From "shall we go" to "just this round": why guests stay longer

Every hospitality operator knows the moment. The plates are empty. The glasses are starting to run dry. Someone looks at their phone. And then comes the question: "shall we go?"

TablePlay aims to change exactly that moment. Because there's a big psychological difference between doing nothing and being in the middle of something.

A guest on question 18 of a twenty-question quiz doesn't like stopping at question 18. A table in second place in a tournament wants to know if they can still win. And someone who's just one round away from the final has a clear reason to stay seated a little longer.

People want to finish what they've started

Behavioural research into progress and goals shows that people feel more motivated the closer they get to achieving a goal. This principle is described, among other things, in research on the so-called Endowed Progress Effect. When progress is made visible, the desire to finish an activity increases.

For TablePlay, that's particularly relevant. A game has a visible endpoint:

• 7 out of 10 questions
• round 3 of 4
• just one more opponent
• second place on the scoreboard
• the final starts in five minutes

That creates something that simply scrolling on a phone doesn't have: a reason to wait for the outcome.

10 to 25 minutes is an interesting playing duration

Many TablePlay quizzes and tournaments last around 10 to 25 minutes. That's long enough to build engagement, but short enough to fit within a normal restaurant visit.

And it doesn't automatically mean that every minute of play is also an extra minute of stay. Part of the game will, for example, take place while guests are waiting for their food anyway. That's even beneficial: TablePlay can then first make existing waiting time more enjoyable. See also how to entertain guests while waiting.

The interesting effect occurs towards the end of the visit. If someone would normally leave at 9:15pm but a match starting at 9:12pm still has fifteen minutes left, there's a chance that part of that playing time actually becomes extra dwell time.

Entertainment can change the perception of time

Research into waiting also shows that distraction and entertainment can influence how people experience waiting time. Ten minutes in which nothing happens can feel long. Ten minutes in which you try to win a quiz with friends can fly by.

This means TablePlay doesn't need to artificially extend a restaurant visit. It first makes the existing time more valuable. Only when guests decide to finish a game or start another new round does actual extra dwell time occur.

Why our strong scenario is 18 minutes

A TablePlay user can play different types of games during a visit. Short games lasting a few minutes. A fifteen-minute quiz. Or a tournament lasting twenty minutes or longer.

Not everyone stays longer as a result. But among the group for whom TablePlay actually delays the natural departure moment, the difference can be significant. That's why, within the strong TablePlay scenario, we calculate up to 18 minutes of extra dwell time.

This is explicitly a scenario that still needs to be further validated with real restaurant data. But the underlying mechanism is strong: engagement creates visible progress, visible progress creates the desire to finish, and that desire shifts the departure moment.

And it's precisely those eighteen minutes that can be valuable

A longer dwell time is not the goal in itself. On a fully booked Saturday evening, a restaurant wants to make efficient use of its tables. But during quieter hours, in hotel bars, holiday parks and restaurants with sufficient capacity, extra dwell time can be highly valuable.

Because eighteen extra minutes provide time for:

• a coffee
• a dessert
• another glass of wine
• a cocktail
• or a full extra round of drinks

That's why, at TablePlay, we ultimately measure not only how much longer someone stayed, but especially what those extra minutes delivered. More on this in the article about extra order moments.