How long does it take for a game to come out of alpha?

[Sjarmtrollet]

How long does it take for a game to come out of alpha? I see Evolution, https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29949, is still in alpha, for instance...

[robinzig]

How long does it take for a game to come out of alpha? I see Evolution, https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29949, is still in alpha, for instance...

Anywhere between 1-2 weeks and never.

It all depends on how long it takes for the game to get both sufficiently many approvals from alpha reviewers (typically 10, but BGA can vary this in special cases), and an indication from the game publisher that they're happy enough with the adaptation for it to go forward to beta (where everyone on BGA can play it, at least in theory, even if it isn't "advertised" yet at that point).

Aside from some time sometimes being needed to get to this stage - which can happen with a complex game where many bugs are found, for example - some projects sadly never move forward, either because the publisher gets cold feet or because the developer of the adaptation disappears at a point where there are still important bugs to be fixed. (The vast majority of developers of game adaptations for BGA are doing this voluntarily, for no financial or other reward other than seeing their work available on BGA for them and others to enjoy. It's hardly surprising that often people simply "disappear" - and while usually that happens long before enough work has been done to reach Alpha status, it's not unknown for it to happen afterwards. They could simply get too busy in their real life for a time - hopefully only temporarily but who really knows if they don't respond to any messages?)