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Teaching

13 Ways Board Game Designers Can Make Games Easier to Learn and to Teach

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In this article, I will be discussing a number of ways that board game designers can make their games easier to learn and teach. I feature a number of board game design tips all aimed at making boardgames more approachable. 

Even the heaviest board game can be made easier to learn through good game design, including everything from the rules and graphic design to the actual mechanics.  [ READ MORE ]

15 Surprisingly Easy Board Games, Heavy Games that are Easier to Learn and Play than Expected

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Some board games can seem intimidating, with a thick rulebook, lots of components, or too many things to learn all at once. Sometimes though a boardgame will surprise you by looking complicated when in reality it isn't. 

That's what I'm going to be tackling in this article, board games that are much easier than expected. I'm talking about games that are quicker to learn, simpler to play or overall surprising in how approachable they are compared to what their first impression might be. [ READ MORE ]

How a player’s skill level and experience impacts board game complexity and weight – Ask The Bellhop

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Roger is going through something we all experience when new to the board game hobby and that is how our comfort level with both learning and playing new games changes over time. As we play more games and learn new mechanics, games we once found hard and complex seem easy and games we never thought we could understand become more approachable. 

In this article, I'm going to look deeper into this phenomenon as well as tie it in with determining which games to play. Thus helping with picking which new game to introduce to a player based on their skill level and experience.  [ READ MORE ]

The Giant List of Tabletop Game Mechanics

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When talking games a number of board game terms come up that can be confusing to people. A lot of these are board game mechanics that people may not be familiar with. Today I'm going to try to define some of the most common board game mechanics based on a question we received during our first live show.

NecroDaddy80 on Twitch asks,
What game mechanics do you prefer?
There are a ton of different game mechanics, and for someone new to gaming, all these terms can be confusing. So I think it's worth taking some time to talk about the wide variety of mechanics out there as well as discussing those that I enjoy the best. [ READ MORE ]

A Focus on Teaching – Board Game Teacher Tips – Tabletop Bellhop Gaming Podcast

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 This is the 71st episode of the Tabletop Bellhop Gaming Podcast, an edited version of our live show recorded on December 11th, 2019. Join us as we stream live every week on Wednesdays at 9:00 PM Eastern on Twitch. If you like some video with your audio, you can also watch/listen to individual segments from this show on YouTube.

A Focus on Teaching - Board Game Teacher Tips. Dead Man’s Cabal review in The Game Room. Carpe Diem and Imhotep A New Dynasty first thoughts in The Bellhop’s Tabletop. [ READ MORE ]

Tips for Maintaining Focus while Teaching Board Games – Ask The Bellhop

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We return to the topic of teaching games with a question regarding how to maintain focus when acting as a board game teacher.

S Darkwell writes:
"A few months ago, I began a bi-weekly(ish) gaming night. My friends provide the location, and my girlfriend and I provide the games and teach them to play.
I've come to realize that I'm atrocious at describing how to play board games. I'm relatively new to these games myself, but if I were to simply sit down and play, I could do so without issue. The moment it comes time to teach others, however, my mind becomes scattered and I begin forgetting even fundamental rules. I regularly spend hours watching board game review/how-to-play videos, but they don’t seem to have improved my teaching skills in any meaningful way.
I suspect the issue is that in any given situation, my focus snaps to the social aspects of the environment. When I should be describing the board game, I'm instead noticing whenever anyone shifts their weight, glances elsewhere, or moves a component.
The irony is that in the past, I’ve been hired to give informative presentations on stage in front of hundreds of people and never had an issue. Something about the smaller more-personal environment makes teaching board games a far greater challenge.
Firstly, do you have any recommendations on how to better teach board games in general?
Secondly, do you have any suggestions on how to maintain focus on teaching the game instead of the people in the room? [ READ MORE ]

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

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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

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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

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 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 ]