Automatically passing without revealing information.

[sparr]

My players encounter a situation where their only legal move is to pass, but the other players can't know that (hidden info). If I automate the passing, then other players might be able to tell this based on how fast the passing happens. Is there a good way to avoid this?

[derscheid]

I was thinking about this as well, since it comes up a lot in Through The Ages. Players who are attacked may either defend by disbanding/playing Defense cards, or pass and suffer the consequences of the attack. If a player with a low military value auto-passed, the other players would see it and be able to also attack with near-guaranteed results.

One idea I had was to only partially automate the passing. The game would be set with an auto-pass probability (like 30%, 50%,75%) and that chance would be checked when the situation came up. It's not perfect, but might speed things slightly.

Second idea: any player who is in danger of being expelled should be forced to auto-pass. Game continues some without being completely held up by a slow player.