Pro tip: A BGG user told me my game teaches were way too long

Someone in the strategy guild straight up said I was "over-explaining like a rulebook" during a 20 minute teach of Brass Birmingham. That stung but they were right. Now I limit myself to 5 minutes max and just answer questions as they come up. Has anyone else had to totally change how they introduce games?

3 comments

3 Comments

kim.zara25d ago

Five minutes might be a bit tight for games like Brass Birmingham, where the rules really need time to sink in. A better middle ground is focusing on the core loop and key interactions, then letting questions fill in the gaps. Cutting too short can leave new players frustrated when they hit a rule they didn't even know existed.

gavin69225d ago

Wait, you actually think five minutes is tight for Brass Birmingham? That game has like a hundred different rules about loans and coal and beer and flipping tiles. I've seen people spend five minutes just trying to figure out how the canal network works. If you're only doing the core loop and key interactions, you're basically telling them to start the game and then immediately hit a brick wall when they realize they can't do anything because they don't understand how to sell their goods. The frustration you mentioned is real, but I think that happens even more when you skip over the weird edge cases that only show up in the last two rounds. Honestly, I'd rather spend 15 minutes upfront and have everyone actually finish a game than save five minutes and watch people quit halfway through because they feel like they're playing blind.

milessmith12d ago

Cutting my teaches way down was a game changer for me. Now I just cover the win condition and basic turn structure, then tell people we'll pause the second anyone hits a weird rule.