Page 1 of 1
hiding action cards
Posted: 26 August 2026, 16:13
by Green Zebra
For cards that are not of the type "play as an action" it is too easy to figure out who has what.
You can tell by the game calling out that it is waiting for them. The easiest one is sabotage. If you see someone play a card and then it waits for someone's response you know what they have. Looking at the card list and noting when it checked for card plays I can figure out a lot of other players cards.
I do not like the idea of adding stalls for all possible situation as that would massively slow things down, but it could mask who it is waiting for.
So, when it needs to stall, just say "waiting for player" and do not show who is stalled unless they are passed the time out. That way you at least do not know who has the card in question.
Re: hiding action cards
Posted: 26 August 2026, 16:42
by GTSchemer
Green Zebra wrote: ↑26 August 2026, 16:13
For cards that are not of the type "play as an action" it is too easy to figure out who has what.
You can tell by the game calling out that it is waiting for them. The easiest one is sabotage. If you see someone play a card and then it waits for someone's response you know what they have. Looking at the card list and noting when it checked for card plays I can figure out a lot of other players cards.
I do not like the idea of adding stalls for all possible situation as that would massively slow things down, but it could mask who it is waiting for.
So, when it needs to stall, just say "waiting for player" and do not show who is stalled unless they are passed the time out. That way you at least do not know who has the card in question.
As discussed here and in the FAQ:
https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewto ... 79#p263079
It is not possible to mask who wakes up in the BGA framework, to my knowledge. There is a lot of text in those various links if you are curious about the technical details and why it works the way it does.
Waking everyone would also not be feasible (and probably not allowed by BGA / the publisher) since it would involve lots of players loading Twilight Imperium tables that notified them of the need to take an action...except the only action they can do is click a pass button. That would not be fun.
Re: hiding action cards
Posted: 27 August 2026, 05:51
by weatherguy92
Green Zebra wrote: ↑26 August 2026, 16:13
For cards that are not of the type "play as an action" it is too easy to figure out who has what.
You can tell by the game calling out that it is waiting for them. The easiest one is sabotage. If you see someone play a card and then it waits for someone's response you know what they have. Looking at the card list and noting when it checked for card plays I can figure out a lot of other players cards.
I do not like the idea of adding stalls for all possible situation as that would massively slow things down, but it could mask who it is waiting for.
So, when it needs to stall, just say "waiting for player" and do not show who is stalled unless they are passed the time out. That way you at least do not know who has the card in question.
I just adjust my alerts each game, so that it gives me the option to pass every time someone plays an action card, regardless of whether or not I have sabotage. This masks whether or not I have it. Of course, if everyone did this, it would slow the game down a good bit. It is a workaround though.