Friday Night Shots – Playing with Non-Gamers?

It’s another clear, and cold, Friday night, but it’s warm here in the bar, isn’t it?

I think I turned up the heat.

Or maybe I just have a bad fever.

Either way, have a seat and let me get you your favourite libation!

We can start chatting after David Gray is done.

That was nice.

I hope you’re looking forward to a nice weekend!

Maybe you’ll be playing some games with new gamers?

Hey, let’s talk about that!

We’ve all been there.

“Hey, Dave. Looking forward to games tonight! Just one thing. My husband wants to come along. He has never played anything harder than Uno. Is that ok?”

“Sure, Jess! I have just the thing, since we have a bunch of people tonight. I’ll start setting up Twilight Imperium!”

*RECORD SCRATCH*

No no no no. That’s wrong!

Hopefully Jess’ husband isn’t an idiot, but even if he’s not, I think starting him on Twilight Imperium may be a bit much.

There are a couple of considerations in situations like this.

How big is your group and are they all really experienced gamers? What are their tastes? Do they not like anything less complicated than Brass: Birmingham?

Maybe consult them to see what types of less complicated games they might be willing to play?

You don’t want to lose the other 4 players just because you’re bringing somebody new into the group.

(Actually, the first thing you should probably do is see if everybody else is ok with Jess’ husband coming. Maybe he’s an asshole and hit on Linda once, or got into a fight with Steve previously? Or vice versa? But after that, ask about the games.)

The next thing to do is check out what games will be available. If you don’t have anything easier than Food Chain Magnate, maybe this is a bad idea?

Or maybe Jess can bring something? Or somebody else?

But hopefully you have some card games, or some decent starter games.

Ticket to Ride always works in a situation like this. It’s essentially either drawing cards or playing cards of the same colour. Anybody who has played Uno could handle that.

If he’s reasonably intelligent, picking up on how to do the routes and scoring points should be easy.

Of course, card games should be really easy for him to pick up.

Diamonds is a great trick-taking game, and while Uno isn’t a trick-taker, most people who have played card games in the past have at least a rudimentary understanding of how trick-taking works. Or at least they can understand it with a decent explanation.

You can explain it well, right?

The nuances of the game, like Clubs stealing diamonds from other people, having diamonds either in your vault or in front of you vulnerable to be stolen, aren’t really that difficult.

Even better, if you have 6 players, it’s actually not that short, so it can take up a bit of time during the night.

I don’t know if I’d start with some of the newer trick-taking games that put a twist on the whole genre.

Cat in the Box is an amazing trick-taking game, but until you have a bit of trick-taking experience, I’m not sure I would try that one.

The same with Schadenfreude. An excellent trick-taking game, and maybe a game to play after Diamonds or another card game, but not a good introduction, I don’t think.

The trick, however, is to gauge how the newbie gamer can handle new game concepts and whether they would actually find it fun.

Find out what their interests are!

I’m not suggesting a COIN game (wow, I am totally not suggesting that), but the answer to many people who ask “Which COIN game should I start with?” is usually “choose the one that covers a period of history you’re interested in.”

You can use that a bit here, though I know the theme of many games is often just painted on.

But hey, if they like the history of Medieval Europe, and after talking to them you think they can handle it, why not try Architects of the West Kingdom?

But you would really have to be confident they can handle it. If they can, that theme may actually work with them.

And nothing too long, at least to start with. Maybe 60-90 minutes at most.

Ok, maybe not Architects then.

But maybe?

There is no perfect solution. You do have to eyeball it a little bit and make a judgement.

Another good idea for new gamers, however, is to play a cooperative game (as long as you have people who actually don’t hate cooperative games).

That way, you can help them because you aren’t competing against them.

I have to admit, even as I don’t mind doing it, I do feel kind of bad helping somebody defeat me in a 2-player game.

Or even worse, forgetting a rule (unintentionally, I swear!) that I remember just as I’m about to use it, thus crushing my opponent (and this isn’t just in a 2-player game).

“Uhhh…I’m sorry, I forgot to tell you. You can also do this…and this…and this…yeah, sorry, but now I’m 110 points ahead of you. Sorry!”

(That isn’t specific to this post, even, since it can happen, and often does, when you’re teaching a new game to even some experienced gamers)

But with cooperative games, there isn’t anything like that!

One of the first games I played with my wife when she agreed to play some games with me was Flash Point: Fire Rescue.

She really enjoyed the challenge of not letting the building burn down around us, and since it was cooperative, I could help her. Explain how some of the rules worked.

You have to make sure that you’re not playing the game for them, however. Give them some suggestions, or maybe explain how the rule works for their character, and let them come up with their own things to do.

This even works with Marvel Legendary or Arkham Horror: the Living Card Game, though those two games can throw so much at you that it can be hard for them to really feel like they can make any meaningful decisions without your help.

But if they are the type of people who can pick these types of things up easily, they could be worth a try too!

There are plenty of options to bring new people into the gaming fold.

I even introduced a couple of people to gaming with Imhotep.

It did work! Three times! And two of the newbies won!

I did make sure they were all ok with the cutthroat nature of the game, though.

The trick is to avoid blowing their mind so hard that they never want to try anything new again.

Or make them play something they can’t understand and then make them play it for 6 hours.

What are some of your favourite options for introducing games to people who haven’t played them before?

How would you suggest cultivating them so maybe they’ll develop into a gamer that you can include in your normal game nights?

Just don’t invite Jess’ husband. I’ve heard he’s a jerk.

This post brought to you Smirnoff Pink Lemonade Vodka, the number 522, and the letter N (for newbie!)