Timing a round is something which board games will often need to do. The game itself presents a challenge where players will need to complete a task within a certain amount of time in order to try and score points. These games can often be word related, where players have to make lists of words or something of the like using a set grouping of letters or clues. Whoever can make the largest list of unique words in the time allotted will often win the game, for they scored the highest number of points. The game needs to provide something, however, to allow players to accurately be able to keep track of the amount of time which passes.



Due to the technological boom which has happened in the past few decades, electronic devices are available cheaply to people and products of all forms. This means that board games can easily employ this technology to help players enjoy their games with relative easy and little stress. Formerly, board games used to give sand timers which were perfectly formed to match the length of time needed for the round. They could run from thirty seconds to five minutes, or anywhere in between. Once the makers of the game established how long they needed the round to last, timers would be formed which would run for that length of time and were placed in each copy of the board game.

These timers were very accurate and worked well, but could pose a few problems in their own right. If they broke by any means, the timer was rendered useless and the game could not be played until another accurate timer was found. Additionally, the timer would not alert anyone when the round was finished. Therefore, players had to pay attention to where the timer stood and that could cost them precious seconds within the game.

Today, however, most board games which need timed rounds come with electronic timers which run on batteries. The amount of power they need is usually very limited, meaning that any single timer can run for years on a single set of batteries. These timers often need nothing more than to be wound up, or simply have a button pressed. They will then proceed to count down the correct amount of time needed, ringing a bell or sounding a buzzer when the alloted time is up. Many of these timers provide a ticking noise while counting down, which can be seen as either a blessing or a curse. While the noise can be a distraction, it also provides a sense of pressure on the players which can often motivate them to work harder, scoring the points that need to be scored in order to produce a win.

While sand timers often give a sense of nostalgia when it comes to beloved board games, electronic timers are more efficient as they keep track of time in a regulated manner, as well as providing an auditory alert when the round is over. This allows players to concentrate on the task in front of them, without needing to worry about when the time might expire. It allows game play to be more fair for everyone involved and, thusly, more fun.