If you have a bit of a competitive spirit, you’ll know that board games over the festive season can sometimes lead to aggressive rivalries. However, if you’re fed up with losing gracefully, then there are some naughty tips that you can use. These are sort of sneaky psychological and technological methods that bend the rules, making it more likely that you’ll actually win this year. Here’s what to do:
Be distracting
One of the best ways to win a board game is to simply be distracting. If you can introduce disruption to the game, then you can break people’s concentration. For example, you could bring in cake or pour drinks halfway through, just as somebody is about to make a big move. You could also compliment people on their strategies to make them feel good and help them drop their guard.
Be more psychological in your approach
Related to this last point, you could also look for ways to be more psychological in your approach. For example, you could sigh when people roll well. If you can appear as the underdog, then you’re adopting the strategies of Sun Tzu, the author of the Chinese masterpiece “The Art of War.”
You could also pretend that you are being innocent. For example, if you don’t know the game very well, you could ask people about the specific rules so that they underestimate you. Then you could bring out pro moves as a surprise.
Even if somebody’s in the lead, you could also start arranging alliances with other players. Again, these are psychologically damaging because people don’t like being ganged up on.
Use technical hacks
Let’s say you’re playing a game of Scrabble. These days, you don’t have to rely purely on brain power to determine words that will fit on the board and give you the biggest score. Instead, you can use a Scrabble word finder. These are basically software and AI systems that find the words you need for you. There are all sorts of tools like this on the internet, and Scrabble is by no means the only example. It’s just a question of looking for the one that applies to the game you’re playing.
Become a Monopoly pro
If you’re playing a game of Monopoly, then it’s a good idea to look at the strategies that give you the most power.
For example, if you can be the banker, then you have complete control over the money that people have. You can also use tactics like focusing on getting properties on oranges. If you can buy these from other players, then do so. Research shows that people land on these the most particularly because of post-jail traffic. So, if you have hotels or houses on these squares, they can generate you a lot of money.
Work out Cluedo
Finally, if you’re playing a game of Cluedo, make sure you take down plenty of notes. Write down everything that happens so you can piece the puzzle together more quickly. If you have all the information available, then you can make real deductions faster and work out who the killer is.