Mathhew I think it’s simple to pick game duration for a 2 player game, but difficult for a 3+ player game because it can be difficult to get schedules to line up. Also, the math on turns and the time are more complex.
For a 2 player Ticket to ride game it’s safe to assume completion in 45 turns as per the stats (as an example) so it would be reasonable to do 15 day duration and expect 3 moves per day. Most turns are quite simply drawing cards so if the players are both online there should be opportunities for both players to just pick up a bunch of cards back to back and advance the game.
For a player that can only make 3 moves throughout the day at specific times, this might not be enough time because the other player could keep moving 10 minutes after they move, putting clock pressure on them and then be a jerk and skip them when out of time. To avoid this, I believe being able to play at least twice as fast, 6 moves per day eliminates the chance for a player to use the clock against you.
In a 4+ player game it seems common that whoever has the clock running the longest while busy sleeping or at work will run into time trouble (within playing hours) outside of their control. Getting more than 1 turn played across 4+ people throughout 24 hours can be hard sometimes which puts you at the mercy of other players pace of play. I can see why some people prefer playing hours because of the clock running down while away.
In a 2 player game with no playing hours it’s always safe to go away or asleep for 8-10 hours every day if you can play the remainder of the time since you would need to deplete over 12 hours every 24 hours to go over time. This makes 2 player time management much easier and predictable.
I’ve found 3 player games a lot more difficult to get in sync for fast completion. I imagine 4 player games are even harder but I haven’t tried them yet tbh.
Also, I just noticed you’re Vancouver based too, nice!
