PSA: I was teaching new players wrong for years | Board Game Geeks

Max Martinez · 2026-03-15T06:10:07.328482+00:00

I always explained every rule upfront, which took 45 minutes and killed the mood. Last month at a game night in Austin, a friend just said 'let's play, I'll explain as we go' and we were having fun in five minutes. How do you handle teaching complex games without the rule dump?

fionarodriguez7mo ago

Lol, that's just how you learn anything in life.

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reeses417mo ago

Totally agree, that "learn as we play" method is a game changer. I start with the absolute goal of the game and one basic action everyone can do on their first turn. Explaining scoring or special cases can wait until someone is about to do it. It keeps people from getting overwhelmed by details they won't use for half an hour.

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nora_wells585mo ago

That's solid advice, but what do you do when a player keeps asking "what does this card do" every turn even after the quick learning phase?

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