Now, now I am one to try to take back stupid plays and you are correct that I did ask to take this back.  If you will recall, I was calculating and said, “I don’t want to bog down the game” I knew I wanted a loan and thought that the small one would make it.  However, I could have kept on counting and delayed actions.  And, as you said, it really had no impact on anyone.  And, as it turned out, the round ended so quickly it actually cost me more money than it should have.  Anyway, thanks for being nice to me.

I’m with you guys - especially for a first or second game.  In the end, I’m not really concerned with who wins or loses the game - I’d rather everyone get a chance to learn how to play it.

I might think twice about a take-back where the revision creates a different situation and would have affected other players turns.  But in a case where it doesn’t change much, there’s usually no objection at all.

Of course, we’ll remind that player every turn about it - but it’s all good natured.

“You sure that you’re done?”
“Not going to change anything this time?”

Dale

Kris wrote: (My philosophy is that if you can’t take the pressure, stay off the Uncle Wiggly board.)

Right on! I don’t have kids of my own, but I do play with my niece and newphew and friends’ kids and I never throw a game. I might play suboptimally so that I don’t crush someone’s little hopes and dreams of becoming a star at Trapture—winning 7-5, cool; winning 7-1, not so much—but I never play to lose. I just win, thank them for playing, then offer to play again or play something else. (When they win, I congratulate them, then move on to the next game.) Winning isn’t the important thing, after all; playing is.

This kind of request would almost always have been accepted in my gaming group, so long as changing things would not have changed anyone else’s decisions in the interim.

One thing you haven’t mentioned in the above list is that, for me at least, when I win a game I like to think that I’ve won because of my own superior strategising, not because of someone else’s stupid and costly mistake. In this instance, if you’d gone on to win the game after denying the player’s request you’d have won in part because of /their/ actions, not yours. The after-game conversation will inevitably concern the other player’s decision to take the wrong loan, not your tactically brilliant outflanking maneuvers.

Another point is that gaming is partially a social experience and giving players a bit of wriggle room simply creates a nice, friendly, cooperative atmosphere.

I have also found in many groups that the game is partially about puzzle solving - creating an optimum game from how the chips fall. Often players will make suggestions about how other players can optimize their turn, even to their own detriment at times. In many cases sub-optimum moves (as opposed to tactical or strategic judgment calls) simply ruin things for everyone - much like sitting to the left of an unskilled player in Puerto Rico. In this style of play, if an error is quickly identified and insignificant to everyone else there’s no reason to be an asshole about it.

I suspect, ultimately, it depends on how important winning is to you. If the experience of the game is more important than winning then you’d let the player tweak his/her move. If you are a “win at all costs” kind of player then taking advantage of another player’s stupid mistake is part of your raison detre. Remember, however, that it works both ways. If you don’t give other players any wriggle room then you can’t expect to get any yourself if you need it later.

As long as the next player hasn’t started his move, I nearly always vote for allowing the takeback.  If a move change clearly wouldn’t have affected any subsequent plays of anyone, I think it’s fine, too.  Now, if it starts occurring every time around the table, patience can wear a little thin…

It sounds like your specific situation was more of, “You guys go ahead while I decide how much to borrow.” than a takeback, but either way, I think that’s perfectly appropriate. I think the same situation came up in our first game of El Capitan and was handled similarly.

Our groups generally follow the takeback rule for new players (of that particular game) and typically require that the next players haven’t gone on too far.  Most often it requires players to not have to adjust their alreay made decisions.

(Revealing random elements of the game - card draws, etc… tend to also preclude a takeback.)

One such as you mentioned above might be accepted, but as the whole round had gone by, it might be on the edge if it had affected anyone else.)