Board Game Arena

Can we get something added to the FAQ regarding the time joker?


I would like to know how they work (each adds 24 hours to our thinking time?), how often they get replenished (yearly?), if there's a way to obtain more, and what exactly happens when I click on "Use a time joker."

It's become increasingly common that when I play in a tournament with people who are on opposite sides of the planet, one player will lose enough thinking time hours that despite their overall score they will lose the game.

This just happened to me in a Love Letter tournament. I was only an hour over my thinking time this morning and was actively playing. I had just won a heart and was in a good position to win the game. All of a sudden I found myself kicked out of the game with no way to rejoin because my thinking time was below zero.

https://boardgamearena.com/table?table=183096775

From a cynical view, it would seem one of my opponents did not want me to win and took advance of a game feature, which is fair play, since the player with the most thinking time can eventually be a game winner.

But if I had know enough about the time joker, I would have used it in this instance.

Thank you in advance! /Greg

It would be good to add an FAQ about this, because there are a lot of things that aren't easily found (I even struggled to find the place on where to add a time joker). If you go to your games in progress (https://boardgamearena.com/gameinprogress) you will find the number of remaining time jokers, and that they add 4 days of thinking time.

To the best of my knowledge, these time jokers are indeed replenished on a yearly basis.

Unfortunately, as far as I know, time jokers do not apply to tournaments. This does make sense, because if on multiplayer tables everyone would use up all their time jokers, the game might drag on forever, completely throwing off the timing of the tournament.

You are right that it does feel weird to be kicked out of the game for going an hour over time, when all other players clearly had plenty of time left, so the game could have easily been finished. There are multiple discussions and suggestions regarding this, and BGA already automatically ends games that have reached the total alloted time for all players.

donkeykong66 wrote: ↑30 June 2021, 22:14 Unfortunately, as far as I know, time jokers do not apply to tournaments. This does make sense, because if on multiplayer tables everyone would use up all their time jokers, the game might drag on forever, completely throwing off the timing of the tournament.

Thank you for this! It does make sense, and now I realize I would have been powerless.

And yes, I have read the threads. In particular, this one makes the most sense.

https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewto ... =8&t=21533

As a result, I'm very reluctant to participate in a turn-based tournament unless it is limited by time zone. It's just unsatisfying to wake up and learn you lost 8h in the game for no good reason.

Programmatically, it would be easy to fix; if I'm online, my clock ticks. But after a set time (e.g. 10 pm) you should be able to pause your clock until a set time in the morning, or if you log in earlier. Call it your sleep window. Open that window and your clock ticks. Otherwise, sleep knowing you aren't losing with every hour.

Alternatively, programmatically find the best window to play the game as live as possible based on each player's time zone, their availability notwithstanding.