Teaching Games

The first game I taught was Power Grid, I was planning on teaching this game since Christmas Break, so I made sure to brush up on the rules by playing a few times before class started. I also practiced teaching two new players before teaching the class, so I knew what explanations I could do quickly and which ones were more important to emphasize.

Teaching the group in class was fairly straightforward, especially because I was not playing, so I felt like I could offer strategy more freely. I already knew from practicing that I would need to make sure the end game conditions were clear before we got to that point, because it can happen quickly, but we did not even make it into Step 2 out of the 3 in the game that normally occur before the game reaches the end. Unfortunately we had two games scheduled for that day, so we had to wrap up only a few rounds in, when everyone was just starting to get the hang of the game. It seemed like everyone was having fun with the game, I noticed a bunch of them at the Power Grid table playing again this week.

The only feedback I got on what I might improve was to make sure I explain the different areas of the board in an order that makes sense as I go along, since there were a few places where I skipped around and eventually explained everything, but got them overwhelmed and confused at first. I also realized about 30 seconds too late to fix anything that I had forgotten to reorder the player order for the very first round, so the player who had gone first in the luck of the draw was actually at a disadvantage he shouldn't have been, but since I knew we were not going to be able to finish the game, I just let it go and didn't confuse them any more.

I also got to teach Shadows over Camelot, which I had only played three times previously. This game I probably did a worse job of teaching, as I tend to forget some of the little rules as I play, and I discovered that some of the first times I played, I "cheated" by mistake. This time the only thing we did wrong was failing to pick up white cards as rewards for playing black cards face down on the Black Knight, Lancelot and the Dragon, so we only hurt ourselves and still managed to win.

Next I will be teaching Kingdom Builder, which I have now played one time in total, and lost terribly, so hopefully it goes well. At least now I know some strategies that don't work.

Day Four

Power Grid

Today I taught Power Grid to a group of five others (and could have played the six player game, but it worked much better just facilitate instead). I was happy to see that the group was picking up the game rather quickly. They were just starting to get into the swing of things (having played two complete rounds) when we were give a 10-15 minute warning. They managed to play another two rounds before we had to call it a game and switch groups around. They all said they wished they could have finished and wanted to be able to play a whole game again, so I plan on bringing the game to Game Night on Thursday for anyone who wants to join in for a complete game. I did get some more suggestions on how to teach the game more effectively from them, but overall I felt like my practice teaching on Sunday was useful, so I am glad I did it.

Betrayal at House on the Hill

The next session of games I had played most of the ones that were being taught in that session. Thankfully (unthankfully?) there was plenty of room at House on the Hill. I should have taken that as an "Omen"... This game begins cooperatively, until certain conditions are met, at which time, one player becomes the Betrayer who attempts to stop the rest of the group from completing their task. The players explore a house one room at a time, using characters with different Mental (Sanity and Knowledge) and Physical (Speed and Might) stats, and as the tiles in the house are turned over, Event, Item, and Omen cards are revealed and affect the players. There are a huge number of scenarios and the setup of the house is always different. The scenario is selected based on the Omen that triggers the betrayal and where it was collected, making it very difficult to get the same scenario twice in a row (or maybe ever!) This game we decided was finished at the point we stopped at because the Betrayer was being beaten up by multiple other players and those players were about to win anyway. It was a very interesting game and I am glad there was space for me to join it. By the last few turns we had gathered a crowd of others who had already finished their own games, partially because the game looked interesting and partially because we were getting very loud at points.

Today was a pretty fun day full of games. I would have played another, but I picked one that needed more people than I could convince to play, so I will have to play it some other time.

Weekend

Legendary

After class on Friday a friend picked up a copy of Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game from Barnes and Noble and proceeded to convince me to learn it on Saturday. We sorted through the cards, separating out the heroes and S.H.I.E.L.D agents from the villains and henchmen and then set up for the tutorial scenario. The game consists of a set of cards and a board on which to play them (making it easier to set up). The box has a lot of extra space in it, so there is room for all of the expansions that add more heroes, villains and scenarios to the game. Every turn you pick up an entirely new hand of cards, which can spent to either attack or to buy additional face up cards for your deck. The competition is between the players as well as against the Mastermind villain and the rest of the villains and henchmen in play, meaning a balance of attacks is necessary. Because each player is building a deck during the course of the game, you compete with them for certain purchasable cards as well as attempt to earn the most victory points from fighting villains. This was a game I had not played before, but I ended up with more points than the person who was teaching (although that could be because he was giving out free advice for people who had really good hands about what order to play things in). I plan to play it again in the future, since I only got to see the powers of five of the heroes.

Power Grid

This game I taught over the weekend as a preparation for teaching it during the week. I have played a few times, the most recently being over Christmas break. Power Grid is a game in which players compete to build a network of cities powered by the power stations they purchase and supply with raw materials. While there seems to be a lot going on at once, the phases in each round keep things organized. Players purchase new power plants through an auction at the beginning of each round. Power plants have the ability to power different amounts of cities and require different amounts of raw materials. Raw materials go up in cost as the demand goes up, but the player in last position is given the advantage in this purchasing phase. The cities in a player's network are important because they earn money when powered using raw materials, but they also cost money to build. At the end of the game, whoever has the ability to power the most cities is the winner, regardless of how much money they have amassed. This makes it important to pay attention to the impending end game, because it can happen very quickly, as was the case when we played (and I won suddenly). While not exactly fast-paced or exciting, this game is a fun way to simulate the production of electricity through the use of coal, oil, garbage, uranium, wind, and fusion.

I learned some techniques I can use for explaining the combination of turns, phases, rounds, and steps to beginners in the future, and I learned that I really need to explain the end game better, so that other players can see it coming. After surprising the people I was playing with and winning at the end I am glad that in class I will be supervising the play instead of participating, because I am afraid I would be a bit too ruthless.