I keep seeing people at my local game store in Denver try to teach new players by explaining every single rule up front, which just makes them zone out.

After watching three different groups get overwhelmed and check their phones during a 20 minute rules lecture for a medium-weight game, I've started just teaching the core loop and one goal, then jumping in, which gets people playing and asking questions in under five minutes.

2 comments

2 Comments

the_betty6d ago

Yeah, I do the same thing. I just explain how a turn works and what we're trying to do to win. For something like Ticket to Ride, I'd say we collect cards to claim routes and connect cities, and our tickets are secret goals. We start playing right away and I explain the little rules as they come up. People learn by doing, not by listening to a lecture.

zara4476d ago

That's the best way to do it for sure. Jumping right in keeps people from getting bored or lost in the rules. My question is, how do you handle a game with a really important rule that comes up later? Like, if someone could make a move early on that breaks the game because they didn't know a specific restriction. Do you just warn them about it when you see it coming?