This is a documentation for Board Game Arena: play board games online !
Game clock
On Board Game Arena you are playing "live" (real time). Then you has a delay to play your moves.
Your initial delay at the beginning of a game is most of the time 3 minutes. At each turn, or on specific occasion, you get an additional delay. If you have no more time to play, you will get a penalty and can become eligible to be expelled from the game.
Time to think | Tempo a disposizione per pensare
Il tempo a tua disposizione per pensare è mostrato sulla destra del tuo nome. Quando è il tuo turno, viene mostrato anche in cima alla pagina
Game speed
Table administrator can make a choice between 4 game speed profile:
- Fast
- Normal
- Slow
- Without time limit
The additional amount of time credited each turn depends on chosen game speed profile. Be careful to check game speed before game start to adapt your timing.
Note: playing without time limit is strongly discouraged, except if you are playing with friends or to discover a new game. Remember that without time limit, you can't expel a player that stops playing.
Running out of time
As soon as you run out of time, you get a clock penalty.
If you goes over your alloted time by more than 3/4/5 minutes (depending on game speed), any opponent can expel you from the game. Of course, it is strongly advised not to run out of time ...
Move time limit
In addition to your classical time to think, you have a limited time alloted for each move.
When it's your turn to play, a red bar appears on top of the web page. It symbolized the remaining time limit for this move. The amount of time depends on game speed. If you goes over this limit, you become eligible to be expelled from the game.
"My opponent is too slow"
Each of us has different expectations on game speed. Please remember that as soon as a table has been set up at a given game speed, each player is allowed to use all his alloted time to think. If you want to play fast, set up or join table with "fast" mode only, but don't force an opponent to play when he has the right to do so.
"I would like to think a little"
If you are in a critical step of the game and want to take some time to think, you can click on the link "I would like to think a little" on the top right of the page.
Thus, your opponents will receive a message and won't be thinking you are away from keyboard.
Clicking on this link is not mandatory, but we encourage its use for courtesy.