Daniel (@dungeondive) opens with a confession: he would struggle to name a single game he plays regularly without at least one house rule. Tight competitive designs deserve rules as written — everyone needs the same list — but the solo and co-op adventure games this channel lives on are about the experience, and they invite modification. If one small change would make you like a game more, make it.
Runebound second edition takes fifth, played almost never as written; his preferred version adds the fan-made ArtsCow quest and encounter decks, a customised market, and faster levelling, turning the hex crawl into something close to a solo RPG. Talisman second edition is fourth, loved for vibe rather than mechanism — he imports the later-edition fate token, replaces movement and combat dice with a hand of numbered cards you must spend strategically, and allows a “close enough” step into the corner regions.
Shadows of Brimstone is third, played solo only as his own hex-crawl RPG: no tiles, theatre-of-the-mind combat, map cards for the dungeons. Folklore: The Affliction is second, rebalanced for the two heroes he actually wants to play, with rescaled enemy hit points, a fate-token currency, an extra post-combat action and a catch-your-breath heal.
Number one is HeroQuest, a game he has no nostalgia for and does not enjoy as written — and which decades of fan supplements have made genuinely great.
What’s the smallest house rule that made the biggest difference to a game you own?