How To Teach Ep. 2 - Hook Them Early (Ganymede)

I love teaching games, but I can't teach every single one! That means you're going to have to pick up the slack sometimes. This is a series about how to teach games better. Hopefully it helps.
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Corrections:
None so far! Let me know if there are any rules I got wrong and I'll place them here.
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Personal Twitter: / sheasayswords

[@zacharyclark3693]

Great video! Storytelling skills come in handy when I’m teaching games. You don’t need to recite a novel, but give your group a summarized blurb of who they are, what they are doing, etc, and make it fun. Depending on the personality of your group, you know what to say to get them excited.

[@1Galaron]

God, yes. MORE OF THIS. Teaching a game is itself a skill and most people are just atrocious at it. A few other quick thoughts: - When teaching a game, there should ONLY BE ONE TEACHER. Even if the other guy sucks at teaching and you're frustrated, then ask him leading questions to help him explain it better - Not everything has to be explained upfront. There's no point in teaching the second half of Jaws, for example, until you flip the board. Many games don't need combat explained until you actually start combat (Fury of Dracula, Last Night on Earth, etc.) - Get people in and playing as fast as possible with the appropriate amount of theme, context, and enough to understanding to make informed moves on the first couple of rounds Keep up the great work. This is a great channel.

[@RTFM]

Thanks! I've got a big list of topics I want to cover and rest assured, these are all on that list.

[@peteface24]

Love the SU&SD t-shirt!

[@alecloeber1853]

That one dude in my game group...is me. And I think KZbin just passive-aggressively shared it with me.

[@RTFM]

It's meant in the nicest way, I promise.

[@alecloeber1853]

Hahaha, I'm sure you did. But trust me, if you saw the way I explained rules, you would know that I need to watch this series.

[@RTFM]

@@alecloeber1853 Well I'll try to keep them coming then

[@andrewn5657]

@@RTFM Yes please! It is known that......I am that guy. I do not wish to be that guy Please save me :(

[@anjovimusic]

You should make a series of "Hook them Early", in which you cover 1-3 games and demonstrate a hook for each. :D

[@RTFM]

I plan on doing something similar to this down the road, but in the meantime I have a bunch more How to Teach video topics to get to.

[@anjovimusic]

@@RTFM right on!

[@HoodTrampoline]

This series is great! It's also a good excuse to watch your videos without actually wanting to learn a new board game. You're definitely one of the most entertaining and charismatic content creators on here, especially when your channel is basically tutorial videos. Keep at it!

[@RTFM]

Aw, thank you so much!

[@pedrofigueiredo5465]

One of my favorite bg channels on KZbin! Great work ;)

[@RTFM]

Thanks!

[@BigRedGamer87]

Great series! Well produced and thought out video

[@RTFM]

Thank you!

[@AdibIzuddin]

Love this! why I never thought of making this right! really helpful man. :D

[@BenMagargee]

I'm really interested in this series. Got into board gaming with my siblings, and we were always fine struggling through that first playthrough with manual in hand. My friend's attention spans are much less forgiving, however, as is their experince. I'm still a bit intimidated about being the teacher that not many new board games actually make it to the table.

[@RTFM]

Thanks! Being the board game proselytizer can be tough sometimes, but stick with it. You'll get better the more you try. And if you're having trouble learning a game ahead of time, a good rules video will help you get up to speed ;)

[@MyMiniMovieMagic]

I think its really about putting in the time and effort before hand, familiarizing yourself with the game way before sitting your friends down. For example, I spent the better half of a month watching KZbin videos, reviews, playthroughs, and reading over the rulebook of Star Wars Rebellion before I ever even introduced it to people...and when I did introduce it, I actually ended up just being the guide while my friends played first...this allowed for less time going over the manual and more time being immersed in the game. This is critical for all games, but especially for heavy or long games where you need to invest a lot of time and energy. Sometimes that initial sacrifice is worth it, because first impressions can really make or break a game getting back to the table!

[@nerdaspirations5048]

Night Crawler!!!

[@RTFM]

Nightcrawler is the best!

[@Admiral_Whiskers]

The most important question: is that a reference pear T-shirt? And where can I get mine?!

[@RTFM]

SUSD used to have a merch store on their website, but I can't seem to find it anymore...

[@Phyrexious]

Great vid, and great box flip. But where's the blooper reel?? Also, as my own #1 rule of thumb: I sincerely believe that any rules explanation should refrain from saying the word "easy". I still make the mistake myself plenty. But it serves no purpose. If they don't get it, they'll just feel dumb, and it lowers attention span because hey, it's easy anyway so why pay that much attention.. Saying "it's easy" doesn't help explain the rules in any way, shape or form.

[@RTFM]

That's a great tip! I do that myself from time to time, but I'm going to try to refrain from now on. As for the bloopers, I made many mistakes while filming this, but biffing the box flip was not one of them 😎

[@akadam90]

I think the one dude in the game group is ... me. I hate teaching rules, i play with a group of friends yet my anxiety levels go through the roof. Its rediculous but true, its why most of my games remain at home and played rarely.

[@joshuahelmeke]

...the cat...

[@RTFM]

Yeah, he's a good boy.

[@joshuahelmeke]

@@RTFM Somehow I got sucked into Anachrony and Dune...still not sure how that happened...;) Also, my first board game just happened to be Scyth and I wasn't aware of how much it's designed like Dune. Very COOL game: Dune! I have many more by now, but yeah, Scyth was my first purchase.

[@RTFM]

@@joshuahelmeke Scythe definitely has some interesting mechanics going on. It's not one I go back to often, but I always enjoy it when I do.

[@joshuahelmeke]

RTFM Agreed, I think it’s worth keeping. It may not be the one I fall in love with, but I don’t regret the purchase. I enjoy it whenever it’s played with friends.

[@Shadenium1]

@@joshuahelmeke Solid set of games to start board gaming. 👍

[@shortydancer]

Can we be friends? Lol