Ticking Clocks in Board Games: When They Create Tension and When They Don't

A whole host of games nowadays come with a sand timer and restrict how long you can play for with real time. Some popular examples of this are games like Galaxy Trucker and Magic Maze. My experience with these clocks is that they create frenetic and chaotic fun, but not necessarily tension. The pressure is to go fast at all times, not necessarily building pressure. That said I still think Magic Maze is a great game and the ability to flip the timer during the game adds another element to the clock. 

Overall I think real-time clocks are fun, but don't typically lend themselves to nail-biting tension.

I wasn't entirely sure what to call this one, but games where something is progressing as you take certain actions, which then triggers something in the game. Betrayal at House on The Hill is a good example of this. As players progress in a "co-op" phase, they might discover Omen cards which trigger Haunt Rolls and the possibility of starting the main scenario of the game. The problem with this clock in Betrayal is that it doesn't affect how I play. I'll quite happily ignore the clock during the early phase and only pay attention to it when it goes off. Is there tension and excitement when the scenario is revealed? Yes. Does it start before that? Not for me.

A better implementation

Another example of the trigger point or event clock, but implemented differently is in my co-op board game (as yet un-named). Players can take noisy actions to reveal tracking cards, and once the sum of those cards hits 7 or more, the alien has found you and you lose. I think it works well because the trigger point is the end, not something that will happen regardless. Players also have the ability to do things slower and quieter, but eventually more tracking cards appear each turn anyway so it builds a tension of how and when you're willing to let the clock tick along.

I think event clocks are a really interesting mechanic but in examples like Betrayal the tension comes late, if at all.

Limiting the number of actions a player can take is its own type of ticking clock. For example in Gloomhaven, once you run out of cards you're out. It works really well at creating careful thought on optimising what you do with your actions and forces this through the whole game. 

By contrast though, Gloomhaven has another clock, one which I wasn't sure if it deserved its own section or not. When all enemies are defeated the mission is over. It sounds just like an end-game state, but in a game where you want to collect items and build your character up, ending the game early when you've worked hard to ensure you still have actions.... feels bad.

Action economy can be a really effective clock, Gloomhaven shows both how to do it right and how to get it wrong.

A lot of games have resources, whether your own, or shared between players. Many of those games end when the resources run out, or reach a certain amount of use. A great example of this is Ticket to Ride - run out of trains to place and the game is going to end. In a lot of cases, like ticket to ride, this is largely ignored for most the game. Early on you know the game's got a way to go and it's only really towards the end you pay attention to the clock. That said it can definitely add tension to the end-game.

It doesn't necessarily create continuous tension, but can create great end-game pressure.

Loads of games play over a fixed number of turns, you know from the start how many you're going to have and that's that. A lot of games with turn limits feel like an arbitrary way the game needs to end. One example of it done really well though is Sky Team, a cooperative board game about landing a plane (if you know me you've probably heard me go on about how much I love this game). In Sky Team your altitude is the round track and you'll descend every round whether you want to or not. It's so heavily integrated into the theme and game board it really doesn't feel like a turn limit - instead a balancing act of making sure you reach the airport at the exact right time. 

Round limits are usually one of my least favourite clocks but Sky Team does it amazingly.