Hot take: table talk is ruining competitive board gaming nights

At my local shop in Austin last Friday, a guy spent 15 minutes negotiating a trade during a 4-player game of Brass Birmingham and honestly I think we should start enforcing time limits on negotiations like they do in tournament chess.

2 comments

2 Comments

joseph_west5921d ago

Actually its a bit deeper than people think. Table talk is part of the game in Brass Birmingham since you gotta make deals and break them sometimes. But 15 minutes is crazy long, that guy was probably just stalling to think about his own moves. Most shops Ive been to in Dallas just let people talk but keep it moving with a gentle nudge if someone goes over 5 minutes.

webb.xena20d ago

@joseph_west59 yeah I totally get what you're saying. Table talk IS part of the whole experience in games like Brass Birmingham, it adds a whole extra layer of fun and drama. 15 minutes is just absurd though, that guy was definitely using the conversation to buy time for his own strategy. You're right that a gentle nudge works way better than getting all bossy about it. I've seen way too many game nights get ruined by someone who can't stop monologuing about deals while everyone else is just sitting there bored. Solid advice on keeping things moving without being rude about it.