As an avid retro-gamer, A good example of this type of item is money. for quite a long time I've been particularly interested in the history of video games. If you can get away without using the game jargon, that will help your group grasp concepts better. To be more specific, For example, if you are introducing Settlers of Catan, there is no money in the game. a subject that I am very passionate about is "Which was the first video game ever made?". But, there are resources.. You can equate these to money and talk about how you buy things with combinations of money, or "resources".. This allows you to add your own flair to the instruction and bring people into the game quicker. So,
Talk to Me
Teaching new gamers a game should be a conversation, not a boring lecture. I started an exhaustive investigation on this subject (and making this article the first one in a series of articles that will cover in detail all video gaming history). People want to have fun, not watch you give a fancy presentation.
The question was: Which was the first video game ever made?
The answer: Well, Watch to make sure your fellow gamers are getting what you are saying and don't be afraid to go back and reiterate something you already mentioned - even if you have to revisit a concept several times. as a lot of things pc game ,
Don't single out people that are having trouble grasping the rules. there is no easy answer to that question. One of the worst things you can do is set them up to look slow. It depends on your own definition of the term "video game". They won't want to ask questions after that. For example: When you talk about "the first play game video", It is also possible that they may not return for another gaming session. do you mean the first video game that was commercially-made,
Here's A Personal Experience For You
I got a new game, Starcraft the Board Game, about two months ago. or the first console game, I was sure my wife would be interested in checking it out, so she could kick my intersteller butt. or maybe the first digitally programmed game? Because of this, This game had a 45 page rule guide. I made a list of 4-5 video games that in one way or another were the beginners of the video gaming industry. I did not follow any of these suggestions for myself and suggested we go through the guide and try to teach ourselves. You will notice that the first video games were not created with the idea of getting any profit from them (back in those decades there was no Nintendo, Well, four hours later, we had gotten to the point where we actually started to understand what the rules were saying and we attempted to play. Sony, This was possibly one of the worst gaming experiences for her. Microsoft, To this day, she refuses to really try to play that game. Sega,Every game has a goal. Atari, Some are simple goals, like "If you have the most points by turn 10, you win". or any other video game company around). Other games have more complex, and really don't make sense until you review the rules of the game. In fact, Make sure you explain these goals up front and make sure you repeat them often. the sole idea of a "video game" or an electronic device which was only made for "playing games and having fun" was above the imagination of over 99% of the population back in those days.
Whatever the goal, people like to know what they need to accomplish. But thanks to this small group of geniuses who walked the first steps into the video gaming revolution, This is what drags them through the process of hearing the rules. we are able to enjoy many hours of fun and entertainment today (keeping aside the creation of millions of jobs during the past 4 or 5 decades). With the "end" in mind, they can get through and understand the "means". Without further ado,
If you don't do this, your audience will constantly be wondering "how does this help me win?" This is distracting to the learner and you want to eliminate it. here I present the "first video game nominees":
1940s: Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device
This is considered (with official documentation) as car game the first electronic game device ever made. If you can't explain it well at the beginning, give them keywords or something to latch onto, so they understand it when it shows up. It was created by Thomas T. "You can even just say something like "victory points are good, knights are good, cities and roads are good, or keeping all your resources is bad". Goldsmith Jr.
Three is a Magic Number
People like to learn things in groups of three. and Estle Ray Mann. There is a rhythm and flow to things that come in a set of three. The game was assembled in the 1940s and submitted for an US Patent in January 1947. Many games have choices to present - do it in groups of three when possible. The patent was granted December 1948, For example, you can gather a resource, attack your neighbor, or choose an "opportunity" card. which also makes it the first electronic game device to ever receive a patent (US Patent 2,
Some games make it complicated - you get three things to do on your turn and each of those items offers several options.455, The best way to explain that is "On your turn, you are going to do X, Y, and Z.992). For you to accomplish X, you have three choices. As described in the patent, They are 1, 2, or 3. it was an analog circuit device with an array of knobs used to move a dot that appeared in the cathode ray tube display. Let's go over 1 first". This game was inspired by how missiles appeared in WWII radars,
Don't force this concept where it does not exist, though. and the object of the game was simply controlling a "missile" in order to hit a target. That just leads to confusion. In the 1940s it was extremely difficult (for not saying impossible) to show graphics in a Cathode Ray Tube display. You can look for patterns in the rules, though. Because of this, Sometimes there are team decisions, defensive decisions, or offensive actions you can take. only the actual "missile" appeared on the display. You can divide your descriptions into these categories if you wanted to. The target and any other graphics were showed on screen overlays manually placed on the display screen.
Wash, Rinse, and REPEAT!
As you are explaining the game, it is beneficial to your audience if you repeat certain things, like how to win the game. It's been said by many that Atari's famous video game "Missile Command" was created after this gaming device. Also, it is nice to do this if you are going through a set of choices.
1951: NIMROD
NIMROD was the name of a digital computer device from the 50s decade. How do you do this?
Let's go back to the X, Y, and Z example from earlier. The creators of this computer were the engineers of an UK-based company under the name Ferranti, You are talking about the first action you need to do on your turn, action X. with the idea of displaying the device at the 1951 Festival of Britain (and later it was also showed in Berlin). You need to explain choice 1, 2, and 3.
NIM is a two-player numerical game of strategy, When you are done, you say something like "OK, that's the first part of your turn. which is believed to come originally from the ancient China. That was X. The rules of NIM are easy: There are a certain number of groups (or "heaps"), Now, let's take a look at Y. and each group contains a certain number of objects (a common starting array of NIM is 3 heaps containing 3," While doing this, rephrase the rules you just offered, rather than repeating them again the same way. 4, This will help some of your group "get it" if they had not already. and 5 objects respectively).
Introducing Game Terms
Lots of games have common things, but they go by different names. Each player take turns removing objects from the heaps. Make these associations for your group and then introduce them to the correct terms for the game you are trying to teach them.
