Board Game Arena

We are pleased to announce that Hotseat mode is now available on Board Game Arena. Using Hotseat mode, you can play any game on Board Game Arena with friends next to you, using the same computer/tablet/phone.

Board Game Arena's main purpose is to give you a way to find opponents anywhere in the world, but we figured that in some specific situations it could be nice to play on BGA from the same place: playing against oneself to learn how to play, playing with a friend next to you AND a friend far away, ...

So we chose to introduce Hotseat, and it's available right now. After you create a table, click on "invite a friend" and select "Hotseat". You can invite as many hotseat players than you need, and you can even play with both hotseat players and distant players. Please note that ELO ranking is disabled when using this mode.

Hotseat is a BETA feature, so please do not hesitate to report any difficulties you may encounter using it.

Important note: BGA's purpose is not to replace real board games, but to advertise for real board games. We certainly do not want this new mode to incite players to play board games on BGA when they are physically at the same place. This is why Hotseat mode is going to become a Premium-restricted feature after some period of time. In the meantime feel free to enjoy it!

I'm not able to play against Hotseat

struffoletto wrote:I'm not able to play against Hotseat

We had a glitch during feature launch. It has been fixed.

You can invite as many hotseat players [as you want] (not "than you need"), and you . . .

We certainly do not want this new mode to [encourage or cause] (not "incite") players to . . .

In the meantime[,] feel free . . .

It's really easy to cheat at a game such as 6 Nimmt and other games with a mode like this. Will there be some kind of notification when players at my table are using Hotseat mode? I don't want to play with these people.

fastattaq wrote:It's really easy to cheat at a game such as 6 Nimmt and other games with a mode like this. Will there be some kind of notification when players at my table are using Hotseat mode? I don't want to play with these people.

This is displayed before the game, you cannot miss it. By the way, ELO is always off.

This is a great feature, and the notion that I would play a game by myself to learn it, before playing with real players is great.
May I suggest that even if the hotseat feature itself becomes a premium feature, that it remains available for games that a user has yet to play a single game of?
That way you will be able to play a certain amount of times to familiarize yourself with the game, and once X amount of plays has been reached (which can be from 1 to 3) the feature gets locked.

hunk_gr wrote:May I suggest that even if the hotseat feature itself becomes a premium feature, that it remains available for games that a user has yet to play a single game of?
That way you will be able to play a certain amount of times to familiarize yourself with the game, and once X amount of plays has been reached (which can be from 1 to 3) the feature gets locked.

This is the way we intend to do it.

You wrote that ELO will be turned off when you play in hot seat mode.
Well I tried it Bubblebee, I played one game with myself, and won with my account,
but I got +30 ELO, and the bonus for winning my first game, so fix it please,
I don't want points for playing against myself.

Silvermiikkaa wrote:I don't want points for playing against myself.

You're right, there was a possibility for some turn-based configuration to have a "ELO on" table. This has been fixed.