Unpopular opinion: The guy who speedruns setup and cleanup is killing the fun for everyone

Last month at a game night in Portland, this one dude showed up and spent the whole first 10 minutes bragging about how he could set up 'Terraforming Mars' in under 4 minutes. Then he rushed us through every round, barely letting anyone read their cards. When we finished, he cleared the table in like 2 minutes flat and practically shoved us out the door. I told him slow down, it's not a race, and he looked at me like I had three heads. He said 'efficiency is part of the hobby' and I just don't buy that. Board games are about hanging out and talking, not treating it like a speedrun. Has anyone else dealt with a player who takes the fun out by rushing everything?

2 comments

2 Comments

rowanjenkins2d ago

Whoa, 2 minutes for cleanup? That's insane!

the_morgan2d ago

Right? That's wild. It's like everything's gotta be a race now. I see the same thing at the gas station, people screaming at the pump because it's not filling their tank in 30 seconds. Nobody can just wait two seconds anymore.