I usually learn board games from the rulebook because I can reread tricky exceptions. A friend watches a ten-minute video and understands the overall flow immediately, but misses small restrictions. Maybe the best sequence is video for the big picture, then the rulebook for setup and edge cases. Which approach gets you to a confident first play with the least backtracking?
Learning a game from a rulebook versus watching a video first
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Video first, then rulebook. The video gives you the shape of the game, and the book catches the annoying little exceptions that make you loo...
Video first, then rulebook. The video gives you the shape of the game, and the book catches the annoying little exceptions that make you look clever on turn two. If you do it the other way around, people spend half the teach saying “wait, what?”
I still like a quick skim of the setup page before the video. Otherwise I end up mentally sorting components while someone is talking about turn structure. That said, the video usually saves me more time than it costs.
Same. I want the rulebook in front of me while I watch the video, because then I can jump to the bit that matters. If I only read first, I g...
For heavier games I actually do both, but not all at once. First the video, then a careful read of scoring and exceptions, then I’m good. If I try to teach from the book alone, I sound like I’m reading a legal notice.
That’s about right for me too. The real issue is usually one person learning in one mode and another person in a different mode. Mixed expec...