AITA for Sabotaging My Family in a Board Game?
A 17-year-old recounts a family game night playing Ticket to Ride, where her strategic gameplay frustrated her mom. Rather than risking losing points by drawing more destination cards, she decided to claim train routes to block her family’s progress— a legal but competitive move.
Her mom accused her of being unfair and unkind, suggesting she should’ve played more cooperatively. The teenager clarifies that she plays to win but struggles to balance competition with the family’s preference for bonding. read the original story below…
‘ AITA for Sabotaging My Family in a Board Game?’
Hi all, I(17f) was recently playing a board game called Ticket to Ride with my family. For those who don’t know, it’s a strategy game where players compete to build train routes on a map. You score points by completing routes from your destination cards and claiming railway segments,
and you can also lose points if you don’t finish your routes by the end of the game. Toward the end of our game, I realized that if I drew more cards to try to finish my routes, I’d probably lose points. So, instead of risking it, I decided to “sabotage” my family by claiming random train routes they might need.
This didn’t break any rules—claiming any available route is allowed—but it frustrated my mom. She said the way I played wasn’t kind and accused me of being an a**hole and even “cheating.” I told her I wasn’t cheating because everything I did was within the rules, and I thought of it as strategic gameplay.
For the record, I would never cheat in a board game because that ruins the fun for everyone. But I think any strategy that follows the rules is fair game.
So, AITA for sabotaging other players during the game, or is this just part of playing strategically?
Check out how the community responded:
Dazzling_Suspect_239 − NAH. You didn’t technically break the rules, but you also played in a way that makes the game less fun for the group. Games are played in a social context. Some groups are going to be hyper competitive, some groups prefer a more positive, collaborative and laid back style.
Neither style is right or wrong. My guess is that your Mom (and maybe the rest of the group) thinks of family game night as a way to have a good time together, so when you bring a style of play that’s highly competitive it wrecks the vibe.
Fit-Profession-1628 − NTA I love that game. I don’t like to play with people whose only purpose is to s**ew everyone else’s game but that’s a personal preference, it’s a perfectly viable and logic strategy.
Btw I don’t know if you’re familiar with the board game arena website but it has tons of games, including that one for like 36€ a year. Some are free but for TTR you need the premium account. I play there all the time.
jellobusty − NTA. You didn’t cheat, and part of strategy can involve blocking others. It’s a game, and your mom’s frustration seems more about the competitive nature than fairness.
DrBeckenstein − NAH. You and your mom just have different goals for gameplay. Some people just want a simple pastime and chance to connect, where winners of are pretty much left to chance. Others like to strategize and compete with others’ strategies and learn from one another.
There are some games where I’m aware I turn into a cutthroat b**tard. I love my family, so we don’t play Scrabble or air hockey because I become a j**k. It’s like I can’t turn it off. This is one of those social things you need to learn. Read the room. Is everyone just joking around?
Maybe inadvertently playing a move that screws another player’s, but nothing intentionally malicious? Or is everyone really thinking through their moves and strategy, and sometimes even sabotaging opponents?
If you’re the latter during game night and everyone else is the former, people will think you’re a j**k and probably won’t want to game with you anymore if it keeps happening. You’re playing within the rules and so aren’t an AH, you’re just missing the social cues as to whether you’re playing to socialize, or to win.
KrofftSurvivor − NTA – . This is how the game works… Probably don’t play Settlers of Catan with Mom either?
bootyfairygirl − **NTA.** You played within the rules, and using strategy to block others is part of the game. It’s competitive, not cheating.
lurgi − I don’t do this with my kids, because it’s just mean. 100% legit against adults (plus, you get points for making routes. Points are points).
Least_Key1594 − NAH – its a game. who cares. But objectively, yeah instead of trying to win, you played spoiler for everyone. Personally, I think its a**hole behavior. But it is within the confines of the game, so can’t get more mad than going ‘thats a d**k move friend’.
But in a ‘fair’ game, its broadly considered that each move must be an attempt to improve your position, or worsen an oppoenets, with the intent of helping yourself. You gave up on winning, and moved only to spoiling.
Kinda like spitting in a bowl of food because you’re done eating. It would’ve been more in the spirit of games and competition to quit at that point.
[Reddit User] − NTA. Route blocking is a completely valid strategy. It’s the whole reason for the rule on how one player can’t take both sides of a two-line route; those double-wides are “safer” but less efficient routes that players can use to avoid being blocked.
Is strategic gameplay that frustrates others crossing a line in family board games? Or is competitive spirit part of the fun? Should she adjust her approach for family game nights? what do you think? share your thoughts below!