Probably a good call...as long as I'm okay with being mean to others or warning them in advance of how they can be hit. I assume that gamers can figure that out for themselves, but inexperienced players might be surprised in a bad way. -WEM
Great video, When introducing new folks to games, I try to pick games that play in an hour or less, share the theme/overview and win conditions to provide context, walk people through different actions they can take, and most importantly pausing to allow folks to ask questions during the teach. During the game, I'll remind folks of different game aspects and answer any questions they have. Lastly, I don't play 'optimally'. I want people to discover the game and want to play again.
I've gotten much better at constantly reminding people of the options available to them. I try not to come across as playing their game, but just making sure they know what's possible, but it's a fine line sometimes. -WEM
I try and stick with one of the classic Knizia's games with new player (cause I get to play them and its easier on everybody), generally avoid auction/bidding like you mentioned. For me Via Nebula was surprisingly one of those games that was an instant hit with new players.
I had unexpectedly bad experience the first time I played code names. It was codenames pictures, and one of the players insisted upon minutely examining every single picture before making a guess no matter how obvious the clue was. Like if the clue was water and one of the pictures was a fish he would be like “ But this little bit of shading at the corner of this picture looks like a wave”
Every Tuesday my meetup group meets. We almost always have new players, so I’m constantly looking out for games good for them, that won’t totally bore me. There’s over 600 members in the group and we usually end up with 12-20 people showing up. I’m glad I’m not the only game teacher anymore. Sometimes I just want to play what I want rather than having to pick something that works for new players.
I agree that looking out for new players can be frustrating at times, especially when you're eager to play something more involved, but for the most part I'm picking out games that I like, so I still have fun. -WEM
Been playing games at work with non-game players every two weeks or so at lunch for the last two years. Yeah, gotta keep it to games that don’t have an overwhelming number of choices ideally. We play stuff like Just One, Wits & Wagers Vegas, Illusion, Sushi Go, Fun Facts, Klask, Wildlife Safari, Pitch&Plakks, Similo, or Super Mega Lucky Box. Sometimes gamers can think something is “simple,” when for a lot of people it’s pretty complex. Even going from Sushi Go to Sushi Go Party caught some of the folks off guard. The “how do I know what is going to be good?” problem that you mentioned.
As simple as they both may be, Sushi Party Go really bugs me that the cards are all reshuffled together each round, rather than a little bit of fuzzy estimation of whether cards (pudding!) will appear much in the final round or not. But agree, Sushi Go is a great game for newbies
Azul was a favourite of mine to introduce to players - easy to explain and pick up quickly.
Probably a good call...as long as I'm okay with being mean to others or warning them in advance of how they can be hit. I assume that gamers can figure that out for themselves, but inexperienced players might be surprised in a bad way. -WEM
Great video, When introducing new folks to games, I try to pick games that play in an hour or less, share the theme/overview and win conditions to provide context, walk people through different actions they can take, and most importantly pausing to allow folks to ask questions during the teach. During the game, I'll remind folks of different game aspects and answer any questions they have. Lastly, I don't play 'optimally'. I want people to discover the game and want to play again.
I've gotten much better at constantly reminding people of the options available to them. I try not to come across as playing their game, but just making sure they know what's possible, but it's a fine line sometimes. -WEM
I try and stick with one of the classic Knizia's games with new player (cause I get to play them and its easier on everybody), generally avoid auction/bidding like you mentioned.
For me Via Nebula was surprisingly one of those games that was an instant hit with new players.
Thanks for the recommendation! -WEM
I had unexpectedly bad experience the first time I played code names. It was codenames pictures, and one of the players insisted upon minutely examining every single picture before making a guess no matter how obvious the clue was. Like if the clue was water and one of the pictures was a fish he would be like “ But this little bit of shading at the corner of this picture looks like a wave”
Every Tuesday my meetup group meets. We almost always have new players, so I’m constantly looking out for games good for them, that won’t totally bore me. There’s over 600 members in the group and we usually end up with 12-20 people showing up. I’m glad I’m not the only game teacher anymore. Sometimes I just want to play what I want rather than having to pick something that works for new players.
I agree that looking out for new players can be frustrating at times, especially when you're eager to play something more involved, but for the most part I'm picking out games that I like, so I still have fun. -WEM
Been playing games at work with non-game players every two weeks or so at lunch for the last two years. Yeah, gotta keep it to games that don’t have an overwhelming number of choices ideally. We play stuff like Just One, Wits & Wagers Vegas, Illusion, Sushi Go, Fun Facts, Klask, Wildlife Safari, Pitch&Plakks, Similo, or Super Mega Lucky Box. Sometimes gamers can think something is “simple,” when for a lot of people it’s pretty complex. Even going from Sushi Go to Sushi Go Party caught some of the folks off guard. The “how do I know what is going to be good?” problem that you mentioned.
As simple as they both may be, Sushi Party Go really bugs me that the cards are all reshuffled together each round, rather than a little bit of fuzzy estimation of whether cards (pudding!) will appear much in the final round or not. But agree, Sushi Go is a great game for newbies
Thanks for the suggestions! -WEM
That’s Life has been extremely successful for me across a wide range gaming abilities. Shame it’s not more readily available in US.
I agree! Given all the Kramer games getting new versions on the market, maybe this one will return as well. -WEM
Friday morning game groups? That’s your problem right there. 😂
Maybe so, but it leaves the weekend free for family things. -WEM