AITA for calling out my nephew for sabotaging our team because he was “following the rules”?

A Redditor shared a Thanksgiving story about a family board game turned tense. During the game Landmarks, their nephew (33M) admitted to deliberately sabotaging their team to “play fairly” because he thought the Redditor was giving away too much with facial expressions.

The Redditor called him out for gaslighting his teammate and lying to steer the game. Now, their nephew and his mother think the Redditor is overreacting, and they’re questioning if they were in the wrong. Read the full story below!

‘ AITA for calling out my nephew for sabotaging our team because he was “following the rules”?’

As far as the other Thanksgiving drama on here, this is minor. Would like outside opinions tho. A tradition for my family is that we play board games after we eat the Thanksgiving meal. This year we played Landmarks which is a word association and strategy game. We were having a really good time.

I (55F) was the guide for my team of my Nephew JC (33M) and his cousin CS (33F). [The other team was JC’s mom (56F), and two sisters (28F, 25F).] I gave them a word that could only go one of two places on the board. They picked the one I didn’t want. No worries because the next turn there would be only one option.

CS immediately wanted to put the tile in the correct place and JC steered her away, arguing that I didn’t want them to go to the space CS want to and directed her to a different space. Rinse and repeat the next turn. CS wanted the right space, JC talked her out of it. On the fourth attempt, they put it in the correct space. I was so happy. Finally!

Then JC stood up and proudly announced that he knew that I wanted them to go there the last two turns but deliberately lead CS to the wrong space. Queue the stunned silence. I was the first to speak and asked him why. He guessed from my tone that I was not happy.

JC explained that I was “indicating” what I wanted with my facial expressions too much so to play “fairly” he “acted” like he didn’t know what I wanted them to do. I responded that no, he didn’t. What he did was sabotage his team and gaslight CS. He could have 1) said something to me – but he didn’t. 2) he could have done nothing to steer CS to the wrong space, instead he lied and gaslit her.

I pointed this out again that if he thought I was being overly expressive then he should have said something. The right answer was definitely not to sabotage his team and to lie to CS. His mother of course started to defend him and attack me.

I let it drop but it’s still bothering me. I didn’t say it at the time but he came across as incredibly self-righteous and entitled – and proud, very proud of his conduct. JC and his mother think I’m the a****** here for disagreeing with his ethical approach, wanting to play the game fairly, and calling him out for his behavior at Thanksgiving. Well, am I?

Here’s what Redditors had to say:

eeemf −  I gotta be honest, all of you sound annoying as all hell. ESH, also you need to relearn what ‘gaslight’ means.

Waste_Worker6122 −  Its a GAME! ! Played after a huge meal (and probably a fair amount of alcohol). Its not the Olympics. Maybe everyone could try to relax and just have a bit of fun. ESH.

Wrench-Turnbolt −  It’s cue not queue. Cue is like a prompt. Queue is a line

Malibu921 −  JC sounds like a PITA for trying to balance out “fairness” because of nonverbal communication (even though pictionary, million dollar pyramid, all of those games also allow it) but you sound exhausting using words gaslight.. ESH

alphabetacheetah −  You’re accusing him of g**lighting over a board game? That’s got to be a joke no way are you actually this petty 

Lovethemdoggos −  YTA, partly for misusing “g**lighting”, but mostly because you sound insufferable and self-righteous in your post. Normally it would be an E S H but if your post is you trying to portray yourself in the best possible light, I can see why your nephew was proud for thwarting your game manipulation tactics and not giving you the easy win. If you can’t take it, don’t dish it out. Maybe also don’t play competitive games.

amberallday −  YTA. And stop playing “fun” games at family events if you take them this seriously. That’s no fun for the rest of the family!

buckeye-person −  Don’t play poker since you do not have a poker face.

Gold_Repair_3557 −  YTA for using the term g**lighting way too loosely

Express-Diamond-6185 −  ESH. It is just a game for heaven’s sake! It doesn’t matter in the end. It would only matter if he cheated to intentionally let the other team win/lose. And even then, you correct him for cheating and move on. Grow up!

Was the Redditor justified in calling out their nephew’s actions, or should they have let the incident slide in the spirit of family fun? Do you think the nephew’s approach was fair play or unnecessary sabotage? Share your thoughts below!