Sometimes people are nervous about trying new games. For some it is the difficulty of set-up or the daunting task of reading the list of detailed instructions. However finding new and exciting games can be more than worth all the hassle of learning. Below are a few tips to ensure success and fun for all.
Read the directions
The most important and sometimes least enjoyable part of learning a new game. Some games can have pages of detailed instructions for all possible outcomes. While reading may take some time, it will save you headaches in the future when questions arise. It will also ensure that your gaming experience is how the game was intended.
Setting Things Up
This is pretty much self-explanatory, but when you’re teaching a new game, it’s especially important to double-check that everything is set up right. An improper set-up of game pieces and cards could alter game play so just recheck the initial set-up against diagrams/pictures in the directions.
Also for more complicated games, be sure to count the pieces. Some games contain a great deal of counters/pieces be sure to count and place these correctly prior to the start of the game. This will make the game play easier and avoid confusion later.
Trial Run
The first play of any new game should be used as a trial run to learn basic game play. I would recommend not even worrying about the score or winner, but to focus on the mechanics and possible strategies. Don’t judge a game solely by the trial run at least give it a re-play for a fair chance.
In fact, don’t even feel like you need to finish the whole game. Once everybody’s got the hang of it, they’ll probably realize that they should have done something different early on. If so, just start over from scratch. It will be more fun for everyone.
Re-play
The re-play should be counted as the first real game. Now that you understand the rules and components you should be able to focus on the strategies and just enjoy playing the game.
For the first few games, though, you should be a little lenient with the rules, especially regarding taking moves back. New players will quickly realize when they’ve made a mistake, so they should be allowed to fix it. Later, once everyone is very familiar with the game, is the time to be more competitive (if that’s the play style of your group).
Have fun!
As with everything else in board gaming, this is the number one rule! Make sure everyone’s having fun: you, the experienced players, and the new ones. If people aren’t having fun, then what’s the point of playing?
Have any tips or experiences teaching games? Share them with us in the comments!
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You make some good points. I especially like the section on the Trial Run.
In my gaming group, when someone needs to learn a game I’m always the one they call. Not to toot my own horn too much, but I’ve got a knack for explaining games in a logical, concise manner that everyone can understand.
Before our new games even make it to our gaming group though, they have to make it through our family. My mom, in particular, does not care for learning new games so my dad and I have developed our method.
My dad and I will BOTH read through the instructions prior to play. Then, just the two of us will give the game a trial run (as you mentioned). This allows us to work out all the quirks and nuances of the game. Then, probably the next day, we will introduce it to my mom and I can once again explain it to her in a logical, concise manner so we can get into the action quickly.
Nice article. Game On!
That’s a great idea. It’s always better if one or two people in the group have already played the game, and know some of the “gotchas” that can come up when you’re actually playing. I know sometimes we run into problems if multiple people are trying to explain the rules at the same time, because then the people end up talking over each other, making the explanation unclear. Do you ever run into that?
In regards to taking moves back, it should always be allowed in any game session, if the next player has not yet revealed his intention. OR sometimes even if the next player has revealed his intention, but the take back has absolutely no influence on the next player.
Only bad players enforce the “card laid is a card played” policy. Do you want to win because someone made a mistake? There is no glory in that for me.
We do the talking over each other all the time. Some people say that learning a game from my best friend and I is the worst way to learn. We generally will coach you to victory, but you are totally confused. For this reason, one of our friends is the appointed game teacher. He is very balanced in his approach to giving the new gamer the information they need, without overloading them with too much information.
It is not uncommon that we will play a game two or three times and then realize that there is a rule we have missinterpreted that changes the play. We rarely teach games to newbies that we haven’t played several time ourselves.
This is a good overview of the basics. If you are interested more in the subject, Ive worked on a podcast all about teaching and learning games at http://www.howtoplaypodcast.com I hope you will check it out.
The biggest trouble I have with teaching games to new players is in figuring out the correct ratio of expain everything:not overwhelm players. If I fully explain every rule before the commencement of the game, the players shut down and don’t digest much of what’s said (a particular problem in many CCGs). If I explain rules only as needed, my friends tend to get very angry that I didn’t “tell them everything”. It’s a vexing problem that could be solved by EVERYONE reading the rules, but that’s often just not practical.
Teaching a new game always brings me out in a cold sweat. Especially as we only play as a large group that has a tenancy to be quite competitive. I’m also the one expected to learn all the rules as I’m the main purchaser of games.
So the first thing I do when I get a new game is to head here and print off the relevant summary sheets. Headless Hollow has saved my skin more than once during a gaming session.