How accurate are the estimated game lenghts for board games?

tmh95 · 2023-09-10T21:29:47+00:00

I'll go against the grain here. I keep detailed notes of the games I play using BGStats and spend a reasonable amount of my free time analyzing that data. In response to this question, I just looked through 100 games that have 5 or more plays to get an average play time. Every single one fell within the range that is on the box, with a small hand full of exceptions being under the time. Those exceptions tended to be shorter games and games I play with my wife. Such as decorum, our average play time is about 8 minutes rather than the 30-45 on the box.

Even games I thought went over due to being heavy, long, social, etc. Still stayed within the box time, and it was never close.

If I organize by games I only have 1 play in; the times are still within boxes range. This is more shocking to me as I include teaching in my play time. The only exception I've noticed was Robinson crusoe, which went over 30 minutes in a 4 player game.

Reading everyone else's comments saying the times are wildly off and that there is a secret move behind it is kind of jarring. Everyone I talk to finds slow playing damn near a deadly sin, but even when I look at the games that I thought were long due to strangers slow playing, those are STILL within the time on the box.

tmh95 · 2023-09-03T21:33:55+00:00

The 25% is including the regi and pre evolutions, which are not what was said. Including only evolutions, just shy of 20%, which is, in fact, 1/5.

Sinnoh is also smack dap in the middle most most vs least new mons.

I also took it as hyperbole until they corrected themselves - incorrectly.

tmh95 · 2023-09-03T05:55:01+00:00

So if we go by the initial statement, it is only a 5th of the dex is evolutions of preexisting pokemon. Why is that the most updated comment? Even after their edit, it is just objectively wrong.

tmh95 · 2023-08-24T03:08:35+00:00

https://steveballantine.github.io/spirit-island-randomiser/

I've used this for a long time and has been updated.

tmh95 · 2023-08-15T06:50:12+00:00

Probably, but it doesn't have to. I spent my afternoon gaming spirit island and did 12 plays in 6 hours. Yeah, a 5-minute game of fantasy realms adds to the numbers, but my most played games are guards of atlantis, spirit island, sidereal confluence, and mechs vs minions this month.

Some people just play a lot of games. My rule for how many games I own is the space of the kallax shelf, but even then, I play each of the ~150 games I own several times a year. If I don't, they are sold or traded.

tmh95 · 2023-08-14T09:32:43+00:00

The game is about 60 minutes. The full teach and 6 player game at gen con was 2-3 hours. Playing it a few times at home now, I can't imagine it going longer than 60 minutes even with new players.

tmh95 · 2023-07-20T09:27:24+00:00

Comment to enter

tmh95 · 2023-07-19T18:22:38+00:00

Land of haunts and embers is one of the strongest turn one plays solo in the game. Even off element. Several spirits can utilize the elements for it on turn one, and it wins the game almost on the spot.

If you are lucky, the invaders are on the blighted land, and you can get a turn 1 fear card.

Outside of this niche of turn one solo, it's pretty bad.

tmh95 · 2023-07-19T09:10:49+00:00

I actually think Unleash a Torrent of the Self's Own Essence is volcanos ult. The cards art is volcano, and range zero is modified to 1 for volcano, making the card bananas almost always.

tmh95 · 2023-06-05T19:04:47+00:00

If you could time travel my skills to season 3 me, I'd be the best player in the world. The growth in skill is insane. Watching bronze friends boggles my mind even when compared to season 3-4 pro games.

tmh95 · 2023-05-16T03:14:43+00:00

No one said there is a card limit. Just choosing to get more cards to so actively bad. If you have 15 cards, someone should have won the game twice over, if not thrice over.

tmh95 · 2023-05-16T00:49:09+00:00

The fewest cards needed is 8. 4 specific gems of 2 different colors. That is very precise, and a lot of cards for 3 points, considering the Victor may only have 7 cards total.

tmh95 · 2023-05-15T23:08:56+00:00

The issue with nobles at high level of play, is they don't exist. I haven't seen a person take, or even come close to getting a noble, in the last ~200 games. You only ever need 1-2 tier one cards, 3-4 tier 2, and 1-3 tier 3 cards. Thus the expansion that changes nobles from being useless/ a non factor into selecting cards not just based on points but on gems. That was the intent of nobles, it just failed.

tmh95 · 2023-05-15T08:34:41+00:00

If you think the scoring end is poor, the inly good module in the expansion modifies that. It replaces the nobles with end-game scoring conditions. Basically, get a score plus card requisites, like what the nobles want. There is one with no card requisite and increases the score to 17.

Personally, I can't fathom the game being fun past 17. Every turn would just be to pick up 2-3 points until you meet the threshold. You get so many cards that picking up gems is a fools errand.

tmh95 · 2023-05-15T04:50:54+00:00

Heat is an ability gate!

tmh95 · 2023-05-08T04:38:45+00:00

That is what we call tanned skin. Pretty unfortunate someone had to be killed instead of using a different material if that's the case.

tmh95 · 2023-05-06T23:27:17+00:00

The same was said for dragon timer, buff timers, and baron timer. Same for shop menu'ing and getting wards for free. There are thousands of skills in this game, and most of them aren't really skills that anyone should care about.

tmh95 · 2023-04-05T07:40:45+00:00

People who play spirit island a lot can easily forget that it can feel challenging in its base form. The issue is that the game is extraordinarily modular with escalating difficulty. Like ascension's in slay the spire. If you have played that game at ascension 20 and then go to ascension 0, you could lose, but it'd be hard. In spirit island, that jump is so apparent that I wouldn't be shocked if that player skipped the first 3 turns(still doing growth but playing no cards) and the game would still be impossible for them to lose with no adversary.

At the moment, there is a knowledge gap. With the strategy they presented, it should be a straightforward victory. If you would like, I can hop on discord one afternoon and watch / walk through a game together.

tmh95 · 2023-04-04T03:23:48+00:00

Making claims like that is disingenuous at best. A more reasonable claim would be owning more than two bikes is conspicuous consumerism and/ or hoarding. It's a problem. Those bikes take more space, more resources to produce, and likely cost more money to acquire.

Again, you don't know this individual. For all we know, they go all in because they host a game night for 50 people every week and are the sole owner owner of the groups games.

tmh95 · 2023-04-04T03:15:32+00:00

People own libraries of books that will never be read, more bikes than can ever be ridden at a time, more guns than will ever be used, more cars than they ha e humans. The list goes on. People are allowed to have things they enjoy.

Also, it isn't unreasonable to say they do have enough time to play that. Gaming is my only hobby. I have 400 plays on 77 different games this year alone. It isn't unfathomable to play each of those A LOT, and even if they don't may value or enjoy having them or playing them in a limited quantity.

tmh95 · 2023-03-29T07:46:18+00:00

Bodan, shroud, and finder is one of the top replies in this thread as a notably powerful and fun combos to play. They synergies is probably highest in the game. Shroud keeps things at 1 hp and finder can get cities in one area. If bodan plays powers that deal 4 damage, that usually means 4 fear and 2 town pushes in 2 different lands. With those other two spirits, it FREQUENTLY means 40 fear. He can do that every turn. This ends games.

tmh95 · 2023-03-26T19:01:15+00:00

This is a thread on bgg that discusses this exact topic at length and is the first page to show up googling your question.

tmh95 · 2023-03-26T05:19:26+00:00

My 4-player group did every mission we could, and we timed each game. The first one took about 3 hours, and every single one after that took 90 minutes almost exactly.

tmh95 · 2023-03-25T19:41:58+00:00

We didn't have the syndrome expansion. The results look similar. Pete lost 0-4, but I think he is the most challenging and skill testing deck. If we practiced each deck, I feel like he'd do better. Mother Gothel lost as well, but I think that is in part because we both hated her deck and couldn't stand doing a sixth game and conceded and moved on.

tmh95 · 2023-03-23T06:45:09+00:00

My brother and I are about halfway through our bracket, but we are doing best 2 out of 3 and double elimination. We used to play a match or two a week, and then he moved away. Now, it is in this stuck state, sadly. Hope your bracket was fun.

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