Used to let new players pick their faction blind... big mistake

I used to just hand out faction sheets randomly when teaching a new game at our Saturday meetup. Then last month I introduced Dominion to my cousin's group and two people got stuck with complex decks and just sat there frustrated for 45 minutes. Now I pre-assign roles based on each player's experience level, giving beginners the simple strategies first. It took me 15 minutes of prep but the game flowed so much better with everyone actually feeling engaged. Has anyone else found a quick way to size up new players before handing out roles?

2 comments

2 Comments

skylerrobinson9d ago

Honestly, I read this thing from a board game designer once that said the best way to gauge new players is to watch how they react to the rulebook. If they flip through it looking bored or ask "how long is this?" they want the easy stuff. If they start asking about specific card interactions or "what happens if I do this," they're ready for the complex stuff. Tbh that's way faster than 15 minutes of prep or asking questions. Ngl, I've tried that and it works pretty well because you can just hand them the right role mid-explanation. It's way more natural than a job interview vibe with the two questions.

garcia.tyler9d ago

Skip the fancy prep and just ask them two quick questions about what kind of games they usually play and how patient they are with learning rules. You can usually tell within 30 seconds if someone wants to dive into complex combos or just wants to play something simple and have fun. It saves you the 15 minutes of pre-assigning and lets players feel like they had a say in their own experience.