Tournament mode player timer

11 votes

Competitive play requires time to think about a move negotiate trades and then act on a plan and a 2 minute turn timer just does not allow for that. Instead I propose a turn timer similar to how it is done in chess where each player has their own timer. I would say each player should get 30 minutes the guarantee the game last no longer than 2 hours which I think is a respectable length for a competitive game. In tournament I have seen games last longer. But it can really be any amount of time. When a players turn begins their timer starts counting down and it ends when they end their turn. Timer also runs during discarding. If a player exceeds their timer they lose a point and gain a tenth of the timer back. So if the timer was 30 minutes and you exceed your timer you lose a point but gain 3 minutes in your timer.
This allows a layer of time management to the game but also doesnt punish a player for having a lot of cards in their hand and having a big turn.

Under consideration Suggested by: Gregory Herman (23 Jan, '20) • Upvoted: 24 Oct, '21 • Comments: 7

Comments: 7

23 Jan, '20
Demiculus Admin
If we can set the right amount starting time for each player as well as right amount of extra time for each build, trade, dice we can easily cap out the max time a game would take which will make the games finish at the same time.
Another added benefit of this is when people want to play 10 minute games or 30 minute or 5 hour they can adjust the timer accordingly.
23 Jan, '20
Alex Bruski
What if you can add time to the timer and it comes out of a 5 minute per person reserve. Once that reserve is used up, you can't add to the 2 minute timer anymore. If you end your turn in less than 2 minutes, then the extra goes into your reserve. The reserve can never have more than 5 minutes in it and you can only add 30 seconds to the clock at any one turn.
23 Jan, '20
Alex Bruski
I like the idea of being able to specify a turn timer length and game speeds with a number value, rather than a long, short, or fast, medium, slow.
23 Jan, '20
Stroom
I don't think the timer should automatically end peoples' turns. In PlayCatan, you had a (90-180 sec?) timer but once it ran out, the other players were given the ability to DECIDE what to do now - to kick the player out or to let him take a longer turn. So, if you think the player is intentionally stalling, you can kick him. If you see that he is actually there and doing things, you can vote no and let him play.
Also if someone was kicked, there was no (stupid) AI taking over. Some other player
20 Jul, '20
Djz5
Can we do this with the chess timer option like after you finish your tirn you get 30 seconds added?
20 Jul, '20
Elosito
I also like the idea of an increment. Say begin the game with say 15 mins plus 30s increment per turn. I don't like the idea of losing a point for running out of time - knowing that you will lose your turn and then be living of the 30s increment for the rest of the game should be sufficient deterrent.
24 Oct, '21
Martijn
One other thing you could do is that you have eg. 3 "extra time" options during a game. So at the few points there is a long trade or you have to think a little longer you can add more time to your turn.