Analysis Paralysis

We’ve all seen it before.

Sometimes, you’ll be playing with someone and when it comes around to their turn, this happens.

And eventually, you do this.

You know what I mean?

The other night at board game night, this exact situation happened. We were playing Timbuktu, and one of the players froze. Now, the game is about deduction, but while everyone else was ready to reveal their cards, he sat there for another 2-3 minutes planning what he was going to do. This was the least of the issues I had with the guy, but I digress.

One of our players in our previous group did this as well. When it would come to their turn, they would freeze, analyzing every possible move they could make, trying to maximize their “Move, Minor, Standard” combo.

So, how can you avoid the dreaded Analysis Paralysis? As a player, you can do it in two different ways:

1. Plan your move during other people’s turns. Instead of chatting with other players until your turn comes around, plan what move you’ll make, so that you can move the game forward when your turn comes around.

2. If playing 4e, organize your powers not by At-Will/Encounter/Daily, but by Move/Minor/Standard. Doing so will show you exactly what you’re doing, so you don’t need to search to find a minor action among your powers.

How do you fix this problem as a DM? There’s a few things you can do:

1. Encourage your players to move during other people’s turns. Same as above, but it can be done across the board. Have everyone with their dice at the ready. If someone needs to modify their actions based on someone else’s actions, they can take a few seconds to do so.

2. Use a timer. One of the ones that are only a minute are good, and you can get them at many game stores. One minute allows someone to plan their move and roll the dice. If they haven’t rolled the dice by the time the minute is up, their hero pauses, and they move lower in the initiative order. If they’ve got the lowest initiative, they lose their action. Their hero hesitated.

3. Have a chat. Talk to your paralyzed player out of game, and discuss speeding up their play. It can help immensely just to ask them to try to think further ahead. Explain it’s ruining other’s enjoyment when they have to wait five minutes for them to perform their actions.

With these simple steps, you can improve your game by speeding up combat and getting to the fantastic story you’re trying to tell. And when you’re a busy person with only a few hours a week to game, you need all the extra time you can get.