Just realized trick for teaching new players faster

Everyone says to start with easy games like Ticket to Ride, but I tried jumping straight into a medium-complexity game last week and it worked way better - they paid more attention and learned faster because there was real stakes. Has anyone else had beginners actually prefer skipping the kiddy games?

3 comments

3 Comments

morgan.jason15d ago

Ticket to Ride is a kiddy game" lol nah I gotta push back on that one a bit. Ticket to Ride is actually a solid gateway game, it's not really for kids even if it looks simple. The train placement and blocking strategies can get pretty mean with experienced players. But I get what you're saying about skipping the super light stuff. Some people just click with medium weight games better because there's more to sink their teeth into. I've had friends who hated Catan but loved something like Wingspan right out of the gate because it had clearer goals and better theme integration. So it really depends on the person, not just the complexity number on BGG.

hannah_wells15d ago

My buddy introduced his girlfriend to board games with Ticket to Ride and she ended up blocking his longest route on purpose just to mess with him, so there is definitely some strategy there. I had the same thing with a friend who refused to play anything simple, but then we tried Scythe and he was all in because the art and theme sucked him in right away. Complexity is weird like that, some people just need a game that feels like it matters more than just placing colors on a board. I've seen total noobs pick up something like Dune Imperium faster than Catan because the theme makes sense to them. It's all about finding the right hook for each person, not just what the weight rating says.

hannahcraig15d ago

Try matching the game's theme to their interests first, then worry about the difficulty level later.