Back in one of Gameplaywright’s inagural posts, Allow You to Demonstrate, Nicole and Will were kind enough to comment that they had enjoyed my demonstrations of Pieces of Eight at the GenCon when it was released. This is a piece I wrote around that time on how to teach games well, originally printed in the late Games Quarterly Magazine. Enjoy!

No one reads the manual. It’s as true for games as for setting up surround sound in your living room. So instead of reading a dry rulebook, most people learn games from people who have already played them. As a game designer, game shop employee, convention volunteer, and booth weasel, I’ve spent a lot of time teaching people how to play games. And of course, as a die-hard gamer, I’ve also learned a lot of different games from a lot of different people. This article distills my experience into a few simple strategies for teaching people how to play games, so you can get on to the fun of actually playing as quickly as possible.

Move From General to Specific

When you open up a box full of game pieces it’s easy to get caught up in minutiae of all the cool little components. “This piece does this and that piece does that and here are the cards…” Slow down, there, Tex.

When teaching a new game, it’s important to start with the most general information, liked so: “This is The Settlers of Catan. It’s a game where the players trade resources with each other to try to build things.” This gives the person you’re teaching a framework to fit everything else into. When you move on to listing the five resources of Catan, the player already knows that he’s going to be trading them with the other players, and that they’re a means to the end of building things. If you start with “This is wheat, sheep, and stone,” you’re just not making any sense.

It’s very easy to take the most general information about a game for granted — the setting or victory conditions, for example. Don’t. You’ll be able to teach the game much more quickly by starting with zero assumptions, and your diligent pupils will be more likely to understand accurately and quickly.

Check In

As you move from general to specific, check in frequently with the person you’re teaching. Don’t get all involved with manipulating the game pieces. Look up to make sure the learner is nodding along (or, at least, not looking at you in complete incomprehension). Ask, from time to time, “Does that make sense?”

If something’s not clear, you must obviously go back. Explain the confusing element in a new way, or use a different example. Whatever you do, don’t just repeat the same thing you said before.

In addition to making sure that you haven’t missed something, checking in will let you know if you can pick up the pace. So remember to do it.

Teach Rules and Examples

Many people teach games using only examples. “If your piece is here, you can move it there, or there,” they say, or “You can play a red card on a red card.” Using examples often gives the gist of an element of gameplay but fails to address all of the possibilities.

Teach Like a ProA lot of game-teaching is done by retailers in their stores or game designers and booth weasels at game conventions. When you’re one of these people, here are a few more guidelines that can come in handy.

The Coolest Thing: When demonstrating a game you’re trying to sell, make sure you work the coolest thing about the game into the spiel, whether it’s a particularly elegant mechanic, clever strategy, or even just a really great card. (Needless to say, you should be able to identify the coolest thing about any game you’re trying to sell.)

Don’t Overstay Your Welcome: If you won’t be sitting down to play the game after you’re done explaining it, make sure you haven’t “trapped” the people you’re teaching. If you’re teaching a kid whose mom needs to leave your store, or a convention-goer who keeps looking at the next booth while you teach, wrap it up graciously and let them move along.

“Let the Wookie Win:” When you’re teaching a game in a sales situation, let the newcomer beat you. Make them work for it, but as long as they’re trying, let them win.

In my experience, it’s better to teach a rule and support it with one or two examples than allow the example to convey the rule on its own. You might say: “You can move pieces between adjacent spaces. For example, if your piece is here, you can move it there.” Or, perhaps, “You can only play cards on other cards of the same color, so you could play a red card on a red card.”

The Example Hand

One of the best strategies for teaching a new game is what I call “the example hand.” You simply play a hand of cards, or a few turns of a board game, with all cards and pieces exposed. You provide a running commentary on what’s happening, and suggest both legal moves and wise moves. It is understood that the example hand is not the beginning of an actual game; you’ll start the real game afresh once the example hand is over.

Strategy Advice

It’s sometimes difficult to know whether you should give strategy advice while you’re teaching a game. On one hand, you will presumably be competing with the person you’re teaching once you’re done. How much insight do you really want to give them?

When I teach games, I try to lay out basic strategy, pointing the newcomer in the right direction without telling them exactly how I think they ought to play. This often helps cement the rules in the beginner’s head. It will also make the first games more interesting for you. How entertaining is it to crush a beginner who doesn’t know a new game very well?

When you do give strategy advice as part of teaching a game, avoid being too specific or controversial. If you give advice that’s too specific, you risk confusing a beginner with too much information, or, worse, coming off as a smug jerk. Imparting controversial advice — strategies that you feel work well for you but that many players wouldn’t agree with — is also no favor to someone who’s just learning the basics. If you absolutely must share your pet nuggets, at least reserve them until after the newbie has been through a game or two.