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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 ]

Finding a Board Game Teacher – Ask The Bellhop

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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. What to do when you have a bad board game rulebook.

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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

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 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 ]