My game night group asked me “Can you read glyphs?” I said “yuh”. They said “And you play 4x and resource managers on PC?” I sead “yeah”. They said “perfect, win conditions are… You’ll go last to watch phase order”
I’ve never had games more succinctly and accurately taught than my current game night group does.
We taught someone magic the gathering in 20 minutes, they won! (We have a noob friendly format we’ve made which has the goal of eliminating metaplays through a shared 400 card library and an extensive banlist)
Yeah, the best way to learn a new game is by doing it. Video games have stopped burying tutorials in booklets, because they realized players didn’t actually read anything. Instead, they use the game itself to teach you how to play, by presenting the relevant information as it becomes relevant.
You don’t need to read rules about a mechanic that starts 3/4 of the way through the game until you’re at the 3/4 mark. In video games, that usually manifests as a “congrats, you got a new ability. Here’s a quick three or four sentences on how it works” pop up. If that info is presented up front (like in a board game rulebook) then you’ll have forgotten how it works by the time it is relevant.
Knowing what to teach a new player is so important in games. They’re not going to have fun if they’re drowning in the deep end
I have a Talrand commander deck specifically designed to teach new players. It is real simple to explain: you get creatures by casting spells, use those creatures to attack people. All the spells are low mana cost “do a small thing draw a card”. There is utility everywhere worded simply and it’s great for new players. Then to keep them engaged with a chance to win I threw in a couple things like coat of arms that can fire off a same turn win even against better decks
I also collect ttrpgs and being able to teach relevant rules in an engaging way is required. I’d never be able to play half the games I own if people didn’t like the learning process to try them out. With ttrpgs it’s easier to be like “eh I don’t like that we’re glossing over that rule” than with board games though which can really smooth out the initial learning curve
My game night group asked me “Can you read glyphs?” I said “yuh”. They said “And you play 4x and resource managers on PC?” I sead “yeah”. They said “perfect, win conditions are… You’ll go last to watch phase order”
I’ve never had games more succinctly and accurately taught than my current game night group does.
We taught someone magic the gathering in 20 minutes, they won! (We have a noob friendly format we’ve made which has the goal of eliminating metaplays through a shared 400 card library and an extensive banlist)
Yeah, the best way to learn a new game is by doing it. Video games have stopped burying tutorials in booklets, because they realized players didn’t actually read anything. Instead, they use the game itself to teach you how to play, by presenting the relevant information as it becomes relevant.
You don’t need to read rules about a mechanic that starts 3/4 of the way through the game until you’re at the 3/4 mark. In video games, that usually manifests as a “congrats, you got a new ability. Here’s a quick three or four sentences on how it works” pop up. If that info is presented up front (like in a board game rulebook) then you’ll have forgotten how it works by the time it is relevant.
Knowing what to teach a new player is so important in games. They’re not going to have fun if they’re drowning in the deep end
I have a Talrand commander deck specifically designed to teach new players. It is real simple to explain: you get creatures by casting spells, use those creatures to attack people. All the spells are low mana cost “do a small thing draw a card”. There is utility everywhere worded simply and it’s great for new players. Then to keep them engaged with a chance to win I threw in a couple things like coat of arms that can fire off a same turn win even against better decks
I also collect ttrpgs and being able to teach relevant rules in an engaging way is required. I’d never be able to play half the games I own if people didn’t like the learning process to try them out. With ttrpgs it’s easier to be like “eh I don’t like that we’re glossing over that rule” than with board games though which can really smooth out the initial learning curve