How long do your games last?

[ThePandaDirector]

I think that a key to understanding whether Puppet Wars is fulfilling its intended role is the length of games.

So post your average game lengths, shortest, longest, and any relevant factors.

I understand that some are playing games over Skype, teaching it to new players and some enjoy a slower pace, but I think that there is a difference between taken your time to play a game and a game taken time to play. Malifaux belongs to the latter, but PW should join chess with the former. As strongly as I feel about preserving the game's depth, I also think we deserve the choice to play this game over a lunch break. It's a fine line though.

[sssk]

Good thread.

Doctor lucky and I, both "veterans" (in massive inverted commas) of puppet wars, played a game over skype in about an hour. From previous experience, games over skype take a bit longer than normal, so I'd think taking that as an example, we could've done the game within 40-45 mins or so playing it face to face. However I would also say it was maybe a shorter game than usual. But it was also our first game of unstitched, so lots of looking up rules. As ever, more research from me necessary

[ThePandaDirector]

I have had varied experience.

I've had long games - 2+hrs - that started slow and had some dull pile ups, but often ended in brutal fashion.

I've had short games - 40mins - which ended prematurely, but still provided enough of an experience to warrant the game in the first place.

Factors that have lengthened some games are; teaching new players, taking extensive notes, conversation, interuptions and difficult tactical decisions. However, I do feel that the early game is consistently slow, though movement not exhausting helps, and too many stitches becomes rather tedious, both in combat and in general.

[Vmag]

I'd say most of our games range from about 50-70 min but have had at least one go about 3+ hrs. Heck, a few times we've left the game at the start of a new turn and came back to it the next day or later the same day so it's kinda hard to estimate those game lengths.

ThePandaDirector has some excellent factors listed above. For us it'd be primarily conversation/smack talk/in-game event description that adds to game length (and a lot of the fun actually). Taking this out of the equation I bet games could drop down to the 40-45min range that sssk mentioned too.

[ThePandaDirector]

@Vmag et al: Conversation during games is the key time factor in most games (not just PW), so then the question begs - is there a difference in conversational patterns between the different games you play? Do you talk less during chess, but multitask more (watch TV, etc)? When you play Malifaux at a gaming club are you more engrossed or do you visit other tables midgame? Understanding the attitude and atmosphere of different games helps to define the identity and similarities of the games you play.