Is your favorite board game boring? Can't figure out what went wrong? Let's see some possible reasons
Surely many readers of this site have a passion for board and party games. But how many times have they described a board game as exciting, engaging, fun… And what bored us to death in the end?
Why is the board game boring?
- Primo: the board game is seriously boring and passionate only that friend who involves other unfortunates by promising them the turning point as soon as a given condition is triggered.
- Second: the board game is built well, but the group or the moment are not suitable: a positioning game may not be attractive in an evening presented with "I made the sangria and it must be tasted, who's coming?".
- Third: who owns the board game he cannot explain the rules. Although he has played a lot with it, he gets lost in the narration, amidst quibbles of rules and rules that confuse only the bystanders, who, after half an hour of sermon, would like to move to the downstairs apartment, from which the cheering laughter of who plays Never have I ever drinking homemade sangria.
How to improve the board game evening in eight steps
Once you have made sure the group and time are suitable, how to propose the game of the millennium to newbies?
Step 0
Read the rules first. There is nothing more boring than seeing someone muttering for ten minutes in a monotone on the usual huge billboard with all the rules in 8 languages - poorly explained -, pausing to re-explain them in their own way and discussing them with the most active present.
Step 1
Ask for a few minutes of attention. It actually works best to get attention, but emphasizing this need can be a first step. - Corollary: in many companies we find that person who lets himself be kidnapped by the fifty shades of gray of the dice and then asks where he should place the pawn: do not get angry. In general, do not expect constant attention for more than 5 minutes (in fact, 5 minutes are already a lot ..).
Step 2
Engage players with catchy phrases. Even just saying “Each of us manages a character” detaches us from the reality of the board game. Better "We are these characters", starting to show the first components of the game.
Step 3
Do not confuse. As the explanation goes on, extract the various components of the board game, cards, dice, tiles, pawns ... Also because there will ALWAYS be the one or the one who interrupts to ask "What's this for?" probably pointing to a laundry token that ended up in the box by chance and in the meantime you have lost the thread. - Corollary: if a component has a name, always use that name, possibly showing or indicating it.
Step 4
Explaining immediately how to win, the objective, and then starting from the game bases, the starting point, the elements and their functionalities, will help the players to follow the explanation because they will understand what the hell all those steps are for.
Step 5
Take a couple of free sample rounds. If the game involves particular situations, explain what happens by positioning the various components, recreating it visually as well. Some table games foresee the particular case in the particular case in the particular case, here: leave those cases from the explanation, if they are not key to an adoptable strategy, then resume them in the game.
Step 6
Before starting the actual game, make sure that you have explained all the rules, because there will always be the one who will complain about having the wrong strategy because you have not explained that rule. If you have forgotten it, never mind: it is not used in this game.
Step 7
However, it is a good idea to reassure novice players who do not arrive at a good result that this is the first game!
And you? What types of table players do you relate to? Do you have patience to explain the rules or do you let others do it?
