diff --git a/src/client/graphics/NameBoxCalculator.ts b/src/client/graphics/NameBoxCalculator.ts
index a79cb0d58..ce1de94e3 100644
--- a/src/client/graphics/NameBoxCalculator.ts
+++ b/src/client/graphics/NameBoxCalculator.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { Game, Player, Cell, NameViewData } from '../../core/game/Game';
+import { Game, Player, Cell, NameViewData, MutablePlayer } from '../../core/game/Game';
 import { calculateBoundingBox, within } from '../../core/Util';
 
 export interface Point {
@@ -15,12 +15,32 @@ export interface Rectangle {
 
 
 
-export function placeName(game: Game, player: Player): NameViewData {
-    const boundingBox = calculateBoundingBox(game, player.borderTiles());
+export function placeName(game: Game, player: MutablePlayer): NameViewData {
 
+    const boundingBox = player.largestClusterBoundingBox ?? calculateBoundingBox(game, player.borderTiles());
 
-    const rawScalingFactor = (boundingBox.max.x - boundingBox.min.x) / 100
-    const scalingFactor = within(Math.floor(rawScalingFactor), 1, 1000)
+    let scalingFactor = 1
+    const width = boundingBox.max.x - boundingBox.min.x
+    const height = boundingBox.max.y - boundingBox.min.y
+    const size = Math.min(width, height)
+    if (size < 25) {
+        scalingFactor = 1
+    } else if (size < 50) {
+        scalingFactor = 2
+    } else if (size < 100) {
+        scalingFactor = 4
+    } else if (size < 250) {
+        scalingFactor = 8
+    } else if (size < 500) {
+        scalingFactor = 16
+    } else {
+        scalingFactor = 32
+    }
+
+    console.log(`for player ${player.name()}, got scaling factor ${scalingFactor}}`)
+
+    // const rawScalingFactor = (boundingBox.max.x - boundingBox.min.x) / 1000
+    // const scalingFactor = within(Math.floor(rawScalingFactor), .1, 1)
 
     const grid = createGrid(game, player, boundingBox, scalingFactor);
     const largestRectangle = findLargestInscribedRectangle(grid);
diff --git a/src/core/GameRunner.ts b/src/core/GameRunner.ts
index eb261c1f5..e79357265 100644
--- a/src/core/GameRunner.ts
+++ b/src/core/GameRunner.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import { Cell, DisplayMessageUpdate, Game, GameUpdateType, MessageType, MutableG
 import { createGame } from "./game/GameImpl";
 import { loadTerrainMap as loadGameMap } from "./game/TerrainMapLoader";
 import { GameConfig, Turn } from "./Schemas";
-import { GameUpdateViewData} from "./GameView";
+import { GameUpdateViewData } from "./GameView";
 import { andFN, manhattanDistFN, TileRef } from "./game/GameMap";
 import { targetTransportTile } from "./Util";
 
@@ -62,8 +62,8 @@ export class GameRunner {
         this.game.addExecution(...this.execManager.createExecs(this.turns[this.currTurn]))
         this.currTurn++
         const updates = this.game.executeNextTick()
-
-        if (this.game.inSpawnPhase() || this.game.ticks() % 20 == 0) {
+        // TODO: make name rendering more efficient in spawn phase.
+        if (this.game.inSpawnPhase() || this.game.ticks() % 30 == 0) {
             this.game.players().forEach(p => {
                 this.playerViewData[p.id()] = placeName(this.game, p)
             })
diff --git a/src/core/execution/PlayerExecution.ts b/src/core/execution/PlayerExecution.ts
index ed5097d6a..f3ecfaea3 100644
--- a/src/core/execution/PlayerExecution.ts
+++ b/src/core/execution/PlayerExecution.ts
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ export class PlayerExecution implements Execution {
         clusters.sort((a, b) => b.size - a.size);
 
         const main = clusters.shift()
+        this.player.largestClusterBoundingBox = calculateBoundingBox(this.mg, main)
         const surroundedBy = this.surroundedBySamePlayer(main)
         if (surroundedBy && !this.player.isAlliedWith(surroundedBy)) {
             this.removeCluster(main)
diff --git a/src/core/game/Game.ts b/src/core/game/Game.ts
index c97524993..6038de35f 100644
--- a/src/core/game/Game.ts
+++ b/src/core/game/Game.ts
@@ -259,6 +259,7 @@ export interface Player {
 }
 
 export interface MutablePlayer extends Player {
+    largestClusterBoundingBox: { min: Cell, max: Cell } | null
     // Targets for this player
     targets(): Player[]
     // Targets of player and all allies.
diff --git a/src/core/game/PlayerImpl.ts b/src/core/game/PlayerImpl.ts
index 67a72b849..ba6bdbea5 100644
--- a/src/core/game/PlayerImpl.ts
+++ b/src/core/game/PlayerImpl.ts
@@ -56,6 +56,9 @@ export class PlayerImpl implements MutablePlayer {
         this._displayName = this._name // processName(this._name)
 
     }
+
+    largestClusterBoundingBox: { min: Cell, max: Cell } | null
+
     toUpdate(): PlayerUpdate {
         return {
             type: GameUpdateType.Player,