Gaming Pet Peeves

I try to be pretty relaxed when it comes to gaming. It is time that I try to wind down and enjoy spending time with the people around me. That being said, I do have several pet peeves that I bring with me to the table. These small things really can annoy me, but I try to be polite when talking to others about them. Here are my top five pet peeves relating to gaming:

1. Not helping to  clean up a game. This is the pet peeve I run into the most often.  I play with a lot of people who will get up and leave the table after playing a game without event trying to help sort or put away a game. I understand players who do not help set up, because they may not be familiar with how the set up works…but for clean up I do expect that players at least help sort pieces.
2. Being attached to a phone. There are two different ways that this annoys me. First, if I am trying to explain the rules and a player is on their device and not listening and then asks 50 questions that I explained clearly…that drives me insane. Second, if a player is on their phone consistently and does not know when it is their turn or what they are doing on their turn. Taking a quick picture or answering a text message every once in a while is okay, but otherwise put the phones away.
3. Eating messy foods and touching pieces. Honestly, this is just logical. Messy foods ruin cards and other pieces. Games can be rather expensive and I don’t want my game to be ruined because someone will not wash their hands before touching it.
4. Disrespectful alpha gamers. I understand that some people have a disposition to be an alpha gamer when playing cooperative games. What annoys me though, is when an alpha gamer is disrespectful to their team mates who choose to not follow their advice.
5. People who consistently come very late to game night. I understand that everyone occasionally has things come up. However, a person who is always over a half hour late can be very frustrating. Most game nights I start with 1-2 filler games, and then move into a main event game. If someone shows up an hour into game night and we are already in a long game, it is bad for everyone involved. It is bad for you, because you will have to watch the other players finish a game that could potentially take a long time. It is bad for the host/players because they feel awkward about leaving you out of the game. Sometimes life happens and people end up running late. That is perfectly fine, but it would be great to reach out to someone and let them know to expect you.

Those are my big five. What are your pet peeves? Is there anything that really drives you crazy?