It would be very unfair for new players to find out about an additional game guide way to win partway through the game when they have already spent several turns working towards a different objective. By the time you’re handing out these quick reference guides, players know what all the components are and will be starting to get curious about how the game works. You don’t need to become a superstar master or mistress of ceremonies to do this. Just bring your energy and enthusiasm for the board game. Smile, be encouraging and positive and use your role-playing skills to take on the role of the type of person you’d like to teach you. Think about where your friends are on the board gaming scale.

How To Teach Board Games To New Players

In my core board gaming group, we have been leveling up our gaming skills together. The only other components to know about in Onitama are the movement cards, of which there are 16 and each one is unique. However, in each game, only 5 of the 16 movement cards are used (picked randomly). You’ll also need to formulate a plan for presenting everything and make sure that even the inexperienced players do not feel completely lost two minutes into your explanation. Additionally, Meshy offers a community platform where you can find free assets created by other developers, saving you time while still offering flexibility in your game’s design. Sketch out ideas and use storyboards to visualize the gameplay.

Such mechanics allow payers to evaluate their actions quickly against possible outcomes. As the host it’s ultimately up to you to determine how to best structure and scaffold your game explanation. This could come entirely from you; based on a demonstration by more experienced players; or even include videos or other media created to help players learn the game. This is where you become the best storytelling entertainer you can be to set the scene for everyone about the board game you’re about to play. The aim of this is to get new players engaged and excited about the game and to introduce the theme of the game at the same time.

You can avoid this situation by opening, playing, preparing, and practicing how to teach the game prior to hosting it. Doing this means that you will have spent some time teaching yourself how to teach others to play. There are many ways of explaining the core loop of a game. No matter which way you choose always relate it back to individual players’ agency and how they can take these actions in order to win the game.

Spread the Fun of Learning!

Let actions, tone, strong inflections, and facial expressions accompany your words. It will help your students understand you better and help them pay attention. You’ll find that they will totally mirror your enthusiasm if you are the one coming in with high energy.

Regularly check that everything makes sense

Now, we’ve already established that good teachers need a lot of practice themselves, but it’s no different for the players trying to learn a game. For example, if you already have the game set when you start introducing its main theme and goals, the explanations will be easier, and you can show the things you’re talking about right away. On the other hand, having players shuffle the card deck, get familiar with each game piece, or set up the various components can get them feeling engaged in the process. I can’t count the number of strategy games I’ve played that have failed at this point.

Specifically in games like Battlestar Galactica where revealing hidden roles could undermine the whole experience. At that point they know how to play, they just aren’t sure what to do. If that means you’re moving pieces around to show what you mean, if you need to shuffle through the deck to find a type of card to demonstrate a point, then go for it.

As the people who most regularly host games nights, it usually falls to me or my boyfriend to teach board games to new players. After doing this countless times, we’ve learned what works and what doesn’t. Structurally you may want to start talking about the setup and beginning of the game.

However; serious gamers or those who have played the same game many times before; often suffer from player bias and understanding that they already have (but a new player doesn’t). This is similar to rubber duck debugging where the host must become intimately aware of why they are doing something by explaining the reason behind it as it occurs. Games have a wide variety of different mechanics that makes learning them easier or more challenging.

Of course, as a host, your role is also to help players gain the most they can from the game. Sometimes this means also providing “color commentary” during play. Questions also help the host pin point certain aspects of the game which may be confusing for future players. Questions outline where players should be reminded of certain actions, activities, or options afforded to them as the game goes on. Getting those reminders early on can be interpreted as annoying.

Rather, covering exactly how players do something as well as how choices are structured in the game does help new players develop their own agency. The game structure and rules is very much the “how” of players engagement with the game. Here, players learns how the game is structured, setup, and how they engage with it according to the game. Players develop their literacy through playing varying, diverse, and different games from different modalities. This includes computer and console games as well as mobile, card, and table top games.

I think the best thing is to not give strategy advice but instead pay attention to what new players are doing on their turn. Give them something to do while you’re explaining the next point. Ask them to hand you a game piece, move something on the board, or shuffle some cards. Play the base version of the board game without any of the expansions.