Player Elimination in Board Games: How to Make It Feel Good Instead of Bad

Player elimination in board games doesn't have to be the fun-killer it's famous for being, here's what makes it work and what makes it awful, and how different games have solved the problem in genuinely interesting ways.

At one of the first playtesting sessions for Station Decimus, one player returned to their ship very early and then sat watching the rest of the game unfold without any involvement. My first instinct after the game finished was to ask how they felt about the downtime, expecting them to say they'd been bored. Instead they said they loved watching the other players continue and seeing the game play out in front of them.

It completely changed the way I thought about player elimination, and made me think much more carefully about what circumstances can make it not feel bad for the people who've been eliminated. By player elimination I mean anything which takes a player out of a game, whether voluntarily or because another player has done something to them. They can no longer participate in that round.

If you'd rather watch, the full video is here:

Why Player Elimination Has a Bad Reputation

We've all been there. Someone drags out Monopoly at a family occasion, one player gets eliminated half an hour in, and then spends the next three hours watching what was already a fairly dull game - now even duller because they're not actually playing it.

Games like that have given player elimination a bad reputation. Games like Monopoly do it in the worst possible way where you can be eliminated early and have zero involvement in a long game which isn't exactly great for spectators. Put those things together and you have a recipe for boredom.

But that's an implementation problem, not a player elimination problem.

What Makes Player Elimination Worse and What Makes it Better?

Common causes of player elimination feeling worse:

1. 1. Games with long run times can leave eliminated players with a long time of doing nothing

   2. Early elimination makes that even worse, even in a short game, being out in the first minute of a 15-minute game feels bad

   3. Games where the continuing play isn't enjoyable to watch - some games have table presence or tell a story, making them genuinely enjoyable as a spectator

   4. Having nothing to do - being expected to just sit back and observe with no involvement at all

Some things which can make player elimination better:

1. 1. Shorter games mean less downtime for eliminated players

   2. Temporary rather than permanent elimination, out for the round or mission, but back in shortly

   3. Strong table presence or storytelling which makes watching genuinely enjoyable

   4. Agency over when you leave - choosing to exit rather than being forced out

   5. Elimination naturally clustering towards the end of the game rather than happening early

Games Which Handle Player Elimination Well

The elimination also tends to cluster naturally - players who return early usually do so because they think the next card might kill them, which means the players who stayed are even more likely to return soon after. The gap between first and last to return is usually smaller than you'd expect.

The Honest Conclusion

Thinking carefully about player elimination in board game design is worth doing early, before it becomes a problem at the table. Not every solution works for every game. Short rounds only work in short games. Single-loser mechanics need a game that can function without a winner. Temporary death only makes sense in campaign games or games with multiple rounds. Voluntary elimination only works where the decision is meaningful and the spectating is worthwhile.

But I think the more useful question isn't how do I remove player elimination, it's how do I make sure player elimination doesn't feel bad at the table. Whether that's reducing how early it happens, giving eliminated players something to do, or making the game genuinely worth watching even from the sidelines, player elimination can still be a fun part of a good game. 

Station Decimus is built around voluntary elimination - you choose when to return to your ship and sit out the rest of the mission. If you want to see how that feels in practice, grab the free print and play below.

If you're interested in other board game mechanics, why not check out the articles on push your luck, ticking clocks, quarterbacking and limited communication.