Board Game Arena

Part of how ELO is calculated depends on the number of games played. If a player plays a friendly mode game, does that increase the number of games played when they play their next ranked match in the same game?

Lotsa_Llamas wrote: ↑23 August 2026, 16:12 Part of how ELO is calculated depends on the number of games played.

Which part?

Jellby wrote: ↑23 August 2026, 17:24

Lotsa_Llamas wrote: ↑23 August 2026, 16:12 Part of how ELO is calculated depends on the number of games played.

Which part?

The K factor part. You can be cute and say the number of games is not "part of the calculation," it just determines which K factor will be used for the calculation. But it still influences the calculation for the first 20 games.

The OP's question is an interesting one, and I don't know the answer for sure.

When I made this post, the game I referenced was that player's 9th ranked game. There were several friendly games in there which did not apparently count, because the player's K-factor still seemed to be 60 (which it is for the first 10 games).

So no, I do not believe friendly games count for any aspect of Elo calculation.

Probably unfinished (abandoned) games do not count either.

No need to speculate.

Here is a definitive answer: Friendly mode games do not count toward the 10-game and 20-game threshold for which the player's k-factor is triple and then double the usual number.

After 10 completed rated games, the next game will have a k-factor of 40. And after 20 completed rated games, the next game and all subsequent games will have the standard k-factor of 20.

BarnardsStar wrote: ↑23 August 2026, 19:01 When I made this post, the game I referenced was that player's 9th ranked game. There were several friendly games in there which did not apparently count, because the player's K-factor still seemed to be 60 (which it is for the first 10 games).

So no, I do not believe friendly games count for any aspect of Elo calculation.

That sounds like it could be exploited by some people. Like, in the games where the top Elo isn't very high (like in the 300s), someone could decide to get good at the game playing only friendly games, then once they are ready, start playing ranked games and use the high K-factor to their advantage to quickly sprint to the first place.

Of course, that could also happen if someone just played a game a lot outside of BGA, so it's not the worst thing ever, but still a bit wonky.

Or just create a new account once you've mastered the game.

But would you be able to keep that 1st place?

You may or not, but generally people are happy to just get the trophy even if they don't remain at the top for very long.

So? They did it, and got a trophy for it.