G8 Game Timer

From: Dream Green Designers: Don Green List Price: $35 Players: 1-8 Playing Time: N/A Type of game: Accessory Skill level: N/A Complexity: N/A Reviewed by: Peter Sarrett, Issue 27, Summer 2002

One of the most useful accessories in anyone’s gaming closet is an electronic timer.  They free players from monitoring the status of sand timers, don’t get clogged, and provide a reliable standard of time measurement.  Many cheap and versatile models can be found in the kitchen tools section of your local market, and these are great for providing a simple countdown.  For more complex timing tasks such as those required by competitive Scrabble or chess, kitchen timers aren’t sufficient.  The G8 Game Timer is an economical and versatile gizmo for multiplayer timing needs.

The blue calculator-sized device comes in its own hard plastic slip cover with a reference guide on the back.  And you’ll need it, because this thing has ten different modes which must be configured before each use.  This complexity is daunting, and one might wish there were a couple of useful configurations pre-programmed out of the box.  Fortunately, two memory slots do allow for favored configurations to be saved once you’ve got them set up.

And setting them up is the trick— it’s not very intuitive.  You’re required to set a maximum time limit for the entire game, for instance, even if you don’t want or need one (couldn’t it have been made smart enough to treat “0” as “infinite” for that mode?).  Buttons are overloaded with different functions in different modes.  Cycling through ten modes is cumbersome.

All those modes are there to provide lots of flexibility.  The G8 might be configured as a simple 30-second timer or an 8-player chess clock.  Each player can have their own handicap, with different turn lengths or overall game durations.  Warning beeps and/or LED flashes can be configured for up to 9 seconds before time expires.  There can even be a delay between turns, so slapping the button doesn’t immediately start the next player’s time.  There’s a lot of power packed into this little guy, but unleashing it requires patience.

Once the settings are properly configured, actually using the timer is a breeze.  A big central button starts and stops the timer, and you can pause at any time.  The display is large and easy to read, and can be set to show the time left in the current turn or a player’s overall time remaining.  The single biggest improvement would be the addition of a hinged display, so the base could lay flat while the display is angled for easier viewing.  As is, the timer either lays flat on the table (where the display is hard to see) or must be propped up against a book (where the buttons are harder to use).

The G8 Game Timer is a great bargain.  Whether you need a chess or Scrabble clock, a simple party game timer, a handicapped turn timer for Das Motorsportspiel (DTM), or something to chivvy slow players along, if you’ve got the patience to figure out how to configure it properly this baby delivers.    A