So you want to own game night? Here's a crash course in game theory to smite your foes in Monopoly, chess, Battleship and other classics.
You'll no longer be just rolling the dice when you, well, roll the dice, in Monopoly. Among many tips, the BuzzFeed video above recommends that you stay in jail as long as you can later in the game. "You'll keep earning money, and pay nothing," the caption says. Makes sense to us.
You'll have more of a blast in Battleship if you never strike within one square of a miss, slashing the need for random guessing by 50 percent, according to the vid.
As for chess, the four-move checkmate demonstrated works only against beginners -- but it's worth a shot, no? Listen also for advice to conquer Connect Four and Hungry Hungry Hippos.
Game theory received national attention last month when "Jeopardy!" contestant Arthur Chu used a more aggressive strategy to win 12 straight shows and amass $297,200 in winnings. Instead of choosing questions one after the other in each category, Chu jumped around the board. He also determined that the bottom, higher-value rows were more likely to reveal Daily Doubles.
If "How to Win at 5 Classic Board Games" isn't enough, how about expanding your dominance to Scrabble? To do so you'll have to focus beyond maximizing your word score. According to gametheory101.com, you must also pay attention to limiting high-point opportunities for your opponents on their next turn.