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Downtime Chat - allowing for social interaction in board games (Topic Discussion)
Description
Waiting for your turn is very common in board games. One person has all the fun while everyone else just watches. Too much waiting is often described as a flaw in game design, particularly when players have nothing useful to do and gradually lose interest in what's happening. Modern board games tend to avoid downtime, yet waiting isn't necessarily wasted time. Sometimes it gives us something to think about, sometimes it leaves us with nothing to do, and sometimes it gives us something that a game cannot provide on its own: a chance to talk.
Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2026/09/15/downtime-chat-allowing-for-social-interaction-in-board-games-topic-discussion/
Useful Links
- Filip Wiltgren, “Down Time vs. Dead Time in Sequential Games”, Game Developer, 2015: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/down-time-vs-dead-time-in-sequential-games
- Brass: Birmingham review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2023/04/01/brass-birmingham-deluxe-saturday-review/
- Five Tribes review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2020/08/08/five-tribes-saturday-review/
Music
Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)
Lazy Aftermoon by | e s c p | https://www.escp.space
https://escp-music.bandcamp.com
Forest by | e s c p | https://www.escp.space
https://escp-music.bandcamp.com
Support
If you want to support this podcast financially, please check out the links below:
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tabletopgamesblog
(Photo by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash)