Teach a Game To A Stranger
I was recently welcomed into a game night with a group of gamers I had not met before. I very much appreciated the kindness and took them up on the offer. I am glad I did because I had the opportunity to teach games that were not my designs to people I had never met before. I think this is something that every game designer (published or not) should build the habit of trying to do.
Most of my tabletop gaming is just with Mikayla (my beautiful fiancé). This is awesome, but I have subconsciously developed habits that have created shortcuts for teaching rules to games that are new to us. Since I am the primary rules learner, my goal is to have the teaching happen as fast as possible while still ensuring all of the rules and parts of the game are explained well (so I don’t get accused of holding information to win!) This has caused me to refine and train my rules overviews in a way that is most effective for Mik. I know the backlog of games she’s played, so saying, “you select the tiles the same way as you do in patchwork,” is efficient when explaining how to teach Nova Luna.
The problem is, using the same teaching style with someone you haven’t met, you make the assumption that they have played patchwork. When that assumption is incorrect, it actually creates a negative impact on the overall teach. It prolongs the rules explanation and also highlights a disconnect between you and the gamers you are teaching. This might not feel like a big thing, but I’ve found it can sometimes be the smallest reason a game gets shelved or sold without ever getting a second play.
Understanding these small teaching habits early in your design career can be so impactful. Learning the window of patience others have to sit through a rule teach, how to not make gaming knowledge assumptions with your audience, and the order of how to explain a game are all impactful lessons to learn as a game designer. These tools will help in how you playtest, how you write the rules for your game, and how to pitch effectively to publishers when the time is right.
All of these lessons I’ve gained from the game teaching experience have been instrumental in the game development process for me. Knowing the social queues of when the audience has met their information retention limit has helped indicate what mechanics in the game need refining. Watching where the first misinterpretation of a rule helps to understand how early in the rulebook it should be referenced. Learning to explain the elements of the game without referencing other games that do the same thing has helped when marketing games that I’m working on when explaining them to others. These may sound like small things, but over time they continue to build to bigger accomplishments over time.
I would suggest all game designers build a habit of teaching games outside of their normal playgroup. Ways I’ve been able to do this are at my local board game cafe, local conventions or meet-ups in the area, and joining discord communities of people who just like to play games online.
If you want to take your game teaching further, after explaining the rules and overview of the game, finish the teach with why you believe the game you are teaching is worth playing. For example, after teaching Azul, you might say, “this game shines at giving you a decision pool that is consistently dwindling and creating tension but pairs it well with the progress of making a beautiful tile mosaic to help distract from how tight those decisions can get.”
Doing this process over time will help when you look to create a unique selling position for your game.
If you have other tips on why teaching games to strangers can help, feel free to post them in the comments below to continue the conversation.
