Greg Jones
United States
Washington
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The thing is, Puerto Rico is a bit non-intuitive. The concept that if you can ship, you must ship gave me problems when I first tried it and hadn't learned that many Euro games. It's not just a matter of getting the good stuff and then getting the best value out of it - without the right tactics one barrel of Coffee could be worthless and someone else's barrel of Corn could be worth a bundle.
In other words, I recommend starting with games where you can't go badly wrong with readily apparent tactics, but you can do slightly better with clever ones. Ticket to Ride is a good suggestion. There's nothing wrong with Settlers of Catan. It's luck-heavy but there's strategy too. Dominion and Ra would be my top 2 recommendations for gateway games.
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Greg Jones
United States
Washington
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kungfro wrote: In San Juan you have a secret hand, so you'll be less inclined to ask others what a card does if you're unsure.
I had the opposite problem with Puerto Rico. With San Juan the cards are in my hand, where I can read them. I just have to choose the best one of 5 or so cards I have available to play, not the best one of all 16 buildings. Most of the effects are very straightforward; only a few of the cards might need further explanation.
Whereas in Puerto Rico, all the buildings are small with small type, sitting in the middle of the table. I could pick up each and read them, but I feel like I am annoying the other players. Then I would forget exactly what some building did later on. I could go pick it up to refresh my memory, but then I would tip other players off that I am considering building it - worse than tipping your hand in San Juan I think.
So if you try Puerto Rico, a "cheat sheet" would be a good thing to have on hand for your first game.
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Chris Wood
United States
Wheaton
Illinois
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markgravitygood wrote: namecid wrote: By newish, I mean that my gaming history consists of Monopoly, Stratego, Clue, Risk, Scrabble, etc. I hear a lot of stuff about this game and I'm wondering if I should give it a shot. Monopoly ==> Urban Sprawl Risk ==> Axis and Allies Stratego ==> Hammer of the Scots Clue ==> Scotland Yard You've been called up from the minors. grab your bat and glove...:p
Also:
Monopoly ==> Power Grid
Clue ===> Mystery of the Abbey
Hide and Seek ==> Nuns on the Run
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Len
United States
Austin
Texas
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morningstar wrote: kungfro wrote: In San Juan you have a secret hand, so you'll be less inclined to ask others what a card does if you're unsure. I had the opposite problem with Puerto Rico. With San Juan the cards are in my hand, where I can read them. I just have to choose the best one of 5 or so cards I have available to play, not the best one of all 16 buildings. Most of the effects are very straightforward; only a few of the cards might need further explanation. Whereas in Puerto Rico, all the buildings are small with small type, sitting in the middle of the table. I could pick up each and read them, but I feel like I am annoying the other players. Then I would forget exactly what some building did later on. I could go pick it up to refresh my memory, but then I would tip other players off that I am considering building it - worse than tipping your hand in San Juan I think. So if you try Puerto Rico, a "cheat sheet" would be a good thing to have on hand for your first game.
The back of the instructions is a reference or "cheat sheet" with all of the buildings listed. It is a good idea to give this to a new player.
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Jack Smith
United Kingdom
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Children can play this game just fine. The only issue with new players is they may not have someone to teach them and they are so used to games like monopoly they find it tricky to pick up new game concepts. Forget everything you leaned about the games you mentioned.
Maybe try reading the rules and looking at videos posted. You do not have to memorise them. As long as you are not completely confused you will be OK.
Just treat your first game or two as a learning game where you may make mistakes and have to look up rules.
Strategies really do not matter at all, they will come naturally as you play.
Also keep a note of your final scores. This helps you show that you are improving.
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V L
United States
Virginia
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Also, I tend to play some of my new games by myself the first time, generally following the rules as much as possible and simulating what other people might do on their turns.
This lets me learn the rules and gotchas and possible questions before I subject other people to a potentially unnecessarily long gaming session because when people asked questions I couldn't answer them as quickly as I wanted.
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Rusty Patterson
Saudi Arabia
Ras Tanura
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Neo42 wrote: Also, I tend to play some of my new games by myself the first time, generally following the rules as much as possible and simulating what other people might do on their turns.
This lets me learn the rules and gotchas and possible questions before I subject other people to a potentially unnecessarily long gaming session because when people asked questions I couldn't answer them as quickly as I wanted.
I try to always do this myself. I find it cuts down the first game play time by at least half. It's amazing how many questions come up during play that you never considered would be an issue when reading the rules. It also helps me get familiar with the mechanics and makes that first gaming session run so much smoother.
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Edwin Tait
United States
Indiana
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namecid wrote: By newish, I mean that my gaming history consists of Monopoly, Stratego, Clue, Risk, Scrabble, etc. I hear a lot of stuff about this game and I'm wondering if I should give it a shot.
I bought it in the spring of 2008, when I was new to BGG, because it was no. 1. I wasn't sure I could persuade anyone to play it with me, and it sat on the shelf for a while. Meanwhile I bought TTR as a more accessible "gateway" game and got friends and family to play it, later moving them on to Puerto Rico.
Looking back after several years of browsing BGG and buying serious boardgames (a very modest amount of them by BGG standards, admittedly), I tend to agree more and more with the folks who don't believe in "gateway games." Someone who has the kind of mind that likes complex board games will probably take to a game like PR right away. I know that my brain lit up like a Christmas tree when I started to read the PR rules and looked at the components. I thought, "where have games like this been all my life?" The people who don't want to play PR probably still won't want to play it after six months of playing TTR. So I'd say that it's not so much that you can use a game like TTR to get people into games like PR, but rather that you need both kinds of games if you want to have lots of chances to play board games with lots of people.
I still don't get PR to the table very often, even with folks who have been playing games for a while. It tends to be Dominion, base Catan, Cities and Knights, or War of the Ring, depending on how much time and energy is available on that particular occasion)!
Edwin
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V L
United States
Virginia
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Amandil wrote: namecid wrote: By newish, I mean that my gaming history consists of Monopoly, Stratego, Clue, Risk, Scrabble, etc. I hear a lot of stuff about this game and I'm wondering if I should give it a shot. I bought it in the spring of 2008, when I was new to BGG, because it was no. 1. I wasn't sure I could persuade anyone to play it with me, and it sat on the shelf for a while. Meanwhile I bought TTR as a more accessible "gateway" game and got friends and family to play it, later moving them on to Puerto Rico. Looking back after several years of browsing BGG and buying serious boardgames (a very modest amount of them by BGG standards, admittedly), I tend to agree more and more with the folks who don't believe in "gateway games." Someone who has the kind of mind that likes complex board games will probably take to a game like PR right away. I know that my brain lit up like a Christmas tree when I started to read the PR rules and looked at the components. I thought, "where have games like this been all my life?" The people who don't want to play PR probably still won't want to play it after six months of playing TTR. So I'd say that it's not so much that you can use a game like TTR to get people into games like PR, but rather that you need both kinds of games if you want to have lots of chances to play board games with lots of people. I still don't get PR to the table very often, even with folks who have been playing games for a while. It tends to be Dominion, base Catan, Cities and Knights, or War of the Ring, depending on how much time and energy is available on that particular occasion)! Edwin
I created a game group at work during lunch. We started with things like Guillotine, Flux, and Gimme the Brain. And I tried to keep things fresh with a new game every few days. Then I brought in Dominion and we played with 6 kingdom piles and half size VP stacks so that I knew the game would finish. It didn't take long but we soon started playing full games of dominion easily on time.
In any case, it was really easy to teach Flux, Guillotine and Gimme the Brain because they are easy to teach/learn. And because they knew those games, it was easier to teach Dominion.
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For what it's worth, my first step into hobby board gaming was Arkham Horror. I learned it no problem and I still enjoy it to this day. There's nothing stopping you from learning Puerto Rico as your first "big" game and for you still to be enjoying it in years to come. It's a great game.
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