When adding 1 more player is too many

All games come with a set number of players. It says so right on the box. But as you game more and more, those numbers often become mere suggestions. Sometimes playing with the max number of players isn’t always a good idea. Sometimes adding another player negatively affects everyone’s gaming experience.

On boardgamegeek.com, when you search for a board game, there’s an entry for each game that says “# of players” and then, “User suggested # of players.” That second entry is key. Just because you can play with seven players doesn’t necessarily mean you should.

Case in point, a few weeks ago I had friends over to play Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards. My friend taught us the game, and there was initially only 3 of us playing. We quickly hashed out two fun games. As the day progressed, more of my friends came over, and we all decided to play the game again. Doubling the number of players made this quick fun game drag out a bit, and there was an instance where one wizard got eliminated before it was even her turn. That’s never any fun! Later, I looked it up on BGG.com, and it says the game plays 2-6 people, best with 4 players.

Another game where my board-gaming friends and I limit the number of players is Battlestar Galactica. We often prefer to play the base game with the Daybreak expansion, making room for 7 people. But we always cap a game at 5 people. With 7 players, it makes the time until it’s your turn again that much longer, and that can really slow down the game. Plus, each player gets even fewer turns. I also personally don’t enjoy playing with 6 because it makes the game uneven between the cylons and humans, even though there’s a mechanic to balance it out. Last weekend I ended up playing two back-to-back games of BSG. We had five players in each game, and things went swimmingly! By the way, I was human both times — and we won each game.

Another game that dragged on a bit was Terra Mystica. You guys know how much I love this game, but at 5 players, this game can get very, very long. Sure, having 5 players makes the board more challenging in terms of space and terraforming, but it also adds about another hour to game play. The last game I played with 5 players, we ended up playing a nearly 4-hour game. It really shouldn’t take that long, but with all the strategizing, it really does make a difference adding that fifth player. For future games, we all decided to cap it at 4 players, which, according to BGG.com, is best with 4 players.

So sometimes it bums me out during a Game Day that I can’t include all my friends in one particular game, but in the long run, it’ll be best for everybody. Nobody wants to drag out a game with more dead time. Plus, shorter games leaves more time for other board games!

Folks of the Internet —  are there games that you won’t play with max players?