Board Game Arena

Aloha from a newb!

I played my first game on BGA (or any online board game community) last week and loved the game but hated the 2 minute turn clock. Is there a way to play real time games but with no countdown clock or a longer clock? I'm not a premium member if that makes a difference.

I'm especially interested to know this because I'd like to try other games but even with Splendor, a board game I own, it took a bit for me to figure out how the online version works.

Thanks everyone!

Hello and welcome

For real time games, you have basically 2 options:
1) play in "training mode" as game mode, to have no clock
2) choose the "Real-time • Slow speed" as game speed, to have more time (the exact amount of time changes for different games)

The game mode and game speed options are available in the Play now page:

• in automatic mode: when clicking on the gear next to the game you can set your preferences ("Show advanced options" to see them all)

• in manual mode: on open tables these are indicated just after the mention "open for joining" (or if you create the table they can be chosen in the table configuration, but for premium games only premium members can create the table)

Wish you lots of fun playing and discovering games

If you're playing with friends who are online, you can also play turn-based games but in real time (without the stress of too little time). My friends and I often meet on our Discord channel and play board games, and we play in turn-based mode.

fruktansvärt wrote: ↑23 October 2022, 22:17 If you're playing with friends who are online, you can also play turn-based games but in real time (without the stress of too little time). My friends and I often meet on our Discord channel and play board games, and we play in turn-based mode.

It is also possible to set real time games to no time limit if all players at the table are on your friends list.

Thank you everyone for your help! I will give it a try!

Meeplelowda wrote: ↑23 October 2022, 23:10 It is also possible to set real time games to no time limit if all players at the table are on your friends list.

I am sorry to say that this is not quite right, and people get confused about his rather often. You can create real time games without time limit in normal mode (i. e. not training mode) only if you RESTRICT THE TABLE beforehand to players on your friends list (inviting only friends is not enough!). To do so, when you create a table use the link at the right side (in very small letters) for "Restricting the table".

@AlwaysReading:
Do you know there are tutorials for many games here? https://boardgamearena.com/gamelist?hasTutorialOnly= They not only tell you about the rules of a game but also help you to figure out how the online version works.
I am sure you will find out in short time that all the different games work basically the same way.
Have fun

cigma wrote: ↑24 October 2022, 00:23

Meeplelowda wrote: ↑23 October 2022, 23:10 It is also possible to set real time games to no time limit if all players at the table are on your friends list.

I am sorry to say that this is not quite right, and people get confused about his rather often. You can create real time games without time limit in normal mode (i. e. not training mode) only if you RESTRICT THE TABLE beforehand to players on your friends list (inviting only friends is not enough!). To do so, when you create a table use the link at the right side (in very small letters) for "Restricting the table".

Alternatively, you can select [FRIENDS] from the [FRIENDS][AUTOMATIC][MANUAL] drop down menu. I didn't explain explicitly how you get to the state in which you can select the "no time limit - with friends only" option, but the point is you don't have to use the turn-based work around if you want to play with friends in normal mode with no time limit.