Which board game should you play for the time you have?

1 October 2026 · 3 min read

How do you choose a board game based on the time you have?

Start from the real time you have, then add a margin: the playing time on the box assumes players who already know the game, so count about one and a half times as long for a first play, teaching included. Under 30 minutes: a short, light game. An hour: a family game. A whole evening: a heavy game, provided everyone knows the rules or learned them beforehand.

“Quick game?” Three hours later the game is not over, and someone has to leave. Choosing a game for the time you have avoids a lot of frustration. You just need to know how to read the playing time on the box.

The time on the box is optimistic

The stated time is for a game between players who already know it. It does not include setup, teaching the rules or packing up. And it assumes nobody thinks for ten minutes per turn.

Rule of thumb: for a first play, count about one and a half times the stated time, teaching included. A “60-minute” game easily takes 90 minutes the first time.

Another factor: player count. Many boxes give a range (“30 to 60 min”): the top of the range matches the maximum number of players.

Under 30 minutes: short games

For a weeknight, drinks, or while waiting for latecomers:

Short card games: Skull, Love Letter, The Mind.
Party games: Just One, Codenames.
For two: Jaipur, Patchwork, Lost Cities (see our favourite two-player games).

Their strength: you can play back to back, and a loss gets avenged right away.

30 to 60 minutes: the heart of game night

The most versatile length, leaving room for one or two games in an evening:

Azul, Kingdomino, Splendor: light strategy games, easy to teach.
7 Wonders: up to seven players in around forty minutes.
Cooperative games like Forbidden Island (see our guide to cooperative games).

One to two hours: an evening built around the game

Richer games that need attention:

Catan, Ticket to Ride, Wingspan: classics that carry an evening.
Pandemic: a strategic cooperative game of about an hour.

For these, learning the rules beforehand changes everything: see our method for teaching a game in 5 minutes.

The whole evening: heavy games

Beyond two hours (Terraforming Mars, Spirit Island, the big strategy games), you need three conditions: a motivated group, rules known or learned in advance, and an evening with no curfew. Without them, the game risks stopping halfway.

Shortening a game that is too long

Short variant: many rulebooks include one.
Lower target: fewer points to reach, fewer rounds.
A thinking timer for players who hesitate a long time, kindly applied.

Either way, announce it before you start, like any house rule.

Filter your games by length

In MeepleThèque, every game in your collection shows its playing time, and you can filter the collection by length (short, medium, long) and by player count. Handy for answering “we have an hour, what do we play?” in ten seconds.

Frequently asked questions

Why do games last longer than advertised?

The stated time assumes experienced players and leaves out setup, teaching and packing up. On a first play, and with players who think for a long time, it is often exceeded.

Which games work for a weeknight?

Games of 20 to 45 minutes that set up quickly: Azul, Kingdomino, Splendor, 7 Wonders Duel for two, or a short card game like Skull.

How can you shorten a game that is too long?

Some games include a short variant in the rulebook. Otherwise, lowering the end-game target or the number of rounds often works, as long as you announce it before starting.