Appreciation post: My wife pointed out my board game teaching style was stressing everyone out

For years, I'd explain every rule up front, which took like 45 minutes and people's eyes would glaze over. Last month, during a game of Dune: Imperium, she just said 'Let's start and learn as we go.' We were playing in 10 minutes. Now I just teach the core loop and one goal, adding rules as they come up. It cut setup time in half and people actually have fun from the first turn. How do you handle teaching heavier games without the info dump?

3 comments

3 Comments

davis.casey2mo ago

Read this thing about teaching board games where you start with the win condition. Like for Terraforming Mars, you just say we're trying to get the most points by raising heat and oxygen and placing oceans... then you explain how to get cards and do actions. It frames everything else so the rules have a point. Your way sounds better though, getting people playing fast is key.

coleman.jamie2mo ago

Starting with the win condition just confuses new players.

the_robin19d ago

Nothing's ruined a game night faster than someone explaining victory points before we even open the box.