Board Game Argument

[WhathasHappenedtotheWorld]

DD and DS were playing a board game where you move a counter steps until the finish line, answering questions along the way.
One of the question types was one where players had to cooperate and if they got it right, both players could move forwards. DD was ahead of DS and he decided to not answer that question because if both players moved ahead, then DD would have won so he reckoned that it was best that no one moved forward so he would have another chance the next go to move ahead. The rule book does not say this tactic is banned.

DD says that DS is a bad sport and is really angry at him. I am inclined to agree as this was meant to be a fun game, and DS takes things way too seriously.
Who is wrong?

YANBU- DS is wrong. He should have not taken the game so seriously.
YABU- DD is wrong as she should understand that DS was only trying to win.

Sounds like my house 😂

It’s a game. The object of the game is to win. Your DS was very clever and your DD is being sulky and a bad loser.

This. Your DS should be commended for thinking strategically. It was a smart move and in the real world we do not bend over and let others step on us if we want to succeed.

@NoelleSnowman
Yh I get where you are coming from, but surely this is just a lighthearted Christmas board game so DS should have just tried his best with the question even though it may have resulted him losing.

If he'd answered, he would have thrown the game. A bit of light-hearted family fun doesn't mean deliberately losing...

DD is a bad loser.

If it just a light hearted board game why is dd having a tantrum over it? Both sides are taking it too seriously, ds making out like he’s Machiavelli and dd being a bad loser.

@jetadore I think because she is fed up of DS always taking things too seriously and trying to win. He was already grumbling about how there were too many luck cards there in the game.

You might just as well say your Dd was taking it too seriously in getting upset that she didn’t win.

Your Ds didn’t break the rules. Your Dd can learn tactics from this.

Does your Dd need a patronising protection from losing?

Sounds like a professional foul type manoeuvre.

Or - it's just a lighthearted Christmas game, so DD should stop being a bad loser when DS was playing within the rules.

That's politics for you.

Smart move DS. He'd get on well in our household. We all play to win and lose graciously (most of the time!).

I think DS was 100% right.
The point of the game however "lighthearted" is to win.
How old are they ?

@MrsMitford3 They are teens, but they seem to have gotten more competitive as they have got older.

the rules do not say that what DS did is banned but likewise it does not explicitly say it is allowed so that is also DD’s argument.

Age is important. Can understand both POV and all you can do is acknowledge both surely? Ds, I can see why you did it, dd, I can see why you're annoyed.

It reminds me if a birthday party game that my ds5 was a little too savvy at, and won. I wanted the ground to swallow me and someone's granny appeared at my shoulder and said 'Look away. He'll go far but you'll need to turn a blind eye to a lot of it!' 😂

Either winning is meaningless and a silly thing to care about in a family game, in which case they were both wrong, or it's reasonable to want to win, in which case DD is in the wrong to want to win but to expect DS not to, and to expect him to help her win. I can't see any scenario where DS and DS alone was in the wrong.

Sounds like DS could be a potential lawyer.

There's always a loophole

How could the rules possibly require that you answer a question correctly if you know it? How would that rule work?!

Is it just me who wants to know who won eventually? 😁😁

@cakeorwine Yh he wants to read economics at Uni but potentially go into law after, as he is always spotting loopholes. That is something DD is also annoyed about though!

I will probably try and tel them to both tone it down though whilst playing!

@bizzey DD just packed the game up and refused to continue! That was wrong on her part but she was just really annoyed.

If they’re teens, then your DD is definitely being unreasonable. Probably at whatever age she’d be unreasonable, though it’d be more understandable if she was 6.
Lighthearted doesn’t mean “let someone else needlessly win”.

And re your DD’s “he broke the rules” point - he could have just answered the question wrongly, if he’d had to answer it. So it’s irrelevant if he chose not to answer. He’s being perfectly sensible and I think you and your DD are getting worked up over nothing. I’d be digging my heels in too if I was him, given his sister’s reaction. And I’m really not at all competitive.

@WhathasHappenedtotheWorld Mine are all 20 somethings now-youngest still at Uni and they def got more competitive as they got older. I can hear this exact disagreement in our house tbh.

Playing Risk is brutal at ours!! Out of interest-what was the game?

And I agree-DS sounds like he has a very strategic brain and thinks outside the box. Maybe annoying sometimes but great life qualities!!

no because the whole point of playing a game is to win!
It doesn't matter if it's "only" a christmas board game, by that rationale the football world cup is "only" a group of lads kicking a ball around a field, it's not solving world hunger.

@Hardbackwriter makes a fair point, if it's so irrelevant who wins it's DD who is being ott by making a fuss about DS putting her at a disadvantage!
Of course the rules don't say 'you have to answer a question with the correct answer,' how could that possibly be enforced?
I'd be proud of DS for thinking outside the box, and tell DD she was being over-competitive and pedantic!

I love how a game where people can co-operate can turn competitive. That kind of defeats the point.

@MrsMitford3 It was Horrible Histories Board Game. There is an action card where DD had to draw a historical event and DS had to guess and if he guessed correctly they would have both moved forward. He refused to answer the question in the time limit so that no one moved forward, as DD would have otherwise had the chance to win on her next turn.