Friday, September 17, 2010

2.24: Teaching Games - The Technical Side

Quite a lot of gaming recently--I managed to get out to game with Brian and Joseph, where we played Isis & Osiris, Tomb, and Circus Flohcati.  I also attended Strategicon in Los Angeles for the first time, and for a local convention, I have to say I was impressed.  I went with Brian and Robert, and though I can't share many of the comments made during that weekend, it was an excellent time.  We expanded Robert's horizons, met some cool people (that's "normal cool", not just "gamer cool"), and even got to play with play-doh. 

This is a post I've been meaning to do for some time, but the week I planned on writing it up, several of the boardgaming podcasts I listen to covered the same topic.  I figure the statute of limitations has passed, and I've got a two-parter in mind, so let's get this thing on the road.



I was going to start this with, "First..." but we should start with some important pre-teaching concerns, so...

Zero-th:  know your audience, and be prepared to teach the game.  If you want to play with a specific person, don't pick a game you believe a person is going to hate.  If a person hates direct conflict, or Eurogames, or games with dice, don't pick those types of games.  As far as being prepared, read the rules ahead of time, a couple times if possible; maybe even set up the game and play a few mock-turns.  Some people complain about a teacher reading the rules to a group--I personally believe this is a bad idea and somewhat boring, plus most of the ruleset can be condensed.  I'd imagine it would take 30-60 minutes to read the Agricola rules out loud, but these can be explained verbally in 10-15 minutes. 

(Finally) First, I cover the theme of the game--we're bank robbers, space ship captains, ninja toilet paper rolls--something that gives the players an initial reference and hopefully draws their interest.  I'll also throw in some particulars on the type of game and interactions between the players, again to create interest, but at this point a player can also decide they don't want to play this type of game, and saving us both a lot of effort.  If we're playing a game about throwing frogs in blenders, and someone has a problem with that, I'd rather they leave at the beginning than suffer through a rules explanation and leave when I'm done.  (Note:  I don't actually have a game about...oh, nevermind.)  If the players are more experienced, I'll also throw in the type of mechanics in the game--set collection, area control, roll and move--or name another game that has some similarities. 


From here, I jump all the way to the end, explaining the goal of the game. "You win by collecting the most points.  You get points for each full jar of pickled pigs feet you have in your fridge at the end of the game."  From this the player knows what their ultimate goal is, and get a sense of the road they take to get there; in the example above, they know the rest of the rules will cover where they get the pigs feet from, and the steps needed to pickle these feet and put them in your fridge.

Next, back to the beginning.  It helps to have the board set up or mostly set up, and the pieces out on the board.  I explain the basics of the game while pointing out the associated pieces.  If there are cards in the game, I try to remove a few of each type of card to explain their affects in the game before I shuffle the deck.  It's a good idea to incorporate visual and verbal information (ever hear of "The five ways of learning"?  It's the idea that people learn information differently, and often retain information better in one of these five ways:  verbal, visual, tactile, kinesthetic, and aural), though depending on your group, you may want to wait on "tactile, handing pieces to players--I've seen more than one "Meeple Tower" or "Happy Meeple Circle" created while I'm trying to explain Carcassonne.

I usually go through a game turn, state any special rules, and end with "how the game ends."  This is particularly important in Eurogames, where the end could be more obtuse:  collecting X points, after a number of turns, or when there aren't enough animals to fill the pens.  Really, that's is an endgame situation. 


If there are more complex rules or special situations, I'll explain these at this point.  Ideally these naturally grow out of the rules, or are what happens at points of potential conflict within the rules--if you're lucky your players will pick up on these and point them out, and you can address them naturally.

Finally, in many Eurogames there is some special way scoring is handled--if you've ever played a Knizia game, you'll understand.  Scoring may be for resources you've been collecting the whole game and scored one way, but score differently at the end of the game.  You may have been collecting a number of different colored cubes or points, but your final score is the one you collected the least of.  You may have to collect a number of X equal to the number of Y for the points to count.  Whatever it is, I try to explain how scoring works in general, then do a visual example of final scoring, placing and moving pieces around, and tallying score.  After a discussion with Danny, he pointed out that it might be best to start with a "final board layout," to allow a better visual example of how scoring works (in Agricola you score for a dozen different things, and can gain or lose points depending on how well you managed your farm).

This is a general outline for teaching a game, but I will change this around depending on the game.  For instance, when teaching Fluxx, I usually just deal out the cards, inform the new player that there are only four types of cards, and show them the starting rule, "Draw one, Play one."  This works because the game is simple, basically teaches itself, and the learning and playing are part of the whole experience.  On the other hand, when teaching Agricola, I tend to backtrack several times, and expect to reexplain during the game, as there are so many moving parts to the game.

 ***

That's it, a little late in the week, but it's here!  Since I covered the technical side of teaching games this week, you can expect something similar but different in the coming weeks.

Take care, all.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

2:23: How I got into gaming (and other things I can blame on Lucio) - By Danny B.

I have to apologize for this late update--I initially started this blog with two goals:  I wanted to talk about games, and I wanted to keep a regular writing schedule.  The idea behind the latter was to train myself to keep writing, writing anything, so that it was a natural part of my week.  When I went on vacation in August, I decided to have something pre-loaded (we all know how well that went), and it instantly took me out of my good habit.  Go vacation, make me lazy.

This week--our first guest post!  This post is written by my brother-in-law, a guy all-around inferior to me, Danny.  I'm happy to say I'm largely responsible for Danny's introduction to gaming, though he took to it quite easily.  I used to think of Danny as my gaming Padawan, but I now have to be careful when introducing him to new games--most recently I recall teaching him X-bugs, a tiddly-winks combat game, where he annihilated me in the fastest game I've yet played.  Yes, he's become a Gamer Jedi.


 ...take it away, Danny!


I’m not a gamer. 

Well, I’m not a gamer insofar as a person can be who has 33 board games in their closet (anyone up for a little Jenseits von Theben??), whose wife is the Pacific Region Ticket to Ride Champion, and who will be attending next year’s super-secret-bordering-on-clandestine board game convention code-named “The Separation of Foes.”

It’s not that I don’t enjoy gaming – actually it’s quite the opposite.  It’s that I don’t think I’m entrenched deep enough into the hobby to have warranted the label.  When I’m around people who are obviously gamers I see major differences between us, most notably the presence of color in my wardrobe.  (Yes, I know that black and dark gray are colors. Technically.).  I also see that gamers have played or are at least familiar with a seemingly-countless number of games.  If I had to guess, I’d say that I’ve played about 100 different board games in my life. In comparison, the mastermind behind this blog has more than 600 games in his collection.

What bona fide gamers and I do have in common, though, is that we take great enjoyment in playing board games.

I have fond memories of playing certain games as a child, namely, Monopoly, Yahtzee and Trivial Pursuit.  I mean, what wasn’t there to love about having to write down copious notes on how much money each person had, what properties they owned, and where everyone was on the board in order to complete a marathon game of Monopoly (redundant?) the following day…or days? 

It wasn’t until high school, though, that I was introduced to a world of board games that didn’t all have “Parker Bros.” stamped on the box.  I remember one of the first games I played was a card game (I want to say it was Poison but I know that wasn’t it…arrgh!).  I remember thinking “this game is different, kind of weird, but fun.”  As time passed and I spent more evenings and weekends at my then-girlfriend-now-wife’s house I was introduced to more games by her cool weirdo older brother, Lucio.

Now, 12 years later, I still look at a board game as something enjoyable.  It’s a time to be with family and friends.  It’s a time for friendly competition (unless, of course, Mychael and Jackie are in the same game, in which case, back very slowly away from the table, careful not to make any eye contact).  It’s a time for good-natured ribbing (or flat-out vulgar trash-talking if David or Randy is involved).  I’ve also learned to appreciate the greater nuances of games – the design of a board or card, the quality of the game pieces, the various game play mechanics, and more.

I picked most of this up over the past two years, the period when I’ve done more gaming than at any other time.  It was also during this time that my wife’s and my game collection has swelled to its current size.  At present, I usually squeeze in at least one board game most weekends.  I’ve also introduced gaming to other people in my family including two brothers.  One brother has two daughters that absolutely love Ticket to Ride.  In fact, during one recent family party, a group of us took over a table to play TtR and introduced yet another non-gamer to the hobby.

I have not, however, done any of the following gamer-staples:  become a member of BGG (I live vicariously through my wife’s account); attend a board game convention specifically to game (that won’t happen until The Separation of Foes); or set aside a specific area of my house for games (I’ve only used about half of the space in the largest closet in the house).   

Now, if all of this makes me a gamer – or not – so be it. 

At least I’m no RPG, LARP or wargamer. 

Now those folks are dweebs.

 ***
Some words of wisdom from Danny.  In case anyone has decrypted the name of the convention he has cleverly disguised, yes, he is going there next year.  And, yes, I am jealous.  

More regular updates planned, including some information on HomeCon!  Most of you are my friends and are probably going anyway, but I thought I'd share some of our ideas and plans for our first home-convention attempt.  

Take care, all.

Monday, August 9, 2010

2.22: Play in Public Campaign...join us...join us...

Man, did I call it.  Limited internet access while I was away, and then some things went wonky--I never thought AT&T wouldn't permit me to buy another day of access.  Anyhow, this post is late, as I wanted it up the first week of August.

So, you may have guessed that I enjoy boardgaming.  I enjoy the simple fun that classic games and many modern games provide.  I enjoy the challenge to myself and my opponents.  Most of all I enjoy the social aspect of gaming--it is a meeting place, an even playing field.  Thanks to my parents I was exposed to some classic boardgames, but it's taken a far larger number of people to expose me to the boardgames I play currently--from family and friends, all the way to the numerous people in the BGG (boardgamegeek.com) community.  This has become a reflexive hobby, as I now expose and share multiple facets of this hobby with my own friends and family.

But boardgaming is such a niche hobby.  This past weekend GenCon was held in Indianapolis, Indiana; over 125,000 gamers were gathered into one place with the purpose of celebrating our hobby.  Last month was Origins in Ohio, and several other conventions are held across the country--there can't be a lack of gamers.  Unfortunately, this is the case.  For a number of years I had a "convention family," the people I would visit with every year and at every convention I went to.  There aren't a lot of gamers; worse, there aren't a lot of people outside the hobby that are aware of this enormous event that occurs every year.

Our hobby needs more exposure, plain and simple. 

Kevin E. Schlabach of siezeyourturn.com has suggested a Play in Public campaign aimed at exposing more people to the hobby.  There are a lot of reasons, and I will admit that some of them are purely economic (ie, they have to do with money), but I'll sum it up by saying that it's good for our hobby.  I'll be pushing this at least through August.

If you want more information, read this excellent piece written by Kevin.  If you don't read it, I'm coming for you.  Whatever, Lucioman, you don't scare me!  You're one of those non-athletic, overweight, downright wimpy gamers!  Okay, let me advise you, read this article.  Somewhere around here I have a photo of me at a Shotokan tournament, wearing my gi, kicking a good friend full force in the balls.  Now, GO READ THE DAMN ARTICLE!  (I really need to find that picture.)



I'll be planning some time to be in public playing a game, and I'll post that here.  Further threats to follow.

***

I plan on posting again later this week in order to get back on schedule.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

2.21: Review: God Dice

Another game review, can it be?  This week I review God Dice, a quick dice game, great for when you're short on time and don't want to play Willow.

One of the benefits of going to conventions is the opportunity to view and try games one might not otherwise have found.  By walking up and down the many aisles, I've stumbled upon many a small publishers with only one or two games in their catalog.  Every year there is some sleeper hit hidden among the crowd of larger publishers, such as the game I'm reviewing today. 

God Dice was designed by Rick Maxey and published by Maxveld Games in 2008; it supports 2-4 players, and takes 30 minutes to an hour to play.  The game comes with 12 character cards, 9 attack dice, 2 "God Dice," a set of rules, and some counters.  This game is dice geared combat, so if you're not a fan of dice games or games with heavy randomness, you probably won't be interested in this one.  If, however, you enjoy a quick combat game and trash-talk, pick this one up. 

Friday, July 23, 2010

"There are better games?" Really?

Apparently I missed announcing this blog's one-year birthaversary, which was the 24th of June.  So, uh, Happy Birthaversary, Lucioman's Boardgaming Blog; maybe we'll get you a real name instead of this lazy nonsense.  

Extra post this week because I've been slacking.  I'm considering changing the schedule up, but we'll keep it the same for now, and I also realized I need to review some actual GAMES on this blog, so we'll definitely see more of those in the near future. 

My cousin Randy visited on the weekend and asked me attempted to goad me into playing a boardgame I wasn't interested in playing.  He told me it's a great game; I told him it took too long to set up (an issue, as they had limited time to visit), was one-sided, and there are better games to play.  Admittedly, the last point may not have been entirely fair, but I was also watching my two toddlers, who require a certain level of attention.  One of them does have the middle name "Danger," after all.

My cousin's retort:  "So we'll never play this game again."  I was taken aback.  First, Randy was on the verge of breaking Rule #6--then again, Randy's basically always on the verge of breaking Rule #6, but I love him--he's my cousin, but may as well be a brother.  Second, it isn't a bad game, but I was confused by my own statement, "There are better games."  Third, if I really believed that, shouldn't I trade the game away?

Thursday, July 8, 2010

2.20: Dominion!

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend.  We spent time with friends and family, went to the beach, set some explosives on fire, and played 1000 boardgames.  Or ten.  Biggest hit of the weekend, Dominion; I personally got in three plays of the game, but it hit the table far more than that.  We also played a 4+ hour game of Shogun, in which I took second; Danny, despite having no money and no income on the last turn, was able to hold onto his empire and take the win.  

An interesting piece of information--last year I played a total of 105 games (not different games, total games played).  As of today, I've played 86 games this year--looks like I'm on track to beat last year by 50%.


Dominion was designed by Donald X. Vaccarino and published in the US by Rio Grande Games in 2008.  Since then it has won a number of awards, including the Spiel des Jahres in 2009.  A number of standalone games which can be combined with the original have been released since, as well as a number of expansion cards.  It is a card game with a first-of-its-kind mechanic--everyone starts with the same 10 cards, and during the course of the game you purchase cards for your deck, which provide you with additional abilities on future turns.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

2.19: Game Room Rules - Rule #7



Jackie got me Dominion for Father's Week.  A friend played this when it was in its late prototype stage, and spoke positively of it, and since its release I've heard a vast number of positive comments, though the game does seem polarizing--people either like it a lot or not at all.  I really like this game, despite the fact that I can't win a game when my wife plays.  

Until last night!  Ha, take that, Jackie! 

Rule #1:  Have fun.
Rule #2:  Let your opponent(s) have fun.
Rule #3:  Play appropriately.
Rule #4:  Remember, it's just a game.
Rule #5: Take care of my crap/other people's crap.
Rule #6:  D.B.A.  Don't be an Ass.

Rule #7:  Take your turn, already!