What board game rule did you misunderstand that made the game better?

Question

With the recent discussion around how board game rules explanations are hard to digest, what are some examples of misunderstood rules that you preferred to the actual rule?

adamredwoods · Accepted Answer

City of the Big Shoulders: two of the same cube resources, I thought, was exchanged for ANY one cube. Turns out it was whatever was LEFT in the market, which is incredibly constraining and frustrating, especially if your opponent ahead in turn order drains the market. Was a nice game up until that point.
Beyond the Sun: We mixed in all the cards with no bias, so the chance of the final point-scoring tech was NOT guaranteed. Made the game very interesting, and we competed for planets more fiercely.
Brew Crafters: I didn't know players could still brew beers when the tokens ran out, which made the race to brew specific beers more interesting! (Turns out you can, which lowers tension quite a bit.)

mdaniel · Answer

> With the recent discussion around how board game rules explanations are hard to digestlink: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42297252

talldayo · Answer

Not sure if this is familiar to you, but Mao is my favorite game that I misunderstand but love nonetheless: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_(card_game)
It's surprisingly popular in the American midwest. Every place (or person) has their own variation on it the ruleset, with the only persistent agreed-upon rule that you're not allowed to discuss the rules with anyone. That way, every game is deliberately confusing to veteran players and painfully hostile to new players.
A very fun game to watch, but stressful to play if you want to win.