Simplifying Board Games
A related concern that this brings to mind is the act of teaching complex rulesets to players who are playing for the first time.<p>It&#x27;s not unusual for only one person in a group to have taken the time to learn the rules, by reading the rulebook, or more often these days, by watching a video.  Then, that person is informally responsible for communicating the rules to the other players, tutorial-style.<p>For games beyond a certain level of complexity, I have sometimes found this process to be absurd.  For example, it might be obvious that the rules are not being followed correctly or consistently.  Or more frequently, players are playing their first playthrough haphazardly, with no real understanding of the games mechanics.  And no one wants to be a rules lawyer.<p>These things are normal and the games are meant to be fun, above all else, but at the same time, playing a game incorrectly or with partial knowledge is unfun to me, especially since it&#x27;s not unusual to only play a game once these days.<p>I think the suggestion for gamemakers to include graduated tutorial materials, written or video, allowing players to trivially pick up the basics and begin playing immediately is very useful, and will encourage players to come back to the same games more than once.