Board Game Arena

Hello everyone!

I've decided to create a series of tournaments aimed at being an intruduction to Euro games of all sorts. They're open to all players between 0 and 199 ELO.

It'll be separated into three sections, first one being the fundamentals.

Fundamentals will have games that are easy to learn and introduce basic Euro games mechanics.

Stepping stones will build on those mechanics with slightly heavier games.

The Heavyweights will have a few games that are considered a bit heavier, but should be fairly accessible after going through the first two sections.

They'll be beginning each Friday starting from the 3rd of July. Registration will be open at least 10 days before.

I'd really appreciate if people signed up for them.

Have a lovely day,
Madbranch

Currently available for registration:

Fundamentals lineup:
• ​July 3: Carcassonne https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572311
• ​July 10: Azul https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572312
• ​July 17: Harmonies https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572318
• ​July 24: Roll for the Galaxy https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572643
• ​July 31: Stone Age https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572664
• ​August 7: Tokaido https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572666
• ​August 14: Alhambra https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572668
• ​August 21: Wingspan https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572669

Stepping Stones lineup:

• ​August 28: Viticulture
https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=574204
• ​September 4: Tigris and Euphrates
https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=574269
• ​September 11: Res Arcana
https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=574782
• September 18: Castles of Burgundy
https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=574783
• September 25: Concordia
https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=574787
• October 2: Lorenzo il Magnifico
https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=575217
• October 9: Puerto Rico
https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=575218

The Heavyweights lineup:

• October 16: Orléans
https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=575870
• October 23: Lost Ruins of Arnak
https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=575871
• October 30: The Voyages of Marco Polo
https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=575872
• November 6: Tzolk'in
https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=575873
• November 13: Agricola
https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=575874
• November 20: Great Western Trail
https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=575887

If someone wants to learn a game, it's easier for them to play single games rather than join a tournament.

FSKFSK wrote: ↑16 June 2026, 00:30 If someone wants to learn a game, it's easier for them to play single games rather than join a tournament.

While that's fair, i find that it's tough finding opponents of roughly the same level for games that'll come towards the end of that tournament.

For example I needed 15 games for my first Tigris and Euphrates win since i was mostly playing at 1 elo against 200-300.

That's why I feel this could be a good opportunity later on. As with 1 elo you could get guaranteed a few matches of similar skill levels. And it's usually tough to find tournaments you can join at under 100 or for some games even under 200 elo.

But yes for these games i setup so far you're absolutely right.

I like your idea a lot. Dont worry about out those being negative about it. Players trying to learn games can do both. Single games, and tourneys to get the feel for tourney play. See how tourneys work without worrying about playing an expert. Glad to see more trying to make tourneys and for lower elo players. Super great. For those that dont like. You dont have to join.

yodamus wrote: ↑16 June 2026, 13:33 I like your idea a lot. Dont worry about out those being negative about it. Players trying to learn games can do both. Single games, and tourneys to get the feel for tourney play. See how tourneys work without worrying about playing an expert. Glad to see more trying to make tourneys and for lower elo players. Super great. For those that dont like. You dont have to join.

Thanks. Much appreciated. Yeah sometimes it's scary to go against a 600 elo person when you just reached 100. And while you might learn a lot, you might also sometimes just be baffled and confused by their moves and be like ... yeah this game isn't for me. Which fair, it might not be. But it also might be just bad first impression.

Also, first 8 tournaments set up! They're all set up at 0-199 elo.

Fundamentals lineup:
• ​July 3: Carcassonne https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572311
• ​July 10: Azul https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572312
• ​July 17: Harmonies https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572318
• ​July 24: Roll for the Galaxy https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572643
• ​July 31: Stone Age https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572664
• ​August 7: Tokaido https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572666
• ​August 14: Alhambra https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572668
• ​August 21: Wingspan https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572669


Next up after the Fundamentals is Stepping stones. I'm thinking of roughly: Viticulture, Concordia, Castles of Burgundy, Lorenzo il Magnifico. Need 3 more.

Would Puerto Rico fit here or would it be better at advanced section later? Tigris and Euphrates?

So far i have the following for the advanced set after the stepping stones: Lost Ruins of Arnak, Agricola, The Great Western Trail.
I'm thinking of adding Orleans and maybe Feast for Odin, though I'm really unsure about that one tbh.

Open to all suggestions.

Madbranch wrote: ↑16 June 2026, 15:07 Fundamentals lineup:
• ​July 3: Carcassonne https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572311
• ​July 10: Azul https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572312
• ​July 17: Harmonies https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572318
• ​July 24: Roll for the Galaxy https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572643
• ​July 31: Stone Age https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572664
• ​August 7: Tokaido https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572666
• ​August 14: Alhambra https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572668
• ​August 21: Wingspan https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572669

I like the concept (I also sometimes set up <200 Elo tournaments), but I just took a look at a few of these and all of them I looked at have one-week round times. Did you carefully think through how long the round should be for each game? Round times are not a one-size-fits-all parameter. This is not just an introduction to Euros, but for some it will be an introduction to tournaments, and having a round end because you couldn't finish the game in time is not a fun experience.

Meeplelowda wrote: ↑16 June 2026, 19:01

Madbranch wrote: ↑16 June 2026, 15:07 Fundamentals lineup:
• ​July 3: Carcassonne https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572311
• ​July 10: Azul https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572312
• ​July 17: Harmonies https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572318
• ​July 24: Roll for the Galaxy https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572643
• ​July 31: Stone Age https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572664
• ​August 7: Tokaido https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572666
• ​August 14: Alhambra https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572668
• ​August 21: Wingspan https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=572669

I like the concept (I also sometimes set up <200 Elo tournaments), but I just took a look at a few of these and all of them I looked at have one-week round times. Did you carefully think through how long the round should be for each game? Round times are not a one-size-fits-all parameter. This is not just an introduction to Euros, but for some it will be an introduction to tournaments, and having a round end because you couldn't finish the game in time is not a fun experience.

Fair enough. I'll update any that i can (has to be 0 participants to edit I believe?).

Honestly i felt like 1 week is a lot since i generally start turn based at 12 moves per day, but join slower too, so didn't really considered that not being enough. My bad.

Edit: Yay. Thanks for the early warning. Managed to fix all but two of the tournaments. So they're now mostly between 10 days and 30 days.

Madbranch wrote: ↑16 June 2026, 23:04 Honestly i felt like 1 week is a lot since i generally start turn based at 12 moves per day,

It's human nature to expect everyone else's experience is the same as our own by default. As another data point, I've only ever played something faster than 4 moves/day once (excluding real-time, obviously).

Whenever I run a tournament for a game I haven't hosted before, I look at both my own history in the game, and a sample of other people to see how many turns it takes to finish. Then I choose a conservative setting to allow enough time for that number of turns. This means I'll often start at 10 days per round. If 90% of people in that first tournament finish in 5 days, then I look at the games that didn't finish to see if it was a problem player that made it slow (like someone who simply didn't play for days). If the games don't finish due to a slow player, then I'll assume that 5 days was a comfortable pace for the vast majority of players and use that setting the next time.

This requires more oversight than some people want to put into hosting (some people don't even play in their own tournaments), but it helps you learn how to make the tournament better the next time.

Note that 5-7 days works for the games I host because they are almost exclusively 2-player with strictly alternating turns, meaning you don't have to wait for an action by the other player to complete your "turn.". 10 days may be too short for 3+ players or very long, intricate games requiring reaction moves even when it's not your turn.

Best of luck.

Thanks.

Those are some good tips and I'll try to implement as many as I can for the tournaments later. For those what is done is done. I honestly put more thought into theme and what games to pick rather than on execution itself. I guess being fairly new to setting up tournaments is part of it.

(Also oops. Won't be able to play in all of my tournaments either. But I'd rather not play than hang there as a 200+ elo possibly playing and demoralizing sub 100 elo players. Though sometimes I tend to give some advice when that happens. Amd I've also often recieved advice. Bga community can be really splendid.)

Mmm. Also don't want to put up too much time. Sometimes you end up waiting on someone with you having 6 days left and they're at negative 5 days. That can be rather annoying when you don't want to just skip them.

Madbranch wrote: ↑18 June 2026, 12:41 Also don't want to put up too much time. Sometimes you end up waiting on someone with you having 6 days left and they're at negative 5 days. That can be rather annoying when you don't want to just skip them.

Skipping (expelling) is a personal choice, but in Swiss tournaments particularly and to a certain degree in single elimination brackets, that player is often holding up the entire tournament, so not skipping them affects more than just you and them. Also, it does nothing to warn the community about them through karma (although the penalty is less for tournaments).

But I'm mostly viewing this through the lens of 2p games, where expelling someone doesn't result in a bizarre selection of who advances based on BGA account age. In a 3+ player game letting the round time expire seems to be the better of two bad choices.

As for not playing in tournaments you've made for newbies because you're advanced, that's understandable. I was referring to the practice of a host making badly structured tournaments that they don't play in so they aren't personally experiencing the consequences of their bad choices.