Went to a flea market and saw a guy selling a board game with the rules clearly printed on a photo of the box

I stopped by the Alameda flea market last Sunday and this dude had a stack of old board games from the 80s. He was selling a copy of Fireball Island for $15 but the instructions were just a crumpled photo of the box lid he took on his phone. How is that supposed to help anyone figure out the lava pit mechanics? I asked if he had the original booklet and he said "it's in a landfill somewhere." Has anyone here ever had to rely on a blurry box photo to play a game?

2 comments

2 Comments

parker_campbell8d ago

I found a copy of HeroQuest at a garage sale with no manual and the guy just snapped a photo of the back of the box with his Motorola flip phone. The picture was so dark you couldn't tell the difference between a goblin and a furniture shadow. I ended up just making up my own rules for traps and treasure based on what the miniatures looked like. Actually worked out pretty well since nobody knew the real rules anyway. Did you end up buying it or walking away?

johns188d ago

Are you serious? That's the whole fun of an old game with no manual. Figuring out the rules as you go is half the experience. I'd rather make up my own fireball mechanics than trust some grainy phone photo anyway.