Greetings Champions! Godtear is a great game and we all enjoy playing it. If you're here, you probably enjoy playing it competitively, either in tournament settings or with some fervor on the kitchen table. I'm here to tell you that we're all playing it wrong.
Why Compete?
I want to start by pointing out that we play games to have fun. That without an opponent you can have fun with, you don't have a game, you just have models.
We compete because we enjoy the game and want to see who's the best at it. We design the competitions to be Fair, Balanced, and Fun. We want an equal playing field for all competitors and a ruleset that has as few exploitable loopholes as possible.
What's wrong with the current Dice Down system?
Text above is the entirety of the relevant section of the 2025 Godtear Tournament Guidelines.
Dice Down does not facilitate Balanced play, robs players of their opportunity for Fun, and has unfair loopholes.
With no track of whose time is being spent making decisions, there is no Balance in the 110 minutes that occur before dice down. One player could be making decisions during 90 minutes of the time, trying to make the perfect game of Godtear, leaving only 20 minutes for their opponent to react. Or, as dice down approaches, they could slow down their play to force the time to end in their favor. With no means of tracking whose time is being used in any given game, we cannot disuade either of these behaviors.
Dice down encourages unfun behaviors exploiting loopholes. It is advantageous to acquire a lead early, then slow play the rest of the game so that one's VP total is ahead at dice down, or that an immediate end phase decides the game in one's favor. These are not inherent to the game of Godtear, nor exceptions to the spirit of the format. Rather, these loopholes are encouraged by the dice down concept itself. We play games to have fun, yes, but in a competition we want to win. It is a bad system where bad behaviors help us win.
Finally, dice down robs players of the fun of playing Godtear. When dice down is called, gameplay ends. This cuts 5 round games short, ends 4 round games before the Clash phase is over, and creates questions as to whether the full game would've gone differently if everyone had just gone a little faster in their execution.
How do Chess Clocks fix these problems?
By assigning time management responsibilities to the player themselves.
In dice down, you play when your opponent says you can, however much or little time that is. When someone plays slowly, it puts pressure on both players
With a Chess Clock, your time is your own. If you take too long to play, then you suffer consequences from your own actions. If your opponent is slow playing, then they are wasting only their own time, not yours.
This removes the slow play loophole, balances the board for both players (since they both get an equal amount of time), and pushes players to get to the fun of the game.
Why would time pressure on each player be a good thing?
When players play perfect Godtear, it's slow and sorta boring. Each decision is weighed carefully, no matter how obvious it is, because there are no consequences for running out of time.
With time pressure, players make mistakes. Both players. It's been said on this very blog, years ago, "Godtear is usually won by the player who makes the fewest mistakes."
These mistakes make the game more interesting and dynamic. They give opponents opportunities to exploit and get back in the game. They happen on both sides of the table and are mitigated by skillful understanding of time management and the fundamentals of Godtear.
We want to compete in Balanced, Fair, Fun game formats. Equal time is fair, puts the pressure balance onto each player equally, and the mistakes it creates makes the game more fun.
How should we integrate Chess Clocks into Godtear?
Based on my experience with them in Chess and Monsterpocalypse, I actually don't think Godtear lends itself to Flag losses.
In Chess nomenclature when you run out of time, you've Flagged. When this happens, you instantly lose, no matter the board state. Same with MonPoc. In Godtear, the end state of a turn could deliver you the win no matter what your opponent does.
We should account for this possibility. I propose that once someone Flags in Godtear they end their current activation and can take no further actions for the rest of the game.
This allows opponents to react to the Flagged player's moves with their remaining time, if they can, before the end phase of that turn.
Full process:
Chess Clocks are set for 55 minutes a side in person, 65 a side for online play.
Setup occurs off the clock. The clock begins when the first player begins the first plot phase of the first turn.
Any time a player is making a decision, their clock should be running. Usually this is during an activation, but exceptions such as Raith'Marid's Rippling Scales ability flip the clock to the inactive player while that player is deciding which boon to pick. Usually, once a plot phase is completed or a clash phase card is flipped, the clock should flip over to the other player.
If a player Flags, they finish the activation they are currently conducting and may then make no further activations for the remainder of the game. The other player may play, unimpeded, until one side wins the game or their own time expires. They may not flip the clock for any reason, nor activate any of their opponent's models, and they make all decisions for the rest of the game. If both sides have Flagged and the game has not been decided, score an End phase for the current turn with the board in its current state. In the event that the game is still tied, the player whose time expired last wins.
Flagging under this proposal is devastating. Your opponent can run roughshod over your static position, score with almost impunity, and choose to go first in the remaining turns
But it's not an instant loss. If you've properly protected your banners on Knowledge turn 5, you can still win even if you Flag. This keeps players engaged and invested as long as they have clock time.
Is it more complex than dice down? Yes. But I think it will lead to a better experience overall.
Conclusion
Godtear is a game. I enjoy competing in it as a tournament game. Tournament games must have a discreet ending so that the next round can be paired and played. Dice Down is a bad system. Chess Clocks are much better, and should be adopted.
I'll see you in the Blasted Expanse!
Jeff "Gearbox" Mitchell