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.