Board Game Arena

Hello everyone!
I’m a new BGA member and I’m really looking forward to playing with you all. I had a quick question about game setup. When we create games that are played in one sitting rather than turn-based, is there a way to set the timer to be longer than the default 1.5 minutes?
Since I’m brand new, it can be a bit challenging to decide on my moves—especially when I’m still learning the games—within that time limit. I’ve been able to manage so far, but it does feel very rushed. I completely understand that many players prefer the faster pace, but I was wondering if there’s a setting that allows for a slightly longer timer, even just an extra minute.
Also, if a game were set to a 2.5-minute timer, would that be a dealbreaker for most of you, or would you still be open to playing?
Thanks so much, and I’m excited to play with you all!

Bigcuban1983 wrote: ↑02 January 2026, 00:51 Hello everyone!
I’m a new BGA member and I’m really looking forward to playing with you all. I had a quick question about game setup. When we create games that are played in one sitting rather than turn-based, is there a way to set the timer to be longer than the default 1.5 minutes?
Since I’m brand new, it can be a bit challenging to decide on my moves—especially when I’m still learning the games—within that time limit. I’ve been able to manage so far, but it does feel very rushed. I completely understand that many players prefer the faster pace, but I was wondering if there’s a setting that allows for a slightly longer timer, even just an extra minute.
Also, if a game were set to a 2.5-minute timer, would that be a dealbreaker for most of you, or would you still be open to playing?
Thanks so much, and I’m excited to play with you all!

The slow setting for Ticket to Ride is "+0:29 per turn (maximum 2:27)." So you get roughly half a minute added back every turn and can accumulate up to almost 2.5 minutes. Yes, you may lose some people who have their filters set to fast, but the default human behavior is to do the default thing, and by default no time filters are set so setting your game to slow won't impact most people.

Bigcuban1983 wrote: ↑02 January 2026, 00:51 Also, if a game were set to a 2.5-minute timer, would that be a dealbreaker for most of you?

Not at all. Rarely you can get annoyed in chat if you think a logn time for a move, just ignore them. Most people are patient and will respect your need to think

Meeplelowda wrote: ↑02 January 2026, 01:23 The slow setting for Ticket to Ride is "+0:29 per turn (maximum 2:27)."

Is there any way to find this out without simply starting a game? Not just for TTR, but generally for any game on BGA?
I don't play much Real Time, but I've come to realise that Fast, Normal and Slow mean different things for different games.

Jontia wrote: ↑09 January 2026, 18:40

Meeplelowda wrote: ↑02 January 2026, 01:23 The slow setting for Ticket to Ride is "+0:29 per turn (maximum 2:27)."

Is there any way to find this out without simply starting a game? Not just for TTR, but generally for any game on BGA?
I don't play much Real Time, but I've come to realise that Fast, Normal and Slow mean different things for different games.

Yes, but I don't see it shown if you use the inferior way of starting games, i.e., going to the lobby for just that game. If instead you use the Play Now tab (link in my signature), the timing for Fast, Normal, and Slow are shown right below the Game Speed drop down menu when you configure a table.
https://imgur.com/a/qGHQPIk

Ed.: Modified to show image link.

Meeplelowda wrote: ↑09 January 2026, 21:02 Yes, but I don't see it shown if you use the inferior way of starting games, i.e., going to the lobby for just that game. If instead you use the Play Now tab (link in my signature), the timing for Fast, Normal, and Slow are shown right below the Game Speed drop down menu when you configure a table.

Thanks, that's really useful. You do need to be creating tables though rather than using the automatic setting I generally leave on. Would be good to have that detail under the Cog/Setting pop-up too.

Jontia wrote: ↑10 January 2026, 22:53

Meeplelowda wrote: ↑09 January 2026, 21:02 Yes, but I don't see it shown if you use the inferior way of starting games, i.e., going to the lobby for just that game. If instead you use the Play Now tab (link in my signature), the timing for Fast, Normal, and Slow are shown right below the Game Speed drop down menu when you configure a table.

Thanks, that's really useful. You do need to be creating tables though rather than using the automatic setting I generally leave on. Would be good to have that detail under the Cog/Setting pop-up too.

You're right. It should be shown in cog menu, or else how do you really know what you're selecting?

Out of curiosity, is my screenshot visible to you? On my end I just see a placeholder "image" icon.

Meeplelowda wrote: ↑11 January 2026, 02:00 Out of curiosity, is my screenshot visible to you? On my end I just see a placeholder "image" icon.

It is not. I clicked the play lobby link in your signature without really thinking about it.

It sucks the life out of a game if players are taking multiple minutes **per turn** to figure out their move. On a 4 player game, if everyone did that, it could be 5-10 minutes between each person's turn.

I like the way BGG is set up, to allow the occasional longer turn (e.g. when you're deciding upon new route tickets) but overall you have to manage your time.

This isn't chess.. there's a lot of turns where you just need to grab train cars. It shouldn't take 2.5 minutes to do that. One most turns, the biggest choice is "play down now and possibly telegraph my route" vs "hold and keep going for more cars to continue the route"... and you can usually gather data for that as other people play their moves.

Now granted, if someone takes a segment you were depending on, you might need to rethink. But again, that's what the occasional longer turn is for.

One of the things I like best about this game is how quick it is. It would absolutely deter me from playing with someone if they took 2.5 min per turn. A lot of people don't pay attention to the game speed when joining a table, and I get really frustrated when my game is set on the fastest possible setting but the other player takes their sweet time with every single turn (with exception of selecting routes because that often takes longer). If you don't want to worry about time, just play on friendly mode until you're more familiar with the game.

That being said, I don't generally boot people out even if they're constantly over the time limit. But it's really, really annoying, and I definitely red thumb everyone who can't play at the table's set speed.