PSA: A friend told me my game explanations were 'stressful' and it made me rethink everything

We were setting up a new game last month, and I was going through my usual 15-minute rules deep dive. My buddy just stopped me and said, 'Dude, you're making this feel like homework.' That hit me hard. I realized I was dumping every edge case and strategy tip before we even started playing. Now I just give the absolute basics to get going, maybe 5 minutes max, and teach the rest as we play. It's made game nights way more fun for everyone. Has anyone else had to totally change how they teach a game?

2 comments

2 Comments

brown.wesley1mo ago

Maybe you're just overthinking a simple comment.

elizabeththomas1mo ago

Honestly that's a super common trap to fall into. Tbh I used to do the same thing with games like Terraforming Mars, explaining every card type before we even picked corporations. Now I just say you get money, you play cards to raise oxygen or temperature, and we figure out the rest turn by turn. People actually want to play, not listen to a lecture. Letting them discover the strategy is half the fun.