Patience: A Teaching Virtue

I'm typically the rules explainer in my group. I think part of this reflects my skill set. As an editor by trade, I'm used to following rules. In fact, I get paid to make sure other people follow the rules, and I'm often the one writers make fun of at their conferences. So for me to be a rules explainer is a logical progression.

Being a rules explainer has its perks. For one thing, you get to see the light of understanding go on for new players. It also makes learning players less likely to suspect you are a spy in The Resistance. But it also has its challenges and pitfalls and is sometimes a hard territory to navigate.

As someone who is frequently tasked with explaining rules to board games, I've decided to talk about the good and the bad of rules explaining (and maybe rules writing) in a series of posts. I'll talk about strategies for helping new players understand games as well as ways to handle the typical distractions and advice for which situations merit which games. Today's topic is a fitting way to begin, the crowning virtue of explaining rules, without which you will almost certainly go awry in any circumstance: patience.