Teaching a New Game

You've got a new multi-player board game on the table, and it is at least moderately complex and not a co-op game. How do you teach new players how to play?

In order to get the game on the table, I have usually already addressed theme, setting, and at least a couple of core mechanics as part of my sales pitch. Since most of my games are Ameritrash, I start with who the players are playing and how to win. You're a monster hunter, or a tug boat captain, or a ruthless capitalist or whatever. You win by killing the most monsters, or crossing the stormy channel first, or making the most money.

From there, I usually go to turn structure. These are the phases of each turn, and this is what you do during each phase. Only after establishing the overall structure do I get into the specific mechanics. And I generally don't offer any strategic or tactical tips unless somebody gets stuck and wants a little guidance. If there are any complicated mechanics, I recruit a couple of players to play through a sample resolution of that mechanic, especially if it's a combat situation.

The reason I bring this topic up is that I am looking forward to playing a couple of complex games with friends after the pandemic is over or at least under control. Android won't be too terrible, and at least a couple of the people interested have already played once before. The other one is Magic Realm, and that seems like a very challenging game to teach given that two of my friends have tried and failed to teach me how to play in the distant past.

I teach a shit ton of games. I've been regarded as a good teacher by some.

First I go over the concept and what you are trying to do at a high level. Then I go over the board. Sometimes I will refrain from handing players their personal pieces right away because people like to dig into cards and marvel at miniatures instead of focusing.

But I make sure the board is entirely clear, how spaces work, what symbols may mean ("we'll go over that concept in more detail later").

Then I start with the flow of a turn. Here's what we do first kind of thing. I discuss each subsystem or concept as we get to it within the flow of a turn. I may hold off on something like combat or whatever and circle back to it later.

I often repeat concepts which I think are important ("again, this symbol means X"). I think repeating certain aspects is crucial because it solidifies rules into memory.

I stop often and make sure the person understands the concept I just explained.

This system of teaching works well in virtually any game. For instance Root - teach the board, teach what the difference between wooden and cardboard pieces are, explain how spaces connect, rule, etc.

Then go over the turn structure using the player's faction. If you have more than one new player do one at a time but include other players by looking up at them and referencing stuff like "Birdsong is always the beginning of a player's turn".

I try to find points where, in essence, the game regularly refers to its base ruleset. Take Rising Sun, for example, which is currently among my little triumphs of the past year in getting two people who are not at all fans of DoaMs to love it after one play.

"OK. This is an area control game. You're mostly trying to have the most dudes in any one spot on the board. There are three seasons: spring, summer, autumn. Each season is going to be a mandate phase where one player chooses a mandate [shows stacks of mandates], interrupted by three Kami phases [points at phase sequence on the board] where we discover who has the most dudes in any one temple [points at Kami temples], and then a war phase where we decide who has the most dudes in any one spot on the map [waves at map] to earn province tokens [waves at tokens] for points at the end. Three rounds like that and we tally the scores in winter and we're done."

That's the initial salvo, but during the description, I keep coming back to two things: 1. Normally, each dude is worth 1 force. 2. ANY AND ALL TIES are decided by the Honor track. Those are the most basic rules of the game so I try to keep returning to that basic clarity as I get into more detail.

"Harvest mandate. Everyone gets 1 coin, but the person who plays the mandate and their ally also get to look at each province where they have the most force/dudes. If they do, they get the rewards on the board (coins, ronin, VPs.) What do we do if there are any ties? [Points to honor track.]"

I tend to ignore exceptions until we've gone through the basics of the game. In describing the Marshal phase, I just stop at: "Every dude can move one space in any direction. Shipping lanes are one space." I don't want to include: "Except the Dragonfly clan, who can move anywhere they want." because that distracts people from what I'm saying: Marshal phase. Move all your dudes one space, in any direction, no stacking limits. Once we've gotten through all the mandates and the bidding process, then I can point out things like: "Hey, remember when I said everyone moves one space? Well, Steve, playing the Dragonfly Clan, can move his people anywhere on the map." Or: "Hey, remember when I said you have to pay the cost on season cards when we Train? Well, Tricia, playing the Bonsai clan, never pays more than 1 coin for anything."

So, two key concepts: Force and Honor. You can basically springboard the whole game off of that.

For Euros, it can be a little more nebulous because their mechanics are often a little more oblique, even if the concepts that they're using are less detailed. Take Modern Art.

"This is an auction game. There will be three rounds in which everyone will be trying to sell their artwork to each other for the most money and, at the end of each round, sell the most pieces of artwork of any one artist to the museums for even more money. At the end of the game, most money wins."

Mechanically, Modern Art is a simpler game than Rising Sun. But that means it can be harder to grasp in initial description for a lot of people because you can't just point to the Honor track or the dudes on the map and say: "This is how this works." You often have to demonstrate: "This type of auction works like so..." and then point out the longer-term implications "Focusing on acquiring the most popular artist gets you a boost of money at the end of each round." because it's often easier to recover from beginner strategy mistakes in longer, more complex games like Rising Sun than it is shorter, simpler games like Modern Art. Going through a first game with no chance to win isn't the way any game should be introduced, if at all possible.

charlest wrote: Sometimes I will refrain from handing players their personal pieces right away because people like to dig into cards and marvel at miniatures instead of focusing.

I've taught a lot of games over the years, but I was hoping for some nuggets of wisdom like this one.

Jackwraith wrote: I tend to ignore exceptions until we've gone through the basics of the game.

This is a valuable point. Games with asymmetrical characters or factions tend to be rife with exceptions, and that can be a real distraction when initially covering the basics with all the players.

For Magic Realm, I am contemplating making a different cheatsheat for each of the 16 characters, focusing on their exceptions. For example, the Captain is a fairly uncomplicated character but has an advantage on his hiring rolls, so I could put a copy of the relevant table on his cheatsheet. The Elf has a bow, so it makes to put a copy of the ranged attack chart on his cheatsheet. The Witch King player would probably appreciate a brief summary of what he can actually do without any Move or Fight chits, like carry items with a Negligible weight.