Pulp Gamer Out of Character

Not to pat ourselves on the back too much, but I think this is one of our strongest episodes. Very thorough and specific advice. Big thanks to Derek for leading the discussion.

Click on my name to go to the Amazon page about Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess.

Great episode! I've been in groups where someone tried to teach a game and I had a blast, but I have been in those situations where the teacher had the "need" to read the rulebook verbatim. Just imagine Tannhauser and Descent read verbatim. They were cringe worthy and not my favorite games, probably because of the experience.

I thought I would throw in a tip that I've used when teaching a game. If a game has hidden items like the cards (in your hand) in Memoir 44, I will ask if the players mind playing with their hidden cards face-up. As long as they're open to it we play at least a few rounds this way. It allows me to spot situations that crop up during play but may not be common enough to explain up front. It also lets me point out why making one move over another might be better.

And, by the way, you now have me wanting to learn how to play chess.

With all the talk about teaching games, it becomes clear that we need to know three main things:
* What are we doing?
* How do we do it?
* How do we know when we win?
This is a basic need in competitive people, such as gamers, at any given endeavor. Confusion comes in when we are not clear on what is going on. Through games, we can satisfy that need to have a clear goal and gain achievement.
If we could all be as clear as Derek when we want to engage help at work or at home, we would be more successful and feel better about it.

I really enjoyed this episode and came away with a gaggle of good ideas and it gave me examples to give to my son to help him come up with video game concepts.

Since it's been a while since I listened to the episode, I don't remember if it was said, but I think it's important to keep in mind who your audience is when teaching a game: Kids take to learning a game differently from teenagers who are again different from grown-ups, in terms of both attention span and willingness to invest time in learning a game.

My dad loves to teach people to play "Aquire" which is his current favorite game (I have to admit, a pretty good game). And what he says is "this game doesn't count" like you said.

The point about not teaching parts of rules that don't currently matter is a good one. (for example, the "polifico" rules in the dice game porudo (ala "liar's dice" as seen in pirates of the Caribbean 2)