A buddy in my game group told me I was explaining rules like a college lecture and it killed the mood

He said I needed to stop front-loading victory conditions and just let people learn by playing, so now I give a 90 second overview and start the first round, has anyone else had to totally rework how they teach a game?

2 comments

2 Comments

alice33610d ago

I mean, the "90 second overview and start the first round" thing is good, but idk if it works for every game. Some games have rules that come up later, like hidden actions or special tokens, and if you dont mention them early people get confused halfway through. Maybe try doing a quick teach then pausing after the first few turns to say "ok, now here's the thing thats about to show up.

matthews2110d ago

Had a buddy once who tried teaching Catan by memorizing the entire rulebook and reciting it from start to finish. Took him like 15 minutes, by the end everyone was bored and reaching for their phones. I just grab the setup rules, throw down the board, and say "ok here's how you get resources, here's how you build, roll the dice." Half the rules people learn by watching someone else make a mistake and going "wait, you can't do that." My favorite moment was watching a guy try to build a road through the ocean because nobody told him water tiles were off limits.