← How to Explain a Game · Lesson 1 of 4
Say how you win first
Most people explain a game in the order the rulebook does: the pieces, the setup, the turn, the special cases, and then, at the end, how you win. By then half the table has stopped listening.
Turn it round. Start with the goal, in one sentence: "You win by being the first to get rid of all your cards." Every rule after that has somewhere to hang. Players can ask themselves whether a rule helps them win or stops them.
One sentence is the test. If you cannot say how to win in one sentence, you do not know the game well enough to teach it yet. Play a round alone first.
You are about to teach a card game to four people who have never seen it. What do you say first?
A lesson is kept once you've answered the question and written at least 8 words. Nobody grades it; it stays on this device.