less so after a strong NT opener, definitely not obvious from a 2NT opener).
The same things apply as deciding to play 3m instead of 1NT:

suit you aren't sure is reasonably solid (though remember for 5m it can't really be much more than one loser), or
that you can't guarantee you can get to in NT once declarer sets it up.

The fact that you have zero losers in some other suit because you're void doesn't really matter as much if partner has it stopped and your suit runs - you have two more tricks you can afford to lose in 3NT than at the 5 level.  Of course if it's not going to run, theirs is...
But really, the big time to play 5m instead of 3NT is "tried for 6 and had to stop."  Note that again, it's "don't want to be there, but have to."
Now, none of that depends on the scoring method.  So why did I mention it first?  Because matchpoints.
If you can take 11 or 12 tricks in a minor suit, the chance of taking 10 or 11 in 3NT is quite high. If you're playing IMP scoring, or rubber, then the difference between 5m making and 3NT making is tiny (zero, or -1 or 2 IMPs (30 or 60 points above the line) if 3NT made overtricks).  If you're in a matchpoint game, though, while 5m= ties 3NT=, even 5m+1 loses to 3NT+any.  The only time you win at matchpoints by playing in the minor is when 3NT fails.
There's a line that is often said as a joke, but it's not wrong: "At matchpoints, 5m is an invitation to 6" - because if you're booked for a poor score anyway for playing in the minor, the upside of bidding 6 (below average -> top) when it makes is much larger than the downside of bidding 6 when it doesn't (below average -> bottom).
There's another comment that fits this discussion: "At matchpoints, play the highest scoring contract.  At IMPs, play the safest contract."  If you can't tell which one's safer, almost certainly 3NT is.
Long answer shortish: over 1NT, only plan on 5m instead of 3NT if it's obviously right.  Over 2NT, you never want to play in 5m.  If you look for slam and are off two keycards, sure, stop in 5m, but you're not getting a good (matchpoint) score.

Game in a minor suit requires about 29 high card points as well as an eight card fit, because it is one level higher than game in a major. Most of the time, a hand that can make 5 minor can also make 4 or 5 NT, for more points (important in duplicate). So the following are some "preconditions" for game in a minor.
If partner opens 1NT s/he has 15-17 high card points. No more, no less. You need at least 12-14 points (some of them can be "distributional"), plus an eight card minor suit fit.
It's not easy to find an eight card suit fit over 1NT. The guarantee is if you have six, partner needs at least two for a "balanced" NT bid. If you bid with five, and partner raises, s/he has three or more.
The last item that makes the minor suit preferable is if you have one very weak side suit (a singleton or void, or two weak doubletons). Most 29 hcp partnerships can make 3NT. The exception is if one opposing suit is wide open, with opponents holding A, K, Q, and can take five tricks with a 5-3 distribution before you get your nine. Even if you and partner have a suit of xxx opposite xxx, the opponents' distribution will be "only" 4-3 61% of the time.
So the most likely case if you have 5 or 6 of the minor, are guaranteed an eight card fit, and have 5-4-3-1, 5-4-2-2, 6-3-3-1. 6-3-2-2 (or worse) distribution, and are worried that your weak singleton or doubleton suit is inadequately stopped. That also suggests that some of your "29" points are distributional, and you can't take 10 to 11 NT tricks "off the top" but can take 11 tricks by ruffing suits in which you are short and partner is weak.


text:
Pandemic Legacy: lost characters
We are about to start the first season.
If we lose a character, at the start of the next game, do we choose another character?
If we are 4 people to play and is is possible to lose 2 characters, do someone plays only as a civilian?

You should split this into two questions as you have two distinct questions here

From the rules (page 4, emphasis added):

Each player has a specific character with special abilities to improve the
  team’s chances. Each player begins game 1 by creating a character.
To create a character: Select a Character card (each one has different
  special abilities) and give your character a name.
These characters will carry through from game to game and they may
  become lost (see below). You do not have to play the same character in
  every game.

And, from the Compiled FAQ on BoardGameGeek:

If your character becomes lost, destroy that character. Discard your player cards and become a Civilian, and place your pawn in any city with a Research Station; if you had actions left, you may take those actions. At the start of the next game, you can choose a character (from those left) as normal, if there are not enough Characters left, some players may need to start as Civilians.

So, once a character is lost it can never be played again, and if there are not enough characters available for the number of players then you will have to have some players use civilians instead. However, there is no general requirement that you have to keep using the same characters over and over even if they don't get lost, so you can always change characters each game.


text:
Are my opponents unable to cast spells for the rest of the game if I cast an Epic spell with Hive Mind on the battlefield?
I have a question about the interaction between cards with the "Epic" mechanic and Hive Mind.
Since the Epic ability happens on resolution instead of casting, that means if the original spell is copied, those copies will be epic as well.  If I have hive mind out and cast something like Enduring Ideal, my opponents will be forced to copy it as well.
Does this mean that as long as my original cast isn't countered, all my opponents will be stuck with an epic ability and are unable to cast for the rest of the game?
If so, this seems like a powerful combo that could shut down most opponent decks, while you (having expected this outcome) pull a million enchantments out of your deck.

Be careful about using the word "triggers" here; the Epic ability isn't something that "triggers on resolution"; it's just an effect of the spell resolving. "Trigger" is reserved for a specific meaning.

Correct, Hive Mind gives every player a copy of the Epic spell. No player for whom it resolves will be able to play spells for the rest of the game.
Since Hive Mind copies the applicable spells without limitation, these copies of e.g. Enduring Ideal will have the Epic ability and no player for whom it resolves will be able to play any more spells that game.
Only the copies made by the Epic ability itself do not have the Epic ability. Therefore, you could also use any other spell or ability to copy an Epic spell and get that many copies each turn, e.g. through Chandra, the Firebrand

FWIW: We discussed when you yourself copy epic spells previously:  https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/23293/what-happens-when-you-copy-an-epic-spell/23295#23295

Also note that if Hive Mind is already on the field, countering the original Epic spell won't do anything to the copies, as they are created on cast. You'd need to counter or remove them individually.


text:
Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm entering the field at the same time
So, I have Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm and a lot of other dragons in the Graveyard. I cast Eerie Ultimatum bringing all permanents back which cause a lot of ETB effects to go off but would Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm see all of them enter and make copies of all the dragons that entered with it? This question also applies to Lathliss, Dragon Queen and the potential copy that is made off Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm.

Note that the token copies are not created until the relevant Miirym ability resolves, so the token Lathliss can only see tokens etb, no matter how you order the triggers.

Yes, they will trigger.
For reference, see rule 603.6a:

603.6a Enters-the-battlefield abilities trigger when a permanent enters the battlefield. These are written, “When [this object] enters
the battlefield, . . . ” or “Whenever a [type] enters the battlefield,
. . .” Each time an event puts one or more permanents onto the
battlefield, all permanents on the battlefield (including the
newcomers) are checked for any enters-the-battlefield triggers that
match the event.


text:
Basic set draw stacks
So some cards say “from your draw stack” but the game doesn’t specify each players draw stacks, how does this work? Do we both use all 4 piles or do we each have two of our own?

Sorry this is a question for rivals for catan the 2 player game

In a normal game of Rivals, there are 4 draw stacks that do not belong to either player. In a tournament game (rules), each player has their own 4 piles containing the cards they most want to play with. In the version of Rivals I could find, no card says "from your draw stack" unless it also explicitly references tournament mode - for example, the text of Library is

When you build the Library, you may immediately choose a card from a draw stack (Tournament: from your own stack.)

I know there are some differences between this version and the older one you are presumably playing, but I'd guess that references to "your draw stack" just mean any draw stack outside of tournament mode, and that you might be able to find a fixed wording of your card by looking it up in the back of the linked updated rulebook.


text:
How many Memory Cards are used with both "Tea Dragon Society" and "Autumn Harvest" card games?
We recently received both "The Tea Dragon Society Card Game" and "Autumn Harvest: A Tea Dragon Society Card Game" for the holidays, and we read that the games can be combined and played together.
We want to play with both games combined, but we are unsure of how to set up the Memory Tableau (Memory Card Deck) for a combined game set up.
The "Tea Dragon Society" was made first and does not reference "Autumn Harvest" in its instructions. The instructions for "Autumn Harvest" say this about how to combine the two games:

Playing With More Dragons
There are eight cards contained in this box for use with the original "The Tea Dragon Society Card Game".
[...]
These eight cards allow players to combine both "Tea Dragon Society Card Games" with the Dragons being balanced for play among the full array of Market and Memory cards. This will also allow games with up to 5 players

The phrase "for play among the full array of Market and Memory cards" reads as if you can combine all Memory cards for both games together.
The reason for our confusion is that the game setup section for "Autumn Harvest" only specifies removing Memory cards for the base game, and not the combined game. For example, it says to remove 2 cards per season with 2-3 players (4 cards total), and to remove 1 card per 4-5 players (5 cards total).
Reading this literally for the combined game Memory deck, this would mean that we would remove  remove 2 cards per season with 2-3 players (10 cards total), and remove 1 card per 4-5 players (11 cards total). There are no other instructions about how to combine Memory cards when playing with both games. This doesn't seem right, because you need use up the Memory cards to proceed through seasons to progress the game; this would add a lot of play time to the game if you had to go through more than twice the number of cards per season.
Has this been clarified anywhere? Do you combine decks to get 12 cards and then only take 6 of them and remove according to the instructions (similar to the base game set up)? Or do you combine both decks and remove normally, and have 6 more Memory cards with the combined game (base game setup + 6 memory cards)?
A link to the "Autumn Harvest" instructions can be found here: Instructions for "Autumn Harvest"

Welcome to the Boardgames stack exchange, I've updated the tag for your question to a new one.

A question about combining has been asked on BGG and the designer, Steve Ellis, answered as follows.

Please feel free to mix and match Memory cards as long as you use
select the appropriate number for your player count as referenced in
the Autumn Harvest setup. For the Market cards, shuffling these all
together is perfectly acceptable or you can customize the Market deck
as you see fit with cards from one or both games as you desire.

This quote is still a little unclear because the original Autumn Harvest game doesn't explicitly say how many cards to start with, only how many to remove. We are assuming this means "Start with 6 per season, and remove accordingly" since that is how many came with each season in the original game. The instructions, however are written to say "For each game, have x-2 or x-1 cards based on number of players" but it never actually specifies  what x is.

"The game ends when only one Memory card remains in the Winter season".  Do you think the purpose of the mixing the sets is to make the game longer?      both sets come with "24 Memory cards (6 cards each for spring,
fall, winter, and summer".   I think its reasonable to assume that X = 6 unless you think the game should be longer.


text:
What does MAX apply to on the Memory Cards in "Autumn Harvest: A Tea Dragon Society Card Game"?
In Autumn Harvest: A Tea Dragon Society Card Game, some memory cards have score wording on them that are unclear to me.
For example, the Winter Memory Card Crisp Evening has a score of "4+?" and the card text says

?=1 point for each token you have at game end. MAX 12.

I am unclear about if the MAX applies to the total card score (the whole bottom of the card that says "4+?") or only the "?" that is part of the score equation.

In the example above, if the maximum refers to the card's total score then it would only count up to 8 tokens and would get up to 12 points for this card.
The other way to read it is that the maximum refers to the "?" alone, so you can count up to 12 tokens and would get up to 16 points for this card.
There are some card instances where both the score and "?" are the same so the maximum applies to both, but in this instance because of the "4+?", the score and "?" are not the same and it is unclear which the maximum applies to.
Clarification on this would be very helpful, as there is nothing about this in the Autumn Harvest rule book.

In the absence of official errata, play it as written. Determine the value of ? with the formula given ? = 1 per each, with a max of 12. And then add that to four to get the score.

Oh, that's why there were those changes! I didn't realize it was difficult for screen readers and accessibility purposes, I thought it was just user preference. I can roll back to the changes that were made. Thanks for letting me know. I will go update my other questions then as well. :)

MAX is intended to be the maximum amount of points that may be scored with the card.

Welcome to [boardgames.se]! This answer would be better if you have some kind of reference to back this up.

... especially since that answer conflicts with card text. Card text clearly shows the Max being applied to the computation of "?"and the score then being 4 + ?. Errata would be required to change that.


text:
Cribbage. Run of 5 or more
I get that 4,6,5,7 is valid and scores 4 points.
If it was a run that goes past the four cards played, e.g. 4,6,5,7 then a 3 is played and then a 2.
Do the 3 and 2 continue the run and score 5 points and then 6 points?

Hi Papa Dingo, if you are satisfied that the answer given below satisfies your question, please take a minute to acknowledge the poster by giving them a green check mark in the accepted answer spot.

Yes. Each card that makes a run during play scores the run.
From https://www.mastersofgames.com/rules/cribbage-rules.htm

Similarly, if anyone lays a card such that with the three or more preceding cards, a run can be constructed, the number of cards which would make up that run are scored. e.g. suppose cards were laid in the following order: 8,6,4,5,7. The fourth card would score 3 points, the fifth card would score five points.

See for more: http://cribbagecorner.com/node/536


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what happens to an injured pokemon shuffled back into the deck
Heracross can perform an attack which forces the opponent to »shuffle his active pokemon back into his deck«.
What happens if this pokemon is already injured? I did not find the rules adequate about this—does the injury vanish or does the pokemon keep its received damage?

It’s true that keeping track of the card is more difficult and this circumstance suggests your interpretation of the rules are correct. But this does not mean it is—it would be still possible to track by pen and paper for instance.

True! I forgot about the possibility to have more than one exemplar of a card. So your logic is conclusive. Thanks!

If a Pokémon changes zones, The Game essentially loses track of it. If it comes back into play, it is considered a new/different Pokémon, even if both players know it is the same card.
So yes, the damage (as well as all other markers etc.) on it would indeed just vanish.
To back it up with rulings from the official Rulings Compendium on http://compendium.pokegym.net/compendium-bw.html:

Q. If I use Pokemon Communication to put a Pokemon into my deck, am I
  allowed to voluntarily fail and choose to take no Pokemon out of my
  deck?
A. The contents of your deck is not public knowledge so the deck
  search can fail, even if you've just put a Pokemon into the deck. (Feb
  4, 2010 PUI Rules Team)

Q. Can I play Unown onto my bench, activate its "Farewell Letter"
  ability to discard it, and then use Revive to put it back onto the
  bench and use "Farewell Letter" again?
A. Yes, you can. (Dec 3, 2015
  TPCi Rules Team)

As @allure thanksfully pointed out, there is no possibility to track damage and special conditions of a pokemon shuffled back into the deck when there is more than one exemplar of this very pokemon existent in the deck.
Hence damage and special conditions vanish in that case.

Welcome to Boardgames Stack Exchange! Are you able to provide a source for your answer?

No I am not. I solely found @Allures line of thinking absolutely conclusive.


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Pandemic - Can an action be performed by different players during action phase?
In Pandemic, can an action be performed by different players during action phase, by using Funded Event cards?
For example:
"Flexible Aid Package" allows a. player to perform 1-3 extra actions (by discarding cards).
Can this card be used by "player #2" while "player #1" is in the "action phase"?

No, Flexible Aid Package specifically says that "the current player" takes 1 additional action per card you discard.
So if player 2 uses Flexible Aid Package during player 1's turn, player 2 will discard 1-3 cards from their hand, and that will give player 1 extra actions. Player 2 cannot take the extra actions.
Same with the Borrowed Time event; it only gives the "current player" (the player who is taking their turn" the extra action.


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What happens when you hit a nature trail with a lock?
Rules offer no guidelines to this I believe. What happens when you get "LOST" in the woods, roll the die and get whatever result, after which you roll a d10 to learn you appeared at a nature trail with a lock on the square. (Example would be nature trail 3, on normal difficulty there's a lock there.)
I think the most logical action would be to re-roll the die.


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Scrabble vs. Unspeakable Words
What are the differences between the letter distribution and the letter scoring on Scrabble and Unspeakable Words?
Are there any other differences?
Are these games similar in some ways?
Next question >

The letter distribution has similarities. However, Scrabble allows you to re-use previously played tiles, so these numbers below don't represent the true availability of letters. Also, there doesn't appear to be any wild card in Unspoken Words (a role filled by the blank tile in Scrabble).
The point distribution is quite different. Furthermore, Unspoken Words has other major differences in scoring (e.g. the lack of Scrabble's letter and word multipliers).
          Number of Cards or Tiles       Points per Card or Tile
          ----------------------------   ----------------------------
          UW:C      UW:D      Scrabble   UW:C      UW:D      Scrabble
--------  --------  --------  --------   --------  --------  --------
A               10        11         9         5         5         1
B                2         4         2         5         5         3
C                2         5         2         0         0         3
D                3         6         4         2         2         2
E               10        11        12         4         4         1
F                2         4         2         3         3         4
G                2         4         3         2         2         2

H                3         5         2         4         4         4
I                9        10         9         4         4         1
J                1         3         1         2         2         8
K                1         3         1         3         3         5
L                5         7         4         1         1         1
M                3         5         2         3         3         3
N                5         7         6         2         2         1

O                8        10         8         0         0         1
P                2         4         2         3         3         3
Q                1         1         1         2         4         0
R                5         7         6         4         4         1
S                5         8         4         0         0         1
T                5         8         6         2         2         1
U                4         7         4         0         0         1

V                2         3         2         1         1         4
W                2         4         2         3         3         4
X                1         2         1         4         4         8
Y                2         5         2         3         3         4
Z                1         2         1         2         2         0
Wild             -         -         2         -         -         0

(Internationalized versions of Scrabble have different letter and point distributions.)
These games are obviously similar in some way: They are both word construction games. That said, the lack of word reuse in Unspoken Words and the scoring differences should make the games rather different. (I've never played either version of Unspoken Words.)

Sources:

Rules for Unspoken Words: Classic Edition
Rules for Unspoken Words: Deluxe Edition
Rules for Scrabble
FAQ about Scrabble

"Z" in Scrabble scores 10 points, not 0. Also "Q"


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Is Parcheesi simply an alternate name for Pachisi? Or are they significantly different games?
There are a few board games that are the exactly the same as each other, but have different names. For instance, Reversi and Othello are exactly the same game, but the latter is a trademarked name. Similarly, Star Halma and Chinese Checkers are exactly the same game.
As a result of a recent meta discussion on tag synonyms, I'm wondering: is Parcheesi simply an alternate name for Pachisi? Or are they significantly different games?
My initial searches were inconclusive. According to Board Game Geek, they are the same game. However, there are separate Wikipedia articles for Parcheesi and Pachisi.

My Parcheesi set has a dearth of cowrie shells. :(

From the Wiki article on Pachisi: "Parcheesi, Sorry! and Ludo are among the many Westernized commercial versions of the game."

You have your own answer in the Reversi/Othello comparison. One is the generic or traditional name, the other is of a company's product of that game.

In modern, Western usage, they are the same game
Consider these two games:

1981 Pachisi by Whitman Games

1982 Parcheesi by Selchow & Righter (later republished by Milton Bradley)
Both of these have similar boards with only cosmetic differences. They also both use dice, are played individually rather than in teams, and have similar rules.
There are some historical differences
Bruce Whitehill published an article about Pachisi and Parcheesi in the September 2007 edition of Knucklebones games magazine. He defines some clear differences between the two:

Pachisi was designed for team play, Parcheesi for individual play

Pachisi was designed to be played by four players acting as two teams, unlike Parcheesi, in which each player plays independently; team play significantly raises the level of strategy required for the game.

The boards have a different appearance and sequence of play

The Parcheesi board still has the appearance of a cross, but the main paths have been moved to form a path around the edge of a square gameboard. Parcheesi pieces begin in individual areas in the corners of the board (one color per area), whereas the “men,” as they are often called, in Pachisi begin and end in the same center square.

Traditional Pachisi uses cowry shells, Parcheesi uses dice

One more significant difference (there are other minor ones) is that the moves in Parcheesi are governed by dice, whereas Pachisi uses cowrie (or cowry) shells.

However, most modern versions of Pachisi and Parcheesi do not have these differences, as shown above.
I suspect that the differences could be likened to regional variations of the game, or a change of the rules over time. This might be compared to Chess. Over the course of hundreds of years, the pieces on the board and the rules of movement have changed, yet the game was still "Chess". In fact, Whitehill's article lists many alternative names for the game, noting that some contain regional rule variations of Pachisi.
It seems that in this case, the rules of Pachisi have changed over time or had variations, and Parcheesi is just another name for the same game.

Parcheesi and Pachisi were originally different games although they have many similarities. Parcheesi was based on Pachisi and was produced and sold originally in the U.S. Unfortunately, even though Parcheesi was produced in large enough quantities to become standard, the rules for the newest version (from Hasbro) are not precisely the same as the rules for older versions (by Selchow & Righter). "Parcheesi" is currently a trademark, now held along with the copyright for the game board cosmetic design by Hasbro. There are still a few other versions with the same travel path (space count, etc.) for the pawns, slightly different rules, and slightly different name spellings, produced by other companies. "Pachisi" was the Anglicized spelling of the original Indian name and has been used either inadvertently or intentionally for new versions.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/


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Help identifying this snake maze board game
Here is a short video showcasing a two-player table-top game produced by the Mexican toy company Lily-Ledy (most of its games were licensed from worldwide toy vendors, re-branded and manufactured in Mexico). The play mechanics are a bit similar to the old Aardvark computer game.
Can anyone identify if this game exists under a different toy brand?
Here are some pictures of the game, (sorry for the grainy quality)

Game description:

The objective of the game is to efficiently maneuver a snake around a
labyrinth, while trying to grab more pellets than your opponent.
Each opponent controls a protruding snake with two knobs.
One knob controls how much the serpent protrudes or retracts, while the other knob changes the snake's direction.
The tip of the snake is magnetic
so it will attract the pellets.

Link-only questions are likely to be closed. Please add a description of the game to your question so the question will still stand when the video is no longer reachable (and so the words in the description can provide a better set of search term hits).

This game was manufactured in Canada and sold (© 1983) by the U.S. toy company Parker Brothers under the name Sidewinder. A sidewinder is a type of rattlesnake that is known for its side-to-side wiggling form of locomotion, which is similar to the motion of the game pieces.
Instructions, box, game (click to enlarge):

(Image source: a sold-out Etsy listing for the game (archived).)
Description from BoardGameGeek:

A closed board houses a number of 'hidden' locations, each of which contains a small steel marble.
Players manipulate their plastic 'sidewinder' snake, tipped with a magnet, to find the hidden balls and retrieve them for points. It's a lot harder than it looks. Care must be taken when some of the locations force you to twist your 'snake' in almost impossible shapes.

The Mexican version, branded by Lili-Ledy, was called Laberinto, or labyrinth/maze. The Mexican version also depicts snakes on the box.
In August 2023 there was a copy of the Laberinto game for sale on a Mexican website (archived) with several pictures, including the box and the game itself, which matches the image in the question.

Excellent answer  =)


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Getting priority after putting a spell on the stack
I have a two questions connected with priority and stack:

It's my turn, during the combat phase, after the declaring blockers step. Blockers are declared. At the Combat Damage step, I get priority and I pass. My opponent gets priority and decides to put a spell on the stack. Can I respond to him, adding my spell to the stack?
And generally, do I always get a chance to respond after spell is put on a stack, independently from the situation?
Can I hold priority during opponent's turn?
By hold i mean for example when my opponent in his turn cast an instant, i decide to respond, and now basically he would get priority again, and my question is can i hold it by telling that i hold and cast second instant after first one. I know that there is possibility to do it.

Yes
All players must pass priority before something on the stack can resolve.

608.1. Each time all players pass in succession, the spell or ability on top of the stack resolves. (See rule 609, “Effects.”)

After your opponent puts a spell on the stack, it doesn't resolve until all players have passed priority. IE, before that spell resolves, you will get priority and can take any actions you could normally take at this time. (Obeying timing rules. Usually, this means you can only activate abilities and cast instants.)
In answer to if you generally always have a chance to respond before something on the stack resolves, yes. Again, 608.1 shows that all players receive priority between any time that something on the stack resolves. Note that you might not be the first person to receive priority.
Some effects will prevent you from taking actions when they are on the stack or as static abilities. (For example, spells with Split Second). However, even in this case, you still receive priority before they resolve. (Though there is typically little you can do with this priority.)
Special Actions, such as playing a land and morphing a creature, do not use the stack. As such, you are not given priority before they resolve.

Yes, you can always respond when another player casts a spell or activates an ability. Steps or phases where players get priority only end if all players have passed priority in succession and the stack is empty. You will also get priority on opponents' turns.
The active player is the player whose turn it is.

116.3. Which player has priority is determined by the following rules:
116.3a The active player receives priority at the beginning of most steps and phases, after any turn-based actions (such as drawing a card during the draw step; see rule 703) have been dealt with and abilities that trigger at the beginning of that phase or step have been put on the stack. No player receives priority during the untap step. Players usually don’t get priority during the cleanup step (see rule 514.3).
116.3b The active player receives priority after a spell or ability (other than a mana ability) resolves.
116.3c If a player has priority when they cast a spell, activate an ability, or take a special action, that player receives priority afterward.
116.3d If a player has priority and chooses not to take any actions, that player passes. If any mana is in that player’s mana pool, they announce what mana is there. Then the next player in turn order receives priority.
116.4. If all players pass in succession (that is, if all players pass without taking any actions in between passing), the spell or ability on top of the stack resolves or, if the stack is empty, the phase or step ends.

116.3c is what allows you to hold priority (OP's question #2). If someone has priority and puts something on the stack (spell, ability, action) that person still has priority after it's on the stack. It's possible to put multiple things on the stack without giving your opponent an opportunity to play in between them, although they'll get a chance to respond before each one resolves.


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Do spells targeting creatures work on token creatures?
My friend has Mystic Confluence and tried to target a token creature to be returned to the owner's hand. I have read that token creatures are considered creatures, but why would you be able to put a token creature into a hand since you can't necessarily spend mana to play it from your hand.

Token creatures are creatures, so they can be targeted and affected by anything that refers to "creature(s)". If a token is returned to a player's hand, it disappears, so it doesn't matter that they wouldn't be able to cast it. This is stated in rule 111.7:

A token that’s in a zone other than the battlefield ceases to exist. This is a state-based action; see rule 704. (Note that if a token changes zones, applicable triggered abilities will trigger before the token ceases to exist.)


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Extreme price on a MTG card
I was at a store and I saw this

I was looking around the price and in tcgplayer says its 16 cents.
How can it be 1k that card?

caveat emptor :)
It is not a 1k card, they are just having fun I assume.

What reason did the store owner give? They would probably know better than anyone else.

This is just an example of store owners taking a break and messing around

I mean, it's an obviously green card, but in blue. Think of the possibilities!

This isn't a question about card games so much as it is about commerce.
Anyone who wants to sell something can put any price they want on that thing. Then, if someone wants to pay that price for that thing, they can.
So looking at sale prices on sites like tcgplayer lets you know what prices people have sold the card for, and looking at that price sticker lets you know what price someone hasn't sold it for - because if someone had been willing to pay $1,000 for it, the store presumably wouldn't have it any more.
Presumably, there is a price between $0.16 and $1000.00 which is just high enough that no-one wants to buy it any more. It's probably fair to assume that the magic number is a lot closer to the bottom end of that scale.


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What's the name of this oil trading board game?
When I was a child I used to play around with the figures of a game that a relative of mine had tucked away in his attic. It was some sort of oil trading board game and some of the components I remember playing with were:

Oil tanker minis
Spherical gas storage tank minis:
World map, very minimal graphic style
Paper money, like something out of an old Monopoly copy

Publishing Date: The game was possibly published in the 1970s / 80s
Visual Style: Quite minimal and somewhat bleak, a bit like Twilight Struggle
I was too young to figure out the rules or how to play the game, especially since it was in English and it isn't my mother tongue, however I had a lot of fun playing with the minis and from what I remember the game seemed quite complex and may be worth tracking down and playing it now.
Thanks in advance!

As usual, a specific year (or range) and country would be helpful.

Case in point, the suggestion below of Wildcatters would be precluded from consideration if we knew that this was before 2010.

Sorry, I would say the publishing date would have been in the 70s or 80s, I will add it to the post. Also the visual design was somewhat bleak, something in the lines of Twilight Struggle.

Just searching Oil on BoardGameGeek pulls up dozens of results, several of which are within the appropriate time frame, and many of which have pieces that might fit the description. @MACC If you find the answer yourself, it's totally acceptable to answer your own question.

I finally found the game after discussing it with some fellow Portuguese gamers. It's actually a vintage Portuguese game about oil called "Petróleo": https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/22614/petroleo - Seems to be quite hard to find these days.

Perhaps "Wildcatters" as shown on the website of CapStone Games.
This link is the game on BGG.
Oil tanker minis:

Spherical gas storage tank minis:

The gas storage minis were actually made of plastic and fairly detailed. I remember playing with them as a child.


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Pokemon Gliscor GL 62/111
I have a Gliscor card from the Rising Rivals Pokemon set which says it's an 'Elite Four's Pokemon' but on the top left-hand side it's written GL (Gym Leader) instead of the usual Elite Four icon (see picture below). Would this be a misprint?

There's nothing we can answer without a scan or a photo of your particular card.

Edited, sorry about that.

This is a fake card.
Pokémon maintain a high quality of their manufacture process. Even though it is possible that misprints are produced, they are usually either well known or they are just printer errors, not problems with card design itself.
Your card uses different fonts and text is not aligned and spaced properly. These problems indicate that the card can't be a misprint.


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Cribbage beginner "Go" questions
I found this explnation of "Go" on the Bicycle cards website https://bicyclecards.com/how-to-play/cribbage/
"THE GO
During play, the running total of cards may never be carried beyond 31. If a player cannot add another card without exceeding 31, he or she says "Go" and the opponent pegs 1. After gaining the Go, the opponent must first lay down any additional cards he can without exceeding 31. Besides the point for Go, he may then score any additional points that can be made through pairs and runs (described later). If a player reaches exactly 31, he pegs two instead of one for Go.
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.
The person who plays the last card pegs one for Go, plus one extra if the card brings the count to exactly 31. The dealer is sure to peg at least one point in every hand, for he will have a Go on the last card if not earlier."
So my understanding is...
The Play:
1) Non-dealer lays for first round of Play and cards are layed, counting as play proceeds.
2) If a player cannot add another card without exceeding 31, he or she says "Go" and the opponent pegs 1
What happens if the opponent can't lay a card to bring the score to either 31 or under 31?
What happens if the oppponent lays a card and brings the total to under 31?
What happens if the oppponent lays a card and brings the total to 31?
3) Spent cards are turned over as these can not count towards the next round of Play
4) The player who previously called Go leads for the next series of plays, with the count starting at zero.
What would happen if for example, the player who previously called "Go" has no cards to put down to lead?
Or what would happen if for example, the player who previously called "Go" is the only player with cards left?
Lead's cards to play = A,7,A,6/K
Opponent's cards to play = 5,k,Q,Q
Lead A (1), Opp 5 (6), Lead 7 (13), Opp K (23), Lead A (24), Opp Go.
If Lead 6 (30) then lead pegs 1. Lead now has no cards to play. What happens at this point, as opponent has two Qs left?
However, say where Lead has a K to play instead of a 6, then
Lead A (1), Opp 5 (6), Lead 7 (13), Opp K (23), Lead Go.
At this point, the Opponent can't lay either Q. So are any points given?

In order:
- What happens if the opponent can't lay a card to bring the score to either 31 or under 31?
Nothing; that's normal. The Go stands.
- What happens if the opponent lays a card and brings the total to under 31?
Nothing; that's normal again. The Go stands.
- What happens if the opponent lays a card and brings the total to 31?
Opponent gets 2 for Thirty One instead of the already scored Go.
Alternately, think of it as getting a second point for the Thirty One being reached exactly.
- What would happen if for example, the player who previously called "Go" has no cards to put down to lead?
As in any other circumstance, that's another Go and opponent can play any remaining cards in hand as desired to maximize pegging value.
- Or what would happen if for example, the player who previously called "Go" is the only player with cards left?
Same as before, but reversed.
- What happens at this point, as opponent has two Qs left?
Opponent plays Q(10), Q(20) for Pair (two points) and Last Card (one point, functionally identical to go but called differently.)
- At this point, the Opponent can't play either Q. So are any points given?
This is the default situation. Opponent scores the Go, and starts off the next sequence once already played cards have been turned over.

To remember the correct technique note that the proper timing for scoring a Go is once neither player can play anymore cards. At this moment in time, the last player to have played one or more cards gets either two points (if the count is exactly 31) or one point (if the count is less than 31).
The American Cribbage Congress Tournament Rules hint, but don't quite make explicit, this interpretation (my emphasis):

From the Scoring Chart

From Rule 7.2 Scoring

a) Points are earned during the play of the cards for the following single card or combination of consecutive cards played. The player playing the last card that forms a combination earns the points (see scoring chart in Rule 1.7):
...
(7) a cumulative count of 31
(8) the final card played, not making a cumulative count of 31
b) ... When a player's opponent has no more cards or calls "go," the other player may play all playable cards in succession and announce the points scored before pegging the total at one time.

So it is the combination of all cards played in this series after the opponent has last played a card that scores either two for Thirty One or one for whichever of Go or Last Card applies.


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Why doesn't the enemy's afterlife resolve first?
When my Dreadhorde Butcher destroys a Tithe Taker in combat and dies
 as a result of the combat during my turn, doesn't Rule 405.3 say that the afterlife should resolve first, since the Dreadhorde Butcher's effect should be lowest on the stack? I put Rule 405.3 below for reference.

405.3. If an effect puts two or more objects on the stack at the same time, those controlled by the active player are put on lowest, followed by each other player’s objects in APNAP order (see rule 101.4).

I am assuming you mean that the Dreadhorde Butcher also dies in combat, and its last ability triggers.

@murgatroid99 Yes, sorry. I will clarify that point.

Yes, on your turn your opponent's Afterlife triggered ability gets put on top of the stack, so it resolves first, and then your Dreadhorde Butcher's triggered ability resolves.
However, that isn't enough to kill the newly created spirit token with the Butcher's ability. You choose targets for abilities when you put them on the stack, so the Butcher's ability needs to target a player or a creature or planeswalker already on the battlefield at that time. This happens before the Afterlife ability resolves or is even put on the stack, so the spirit token won't be available to target.