Source
r/boardgames•
ThenThereWasReddit

Analysis Paralysis sucks all the fun out of play sessions. What are the best games to bring to the table when you know there are AP players?

Question

As the title suggests, one of my board gaming groups is composed of multiple people that suffer from AP. For the sake of discussion, and because numerous posts already exist that dive into how to combat personal AP or help others with it, let's assume that these particular players neither accept that they have AP nor are they willing to work on it. Unfortunate, I know.

In other words: The only way to enjoy playing with these people is to play games where AP is either impossible or scarcely possible.

Has anyone else successfully navigated this issue within their groups? I'd just like to play a board game with some level of complexity without needing to wait ages to move through each round. Is it possible? Does such a game exist?

Posted Aug 4, 2023, 6:50 PM UTC

174
Habeas-Opus•

Pendulum - AP player’s head will explode and you can go back to playing whatever else you like after the funeral.

3
NecessaryHuckleberry•

Five Minute Dungeon

1
_guac•

Yeah, no AP available in real-time games.

1
wallysmith127Pax Renaissance•

For Science!

Nine Tiles Extreme

Bullet

Ninja Master

Wildstyle

Space Alert

1
kimmeljs•

Spirit Island makes the Analysis collaborative and may break the Paralysis?

1
ThenThereWasRedditOP•

I've seen discussions devoted explicitly to addressing analysis paralysis while playing this game, so it's probably not the way to go haha

Great game, though, and I do enjoy it with others.

1
kimmeljs•

If you have understanding on how the mechanic works, the AP goes away and there usually is a "What now?... okay, we need to..." "I can do this " "Then I can do this" "Okay, we got them"

1
RecklessHat•

I don’t think Spirit Island is necessarily great for people with AP. You have to really stress to them, “focus on your board only, unless someone calls for help” and “remember you can’t always solve everything”

1
posidonrex•

That’s level 1 collaborating. It only gets you so far.

1
kimmeljs•

Exactly

1
your_talking_words•

Has anyone else successfully navigated this issue within their groups?

There are some games that I don't mind AP in. So steering the AP-prone people from games that are truly ruined by AP, to games that are still quite good if players have AP, has been a moderately successful strategy.

Also, my group sometimes has 8 people show up to game night. That means we usually have two games going at once. I can just be in the group that the AP-prone people are not in. While that helps me, out, it doesn't help the poor bastards stuck with the AP gang.

One AP-prone player would just force me to re-evaluate what I expected from a game. When she was in full AP mode, I just would focus on socializing, and accept that I would only play a single game in an evening. I would be more chatty with my friends/fellow gamers, and just accept that the night was going to be one of socializing first, gameplay second.

1
ThenThereWasRedditOP•

Very fair, and I agree. One of the players is also a better friend of mine that I've played countless hours of Arkham Horror LCG with. They still take ages to play but it works really well with that game, in my opinion. We talk through the options and what we're both thinking -- in a way it feels like we're introducing a stronger role playing element to the game. Plus, I just have more patience when it's only the two of us playing.

1
Cnaiur03•

Uno

1
ThenThereWasRedditOP•

You're not wrong!

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
QuoteGiver•

More randomness is the solution. Things need to change that they will have NO control over to a degree that makes extensive analysis pointless.

Games where you need to do the best with what you have RIGHT NOW or assess the state of the board right now.

The further you can plan ahead in turns, the more AP those players will have. Reduce that.

1
ThenThereWasRedditOP•

I totally agree! I do feel that the heavier the game the less randomness there is, though. We don't need medium-heavy or heavy games, for sure, but this group does enjoy thinking through things -- even the non-AP prone of us.

Do you know of any medium or medium-light games that feature randomness, by chance?

1
Firm-Can4526•

Well, maybe, but for example in Root your choices are dictated based on what others did in theur turn. But, yeah, at least Root could be a source of headache regarding AP i think

1
Alamarian•

Randomness doesn’t help people who have trouble weeding out useless choices. The fact their analysis is futile is itself one of the analyses they will have to run through.

It can help some people though.

1
Snoo72074•

I don't think that's the case at all. In my experience with AP-prone gaming mates, they'll just attempt to calculate ALL the various possibilities and then pore over each possible decision. Having him calculate one plan slowly is bad enough, having him calculate 6 possible plans, and evaluate them against one another? That's hell on earth.

In fact, games with random output induce AP even in normally decisive players because they now need to second-guess their moves and worry about the risk. So they end up worrying and being hesitant to commit because of the output randomness when they would normally have already made the decision swiftly.

I've observed that most people I've played with match the "suggested time" for low or no randomness complex games like Terra Mystica and T'zolkin, but exceed it quite wildly for games where there's a large chunk of randomness. Games where variables change significantly just before your turn are also a major source of AP, but that's another issue for discussion.

1
almostcyclops•

I've found different games trigger AP in different people so it is hard to generalize. There are a couple that cause it bad in myself and I can't quite get over it so I just avoid those games. That said, here are some common observations I've had. If you can identify the type(s) of AP afflicting this person it may help.

Some AP players struggle to throw out "obviously bad" decisions and need to process through each one. I've had this type of player AP at 7 Wonders Somehow. Games with fewer decisions per turn help here. Tokaido, Onitama, Terraforming Mars (without the drafting variant) are examples.

Some players struggle when two or more decisions produce similar results. Thus, they have to calculate through the nuances. This one hits me from time to time in any game, but Games with unique higher impact decisions help. This is because the choice is less about adding up all of the net costs and benefits and more selecting what matches my overall strategy. Food Chain Magnate and Inis are examples here.

Some players struggle when there's too much open information. The more is hidden, the quicker it is to reach the end point of calculation or just give up being able to make a meaningful decision. The Crew and Gloomhaven are examples here.

Then there are a few games that either sidestep or lean into AP issues to interesting results. Steam has all of the information open on the table from the get go. I get really bad AP from this but Ive been able to limit it to my first turn. I calculate through a plan a s some variant routes if i get messed with and then im off to the races. Since info doesnt really change i dont need to recalculate. This still might annoy some but im always honest about that. LCGs have you build a deck before play so duing the game its all about execution (they also have a fair amount of unknowns during play). Spirit Island can cause at least a little AP in just about anyone, which might lessen the gap between players' think times. Different characters also have different complexities, so as long as people are self aware then the more AP prone can play simpler characters to further even things. In addition to all of that, Spirit Island is mostly simultaneous which helps.

1
AleksO369•

I have 2 friend in particular that AP like crazy with 7 Wonders. With any other group we can finish a game in 45 minutes at most. With them, especially together, it takes damn near 90 minutes

1
FaceToTheSky•

Games with timers, or that are played in real time, could help. Captain Sonar and its variants spring to mind, Now Boarding is a co-op that’s partially real time, I think Magic Maze has a timer of some kind (it’s been a while since I played it), etc.

Depending on the type of AP, a game where there is too much hidden information to track could be ok (because they’ll give up) or could be a disaster (because they’ll still try to analyze it) so you’ll have to judge those based on the types of players you have.

Something with simultaneous turns might suppress the AP a little as the person realizes they’re always the last one to decide. A timer can usually be added to these types of games - like, the last person still working on their decision gets an extra X seconds and then their decision is made for them using a randomizer. Roborally, for instance, literally comes with a sand timer for specifically this purpose.

1
KiwasiGames•

I agree, but want to share an anecdote.

Worst game of captain sonar I’ve ever played was when we put two AP players in the navigator seats. After forty minutes where neither side had actually found the other, both teams mutually agreed to call it a draw.

1
PhilinLe•

A detente is a valid resolution.

1
ThenThereWasRedditOP•

I love playing Captain Sonar with this group. It's one of the more successful games I've run with them.

1
zzax•
  1. Play different games that don't have such complex decisions with those people
  2. Agree to have a timer for turns (if everyone agrees this will make things more fun)
  3. Just relax, let it go, and enjoy (assuming you like the company of the people you are playing games with)
1
ThenThereWasRedditOP•

Hey thanks! I'm specifically looking for answers to your first point. If you know of any I'm all ears.

1
BuckRustyDead Of Winter•

Unpopular Opinion: Don’t play with them at all.

No matter how simple the game is, there’ll always be some choice or some thing to obsess over. Case in point - the AP-afflicted player in our group would even take forever playing Cards Against Humanity.

Luckily for us, we were able to turn them around using egg timers and gentle ball-busting, so they were no longer a problem.

If, however, a player refuses to address their AP or (worst case) refuses to even acknowledge they have a problem, then they’ll forever drag your games on.

1
PiccolosTurban•

My friend got ap over 11nimmt!. Which has almost no decisions to you in the game. He's generally a heavy euro optimization freak and took that mindset into a simple game that's almost entirely luck

1
Consistent-Echo8300•

I don’t think that’s an unpopular opinion. The fun is in playing the game not watching someone take 10-15 minutes to see if they can gain an extra vp somewhere

1
jdr393Pax Pamir 2.0•

Agree - but on the flipside - that is fun for the person who is doing it. So it is about finding the right balance for everyone.

1
ThenThereWasRedditOP•

Not unpopular! I even agree with you. It's not an option here, though.

1
jdr393Pax Pamir 2.0•

Ah yeah - they have you held at gunpoint. I get it. (there is always an option...it just may not be a palatable one!)

1
ThenThereWasRedditOP•

For sure, I'm glad you get it

1
Makkuroi•

Love Letter!

1
headpatkelly•

that actually seems like it would promote a lot of analysis paralysis. like yeah you only have 2 choices most of the time, but which to play, and which role to choose with the gaurd etc might be difficult

1
ThenThereWasRedditOP•

Love Letter is so light that my group would likely be fine with it. The issue in this case is that we all consider Love Letter, and games like it, to be filler.

In my case, everyone involved considers themselves a board gamer and enjoys playing meaty games. It's just that some of them also take as long as the rest of us put together to take their turns, and it's just exhausting.

1
headpatkelly•

there’s a really fine line (if there’s a line at all??) between “filler” and “impossible to spend time considering choices”

complexity and strategy inherently requires decision making. decision making inherently risks turning into analysis paralysis. i hope you can find what you’re looking for, but you might be trying to find a unicorn in a haystack.

1
derkyn•

a flicking or dexterity game maybe?

1
SheltheRapper•

Yessssss

1
Giichiwork•

I play with two AP prone players regularly. Pan Am wasn't too painful, since it's worker placement and their options get more limited as people played. Same with some deck builders, like Clank! They only have so much so many resources, and there's a general direction you want to move towards.

1
THElaytox•

Real Time games should do the trick, don't give them time to think about anything

1
ThenThereWasRedditOP•

Hell, 3 times as long isn't even that bad!

1
THElaytox•

It is when it's a 2-3hr game lol

1
Drunkpanada•

Here is a thought, is it the mechanism or multiple game mechanisms that are causing AP. In my group I find that games that have 1 mechanism, IE Gizmos, Splendor etc, seem to do better than games that are not complex but blend more than one mechanism (IE Clank!, deckbuilding and map exploration)

1
VergilkillaBaseball Highlights 2045•

Real time games are always the answer I go for. Project: ELITE, Wildstyle, Chinatown (sort of), Rival Restaurants, Bomb Squad, Zombie 15

1
ThenThereWasRedditOP•

Project: ELITE looks so perfect. I had no idea it was a real-time game and had mostly written it off because CMON games tend to be too gimmicky for my taste -- a whole bunch of plastic but not a lot of gameplay substance. Looking over my collection right now I actually don't own a single game published by them.

1
amazin_asian•

Simple games without huge decisions to make work well, like Las Vegas Royale (the non-advanced game). Roll your dice and decide where to place all die of one number (or spend a chip to delay). You don’t have to plan a grand strategy.

1
ohtheforlanity•

5 minute Marvel?

1