Over the course of my life I have learned many board games. They are fantastic way to improve critical thinking and problem solving skills. I love strategy board games and naturally tend toward more complicated games that have tons of pieces and a novel as a rule book. This habit of getting the complicated games can be both a good and bad as each one is unique and challenging. The bad thing is that each game takes so long to learn.
I believe that people would play more games if they knew how to play them. The best way to learn a game is to have someone teach it to you, unfortunately if you are like me you are the instigator and must learn it from the rules. As I have gone through this process many times I have come up with some great tips to learn a board game fast.
Less is more
The biggest mistake that I see new gamers make is trying to understand all of the rules all at once. I have even seen a couple people try to learn a game and all the expansions at one time. (Not a good idea) Instead of taking it in all at once separate the learning into 3 different sets: setup, players turn, and wining the game.
When you get a new game simply open it up unwrap all the cards, and pop out all the pieces. Also take a minute to breath in that new game smell…Nothing like it in the world! Now suppress the desire to grab the rules and read through them all. Just look for the set up section. Get the board and players set up and arranged as necessary.
Now most new games rules come with express rules and detailed rules. For this first play remember less is more, and just try to get by with the express rules. Again you are trying to get a feel for the game. When you have played it once you will go back and read the rest of the rules.
Play as you read
A second tip that I would get new gamers is to play as you read. Before starting a new game make sure that the people you are playing with are patient enough to get through the first couple of rounds. The first play is critical, and it is important to play as your read. So for example you will read the instructions to roll the dice. I want you to pick up the dice and through them, now you don’t know why you are rolling the dice and that doesn’t matter. The important thing is that you are doing it.
Most new games have colorful instructions with pictures and details. In fact some have little play by play cards that you can pass out to each player. Just go through the motions a couple of times to get the hang of the play of the game.
Once the first player has completed all of the actions proceed to the next player and so on and so on. Read each action and perform them to the best understanding that you have. If you must consult the instructions just do it enough to get the general sense of what you're supposed to do and then do it. You'll find that as you read and apply the instructions that you will learn the game much quicker than just reading the instructions alone.
Once completed your first game read the detailed instructions
After you have completed your first game then is the time to go back and read the instructions in detail. In this manner will be able to understand more fully what the author of the board game is trying to tell you and you'll pick up several mistakes or assumptions that he made during your first game play. As correct those mistakes during the second time you play the game you will learn it much faster and understand the complete game as it was meant to be played. In my experience doing it this way is almost increased the amount of fun that we get playing the game because we play it the simple version and then the second and third times we begin to see the strategy of the game. Sometimes our initial assumptions made the game easier or harder and when we read the true rules it gets us exited to play it again.
Again, these games are complicated, but there is no reason that you cannot enjoy a great strategy board game. Learning a new game not need take four hours as long as you remember that less is more and to play as you read.
I believe that people would play more games if they knew how to play them. The best way to learn a game is to have someone teach it to you, unfortunately if you are like me you are the instigator and must learn it from the rules. As I have gone through this process many times I have come up with some great tips to learn a board game fast.
Less is more
The biggest mistake that I see new gamers make is trying to understand all of the rules all at once. I have even seen a couple people try to learn a game and all the expansions at one time. (Not a good idea) Instead of taking it in all at once separate the learning into 3 different sets: setup, players turn, and wining the game.
When you get a new game simply open it up unwrap all the cards, and pop out all the pieces. Also take a minute to breath in that new game smell…Nothing like it in the world! Now suppress the desire to grab the rules and read through them all. Just look for the set up section. Get the board and players set up and arranged as necessary.
Now most new games rules come with express rules and detailed rules. For this first play remember less is more, and just try to get by with the express rules. Again you are trying to get a feel for the game. When you have played it once you will go back and read the rest of the rules.
Play as you read
A second tip that I would get new gamers is to play as you read. Before starting a new game make sure that the people you are playing with are patient enough to get through the first couple of rounds. The first play is critical, and it is important to play as your read. So for example you will read the instructions to roll the dice. I want you to pick up the dice and through them, now you don’t know why you are rolling the dice and that doesn’t matter. The important thing is that you are doing it.
Most new games have colorful instructions with pictures and details. In fact some have little play by play cards that you can pass out to each player. Just go through the motions a couple of times to get the hang of the play of the game.
Once the first player has completed all of the actions proceed to the next player and so on and so on. Read each action and perform them to the best understanding that you have. If you must consult the instructions just do it enough to get the general sense of what you're supposed to do and then do it. You'll find that as you read and apply the instructions that you will learn the game much quicker than just reading the instructions alone.
Once completed your first game read the detailed instructions
After you have completed your first game then is the time to go back and read the instructions in detail. In this manner will be able to understand more fully what the author of the board game is trying to tell you and you'll pick up several mistakes or assumptions that he made during your first game play. As correct those mistakes during the second time you play the game you will learn it much faster and understand the complete game as it was meant to be played. In my experience doing it this way is almost increased the amount of fun that we get playing the game because we play it the simple version and then the second and third times we begin to see the strategy of the game. Sometimes our initial assumptions made the game easier or harder and when we read the true rules it gets us exited to play it again.
Again, these games are complicated, but there is no reason that you cannot enjoy a great strategy board game. Learning a new game not need take four hours as long as you remember that less is more and to play as you read.
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