Board Game Arena

Hello,

I am registered in a turn-based tournament and there is only 1 left game : https://boardgamearena.com/tableview?table=882791348
2 players have negative time left :
- why is the game not stopping ? How long will it last before the tournament continues ?
- The 2 players with negative time are leading, but will they be eliminated in the end because of this negative timing ?

Thanks

FastPlayPlz wrote: ↑16 August 2026, 07:20 Hello,

I am registered in a turn-based tournament and there is only 1 left game : https://boardgamearena.com/tableview?table=882791348
2 players have negative time left :
- why is the game not stopping ? How long will it last before the tournament continues ?
- The 2 players with negative time are leading, but will they be eliminated in the end because of this negative timing ?

Thanks

If you look at the tournament settings, each game has a maximum length of 60 calendar days. The tournament has 12 hour playing hours defined, so the clocks only count down during those hours. In that sense, there is only a total of 30 days which is divided among the 4 players, so each player started with 7.5 days of time on their clocks. BGA rounds down, so it only looks like 7 days.

It looks like the games for this round started on July 15th, so it could take another month before the game is forced to end. If the maximum time is reached and the game is not over yet, the players with the least time left on their clocks will be eliminated. If the game finishes normally before that time, the time remaining on the clocks will not matter.

Skipping is allowed for this tournament, so it's possible one of these overtime players could be skipped and the game could end early. If any player gets skipped, the results are invalidated, and all the other players tie for first place. In this case, if more people need to be eliminated, the players with the newest accounts are chosen.

Was writing this as Shivaware posted theirs, which also explains the situation pretty well, but including mine as I mentioned a few other things.

Negative time doesn't mean a game automatically ends, though players at the table likely have the option to kick the over time players on their turn(s). If they do this, the game will be neutralised and all players except whoever was kicked (you can only kick one or the other and that neutralises the game and prevents kicking the other) will be declared winners, and that kicked player as loser. However, this is a multiplayer elimination, one of the non-kicked players will be chosen to be eliminated as well (based on BGA account age - newer players are kicked over older ones). One of the overtime players has the newest account, so if the other out of time player is kicked, both over time players will end up eliminated, however, if the one with the newest account is kicked, a player who is not currently out of time will be eliminated along with them instead, and the other overtime player will progress to the next round.

The game has a maximum time of 2 months, so if that time is reached, the game will also end with a neutralised result - this then awards ranking based on who has most time left. So again, if things continue in that way the two overtime players will be eliminated. If another player ends up exceeding the negative time or one of those two, they could be eliminated instead. But as the game is only currently at 33 days, you're probably looking at another 4 weeks or so before it ends due to maximum time.

Shivaware wrote: ↑16 August 2026, 07:43 BGA rounds down, so it only looks like 7 days.

On that note, they really need to show us the exact time rather than a number of days. When the maximum game duration is near, you may want to know all the details in order to determine whether it's more fair to conclude the game by kicking out someone or by letting the game run out of time. You can't know who will get eliminated if two players still show the same number of days. I'm not sure why they can't show us the hours.

nik592 wrote: ↑16 August 2026, 07:53 If they do this, the game will be neutralised and all players except whoever was kicked (you can only kick one or the other and that neutralises the game and prevents kicking the other) will be declared winners, and that kicked player as loser.

It seems rather absurd that this is how it works. They are basically forcing you to pick which of the out of time players to eliminate. You are in the position to punish players for being out of time, but you are only allowed to do it with one player, and the other players who are out of time will be ranked not by their remaining time, but by their account's age. It sounds like a system that doesn't agree with itself, or doesn't really believe in itself.