I swear I’m smart and have pretty ok reading comprehension…but when I pick up a new game I have the hardest time understanding the rules and mechanics by just reading the instructions. Watching videos is helpful but I still really only pick it up while playing the game and going through the motions.
So I’m slowly collecting games that I can’t play until I find people who know how to play.
How easily do you pick up new games?
Understanding how systems work and fit together is pretty much my super power, so I tend to be pretty good understanding the rules on a read through. Of course, I need to play it before I understand some of the complexities and nuances of how those rules work in play, but still, I’m generally the person everyone at the table gives the rule book to
@ada Bingo. I deal in systems professionally and how they are designed and that sort of stuff. It definitely gives me a leg up in the process.
One big thing is that of the modes of learning (visual/tactile/auditory), I prefer to feel pieces and stuff while I’m learning (and sometimes I’ll even go through and do solo rounds multi-handed just to see how things fit together), but I can pick up manuals and just read them now to at least get started. I can’t just sit and listen to someone explain the game though, something about just the listening piece does me in.
My spouse laughs at me, everyone knows when I’m learning a new *big* game because I have all of the pieces setup on the board, a tablet with a PDF I can search through, the rulebook in hardcopy, and a notepad where I have both “ooo, this is probably critical to remember” type things, and a second sheet of paper with what will (after a bunch of drafts) become the lesson plan when I teach others (assuming they don’t read in advance).