Teaching with Technology

Awhile back, I began to ponder the right way to teach games. Not so much from a "Hey, I just got this game," perspective, but a "I designed this game, how can I teach it to people I'll never meet" sort of way. Rule books are good reference, but let's be honest, how many people learn games from someone else teaching them as opposed to them sitting down with a rule book?

Days of Wonder is doing something rather unique right now with their Ticket to Ride PC Game. It seems that the game comes with a DVD on how to play the game. Not just the PC game, but the actual board game. Now, I haven't watched this DVD, but I wonder how well it accomplishes the task of teaching the game.

I have also chatted with a friend of mine (Tim Rose, in case you are wondering) and he mentioned that the group that is producing the DVD for Ticket to Ride did something similar last year at GenCon. I also recently read at Boardgamenews.com about a group from Austria that has powerpoint demos of how to play their games available for download. Likewise, BGN also has a video review from their "raving reporter" Ted Cheatham where he shows how the game is played.

Technology is allowing for some wonderful opportunities for designers and companies to teach their designs to others. My initial thoughts are this has to be good for the hobby. As someone who is 'stuck' teaching others the rules, this might help in me getting them right the first time. And from a retail point of view, portable DVD players are cheap. Someone might listen to a DVD presentation when they would otherwise blow off the salesperson.

No Apologies!

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to take "Ticket to Ride" over to our Pastor's home and after a wonderful meal with his family, we sat down to teach them this game. We had a great time and I hope I broadened their game experience to something new yet still very fun. Overall, it was a great way to spend the Lord's Day in fun and fellowship.

But, this is something I've noticed in my time playing. People tend to be polite and apologize for making a good move. For example, person A claims the route between Duluth and Chicago (actually St. Paul to Gary, IN, but I digress) and person B moans, gasps or otherwise lets the whole of creation know that their best laid plans have now gone astray. Person A, in an attempt to be polite says, "Oh, I'm sorry."

In a way, that bothers me. Maybe it's because Julie and I have a "rule" (and when you're married 10 years, you start to develop a codified set of rules for how the household is managed) that we don't say "I'm sorry" unless we are genuinely apologetic. In other words, in order to be sorry, you will have had to have done something wrong. And making a good play in a game isn't something to be sorry about.

Perhaps it's Person B saying, "Oh, no! You've blocked me!" that prompts this. But for me part of the joy of playing a game is the joy of victory and the agony of someone blocking you out of Portland when you need only one more link to complete that 17 point ticket (no, this didn't happen yesterday, but it has happened in the past). The enjoyment of a game comes not just from the winning, but the competing with others and having others do well against you.

So, Julie and I have a rule: No apologies for playing well. That's the aim of the game, after all. However, if you put the cards in her mouth to hold them for a moment and wish to apologize, you may do so. Eating the game is not part of the fun!

Fate RPG

I had a chance to run Fate last night with my roleplaying group and the feedback I got was incredibly supportive. The idea of aspects were well received and they enjoyed using them as a means to dive deeper into their character. I'll try and post more later, but overall, I think it was a good time. I'm very pleased. Even if they say, "I think I still like D&D better", they at least have something to compare D&D to. And that was my main goal.

If you want to know more about Fate, head over to http://www.faterpg.com. If you are my players looking for those files, well, I overslept and they'll get posted later today!

Game On!

Thomas

Lot's of Games Today

It's been a good couple of game days. Yesterday as I was wiping sleep out of my eyes, I heard my blushing bride say, "Package for Mr. Thomas Cackler!" My games were here! Whoo Hoo! I ripped open the box and it was like Christmas all over again. Look for lots of reviews over the next couple of days.

Then, I met up with Matt from Chimera Games today for some games. We played a couple of games of Ingenious, a couple of games of Hive, and one each of Cartegena and Transamerica. I had a blast. I think Matt had a good time as well and we also had some more good discussion on roleplaying games. Good times.

Then I came home and after supper broke out one of the new games: Jambo. Let me just say that I think I might just have a new favorite two player game. For those unfamiliar with the game, Jambo is a two player game from Rio Grande Games where you take on the role of an African Trader (Jambo = Hello in Swahili [or it means "You drive like a madman" at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Orlando, but I digress]) and try to buy low and sell high the various goods. It's a little bit San Juan, a little bit Settlers of Catan, and a little bit of Puerto Rico (and yes, I know I just listed both San Juan AND Puerto Rico, I know pretty much what I'm doing) . Flat out, it's a great game that I would recommend for anyone to play. The only drawback is that it is only two players, but I am trying to work up a multi player variant (maybe I should just check the Geek).

All in all, it's been a great new year for games (already 10 plays this year!).

Happy Gaming!

My five & Dime for 2005

2005 marked the first time I kept track of my games played for an entire
year. Since I also do a fair amount of roleplaying (hold the jokes
please), this is not as meaty as some people I know.

Also, since I moved back to Iowa in October, August and September were
virtually devoid of games played so the number is low. Likewise, some
good games (Alhambra) didn't get played nearly enough this year because
I can't find the box I packed them in (and since we just sold our house
about two weeks ago, I haven't settled somewhere to unpack). So...

Dimes

Ticket to Ride (0riginal) - 13
Power Grid - 12 (Can't wait to get my hands on the new maps)
Ingenious - 12 (This number may be off as I may have counted a couple of
'Best 2 of 3' games as 1 play)

Nickels

Settlers of Catan - 7 (This includes some two player games played on MSN
with my wife in the same room using the bots as the extra players)
Get Hooked - 6
Ticket to Ride Europe - 6
Gloom - 5

Good Gaming!

Thomas