# Another "What Do You Think of This?" - Cellphone Use While Gaming

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-do-you-think-of-this-cellphone-use-while-gaming/681507>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [February 17, 2014, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-do-you-think-of-this-cellphone-use-while-gaming/681507 "2014-02-17T00:33:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-do-you-think-of-this-cellphone-use-while-gaming/681507/41 "2014-02-19T05:04:01Z")

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> [@Sailboat](#):
>
> I’m unfamiliar with the games in question, but a lot of the modern [“German-style” board games](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German-style_board_game):
> 
> [ul]  
> [li]Intentionally reduce downtime by having all players make choices during a given player’s turn[/li][li]Avoid eliminating players[/li][li]Often mask the victory conditions sufficiently it’s hard to tell if someone is hopelessly behind[/li][/ul]
> 
> The combination is _supposed_ to keep everyone interested in the game and participating. This can make it quite irritating when someone (perhaps someone used to the older “wake me when it’s my turn” school of game design) is phone-fiddling then looks up and asks to be caught up on what everyone else just did.

Those all seem like a really good idea. I like playing Settlers of Catan, but if I’m losing (which happens too often for my taste), once you’re out of the running, you’re really out with no way to catch up again. We’re thinking of instituting a “Tap Out” rule for that game because of this.

> [@Inna\_Minnit](#):
>
> 12 hour game time? Yeah, I’m not going to be making small talk with the same people for 12 freakin hours. I will be surfing, or texting, or whatever when I want to. I’m not disturbing anyone, so get over yourself.

Reading the whole thread before responding isn’t your strong suit either? 🙂

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