Greetings all, I have returned from the Gathering of Friends. It seems that in my absence that Bartoneus saw fit to throw my avatar in a royal rumble. The people have spoken: they believe I could hold my own against an Umber Hulk riding a Bulette, even when fighting like a girl. I believe that my use of the Monkey Attack and Loopin’ Louie-trained dexterity would give me the edge needed.
Obviously, just coming back from the Gathering, I’ve got boardgames on my mind. Given several discussions lately of board game length, I thought I’d ask:
And when answering, if you could also say what kind of games that you like to play, that would help too. My feeling is that wargamers who only play a few different games have a much higher tolerance for game length than someone who wants to play a lot of light, quick card games. But I’m sure there’s plenty of gray area in between, especially for those of you who primarily play the “classics.”
The Game says
I tend to like the medium weighty games that are simple but offer a wide variety of interesting decisions. Many wargames, especially the long ones, suffer from rich getting richer/poor getting poorer and it’s no fun to be losing for long periods of time. Though the goal of a game may be to have fun, a game does not function if players know they cannot win, and leads to all sorts of non-fun situations. If I play a shorter to medium game, there’s less investment, less time to be losing, and I can pull out another game to play right afterwards.
drscotto says
Could you perhaps add an option that says any length is fine? I don’t care about how long a game takes to play as much as I care about how much I like playing. I’ll play a game anywhere from one second to forever, if I enjoy playing it enough.
The Game says
Nope. Gotta pick a preferred game length. I too will play a variety of game lengths (depending on circumstances) but gotta pick your favorite amount of time for a game to take.
TheMainEvent says
The 1-4 hour range is perfect for me, I like to have a game that allows for some serious planning, but not drag on forever.
Although, I am a sucker for a rousing game of Game of Thrones.
Tami says
I actually prefer 45 minutes to 1.5 hours. Longer than that tends to be too long. Less than that often leaves me just wanting more.
I settled on 20 minutes to 1 hour, because it was more comprehensive for my preferences.
drscotto says
Nope! I abstain.
Gavin says
I put in for 1-4 hours, but i’d say 1-2.5 is a better range for me. Anything over 2.5 is dead to me (more or less). Anything under 45 mins (in board game form) just doesn’t do it for me.
joshx0rfz says
I think there was some cheating going on in the poll last week…
Original Sultan says
I echo Tami’s thoughts. About 45 minutes to 90 minutes is a good length for a board game. I do enjoy the occasional 30 minute game, and also the occasional 2 to 3 hour game, but for me the sweet spot is definately 45 to 90 minutes. In that vein, I voted for 20 minutes to 1 hour, but the 1-4 hour option would be (nearly) equally valid for my preferences.
Reverend Mike says
I love the epic games…any time I can feel me bum go numb just as I’ve finished passing Go for the hundredth time, I feel accomplished…among my favorites are D&D (of course), monopoly and risk…
Just so long as there’s a good supply of food and significantly larger supply of drink nearby, I could go for days…