Europa Universalis/YMMV


 * Adaptation Displacement: A lot of players have never heard of the original French board game.
 * Contested Sequel : The fandom is really divided on whether Europa Universalis II or Europa Universalis III is the superior game (though Europa Universalis III has won more supporters with each Expansion Pack). They all agree though, that both installments are equally awesome.
 * Crowning Music of Awesome: Several (courtesy of long-time Paradox Interactive composer, Andreas Waldetoft), but "A Cruce Victoria" from Europa Universalis III takes the cake.
 * Equally awesome are Conquistador, "Para Bellum" and "Battle of Damascus" themes. "Discover New Land" isn't bad either, and "Swashbuckling Privateers", caters to your seafaring and piratey needs...
 * Demonic Spiders: The Divine Wind expansion pack turns the Golden Horde and Timurids into these for everyone between Eastern Europe and China.
 * Ear Worm: The first two games utilize period music. One piece, a 15. century Spanish folk song called Falalalan, has reached Memetic Mutation status due to... Well, just listen.
 * Goddamned Bats: If you aren't careful, pirates.
 * Good Bad Bugs: The AI does not understand the concept of attrition. It's entirely possible to lure a large army into your territory, Scorch the Earth in that province with a fast/sacrificial unit, and let that (or the winter) whittle the enemy army down to almost nothing.
 * The flipside is that naval attrition has to be disabled for the AI, leading to things like Ottoman territories in the Baltic, or Castille owning Finland.
 * Naval attrition in European waters is nigh-nonexistent anyway.
 * If the player starts the game anytime later then 1399, the game would remember all changes that happened since that year and mention them in the country's history log. Start the game as the USA anytime after 1797 and read how George Washington's period was only remembered for his drunkenness!
 * Memetic Mutation: On the forums, someone started a thread titled "Can Poland into space?", itself originally a meme from a minor Image Board webcomic. This has become a minor meme, with the Strange Screenshots thread containing many instances of nations claimed to "into space": apparently, it's the new word for "blobbing". The backlash is summed up by this image.
 * But Poland can into space!
 * Also, the Meteor Sighted event.
 * Ascended Meme: As of Divine Wind, "Poland can into space" is an achievement acquired by reaching maximum level in all technologies as Poland.
 * Also, "Spain is not the Emperor". It appears on the loading screen as a hint. And it originated from an achievement "Spain is the Emperor".
 * Self-Imposed Challenge: Trying to play as a one-province minor (OPM) that is next to a larger neighbour, such as Bar, which is sandwiched between Burgundy and frequently its first call for conquest, or any of the Irish minors. A popular project is to try to take one of these minor states which are generally swallowed up in the first decade or so of gameplay and turn them into world-conquering empires!
 * Sequelitis: Many reviewers and fans consider Europa Universalis: Rome to be a Dolled-Up Installment and The Scrappy of the series. The Expansion Pack made it much better.
 * Surprisingly Improved Sequel: Europa Universalis II, compared to the original.
 * What an Idiot!: OPMs tend to make idealistic stands against an aggressively-expanding player. However, annexing OPMs will eventually drive up your infamy.