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Bringing Friends into the Fold?

Posted by michael oliver

22 Jun 2011

Michael Oliver

(spikemike01)

United States
Aurora
Illinois

Michael here...

You can also view this post on my blogspot http://boardgameaddicts.blogspot.com/

I love to play board games. I am lucky to have a wife that also enjoys playing. Im not sure if she is quite as passionate as I am but nonetheless, she is willing to try any game

Throughout my gaming experiences I have tried to learn what draws new gamers further into the board gaming world. Depending on the games that they have alreay played, and what they say they like, I might start them out with a party game like Time's Up or Dixit. Sometimes I will go straight to a board game like Ticket To Ride or Stone Age. These games have simple mechanics and usually draw people in.

I find that sometimes I get stuck having to force my friends to play other games. At this point I usually try games like Dominion or Smallworld. Each being fun and, I think, easy to learn. Friends will either like these games or will want to go back to what they are more comfortable with.

Today I made the mistake of introducing some "Newby" friends to Munchkin and it did not go over very well.

We were not through the first round before I had mutiple "I don't want to play" and "I don't get it" statements.

Then the "I don't want to curse you, that's mean". LOL!

To say the least we made it one round before I stopped the game due to the lack of enthusiasm. This set of friends have played; Dominion, Pitchcar, Stone Age, and Time's Up. I do not think that they were fully prepared for the backstabbing nature of Munchkin nor the crazy nuance of the game.

Sometimes I find it difficult to know what is the best way to get friends into the gaming fold. Is there one? Are there those that no matter what I do they will not go beyond Ticket to Ride or Time's Up?

How do I help my friends understand that there is a whole world of fun games out there?

The funny thing is that they say they love games. I really believe they love party games, but I would not say they are board game lovers.

To say the least I really do appreciate the times that they have played different games with us. I just want more! Lol!

Please... advice from fellow gamers.

11 Comments

Wed Jun 22, 2011 2:00 pm

Post Comment

Richard Clarke

(AndersSchm)

United Kingdom

Munchkin is a sure way to drive off gamers, let along newbies!

How about trying them on something like Powergrid or Puerto Rico? Both of them have a lot of depth but for a newbie they can just go with the flow and copy the actions of the players around them while they learn.

Neither game is easy for a newbie to tell how well they are doing score wise so they can just focus on learning how to build up their network/island rather than spending the whole game getting obviously stomped on which happens when newbies play games with direct conflict.

Posted Wed Jun 22, 2011 2:17 pm
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Guido Gloor

(haslo)

Switzerland
Ostermundigen
Bern

The statement below is false.

The statement above is correct.

I agree

There's a very particular segment of almost-but-not-quite-yet-gamers that enjoys Munchkin. For newer would-be-gamers it's either too cutthroat or too long, and for more experienced gamers it's too shallow and, also, too long.

Posted Wed Jun 22, 2011 2:29 pm
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Michael Oliver

(spikemike01)

United States
Aurora
Illinois

LOL!

I agree. Munchkin is my guilty pleasure. I tried Alien Frontiers with them and it was a hit. They have also played Stone Age. I was being selfish and wanted them to like my guilty pleasure but that did not work devil

Posted Wed Jun 22, 2011 2:49 pm
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Wil Gerken

(wgerken)

United States

Arizona

I play with a group at work that consists of a mix of folks who are new gamers, new enough have never heard of BGG, and new enough to not have picked up the urge to run to the game store or BGG to see what else is out there.

I've found Stone Age and Defenders of the Realm both to be hits with this group.

The key thing that I've concluded is that if I can't teach the game in 5-10 minutes or teach as I go, it probably isn't going to be a hit, or at least not a hit right away. In fact, Alien Frontiers fit that latter definition as initially the group wasn't digging it (saying, it sounds too complicated) but after they went through all of the motions and began seeing strategies, the game became a hit in the last few rounds.

The other factor I've seen is theme. If the theme seems too geeky or dorky, it will likely tank. Mansions of Madness and Wrath of Ashardalon unfortunately both suffered this fate. They just couldn't get into the mood and the miniatures turned them off. Bummer really as they are really fun games when you can let your hair down, so to speak.

Now that I've sorted out theme and time to learn factors with my group, I'm having far more success bringing games to the table. Pandemic was the latest and a big hit and I think it was because it's a simple to grasp theme, simple mechanics, and quick play.

My next planned attempt is Cosmic Encounter to see how something more confrontational and interactive goes over.

Good luck!

Posted Wed Jun 22, 2011 5:58 pm
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Michael Oliver

(spikemike01)

United States
Aurora
Illinois

wgerken wrote:

Good luck to you too. I love Cosmic Encounters and have had mixed reviews from my gaming group. Some love it and some don't.

Posted Wed Jun 22, 2011 6:32 pm
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Moses Hernandez

(Blood Demon)

United States
Houston
Texas

Quote:

The key thing that I've concluded is that if I can't teach the game in 5-10 minutes or teach as I go, it probably isn't going to be a hit, or at least not a hit right away.

I've concluded this as well.

It also helps if a game has similar mechanics to a previously played game because you can skip through those similar rules during the the explanation and get to the mechanics introduced by the new game quicker. In this way you can leap frog to more complex games.

For example, I think understanding the territory-grabbing mechanics of Ticket to Ride could help greatly if you were trying to explain Hansa Teutonica.

As for Munchkin, we've got a gaming group that can tolerate a large number of different genres and game complexities, but hardly anyone will tolerate Munchkin for various reasons. For our group, I don't think you could use Munchkin as a litmus test to see if any one person loves board games in general.

Posted Wed Jun 22, 2011 7:56 pm
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(markgravitygood)

United States
Norwood
Massachusetts

Munchkin might be the litmus test.

Posted Thu Jun 23, 2011 12:38 pm
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Adam Lucas

(Svengaard)

Canada
Belleville
Ontario

I'm kind of lucky in this area in that my girlfriend is not really interested in gaming. This means I can kind of tell what sort of games will work and won't work with the group you're describing.
While I love Munchkin, I too have found it to be a terrible game to play with non-gamers. The game relies heavily on humour based on D&D and Dungeon crawls. It's also very luck-driven and an early runaway lead is quite possible.
A few things to think about when deciding on what game to play with the non-gamers.
1) Length. If you're eyeing a copy of Twilight Imperium with these people then forget it. Look for something that will finish in an hour to ninety minutes tops.
2) Luck vs. Skill. You want something that gives people options. By that token Munchkin fails (You're Kicking in a Door whether you want to or not). At the same time, since these people like party games, you're going to be looking for something that doesn't require serious concentration.
3) Complexity. This is a given. The more rules there are, the faster you're going to get glazed looks from your friends. As mentioned before ten minutes of explaination is pushing your luck.
4) Theme. Try to pick something people will call 'fun', especially if they stick party infront of games.
5) Pieces! Pieces! Pieces! Your mileage may vary, but the more tokens, counters, pieces, and models the game needs, the more confusing and intimidating the game looks. I'm not meaning to single any companies out, but just about anything produced by FFG will frighten your non-gaming friends.
That said, I'm going to list a few games I have or played that could work with non-gamers and why I think so. There's no order to my entries.

Small World. Very easy to teach, lots of choices and finishes quickly.

The Settlers of Catan. Less competetive gamers will enjoy this. The rules will run you close to the ten minutes marker, yet you have fast play, cooperation, and simple rules once they understand.

Carcassonne. It's a puzzle where you try to complete features. Add an expansion or two and you're all set. Modify the rules so everyone is drawing their tiles at the end of their turn to speed the game up.

Tanto Cuore. Dominion with French maids. The cards are even laid out better than Dominion, making it easier to tell what a card does. How can this not be a hit?

Guillotine. Executioners lopping off heads is a fun theme and the game doesn't require a lot of planning your actions.

Posted Fri Jun 24, 2011 3:14 am
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Dan C

(jedimusic)

United States

Florida

Try sorting your games by average weight found under each entry here on bgg. Then gradually step your way up the list to heavier. I've been doing that with my daughter and works great.

Posted Fri Jun 24, 2011 11:02 pm
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Mauricio de Souza Fonseca

(msouzafon)

Brazil

Have not met one single non-gamer yet who did not really got impressed, enjoyed and wanted to play STONE AGE again. I think this is a sure hit to introduce to non-gamers. PUERTO RICO as a first experience may be a little bit "mind-blogging". A good entry game, in my opinion, would be VIKINGS.

Posted Sat Aug 6, 2011 11:13 pm
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Danny Mack

(bandit_boy7)

United States
Santa Fe Springs
California

I teach someone a new game at least once a week, and run a City Library Game Group where people walk by and poke their heads in the glass door, sometimes they join us because it looks so new and interesting. There is a space behind the glass where I can fit 3 box tops for passersby to see: I keep the box tops up for Ticket to Tide, Cargo Noir, Smallworld, and Rattus most of the time. The great artwork intrigues people (it's worth noting that 3 of the 4 are DOW games.)

With new gamers, I've seen 2 types. Those who are like me--when I was introduced to Settlers & Ticket to Ride Europe my brain just popped! I felt overwhelmed that I had lived my whole life with no idea that games this interesting existed, or that such unique game mechanics weren't more widely-spread in popularity. So I started searching on my own (and still am) for more games I might like as much. Those people just need a few suggestions here and there and don't mind a session of rules teaching no matter how dry--THEY ARE EXCITED! The others are the majority, that need coaxing to come back, special handling to learn the rules, reassurance throughout the game that "you'll be able to do this" or "you're doing fine!" I think this 2nd group is more of what we're talking about here. We're trying to make gamers out of non-gamers. It's like joining a new religion and wanting to try to share what you've found with those closest to you. Mostly they think you're crazy; some listen politely before declining. Why is it that for some of us a lightbulb goes off inside us when we discover games and we can't get enough, and for others it's just one more life-channel to flip through in our spare time?

All that said, we're with you! My strategy has been largely based on what's in my collection. The 3 toughest games I own (IMO) are Shogun, Puerto Rico, and Agricola. Shogun is just LONG, Puerto Rico doesn't seem that tough when you know how to play, and Agricola is complex even when you've learned the rules and got 10 plays under your belt. So when I teach games I'm always thinking that at some point I'd like to introduce these "Big 3" eventually. Meanwhile what can I do to prepare these gamer initiates to grasp the mechanics. To the Monopoly-bound mind, Small World introduces privilege selection (useful for all of my Big 3), Quo Vadis teaches simple outmaneuvering of your opponents (useful for AG & PR), Rattus teaches role-selection (useful for PR). But so far I've got nothing to breach the gap on "causality". This is the single biggest hangup I see with my Big 3. How do you prepare them for wheat+field+sow+harvest+bake=food? (and it doesn't stop there.) Puerto Rico and Shogun both have a strong dependence on causality--especially with regard to how your opponent will fare because of your actions. The best I have found so far on this mechanic is 7 Wonders or maybe San Juan, and I don't own either of them yet. (Catan is another one where placement at least is causal.)

But my theory is if you have a game that has ABCD mechanics (with a lot of causality involved) teach them a simpler A game, a B game, a C game, and a D game first where the causality is simply the score. When they've grasped each of those new mechanics they may be ready to try/enjoy your ABCD game, whatever that is.

In my case I bought Puerto Rico & Agricola because everybody was saying they were the best. I sat down and taught myself both of them, and then pined for someone else to play with for a while. Most people are not like this, and sometimes it's hard to understand why they aren't just a little more like this?

I just picked up Stone Age at the con this past weekend, so with all the recommendations in this thread I am looking forward (with confidence) to rounding up some guinea pigs! Good luck to all of you; you're on a great mission! And you are not alone.

Posted Thu Sep 8, 2011 9:04 pm
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