Start a game with empty seats?

[amweinst]

I've set up a friends only game for 6p at the table, but it can play as few as 2p. We currently have 4p and I'd like to start the game anyway instead of waiting for our other friends to decide if they want to join. Is there a way I can do this?

[Blacktango]

If you've already invited some friends who can't join, I think you'll have to kick them off the table to start the game.

Be careful, if your table is open to random players (i.e. if you haven't set a filter such as "Friends of amweinst"), when you kick someone, a player you don't know will be able to join between the kick and the start.

[greyfortlight]

I wonder if this depends on the game? I often set up a couple of games as 3 players, but if only one person joins the game I'll go ahead and click on Start Game. If you are the person who created the game/table you should be able to just start the game.

[Jellby]

Is it always for real-time or turn-based games? In real-time games, you can typically start with fewer players than seats at the table (if the game allows it), or at least you could last time I checked. In turn-based games, it makes sense you can't do that after some player(s) have joined, because in turn-based games there is no acceptance screen, and players should not be forced to play a game that does not comply with the settings of the table they joined.

[JackNapis]

You can definitely start a turn-based game with empty seats, assuming the minimum number of players have joined for the specific game.

For example, Hardback can be started with just one player, while Line It requires at least two players.

[mooken]

BGA used to allow you to set up a table (turn-based usually) for 5 players (for example), and even if you only have 3 players sitting at the table, you can "Start the game anyway", without having to fill in the last 2 spots.

This feature seems to be completely gone now. Was this a announced change? Makes it a lot harder to coordinate games with friends who may/maynot be available to join.

[nik592]

BGA used to allow you to set up a table (turn-based usually) for 5 players (for example), and even if you only have 3 players sitting at the table, you can "Start the game anyway", without having to fill in the last 2 spots.

This feature seems to be completely gone now. Was this a announced change? Makes it a lot harder to coordinate games with friends who may/maynot be available to join.

The feature is still there, but essentially through the old lobby interface. You can still access that by going to the table itself, rather than the game page - if the game hasn't started, I think the easiest way is probably from your list of current tables (not from the menu under your avatar, but there is a button at the bottom that loads the same list into a proper page, and clicking on the table from there takes you to the table page, which should have a start game button).

Basically, the feature wasn't announced to be removed as it wasn't, it's just not implemented in the new "game page" lobbies.