My buddy said my game teaching was a 'rules dump' and it made me switch to just showing the first turn.

Now I'm wondering if giving a full overview upfront is actually worse than just jumping in, so what's your method for explaining a new game?

3 comments

3 Comments

grant_martinez512mo agoMost Upvoted

Rules dumps are the worst, man. My cousin tried to explain Terraforming Mars with a 45 minute lecture once. We all just stared at the board like it was in another language. Now I just deal out some cards, point at the cool art, and say "alright, let's make some dumb moves and figure it out." People learn way faster when they're actually playing and messing up.

dixon.daniel2mo ago

Your buddy's right about the "rules dump" thing, it's like trying to explain a whole movie before pressing play.

spencer_wood1mo ago

But come on, is it really that bad? Some games are just complicated. If you don't explain anything, you spend the whole first hour stopping every two seconds to look up a rule. A little structure up front saves a lot of headache later. It's about finding a balance, not just winging it completely.