Glad I checked the BGG stats for my group's favorite game

I was scrolling through BoardGameGeek last night and noticed a stat that really surprised me. My group loves playing Terraforming Mars, and we've logged about 120 plays. Turns out the average game length reported on BGG is 120 minutes, but our sessions always run 3 hours because we're all overthinking every card. I didn't realize how far off from the norm we were until I saw that breakdown. Has your group ever found a stat on BGG that made you question your own habits?

3 comments

3 Comments

pat78115d ago

Our 145 plays of Terraforming Mars run closer to 4 hours sometimes because we house-ruled that you can draft cards and we all take forever reading each other's moves. The BGG stat said 120 minutes average but that's probably for silent competitive groups who don't banter or explain every combo. You'd think fewer players would speed things up but nope, our 3-player games still drag past 3 hours because we keep analyzing if someone else is about to win. Makes you wonder if BGG stats are skewed by people rushing through turns without thinking.

logan65815d ago

Silent competitive groups" - lol sounds like we're playing different games.

drew_hart415d ago

Four hours for 145 plays? That's like a whole side gig at that point. Idk, maybe I'm the one playing wrong but it feels like some people turn board games into a full on strategic analysis session instead of just playing. Drafting is fun but if every turn takes forever because someone's explaining their whole combo chain, that's on the group not the game. BGG stats probably just reflect people who look up cards during their turn instead of after. Makes me wonder if you guys are having fun or just trying to out-nerd each other.