My buddy told me to never teach a game by the rulebook order

He said to start with the win condition first, then how you take a turn, then the rest. I tried it last game night with Root, which is a mess of rules. Instead of going page by page, I said 'you win by getting 30 points, you get points by doing these three things on your turn'. It clicked way faster for everyone. Has anyone else found a better way to explain complex games?

3 comments

3 Comments

wesley80113d agoMost Upvoted

Your buddy is absolutely right. I learned this the hard way trying to teach a heavy euro game by starting with the history of the fictional grain trade. People's eyes just glazed over. Now I always lead with how you win, just like @reed.eva's friend did with Scythe. If you say "you win by having the most victory points from building buildings and completing contracts," then explaining each worker action makes sense. The goal is the anchor for all the other rules. Without it, you're just listing facts that people forget immediately.

reed.eva1mo ago

My friend tried to teach us Scythe straight from the book once and it was a total disaster. He started with resource types and the map setup while we all just stared blankly at the board. Another guy took over and just said, "Look, you're trying to get the most money, you move and do one action each turn to build your engine." Everything made sense after that. The win condition is the only thing that gives all the other rules a point. Watching that fail and then work completely changed how I explain games now. You gotta give people the goal first or nothing else sticks.

felix_coleman871mo ago

Totally agree, that's the only way to teach a game. Starting with the win condition gives every little rule a reason to exist. I've sat through so many bad explanations where someone reads the setup first and everyone just tunes out. Your friend who jumped in with the goal first is a real hero, lmao. That story should be required reading for anyone trying to teach a board game.