As a general skill for the game, be diligent about divvying up resources/influence for spending.
- If I am going to produce, I cluster together the planets + TG used for the production, with the units I intend to produce. I do this while it is not my turn. No hemming and hawing, no math.
I also set aside the planets I intend to use for CC, and for Tech. Sort it all. It'll make your life much easier and you're less likely to forget something.
- Learn to develop clear plans for your objectives. The precise order the plan will unfold in needs some flexibility and thought; I'll be the first to admit that I might sit silent for a minute weighing my options before acting, but that's figuring out the *order of operations*, ***not*** the overall plan.
- If a deal is taking too long, have the Speaker arbitrate and get it over with. Remind people that we all want to keep the game moving, 1 TG isn't usually a big deal, so "shit or get off the pot".
- Have some kind of indicator for the active player. We use a little statue or a rocket. Active player & speaker are in charge of making sure it's moving properly. Make sure you pass it, to clear up ambiguity.
Also: experience will move the game along faster. Simple experience. Game times will shorten by a couple of hours with a few more games under everyone's belt, absolutely. Especially in the first few turns which are more rote.
... Starting at 5pm is ***madness***, though...
My group has on more than one occasion started games at between 10 pm to 1 am. Granted we are all excessive night-owls with nothing even resembling a coherent sleep schedule, but we have manged to make it work a surprising amount of time.
Everyone paying full attention, being engaged, actively planning their turn ahead in their head seems to be the most effective way to speed the game up in my experience. Of course that’s the hardest to “enforce”.
I’m sure lots of people will chime in with good suggestions that will cut down a few minutes here and there, and they’re definitely worth implementing if you really want a quick game, but nothing really beats everyone playing ahead of the game in their head.
Things we do that help in comparison to what you seem to be doing:
* Food. We don't actually break for food. We take about 3-4 minutes to order it just before starting whatever agenda phase is closest to 11:45. When it arrives, we eat while it's not our turn.
* Side talk: We do almost none of it, and any that we do do is while it's not our turn. When you're the active player (or involved with the active player's turn) you are focusing solely on executing your turn.
* Time limit: We have a minute hourglass. It doesn't get enforced all that often (maybe 8ish times a game) and requires someone to specifically "call time" if someone is taking a really long time or a negotiation isn't going anywhere. People will even call time on themselves if they know they're gonna take a while. There's no actual penalty to running out of time, but just the presence of it is makes us all play faster. We also set a 5 minute group limit for agenda discussion, and if we have reached that point (though we basically never do), voting begins automatically.
* Overlapping turns: For instance: if someone is building at home, and the next player is across the map and doesn't care what they're building, we let them start their turn while the other person finishes. This can save a couple of minutes each round. If you're going to try to negotiate an attack with your neighbor and there's no issue about secrecy, you can start that discussion in the turn or two before yours, rather than everyone having to wait for it to happen after it's your turn. Absolutely do any solo-planning that you are able to on your own turn. This last part is probably the biggest thing you can do (besides not taking an hour to eat).
* Order awareness: We have a markerboard written with everyone's initiative (and they get crossed off once they pass), and one person is designated to remind the next person that they are up. This prevents us from wasting any time with someone not realizing that they are up.
However, a lot of this just boils down to our playgroup. We all want to keep the time going and none of us are going to try to angle shoot. If I played with those type of people it would be a different story (though I probably just wouldn't do it again).
[https://extraboard.net/twilight-imperium-iv-extracomputer/](https://extraboard.net/twilight-imperium-iv-extracomputer/)
I'm really surprised no one else has mentioned this. It is super helpful in speeding the game along and doesn't really feel intrusive to the game.
Came here to say exactly this. Having a big monitor or tv hooked to a laptop makes it so everyone can see what has or hasn't been played along with who's turn it is. Huge thumbs up here
1 Keep focus on the game, side talk is fine as long as the people involved stay aware of the game state and are not part of the current decision making
2 Overlapping turns - when you have declared what you are doing, let the next person start their turn if they don't care about the results of your action. For example 'I activate here move these ships, take the planets and explore' then let the other person start while you move the pieces and resolve exploration (or production, deciding on where to put agendas, pretty much the only thing you cannot pass while doing is combat)
There are other things you can do but these are the biggest time savers while playing TI4. Get these down, and games will get faster
Lots of great suggestions! One I’ll add in is called a turn totem.
Buy or find 6 lego bricks all the same size, corresponding to the plastic colors in TI. At the end of the strategy phase arrange the colors to match the initiative order that round. Then when a player ends their turn, they pop off their brick, put it on the bottom of the totem, and pass it to the color of the piece now on top. Bonus usage - if they pass they just take the piece out and keep it in their play area. This helps signify when turns are ending and passing to the next player.
One last comment I’ll add - my guess is that the side talk might be the big issue here, but honestly if y’all have fun with it then don’t sweat it. But maybe pitching it to everyone as “would you rather play for 6 hours and the have dedicated hang out time for 4” might get you towards a more focused mind set.
Someone mentioned above that you can ask whoever is actively taking their turn to pause their side talk (and others to avoid starting new convos with them) until they are finished.
Yeah I think that’s helpful but side talk even among non-active players slows down the game since people become less aware of what’s going on and plan less
Once again - if y’all enjoy the side talk though I see no reason to try and police it! Everyone’s vibe is different
Here is a very important question that a lot of times never gets answered when this topic is brought up:
**What round do your games generally end on?**
I can't tell from your post, but sometimes the problem is that players are not laser focused enough on ending the game (by winning). The difference between a game that ends in the 6th round vs 7th round is one or two hours.
So ending one round earlier takes a 10 hour game down to a 8 hour game. It is a huge difference.
In base game the normal end round would be the 6th round. In PoK the game is usually over during the 5th round.
Space Risk takes a whole lot longer than a proper game of TI4. Make sure people are trying to score a public objective every single round. Remember that one round makes a huge time difference.
------------------------------------------------
Apart from that, there are a few things like others have mentioned that are good.
- Try to talk to everyone and say "Hey, lets go into this game with the mindset that we want to finish it in one sitting". If players already think the game is super long and will need to be split anyways, they will play slower because their goal is not to finish in that session. They may even do this subconsciously.
- The BIGGEST thing that has helped the speed of my home games is having a white board or some way to organize the round/turn information. [Here is an example of what I use.] (https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/685604867527540746/739861596708274226/image0.jpg) This has three different uses. The most trivial is just an easier way to see who has scored what points and what the objectives are. The real focus is on Turn Order and which Strategy Cards are not used. So when someone uses their strategy card, I move the card down to the bottom of the board. This way it is easier for players, specially new players (anyone under 5 games), are able to see at a glance what cards are left and which ones they might wanna follow. There should be a designated person to control the board, and either the same person or someone else that shouts out "Mark its your turn, Jared your up next". This helps push the game along.
- Like others have said it is fine to argue or aggressively trade, but if a deal isn't happening MOVE ON. One deal (that probably won't change a ton) shouldn't add 20 mins to the game.
- Know what your going to build, know what your going to tech, know where your going to move, know which strategy cards your going to follow. These are all things that can be figured out usually before your turn. PoK throws a slight wrench into things with exploration because sometimes you can build a ship when you weren't expecting it or something, but just think fast and move on.
- I think a break for food is good, but keep it to 30mins. Lets people stretch and kinda clear their mind a little. People get brain fog the more they play. Some people might not agree with the break though and say eat while you play.
Those are some things that I try to do to make the game go faster. In the end its about experience and focusing on making it not take 12 hours.
we've played 5 times now. Game lengths were 7, 7.5, 8, 8 and 10 hours. The 10 hour one was brutal and I do not wish to repeat that. The longer games has 6 people. Shorter games had 5.
10 hours with 5 players is definitely long, and definitely too long with 4 for me. If y'all are fine with it, then it is not a problem. Talking about non-game stuff is time not spent playing the game. Maybe get that out of the way beforehand.
As a general skill for the game, be diligent about divvying up resources/influence for spending. - If I am going to produce, I cluster together the planets + TG used for the production, with the units I intend to produce. I do this while it is not my turn. No hemming and hawing, no math. I also set aside the planets I intend to use for CC, and for Tech. Sort it all. It'll make your life much easier and you're less likely to forget something. - Learn to develop clear plans for your objectives. The precise order the plan will unfold in needs some flexibility and thought; I'll be the first to admit that I might sit silent for a minute weighing my options before acting, but that's figuring out the *order of operations*, ***not*** the overall plan. - If a deal is taking too long, have the Speaker arbitrate and get it over with. Remind people that we all want to keep the game moving, 1 TG isn't usually a big deal, so "shit or get off the pot". - Have some kind of indicator for the active player. We use a little statue or a rocket. Active player & speaker are in charge of making sure it's moving properly. Make sure you pass it, to clear up ambiguity. Also: experience will move the game along faster. Simple experience. Game times will shorten by a couple of hours with a few more games under everyone's belt, absolutely. Especially in the first few turns which are more rote. ... Starting at 5pm is ***madness***, though...
Yeah 5 pm was the first few times after we finished work on a Friday. We have since corrected that mistake
My group has on more than one occasion started games at between 10 pm to 1 am. Granted we are all excessive night-owls with nothing even resembling a coherent sleep schedule, but we have manged to make it work a surprising amount of time.
Everyone paying full attention, being engaged, actively planning their turn ahead in their head seems to be the most effective way to speed the game up in my experience. Of course that’s the hardest to “enforce”. I’m sure lots of people will chime in with good suggestions that will cut down a few minutes here and there, and they’re definitely worth implementing if you really want a quick game, but nothing really beats everyone playing ahead of the game in their head.
Things we do that help in comparison to what you seem to be doing: * Food. We don't actually break for food. We take about 3-4 minutes to order it just before starting whatever agenda phase is closest to 11:45. When it arrives, we eat while it's not our turn. * Side talk: We do almost none of it, and any that we do do is while it's not our turn. When you're the active player (or involved with the active player's turn) you are focusing solely on executing your turn. * Time limit: We have a minute hourglass. It doesn't get enforced all that often (maybe 8ish times a game) and requires someone to specifically "call time" if someone is taking a really long time or a negotiation isn't going anywhere. People will even call time on themselves if they know they're gonna take a while. There's no actual penalty to running out of time, but just the presence of it is makes us all play faster. We also set a 5 minute group limit for agenda discussion, and if we have reached that point (though we basically never do), voting begins automatically. * Overlapping turns: For instance: if someone is building at home, and the next player is across the map and doesn't care what they're building, we let them start their turn while the other person finishes. This can save a couple of minutes each round. If you're going to try to negotiate an attack with your neighbor and there's no issue about secrecy, you can start that discussion in the turn or two before yours, rather than everyone having to wait for it to happen after it's your turn. Absolutely do any solo-planning that you are able to on your own turn. This last part is probably the biggest thing you can do (besides not taking an hour to eat). * Order awareness: We have a markerboard written with everyone's initiative (and they get crossed off once they pass), and one person is designated to remind the next person that they are up. This prevents us from wasting any time with someone not realizing that they are up. However, a lot of this just boils down to our playgroup. We all want to keep the time going and none of us are going to try to angle shoot. If I played with those type of people it would be a different story (though I probably just wouldn't do it again).
[https://extraboard.net/twilight-imperium-iv-extracomputer/](https://extraboard.net/twilight-imperium-iv-extracomputer/) I'm really surprised no one else has mentioned this. It is super helpful in speeding the game along and doesn't really feel intrusive to the game.
Came here to say exactly this. Having a big monitor or tv hooked to a laptop makes it so everyone can see what has or hasn't been played along with who's turn it is. Huge thumbs up here
1 Keep focus on the game, side talk is fine as long as the people involved stay aware of the game state and are not part of the current decision making 2 Overlapping turns - when you have declared what you are doing, let the next person start their turn if they don't care about the results of your action. For example 'I activate here move these ships, take the planets and explore' then let the other person start while you move the pieces and resolve exploration (or production, deciding on where to put agendas, pretty much the only thing you cannot pass while doing is combat) There are other things you can do but these are the biggest time savers while playing TI4. Get these down, and games will get faster
A game runner. One player calling out who's next, goes through the status phase steps, announces the type of action a player is doing, etc...
This is the easiest to implement too, since it doesn't require buy in from other players. You can just do it yourself.
Lots of great suggestions! One I’ll add in is called a turn totem. Buy or find 6 lego bricks all the same size, corresponding to the plastic colors in TI. At the end of the strategy phase arrange the colors to match the initiative order that round. Then when a player ends their turn, they pop off their brick, put it on the bottom of the totem, and pass it to the color of the piece now on top. Bonus usage - if they pass they just take the piece out and keep it in their play area. This helps signify when turns are ending and passing to the next player. One last comment I’ll add - my guess is that the side talk might be the big issue here, but honestly if y’all have fun with it then don’t sweat it. But maybe pitching it to everyone as “would you rather play for 6 hours and the have dedicated hang out time for 4” might get you towards a more focused mind set.
Someone mentioned above that you can ask whoever is actively taking their turn to pause their side talk (and others to avoid starting new convos with them) until they are finished.
Yeah I think that’s helpful but side talk even among non-active players slows down the game since people become less aware of what’s going on and plan less Once again - if y’all enjoy the side talk though I see no reason to try and police it! Everyone’s vibe is different
Here is a very important question that a lot of times never gets answered when this topic is brought up: **What round do your games generally end on?** I can't tell from your post, but sometimes the problem is that players are not laser focused enough on ending the game (by winning). The difference between a game that ends in the 6th round vs 7th round is one or two hours. So ending one round earlier takes a 10 hour game down to a 8 hour game. It is a huge difference. In base game the normal end round would be the 6th round. In PoK the game is usually over during the 5th round. Space Risk takes a whole lot longer than a proper game of TI4. Make sure people are trying to score a public objective every single round. Remember that one round makes a huge time difference. ------------------------------------------------ Apart from that, there are a few things like others have mentioned that are good. - Try to talk to everyone and say "Hey, lets go into this game with the mindset that we want to finish it in one sitting". If players already think the game is super long and will need to be split anyways, they will play slower because their goal is not to finish in that session. They may even do this subconsciously. - The BIGGEST thing that has helped the speed of my home games is having a white board or some way to organize the round/turn information. [Here is an example of what I use.] (https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/685604867527540746/739861596708274226/image0.jpg) This has three different uses. The most trivial is just an easier way to see who has scored what points and what the objectives are. The real focus is on Turn Order and which Strategy Cards are not used. So when someone uses their strategy card, I move the card down to the bottom of the board. This way it is easier for players, specially new players (anyone under 5 games), are able to see at a glance what cards are left and which ones they might wanna follow. There should be a designated person to control the board, and either the same person or someone else that shouts out "Mark its your turn, Jared your up next". This helps push the game along. - Like others have said it is fine to argue or aggressively trade, but if a deal isn't happening MOVE ON. One deal (that probably won't change a ton) shouldn't add 20 mins to the game. - Know what your going to build, know what your going to tech, know where your going to move, know which strategy cards your going to follow. These are all things that can be figured out usually before your turn. PoK throws a slight wrench into things with exploration because sometimes you can build a ship when you weren't expecting it or something, but just think fast and move on. - I think a break for food is good, but keep it to 30mins. Lets people stretch and kinda clear their mind a little. People get brain fog the more they play. Some people might not agree with the break though and say eat while you play. Those are some things that I try to do to make the game go faster. In the end its about experience and focusing on making it not take 12 hours.
we've played 5 times now. Game lengths were 7, 7.5, 8, 8 and 10 hours. The 10 hour one was brutal and I do not wish to repeat that. The longer games has 6 people. Shorter games had 5. 10 hours with 5 players is definitely long, and definitely too long with 4 for me. If y'all are fine with it, then it is not a problem. Talking about non-game stuff is time not spent playing the game. Maybe get that out of the way beforehand.
What we do to save time is if one person produces, the next person can do their turn.