Please stop putting timers on confirmation buttons

[FamousTheAardvark]

I have ADHD and the timers on confirmation buttons make a game so stressful for me. Once the timer appears I can't think about what I did or what I need to do, only that the timer is counting down and I'm going to lose my chance to correct a mistake. I play turn based because I don't want time pressure. I just want to have a relaxed game and the timers don't allow that.

[nik592]

There would be those who appreciate the timers as a means of not leaving your turn (that you thought you finished) hanging - I have done this a time or two on games where there isn't a timer on the confirm button. This is my fault, but just pointing out there are arguments for both sides.

There are options to turn them off for some games (check the settings for the game under the hamburger menu - these are your personal settings, not settings of the table), and you could also suggest (in the bug reports) for the setting to be added for games where it isn't. I actually searched a bit to see if there already is one for the general case, but couldn't find it - in fact, I only found someone suggesting to ADD a timer for games where there isn't one. You're probably more likely to get traction on suggesting for individual games though (in my opinion).

[paramesis]

Thank you so much for speaking up about this. This is the exact reason I've been advocating as a developer against countdown timers on confirm buttons on BGA as a default or only option since they started becoming a trend around 2020. I am convinced there is value to those timers for players who wish to opt in to use them as nik592 describes, but having them on by default creates difficulty for some neurodivergent people or those who come to the site with different levels of physical ability. I wouldn't consider myself to be affected by either of those categories and timers have caused me to panic and restart my turn when I otherwise wouldn't have in games I'm playing for the first time.

[GTSchemer]

1000% agree with this both as a player and a developer. It drives me nuts in A Feast for Odin, since there does not seem to be any way to disable it without switching to turn-based mode.

It encourages the player to rush their decision, and introduces stress which does not need to be there.

For what it's worth, I am also likely neuro-divergent on some level.

[robinzig]

To add my voice to the chorus, I also hate the countdown timer, and always turn off the timer in those games which allow it - but I hate that this isn't the default, and obviously hate it a lot more where it isn't even an option. (I'm also technically a BGA developer, but I've only got one game released on the platform, with a second technically in progress but that I'm barely finding time or inclination to work on so that is still miles away from even reaching Alpha - and I agree with the other developers above, I would never put such a countdown on a confirmation button, not even as an option unless there's a strong chorus of suggestions that can give a very good reason for having the option.)

[Phoxtrot]

I haven't yet seen a game where it couldn't be turned off.
But yeah, those timers don't make sense in turn based mode.

[nik592]

OK, I found one - Earth has a countdown, but no option to disable. I raised a suggestion for it if people wish to vote for it: https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=119505

As an aside, I'll keep an eye out for games that don't have them. While I'm generally not bothered by them, having the option to turn on or off makes it easier for all.

[cigma]

I am also not a friend of the confirmation timer. If I am 100% sure with my move, I click on Confirm in order to save 2 seconds . But if there is a slight doubt, 5 seconds is often too short for me to recognize it and react.

I didn't think about the possibility to turn it off via the hamburger menu, so thanks for reminding me! I will check it in my future games.

[Jellby]

Would it help if there was a confirmation button with time out but with no visible countdown? In that case, you'd probably be able to hide the countdown via custom css.

[GTSchemer]

Would it help if there was a confirmation button with time out but with no visible countdown? In that case, you'd probably be able to hide the countdown via custom css.

That would be even worse, because you wouldn't even know how much time you had to click undo while trying to review your turn.