We had our first game of Android last night. We had to stop half way through after playing for 3½ hours, it was getting late and some of my fellow players had lost interest since the game was very confusing and moved quite slowly at the same time.

We all agreed that we really liked the theme and most of the mechanics, so the game definitely deserves a replay some day when we have more time on our hands. But we also agreed that the game has a problem with its pace - it is a very slow game - especially if you want to follow the plots of the other players and try to guess their hunches.

Its clear that it was our first time with Android, and a lot of our time went with learning the game, but still after that we would estimate it to be on the slow side. So what I want to hear is, do any of you have experiences or tricks that could pace up the game?

I'm not talking about the total play time of the game, I'm fine with games that takes on the plus side of five hours, but I would really like to hear how the pace of the game could be altered, and how downtime for 'inactive' players could be minimized.

Heebøll

To be honest, for me the problem wasn't the length of the game, more the feeling that to play the game 'properly', you'd need to know what sort of cards and plots each of the characters has.

Short of sitting down and almost trying to memorise the decks of cards, I can't really think of any other way to get good at the game (unless you play a lot ).

Seemed like a really good game, just one that's really hard to teach/learn and one where strategy relies on knowing what each of your opponents strengths/weaknesses are.

Going back to your original query, the games speeds up a little when you all know how to play. Also, keeping the components in separate baggies helps speed setting up a little, but you're unlikely to set up play and pack up in under 2.5 hours, and probably will take more like 3.

Certainly, we could have done a better job of laying up components and mastering the lay-up of our characters and and the suspects to make the whole game less confusing. That's one of the things you learn after a few plays.

And of course getting to know the game, the strategies, the plots, and the twillight cards a little bit better will increase game speed also. This will also come after a few plays. When you know the game better, you can easier play to your own advantages and other player's weaknesses, so you don't spend as much time thinking, "will this be a good card to play now, or should I wait?"

The game can easily be made shorter with 3-5 advanced players that have played the game a dozen times before, they will know all the strategies and be able to plan ahead, while they also pay attention to the other players and try to interrupt their play. This game could probably be cracked into numbers and best strategies, which would greatly reduce play time.

On the other hand, this game shouldn't be reduced to strategies, game mechanics, and the gathering of victory points, as that would quickly make it a very long and boring game. The strength of this game is the immersive feel it incourages, and thus time should be devoted to follow the narrative of each character's personal plots and the overall story of the investigation and the conspiracy. At least that's what I think is the intention of the designer, and what I proposed to do during our first attempt at the game.

That, however, takes a very long time, and I would like to know, if there are ways to make the pace quicker while not sacrificing the theme.

Heebøll

I'm working on an alternate day/turns track that shortens the game by two days (the detectives get to have Saturday off as well). I'll upload it to BGG once it's done and notify here.

I think the main problem is not the time to play, it is getting over people's 'friendly game, so don't mess with the other players' mindset. I think in Android you need to always watch the other players to see what they are accumulating to make sure you counter the important things... and play to hurt others a lot. I think that makes for a much more involving game than simply focusing on yourself and lying low. I think the design notes say you are supposed to be playing one light for one dark card, and this means that in every person's go they should be getting hit by at least three bad things from the other players.

My group have played a lot of cooperative games, and it is hard to get into the mindset of something that is so fundamentally antagonistic. But very interesting.

It may help to have the player sitting to the right of the active player be in charge of the time card. This cuts down on the problem of "wait, did I pay 1 Time for that action yet," while making things run more smoothly.

It also seems to be the general consensus that the game runs much more slowly with the full 5 player. You might want to try playing smaller games at first.

I've also noticed that Caprice's cards that involve looking at other players' hands significantly slow things down. Try playing without her until the players understand the game better.

DuckAndCower said:

This is really practical adivce. In my frist game, quite often players were back-tracking to verify how much time had been spent, then counting it down again as they went along.

My first game was with 4 players (all newbs) and it ran about 5.5 hours. Subsequent games shouldn't run nearly as long.