Hot take: My sister said our game group's 'no phones' rule was making things worse, not better.

We were playing a heavy euro last Tuesday and she pointed out that the rule just makes people anxious about missing calls and kills the chill vibe. I mean, maybe forcing everyone to be 100% present is stressing people out more than the phones ever did. Has anyone else loosened up on a strict table rule and had it actually help?

3 comments

3 Comments

logan7051mo agoMost Upvoted

A buddy of mine had the same issue, and @hart.cora is right about game choice mattering. They switched to just having phones on silent in the middle of the table, and the mood got way more relaxed. Forcing it can make people fixate on what they're missing.

robertgreen1mo ago

Throw their phones in a bowl of water next time. That'll teach em to look at Instagram during Settlers of Catan, lol.

hart.cora1mo ago

Your sister's got a point, but the real problem is probably the heavy euro game, not the phone rule.