Board Game Arena

Y'all, I do not understand how timezones impact a player timing out.

It seems like if I join a table with a different timezone, I'm then forced to adhere to the timezone of the table host. I notice I'm unfairly timing out in games with extremely different timezones than myself. This wouldn't be a huge deal, but it's extra frustrating because I'm always creating tables and the site seems to be merging my tables with others, forcing me onto their timezone. Is that correct?

Playing times are only in effect for fast turn-based games, and they're displayed in your local timezone (at least in the lobby). You are free to choose tables with slower speed or more appropriate playing hours for you.

But if you are on "auto-join" and have set your preferences to allow fast-speed games, anything could happen.

pickledchips wrote: ↑22 May 2026, 18:42 I'm always creating tables and the site seems to be merging my tables with others, forcing me onto their timezone. Is that correct?

Depends on how you are entering the game.

* I note your most recent expulsion was from a tournament table. Tournaments frequently have no actual playing hours (like this one), but if you, an American, are put on a table with three players in India, it’s going to be difficult since a lot of their moves will be while you are asleep. Some tournaments do have playing hours; these hours apply to the whole tournament and as such it is vital you pay attention to them when joining.

* If you start looking for a game from the “Play Now” screen, you should look at the rightmost of the three menus across the top of the page. If it is set to Friends then you are in charge and only inviting people known to you; if it is Manual then games with open tables will say so and you can join an open table (in which case it already has its own settings) or you can start a new table (in which case you set the settings); if it is Automatic then each game will have a gear next to it that will allow you to set preferences including what hours are good for you, and you may end up starting a table or you may end up joining one that aligns with those preferences.

* If you start a game from the game’s page, you can either join a table shown or start your own which will generally follow your settings, except that you can say you are flexible about turn-based speed and that’s where the trouble often begins. On this page the default playing hours for the faster speeds are 9a-9p in Paris regardless of your timezone. If you manually move the slider to a fast setting you can see your playing hours and change them. The system will remember that change and I believe after that you can use the “any speed” switch safely, but you have to make this change for each game (like once for Carcassonne, once for Catan, etc).