Thread: Terra Mystica:: General:: Fighting AP with the DGT Cube

by BenOni

Here is how our group manages AP while playing Terra Mystica, especially in 4 or 5-player games.

Since the game can drag quite a bit when playing with 1 or 2 newbies or AP-prone people, we decided to use a timing device similar to a chess clock, but for more than 2 players: the DGT cube.

http://dgtpyramid.nl/cube-sp-13194


Youtube Video


You can either play with a fixed amount of time for the whole game for each player or you can set up a countdown for each move.
Normally, we do the latter with 60 seconds per move. If a player exceeds his time, he has to pay a penalty in the form of victory points (in our group usually 2 VP for exceeding the time limit and 2 more for every additional 10 seconds).
Using the DGT Cube shortened the game significantly in our 4 or 5-player games. It also led to more involvement in other players' turns, because you have to adjust your plans more quickly in response to their actions. Finally, there was also more tension overall, because of the timing pressure.

Obviously, the timer can be used for almost every game, where AP happens regularly, but since we use it frequently for TM, I wanted to share this.