Games for new-comers
benjamin...@hotmail.com
time, I'm always a little unsure as to what to throw at them. Although
the core members of my group are avid Euphrat fans, I doubt this game
would make the ideal introduction to the world of 'German' gaming. Most
of the new-comers to our group are college students or professionals in
their early 20's, so I am looking for suggestions of a game that,
although easy to learn and attractive to the newbie, has its fair share
of strategy involved. So if your group has had success in the past at
'hooking' the first-timers, your suggestions would be appreciated.
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.
thatm...@my-deja.com
> Although
> the core members of my group are avid Euphrat fans, I doubt this game
> would make the ideal introduction to the world of 'German' gaming.
I've seen Euphrat go over well among new-to-German-games types. I've
also seen it flop... so good call.
> I am looking for suggestions of a game that, although easy to
> learn and attractive to the newbie, has its fair share
> of strategy involved. So if your group has had success in the past at
> 'hooking' the first-timers, your suggestions would be appreciated.
I've had very good results with Modern Art and (Knizia's) Samurai - both
quite simple to teach, and every time I had the new people wanting to
play a second or third game in a row. I've seen Lowenherz, Settlers,
Bohnanza, and Medici do a decent job as well. El Grande and Euphrat I'd
say are probably too heavy for newbies.
Mark
Glenn Kuntz
>the core members of my group are avid Euphrat fans, I doubt this game
>of the new-comers to our group are college students or professionals in
>although easy to learn and attractive to the newbie, has its fair share
>of strategy involved. So if your group has had success in the past at
>'hooking' the first-timers, your suggestions would be appreciated.
Well, a lot of people will undoubtedly suggest Settlers and El
Grande, which are probably as fine candidates as any.
The thing is, gaming is a finicky thing - there has to be the
right game for the right individual to grab them instantly, and
I know of no such "panacaea" game. To really get someone
interested in the hobby, it's not so much the individual game,
but the first whole experience - atmosphere, game, blend of
personalities, the way that games are explained/taught, etc.
The particular game may not hook the new player, but if the
overall experience is enjoyable, they should be game (pun
intended) for a few return visits to try some others.
This question is somewhat serendipitous. I've been asked to
start a "family game night" program at a local church this
evening, so I'm bringing a stack of games, asking folks to
bring their own family favorites, and after a short discussion,
we'll be round-robin-ing to get folks intersted enough to keep
it going as a regular thing. If there's any interest, I'll
post our results, and any constructive suggestions here would
be welcome as well.
--
The CROKINOLE Board
http://www.frontiernet.net/~crokinol
David B Eggleston
> I've had very good results with Modern Art and (Knizia's) Samurai - both
> quite simple to teach, and every time I had the new people wanting to
> play a second or third game in a row.
The problem with some of the titles you listed is that a less-skilled
player most likely will ruin the intellectual experience for those with
more skill.
This is quite a dilemma in some gaming groups. As players come and go
over time, it is hard to play a strategy game among players who
all have considerable experience with that title, which, IMO, lead
to the best matches. For example. at this point, I think I'd rather
sit through a game of Settlers than play a match of Samurai where
one of the opponents was green. (Fortunately, I got two games of
Samurai in last nite against skilled players.)
- d
Richard Dewsbery
>This is quite a dilemma in some gaming groups. As players come and go
>over time, it is hard to play a strategy game among players who
>all have considerable experience with that title, which, IMO, lead
>to the best matches. For example. at this point, I think I'd rather
>sit through a game of Settlers than play a match of Samurai where
>one of the opponents was green. (Fortunately, I got two games of
>Samurai in last nite against skilled players.)
Be wary of this thinking. I entered a Samurai tournament earlier this year
(stop sniggering, Xris). I think I'm a pretty strong player. Made it into
the final easily, and rubbed my hands with glee when I heard that the 3
other finalists had played their first ever games in the qualifying rounds.
Needless to say, there was only one position I was coming - LAST. Ho hum.
teach me to underestimate the opposition.
Richard
David B Eggleston
Interesting and believable.
I don't know how many rounds you had in the tournament, but I wouldn't
mind
playing Samurai with intelligent players with at least a couple of games
under
their belt. I'm curious as to the quality of their qualifying rounds.
Also, even assuming you are an expert player, the fact that you came in
last
tells me nothing of the quality of your opponents, as it could very well
be
the strongest of them was sitting to your right.
However, with fluctuating gaming groups, there is often going to be an
opponent playing their very first match, and this player might not be
the
type to make it to tournament finals. I believe my concern still holds.
Better luck next year. :-)
- d
Svilleken
gotten several hooked. I started with Carabande, to breakdown their fear of
"GERMAN" games. Some people think because it's "German" that it is too
complicated for them.
Next came Durch die Wuste (probably spelled wrong) ... pretty game with
strategy component ... they loved it..
Next came Samurai, followed by Formula De', followed by Bohanza, and recently
Elfenland. All the games went over well and I have repeat requests for the
Camel game (Durch die Wuste) and the Bean game (Bohanza) whenever we have a
family cookout. I want to try Mamma Mia next on them.
I have tried Carabande on a church group and the guys loved it...they have
begun asking me about other games....
Ken
Christian Killoran
benjamin...@hotmail.com wrote in message
<7nmjmr$keu$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>...
Most
>of the new-comers to our group are college students or professionals in
>their early 20's, so I am looking for suggestions of a game that,
>although easy to learn and attractive to the newbie, has its fair share
>of strategy involved. So if your group has had success in the past at
>'hooking' the first-timers, your suggestions would be appreciated.
I've found that you don't need to stick to the "easiest" game if you're
adding one new player to a table of veterans. I have introduced three new
players to El Caballero recently and they all enjoyed it. It is one of
those games where a player can afford to learn by doing for a couple of
rounds without harming their chances for victory later. History of the
World also falls into this category. Conversely, I think I'd avoid games
where strong performance on the first turn is a prerequisite for victory.
My usual policy is to create a short list of games that are appropriate for
the number of players present, give a one sentence description about the
game, and let the newbie choose the game. A sample list for 5 players might
be:
Formula De - a racing game, we can teach you the rules in 60 seconds.
Robo Rally - a silly robot game, computer programmers seem to enjoy this.
El Grande - a medieval strategy game. A little tricky to learn, but you'll
get the idea after a turn or two.
Kremlin - a humorous game about Soviet politics. This might take some
effort to figure out, though, and could go on for several hours.
Guillotine - silly little card game about chopping off people's heads. If
you don't dig it, we can be playing something else in 45 minutes!
Clinton Randel Paris
On 28 Jul 1999, Glenn Kuntz wrote:
> benjamin...@hotmail.com wrote:
>
> >When a person turns up to one of my groups game nights for the first
> >time, I'm always a little unsure as to what to throw at them. Although
> >the core members of my group are avid Euphrat fans, I doubt this game
> >would make the ideal introduction to the world of 'German' gaming. Most
> >of the new-comers to our group are college students or professionals in
> >their early 20's, so I am looking for suggestions of a game that,
> >although easy to learn and attractive to the newbie, has its fair share
> >of strategy involved. So if your group has had success in the past at
> >'hooking' the first-timers, your suggestions would be appreciated.
>
> Well, a lot of people will undoubtedly suggest Settlers and El
> Grande, which are probably as fine candidates as any.
When I was reading the original post, I uttered "Settlers and El Grande"
to myself quietly. Then I read this post.
"benjamin...@hotmail.com can read my thoughts!" ;)
But seriously, I couldn't agree with these two choices more. Settlers is
probably better to start with, as El Grande gives the initial impression
from the uninitiated that it will be a difficult game to learn.
I also like to start people off on Lost Cities. This little two player
game shows off Knizia's ability to create simple yet elegant designs,
leaving them with a good taste in their mouth for what is to come later
in the evening.
--
###### ### Clinton Randel Paris crp...@thenews.com
####### # # http://www.ior.com/~crparis/
##### #### #
###### ## The Northwest Electronic Web Service 915 W 2nd Ave.
#### ### ## http://www.thenews.com Spokane, WA 99201
Claudia Schlee
benjamin...@hotmail.com schrieb:
>
> When a person turns up to one of my groups game nights for the first
> time, I'm always a little unsure as to what to throw at them. Although
> the core members of my group are avid Euphrat fans, I doubt this game
> would make the ideal introduction to the world of 'German' gaming. Most
> of the new-comers to our group are college students or professionals in
> their early 20's, so I am looking for suggestions of a game that,
> although easy to learn and attractive to the newbie, has its fair share
> of strategy involved. So if your group has had success in the past at
> 'hooking' the first-timers, your suggestions would be appreciated.
Normally Settlers of Catan would be a nice choice, but is has a problem,
because experienced players might be far better during the game. If they start
to trade with the newbie in a reasonable way, the game will be good. If all
players except you are new to german board games, this problem wouldnt occur,
if you dont play that aggressive and sometimes trade even though the new goods
arent that attractive.
>
> Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
> Share what you know. Learn what you don't.
--
Mit verspielten Grüßen,
Claudia Schlee & Andreas Keirat
Claudia...@t-online.de
http://SunSite.Informatik.RWTH-Aachen.de/luding
Chris Lawson
> >This is quite a dilemma in some gaming groups. As players come and
> >go over time, it is hard to play a strategy game among players who
> >all have considerable experience with that title, which, IMO, lead
> >to the best matches. For example. at this point, I think I'd rather
> >sit through a game of Settlers than play a match of Samurai where
> >one of the opponents was green. (Fortunately, I got two games of
> >Samurai in last nite against skilled players.)
>
> Be wary of this thinking.
Well, I agree that a new player can upset the scores. Even happens in
games of Settlers where a new player makes a far to generous trade
(especially towards the end) which allows a player to win. With Samurai,
it can make a more marked skew as the end scores are so tight anyway.
> I entered a Samurai tournament earlier this year
> (stop sniggering, Xris).
Richard, I am wounded, why would I be sniggering...... ^_^ LOL, maybe.
> I think I'm a pretty strong player.
As a note, this was at BayCon (IMHO, the best of the UK games cons, very
friendly and relaxed). The organisers score all the games played and
work out a rating of the players. Out of about 100 people, Richard here
came a very respectable 5th!!! Mind you, it was somewhat amusing to then
find out that his *little* sister came 4th!!! Now that was funny..... Oh
sorry, was I not meant to mention that Richard ^_^ Bwahahahahahaha ^_^
> Made it into the final easily, and rubbed my hands with glee
> when I heard that the 3 other finalists had played their first
> ever games in the qualifying rounds.
> Needless to say, there was only one position I was coming - LAST.
> Ho hum. teach me to underestimate the opposition.
To be honest here Richard, you did play *rather* badly ^_^ I had the
privilege to watch the play (Richards in particular as I also expected
him to win) as I was the judge for the tournament. You also let the
other three *know* that you expected to win in which case you were the
natural target. And we all know how fun it is to play 'Get Richard' in
any game. In the final, Richard did not appear to play anywhere near his
norm and things just did not work out for him, last place might have
still been a bit generous ^_^
To answer the other questions David asked, the Samurai tournament was a
small informal affair run by Reiner and myself and I think we had twenty
people enter. We had the four 'best' winners qualify to the final (where
best meant who had the most total pieces). Samurai is not the ideal game
for a tournament IMO as the score are a bit to tight and a small swing
can rearrange the final positions.
We did consider to host a Ra tournament (which, again IMO, is a much
better game to use for a tournament) but we decided that there would not
be many players familiar with the game or that there would be many games
available to play (this is because the game had *just* become available
in the UK).
Typically, once we got to BayCon having announced that we would run a
Samurai tournament, what did we find but everyone was playing Ra ^_^. Or
at least it seemed that way, I am sure that Ra was one of the most
played games over the four day tournament. This was thanks to people
like Richard who had managed to get an early copy of Ra and was
'spreading' the word.
Reiner normally runs a tournament at cons like BayCon and RamsdenCon and
I suspect that we will have either a Ra or Rheinlander tournament next
time. We have already run a E&T and TtD tournament before and since
Reiner produces so many new games, it is easy to pick a new one each
time (which has pros and cons). In the TtD tournament, Reiner not only
managed to get in the final but he won it as well. Just as well I was
judging it as I then disqualified him for having insider knowledge of
the game. Cannot let his ego get the better of him ^_^
The quality of play at such tournaments is more friendly than real
competitive, there are good players but most play to enjoy. Richard is a
good example of this, he is a good games player but more importantly he
is one of the nicest players around (there, I said something nice about
you :p ). Winning is nice but there is more to it than just that.
Cheers
Chris
Larry Welborn
I would agree with the games that Ken mentioned, especially Carabande
and Formula De'. I would also add Igel Argern, a game that has always
been very well received by non-gamers. Medici is another game that
newer players I know have enjoyed playing.
Larry
--
Note: To Reply remove "Not" from the e-mail address
ideefixe
Can't Stop is a good choice. The rules are easy, the excitement is high,
there's no limit on table talk (free advice can't hurt you or help you), and
there are good *gaming* kinds of decisions to be made.
Tutanchamun is a good choice, too, as it's not mysterious what you're doing,
yet the mechanic is different from anything in a regular Parker Brothers or
Milton Bradly game.
I've also had good success teaching Settlers and Union Pacific to people who
weren't especially interested in games. Union Pacific is much easier on
newcomers than Acquire because there's not that thing about the smaller
chain being merged into the bigger chain being the one that pays off.
Hunter Johnson
"Christian Killoran" <xm...@pcisys.net> wrote:
>
> benjamin...@hotmail.com wrote in message
> <7nmjmr$keu$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>...
>> 'hooking' the first-timers, your suggestions would be appreciated.
> My usual policy is to create a short list of games that are
> appropriate for the number of players present, give a one sentence
> description about the game, and let the newbie choose the game.
An excellent suggestion. Bringing out Modern Art for someone who
doesn't see any fun in a money game would be a bad start. Some of my
own intro games:
Modern Art
Detroit/Cleveland Grand Prix or Daytona 500
Streetcar
Star Traders
Starbase Jeff
Deadwood
The Big Cheese
Renfield
--
Hunter Johnson <jhun...@donet.com>
Back on the web at http://www.donet.com/~jhunterj/
Demo Monkey in Black/Software Engineer Dayton, Ohio <><
Trent Knuckles
Larry Welborn wrote in message <37A04A37...@nothome.com>...
>Svilleken wrote:
>>
>> Having recently introduced several people (fiance's family) to gaming and
>> gotten several hooked. I started with Carabande, to breakdown their fear
of
>> "GERMAN" games. Some people think because it's "German" that it is too
>> complicated for them.
Well, I've just managed to get a gaming group of five people up
and running and we've been having a blast.
It took much convincing to get them to play German games, and to
this day, we've only played three: Settlers, Elfenland and Modern Art.
All three have been winners with everyone!! In fact, one of the
guys commented to me "Are all these games this good!" He's
normaly a hard core RPG player (which I like too) and to like
board games so much is a change for him.
So, if you are trying to get someone into gaming, I suggest these three.
I particularly suggest Elfenland. I think the pretty board and pieces make
this one look not so daunting.
Regards,
Trent