Teaching

I Need to get Anachrony and Endeavor Age of Sail to the Table More Often – Tabletop Gaming Weekly

October 14, 2019 by Moe T. Leave a Comment

This past week I played a couple of board games that I need to play more often. They were my Kickstarter copy of Endeavor Age of Sail and the time-travelling boardgame: Anachrony.

This past weekend was our Extra Life Board Game Blitz charity board game tournament. I played Endeavor the Monday before the event to brush up on the rules, and at the event, a table of gamers insisted I play Anachrony with them during the final round of the tournament.

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A Discussion on Tabletop Game Player Aids – Ask The Bellhop

October 10, 2019 by Moe T. Leave a Comment

Let's take a look at player-aids. Fan created game aids, and ones that are included with the games we play. Today I'm answering a series of questions about player aids.

Long time Tabletop Bellhop fan Ryan Peach asks:

What are your thoughts on fan-created game aids? Are they table clutter, or do they actually help? Are they better for new players or will veterans also benefit? If you use them, in your experience, which aids or kinds of aids help the most and least? Are there games that you wish had aids, but do not yet? Are there games where you feel they aren't needed? Has a player aid like a rules summary ever replaced a games rulebook for you? [ READ MORE ]

Join The Club – Starting a Local Tabletop Game Club – Episode 51 Tabletop Bellhop Gaming Podcast

July 30, 2019 by Moe T. Leave a Comment

This is the 51st episode of the Tabletop Bellhop Gaming Podcast, an edited version of our live show recorded on July 24th, 2019. Join us as we stream live every week on Wednesdays at 9:30 Eastern on Twitch. If you like some video with your audio, you can also watch/listen to an unedited version of the show over on YouTube.

Ep 51 - Join the Club - Starting a local gaming club and building your local gaming community. Also first impressions of Talisman: Legendary Tales and Dead Man’s Cabal. [ READ MORE ]

Tips for Starting Your Own Tabletop Gaming Club – Ask The Bellhop

July 23, 2019 by Moe T. Leave a Comment

This week we're taking a break from specific game recommendations and talking about something else. Today's topic is something near and dear to my heart, it's about building a local gaming community.

Rob Bush writes,

Do you have any tips on starting an organized gaming club? Ideally one that's self-sustaining enough to build up a club-owned gaming library? [ READ MORE ]

Raising the Next Generation of Tabletop Gamers, Gaming with Kids – Ask The Bellhop

May 22, 2019 by Moe T. 4 Comments

Today I want to talk about gaming with kids and raising the next generation of tabletop gamers.

This blog post is both inspired by and derived from Tabletop Bellhop Gaming Podcast episode 39. In this episode, Sean and I had an open discussion about what we are doing as gamer parents to try our best to raise our kids to follow in our footsteps. [ READ MORE ]

Finding a Board Game Teacher – Ask The Bellhop

February 18, 2019 by Moe T. Leave a Comment

How do you go about finding someone to teach you to play tabletop games?

This topic is a direct follow up to last week's Ask The Bellhop article where I talked about what to do when you've got a bad rulebook. In it I suggested a variety of ways to learn games other than the rules included in the box. My final suggestion was to find someone to teach you the game. But how exactly do you find this game guru? [ READ MORE ]

Bad Rulebook? No Problem. – Ask The Bellhop

February 9, 2019 by Moe T. 4 Comments

When most people sit down and try to learn a new tabletop game for the first time they usually start with the included rulebook. But what do you do if that rulebook isn't actually good at teaching the game?

Charles Barouch asks,

Why is it that no one seems to know how to write gaming rules that can be understood clearly? I spend a lot of time on Board Game Geek, or tracking down a gamer who can teach.

While I may not be able to answer Charles' question directly I can make some suggestions on way to learn games other than from the included rules. [ READ MORE ]

Second Semester – Episode 23 – Tabletop Bellhop Podcast

January 8, 2019 by Moe T. Leave a Comment

This is the 23nd episode of Tabletop Bellhop Live, an edited version of our live show recorded on January 2nd, 2019. Join us as we stream live every week on Wednesday’s at 9:30 Eastern on Twitch. If you like some video with your audio you can also watch/listen to an unedited version of the show over on YouTube.

Ep 23 - Second Semester. Week in review featuring Gloomhaven, Sagrada vs Azul, two Harry Potter games and the Minecraft card game. Then we return to teaching games. This time with a focus on teaching new vs. experienced gamers. [ READ MORE ]

Teaching New Gamers vs. Experienced Gamers – Ask The Bellhop

December 29, 2018 by Moe T. 2 Comments

Today on Ask The Bellhop I'm answering a question from a fellow Windsor gamer about teaching games to different types of gamers.

This is a direct follow up to a previous question we answered back in August. In How Do You Approach Teaching Board Games I talked about the way people learn, how you can use that to help teach games.

Sean Michael David Hamilton asks,

Teaching gamers a new game vs teaching mundanes a new game. That's always one people have some struggle with. [ READ MORE ]

Back to School – Episode 5 – Tabletop Bellhop Podcast

August 28, 2018 by Moe T. Leave a Comment

Welcome to the fifth episode of Tabletop Bellhop Live. This is an edited version of our live show first recorded on August 23rd, 2018. Remember to join us as we stream live every week on Thursdays at 9:30PM ET on Twitch. If you like some video with your audio you can also watch us over on YouTube.

Today's question: How do you approach teaching board games?

In addition to discussing teaching games, we also look back at the last week and talk quite a bit about Board Game Arena. [ READ MORE ]