“Suppose that
time is not a quantity but a quality, like the luminescence of the night above
the trees just when a rising moon has touched the treeline. Time exists, but it
cannot be measured.”, in Einstein’s Dreams, by Alan Lightman.
Let me dive into the past for a moment. Bear with me, it will not take long. That is, assuming we can measure time.
Late 1970’s. The war was cold. There was still a wall in Berlin. East and West were opposites. The chess board was a battlefield. After the mediatic match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky, USA and the USSR, the confrontation found new lead players, the two K’s. Anatoly Karpov, with the whole soviet system behind, and Viktor Korchnoi, USSR defector, as the man facing the system single-handed. Post-game analysis was even broadcasted in Portuguese television, every other day!
As a chess player in his early teens at that age, I would have told you that time, at the board, was accurately measured. In seconds, minutes, hours, even days. Sometimes, in moves. You see, time was slower back then. Or so it seemed. The standard time control, in place for main competitions, was set at 2h30 for each player, to play the first 40 moves. Then, additional time would be granted to accomplish an additional number of moves. Games would even be adjourned, to be resumed in the following day.
I was no stranger to such long games! Even when, in some of them, the battle against time might be as a fierce as the battle against the opponent. Those final moments when the analog clock loudly ticks away the final minutes, the final seconds. Still a number of moves away from clearing the time control, legs shaking under the table, eyes darting over the board, brain operating at full speed, hands swiftly moving the pieces, the red flag on the clock rising, and increasingly menacing to fall, bringing the game to a sudden end.
Since then, time accelerated. The game remained the same, but not the duration. From two and a half hours to two hours, or to an hour and a half. Faster time controls became widely popular, thirty minutes to play an entire game, fifteen minutes, mere five minutes. Some of these already existed, others were brand new formats, with time increments and alike. And, yes, you may even play games starting with just one minute in each player’s clock! With enough knowledge and practice, you might even finish the game before time runs out!
Fast forward to 2020, back to the thriving world of boardgames and related content creators. Without much of a search, you will easily find a diverse palette of contents. Reviews, unboxings and even re-boxings, playthroughs, how-to, top 100, 50, 10 or 5, thematic recommendations, games for solo or for groups, eurogames and wargames, roleplaying games, presentations, discussions, round or polygonal tables. You name it. As videos, livestreams, blogs, podcasts, photos, posts, tweets and alike.
And, of course, contents with different time lengths. Take the videos as example. If you want to see a full playthrough of a complex game, count in for some hours of footage. Even more, if it includes a detailed rule explanation. Some comprehensive reviews are frequently in the range of twenty to forty minutes, or so. Going down along the time scale, you will find shorter reviews. Some in more or less three minutes, as stated in the 3 Minute Board Games opening titles.
Even faster, you will reach what seems to be the actual limit. A 1-minute presentation! That is correct, 60 seconds, regardless of game complexity, the time you will take to play it or even to read the rules! One minute to give you a glimpse of a boardgame and, who knows, spark your interest to find out a little more.
Welcome to Board Games in a Minute! The woman behind it, and in front of the camera, is Sarah Shah. Come take a peek behind the scenes, in this conversation, in much more than 1 minute.
How would you introduce yourself, in less than a minute?
Hi, my name is Sarah Shah! I am an attorney by day and board gamer by night! But I am also passionate about animal rights and environmental conservation!
For those who do not know, Sarah is an Elephant Ambassador. Why is that?
Because elephants are some of the most gentle creatures on the planet, but they are abused horrifically for various tourist industries, the circus, and logging. And of course they are poached for their ivory and even their skin. So they need our protection. They need us to raise our voices for them.
1-minute videos are all about delivering content in a short time, hence at an incredibly pace. Are you a “fast talker” in your daily life?
When I get excited I talk fast! Otherwise I talk at a normal speed.
When and how did you enter the board game hobby? Are there some defining moments along the way?
I entered the modern board gaming hobby in law school when some friends introduced me to Catan. A defining moment is when I moved to London and joined the London on Board meetup and was introduced to so many great games!
It is not always easy to maintain gaming habits along life. Do you now have a regular playing group?
Yes, I actually run a board game meetup in Ithaca! But we have been on hiatus since March due to Covid.
Cats and games, a classical connection. From laying inside the boxes, to observing humans doing strange things with boards, cards, and tiny pieces. From sleeping close by, keeping company, to taking part in the action, pushing the tokens until they fall to the floor.
By the way, this is Dobby.
Where did the idea of such short reviews come from, and why 1 minute?
I had been on TikTok for over a year but never made a single video. I wanted to create videos on there and I knew I wanted the videos to be about board games. The limit on TikTok is 59 seconds. So that's how Board Games in a Minute came to be!
Can you name the game and date of your first 1-minute review made available on social media?
The first video was for Runika and the Six-Sided Spellbooks on April 20, 2020! I actually redid the video for that game since I wasn't happy with it looking back at it. It's my Awkward Guests video that got me noticed though, and I made that video on April 22nd.
Talk us a bit through the process of making these videos, from the selection to the actual sharing.
My goal is to make videos for every game I own. If people have requests, I try to get to those! Lately my selection has been based on the bookings I've received for videos. Then I learn the rules and play the game before I can actually make the video. I make the videos on TikTok, but then share them to all my other platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube).
And is there a “standard” duration, or an approximate range, for the whole process?
Yes, it takes at least an hour to make a typical video. And that doesn't even include the time to learn the rules and play the game. Once I start making the video, I refine what I am saying as I go along. I also learn which components definitely need to be shown and which ones I can do without. I never write a script. So it can take up to 60 or more takes for difficult videos to get it just right.
Do you do it all by yourself?
Yes! Though I play the games with friends or family before I make the videos.
Viewed from the outside, this seems to have skyrocketed pretty fast! And you just mentioned the first videos were made in April 2020, just some months ago. Surprised by all the positive reactions? What are your feelings about this?
It happened SO fast, and it was all so surreal when it happened. I couldn't believe it when publishers started contacting me to send me their games! Several months later I still sometimes cannot believe that this is my life now! But I am very happy about it!
You seem to have drawn the attention of several established publishers. Is there already a queue of games waiting to be compressed into 1-minute?
There is now a queue. I am fully booked until the end of November right now [this was late September]. I have about 13 videos due in just the month of October. I might need to start saying no to people who want me to make videos, because I do have a full-time day job as an attorney too.
Do you still manage to play them all (either before or after the video)?
Evenings and weekends are spent playing board games. My life is basically work and board gaming!
“The year had stood still in Autumn”, in The Autumn Land, by Clifford D. Simak.
This is Cascadilla Gorge, Ithaca, New York. All dressed up in Fall colours, not far from Cornell Law School.
How does all this this impact your daily life and time management?
Time management is an issue right now. I am starting to get better at it. At first my schedule was all over the place. But now I decide exactly when I will make certain videos, and I feel less panicked that way when I set aside specific times to make them. I still need to get better about not checking my messages and email a hundred times throughout the day.
Looking forward, have you set some goals for Board Games in a Minute?
A current goal is to be able to talk about Lisboa in a minute, but I need to play it first! I recently had enamel pins and vinyl stickers of my logo made. So I am hoping to sell those to raise money for a better camera. I would like to improve the quality of my videos.
Are there any other boardgame-related projects in the making, or in the waiting room?
I have been working on creating my own board game for over a year now.
To wrap up, name 4 boardgames.
An “oldie” that sticks to your memory, or even that you still play now and then
Catan! It was my gateway into the world of modern board gaming, and for that I will always have a soft spot for it.
An animal (elephant or not!) themed game
Raccoon Tycoon! I bought the game based solely on the animal artwork, but I actually ended up loving the game, too.
The longest board game you played/enjoyed
Trickerion. That's a long one and I love it. It uses my favorite mechanic, and I love the theme of the game. It's such a beautiful game.
A board game you think: no way it will fit in 1-minute!
Lisboa! But I hope I can prove myself (and others) wrong.
And that is all for now, from Ithaca, New York.
Using the punch line from Board Games in a Minute: Check it out!
Thanks Sarah!
“The idea that time is counted in units of life advises, I repeat, to accept that the only thing one can do with time, is not to lose it (…).”, a free translation from “Memórias do Outono Ocidental” (Memories of a Western Autumn), by Adriano Moreira.
