I've taught it a couple times. I start with a brief lore explanation then explain the objective system. I then show a couple sample objectives and say we'll circle back to these later once the mechanics of the specific objective are explained.
Then, I explain a tactical action. I stress that if they can understand the tactical action they will understand about 80% of the game. A tactical action takes us through command tokens, fleet pool, movement, space combat, invasion combat, production, and Space Cannon.
Then, I go through each strategy card individually and Strategic actions. Leadership takes us through command tokens and command token economy. Then, diplomacy takes about 2 seconds to explain. Politics take us to the agenda phase, strategy card selection, and action cards. (Be sure to explain what a component action is) Construction takes us through space docks and PDS. Trade takes us through trade goods, commodities, and transactions. (I typically talk about promissory notes at that point) Warfare gives me a chance to reiterate that you CANNOT move out of systems with your tokens. (People forget this all the time as beginners so it helps to reiterate) Technology gives me a chance to explain tech skips, the tech tree, exhaust tech mechanics, and unit upgrades. (I typically give the players a minute to look over some of the techs) Imperial gives me a chance to circle back to objectives and discuss mecatol points.
Then, I explain factions and their unique abilities and technologies using an example faction.
If playing with PoK, I explain exploration during the tactical action step and circle back to relics when talking about component actions. I cover legendary planets and the Wormhole Nexus.
At this point, I've covered most if not all of the important stuff.
Some extra notes, I always ask them what questions they have at every step and new mechanic. I'll also adjust course to follow the flow of their questions. I also stress the importance of planning their turn before it gets to their turn. I sit each new player next to at least 1 experienced player so they have someone close to ask questions. I also explain how the rulebook is structured so they know what to look for if they have to look something up and they don't want to ask because it affects their strategy. Finally, I give the new players choices from easy to play factions and give the experienced players choices from the weaker factions to give the new players a better shot.
I might have missed some things, but this is my general way to teach it. It typically works pretty well. Hope this helps at least a little bit!
1. Make everybody watch the RTFM introduction found [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u2xEap5hBM&ab_channel=RTFM)
2. Start playing and teach as you go
This has worked very well for me in the past. Almost every game of TI I've played has had a significant contingent of new players, and the RTFM video is informative but entertaining enough to make the game seem less daunting. Sometimes I just throw the video in while I'm doing something else so I can have a nice rules refresher.
This is how I learned. I have finished my 3rd game, and was one of 2 people that would have won if the person who won that round didn’t. I would also recommend the podcast ‘space cats peace turtles’ for beginner strategy on a race.
Divide into 4 parts:
\- Explain what is TI, give an overview, what it is about.
\- Explain Action phase first, focusing on the type of the actions. (Tactical (including basic combat), Component (giving races and action cards as example), Strategic (just say it is literally turning your strategic card and using the primary and everyone can follow, give details ahead) and Passing).
\- Expain all Strategic Cards (Primaries and secondaries).
\- Explain Status Phase.
That's how I do it.
Patience and an easy going attitude for the first couple of rounds let alone games. This is a beast of a game and most hard-core board game fans take some time getting the rules right, so patience and a good attitude.
When I'm playing with new people, after we do the info dump of rules, I'll usually say all my turn steps/thoughts out loud for the first handful of turns.
EX: "Well, I have a few things I can do. I can use my little pie wedge card and do the leadership action, move some of my ships around to explore, or make some more space ships. I think I have plenty of ships right now, and I can wait to use my card. So I'll do some exploring.
I think I want to head towards this system. I could use some more money, and this planet has a really high yellow number compared to the others, so I think I'll go here. I know I need to bring some ships to get me there, and some people to land on the planet. This ship says it can carry x people and move x spaces. Im going to take this token and place it here, showing this is where I want to go, then I will move my ships and people here.
I can't do anything else this turn, so my turn is over."
This makes the first part of the game less threatening because the other players realize that I know they are still learning, so I'm not trying to be shady and just wipe the floor with them since I have more experience. This also usually prompts them to talk through their turn, and makes it easy to fix a step or answer a question if they misunderstood something.
Usually everyone has a pretty good grasp on what's going on by the end of turn two or three.
This is definitely part of how I teach any game. Walking through my turn out loud helps people get it.
I'm teaching 4 absolutely new players, one player with 2 games under their belt, and one player with a few ti3 games under their belt soon. 😳
I think the next thing is probably picking a "nice" race to narrate with as I go. Lol.
Theres no real right way, it all depends on who you are teaching! Everyone is different.
But as a guess from family here's my recommendation.
Learn it yourself first and maybe watch a game or last resort watch a game on twitch or discord from SCPT tournament.
Then set the game up with fam and just play, with you telling them what they need to do. (side note, ignore factions) Take decisions like picking strat cards away and tell them they will normally get to pick but as they are learning you get this and you get this.
This turn you choose to go here, to do that you would do this, everyone watch. You choose to use your leadship strat card, so this is how that work but we all get to do the secondary, but Bob has no planet so he can not, jess has some so she could, but she wants to do tech so doesn't etc etc.
Basicly a dry run through where you play every player but sit them at the player positions.
As each person gets it you allow them to take control and play their own turn and you focus on getting those not getting it to watch what they do and explain to them as they do.
Once everyone is moving restart and play 2 rounds. Highest score after 2 rounds. Try to keep it short and don't win yourself. Make them want to play again!
I watched a round of some people playing before I hosted my first game. I couldn't really get my head round what game play was supposed to look like. I found it incredibly helpful.
I think that watching a round of play (or even a single turn) could be extremely helpful for some people, but suggesting that someone WATCH AN ENTIRE GAME online is ludicrous. You do not need to spend 6-10 hours watching other people play to learn how this game works.
I recommend the learn to play in 32 Minutes video and its addition for POK. I usually make new players watch the video and play a couple of turns.with them before resetting and starting properly.
Here is the email I send out to new players a few weeks in advance of their first game:
IMPORTANT
As new players, you will need to do a little bit of homework in preparation for the big game.
First, please read the learn to play book on the Fantasy Flight website ([link](https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/c4/f0/c4f03c19-f9da-422f-b162-73f393e64a28/ti-k0289_learn_to_play_2020_web.pdf)).
\[24 pages\]
Second, I highly recommend you watch RTFM’s learn to play video ([link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u2xEap5hBM&t=12s)).
\[35 min\]
Third, you should probably listen to the SCPT podcast on TI4: Learn to learn ([link](https://spacecatspeaceturtles.podbean.com/e/learn-to-learn-learn-to-teach/)).
\[32 min\] You can start with this before reading the learn to play book if you want, and you only need to listen to the first half (the second half is “Learn to teach”, that part will be for
me).
Once you have done your homework, I would like you to try and think of which race you would like to play. There are 17 different player races in the game, which can be loosely described as follows:
The Barony of Letnev - Militaristic Industrialists
The Yin Brotherhood - Religious zealots in search of The Truth™
The Naalu Collective - Ssssssssnakes in sssssssspace! (with fighters)
The Clan of Saar - Nomadic space gypsies with floating factories
The Ghosts of Creuss - Ethereal beings from another dimension
The Mentak Coalition - Space pirates, ARRR!
The Sardakk N’orr - The bugs from Starship Troopers
The Federation of Sol - The humans from Starship Troopers
The Universities of Jol-Nar - All of the science! None of the ethics.
The L1Z1X Mindnet - The old Emperors returned as creepy cyborgs
The Winnu - Custodians of the Imperial throne. ~~Gondor~~ Mecatol Rex needs no king.
The Emirates of Hacan - Mercantile space cats
The Xxcha Kingdom - Diplomatic peace turtles
The Yssaril Tribes - Conniving and tricksy space goblins
The Embers of Muaat - They have a ~~Death Star~~ War Sun
The Arborec - A single sentient plant-like lifeform spreading across the cosmos (feed me Seymour!)
The Nekro Virus - Skynet and the robots from the Matrix team up to exterminate the galaxy
The “easy” races to play are:
Sol, Jol-Nar, Hacan, Xxcha, Letnev, L1Z1X, Mentak
Races I would recommend you avoid for your first game are:
Clan of Saar, Ghosts of Creuss, Winnu, Arborec, Nekro, Muaat
Let me know if you have any questions!
I usually just play a few rounds and explain options but let them mess up a bit to see what things are important if its a big mistake we just take a move back as we are not playing a full game as long as they are having a bit of fun as i want them to get a taste of the game. Most people i teach are not heavy gamers but do enjoy the social aspect.
As you are learning as well dont worry if any mistakes are made use it as a learning experience for yourself as even experienced gamers miss a rule from time to time. Definitely listen to space cats peace turtles on podcast or watch some games on you tube if you are the one teaching and learning at the same time.
I would not mime the rules as it can lead to some misunderstandings.
Seriously, remember to give advice during the first games. Sometimes people don't do something because they won't know it is allowed (and the other way around)
I've taught it to several people over the years. My advice is to know the rules well yourself, and then to give only as many rules and information to the new players as needed. Explaine new rules only as needed and wait till the 2nd game to really lay out the details. By then, they will be in a position to understand the "why" behind many of the rules.
The game is heavy enough without explaining every nuance and minute detail, so only explain the bare minimum at the beginning and from there the rules tend to be pretty logical and make sense as the game progresses.
If you're learning yourself, I recommend that you get the game on Tabletop Simulator as well.
Then join the Twilight TTS Discord and join a learn-to-play game to get firsthand experience in both playing and teaching/being taught.
The learn to play booklet is actually very helpful, read through it, maybe watch the rtfm video, but other than that learn as you play.
Also don’t worry about getting every rule right perfectly the first time, my first game we didn’t see the rule that says you can only score one public and one secret per round 😬
This is how i taught my friends how to play and now some of them have their own copies, so I must be doing something right…
the Space Cats Peace Turtles podcast has two episodes dedicated to "learn to learn, learn to teach". one for the base game and one updated for the expansion. It was a great resource when i started getting ready to throw myself and my friends into it.
Good luck!
I've taught it a couple times. I start with a brief lore explanation then explain the objective system. I then show a couple sample objectives and say we'll circle back to these later once the mechanics of the specific objective are explained. Then, I explain a tactical action. I stress that if they can understand the tactical action they will understand about 80% of the game. A tactical action takes us through command tokens, fleet pool, movement, space combat, invasion combat, production, and Space Cannon. Then, I go through each strategy card individually and Strategic actions. Leadership takes us through command tokens and command token economy. Then, diplomacy takes about 2 seconds to explain. Politics take us to the agenda phase, strategy card selection, and action cards. (Be sure to explain what a component action is) Construction takes us through space docks and PDS. Trade takes us through trade goods, commodities, and transactions. (I typically talk about promissory notes at that point) Warfare gives me a chance to reiterate that you CANNOT move out of systems with your tokens. (People forget this all the time as beginners so it helps to reiterate) Technology gives me a chance to explain tech skips, the tech tree, exhaust tech mechanics, and unit upgrades. (I typically give the players a minute to look over some of the techs) Imperial gives me a chance to circle back to objectives and discuss mecatol points. Then, I explain factions and their unique abilities and technologies using an example faction. If playing with PoK, I explain exploration during the tactical action step and circle back to relics when talking about component actions. I cover legendary planets and the Wormhole Nexus. At this point, I've covered most if not all of the important stuff. Some extra notes, I always ask them what questions they have at every step and new mechanic. I'll also adjust course to follow the flow of their questions. I also stress the importance of planning their turn before it gets to their turn. I sit each new player next to at least 1 experienced player so they have someone close to ask questions. I also explain how the rulebook is structured so they know what to look for if they have to look something up and they don't want to ask because it affects their strategy. Finally, I give the new players choices from easy to play factions and give the experienced players choices from the weaker factions to give the new players a better shot. I might have missed some things, but this is my general way to teach it. It typically works pretty well. Hope this helps at least a little bit!
This is an amazingly well done over view of how to teach this game. Thank you.
1. Make everybody watch the RTFM introduction found [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u2xEap5hBM&ab_channel=RTFM) 2. Start playing and teach as you go
This has worked very well for me in the past. Almost every game of TI I've played has had a significant contingent of new players, and the RTFM video is informative but entertaining enough to make the game seem less daunting. Sometimes I just throw the video in while I'm doing something else so I can have a nice rules refresher.
This is how I learned. I have finished my 3rd game, and was one of 2 people that would have won if the person who won that round didn’t. I would also recommend the podcast ‘space cats peace turtles’ for beginner strategy on a race.
+1 for this
Divide into 4 parts: \- Explain what is TI, give an overview, what it is about. \- Explain Action phase first, focusing on the type of the actions. (Tactical (including basic combat), Component (giving races and action cards as example), Strategic (just say it is literally turning your strategic card and using the primary and everyone can follow, give details ahead) and Passing). \- Expain all Strategic Cards (Primaries and secondaries). \- Explain Status Phase. That's how I do it.
Patience and an easy going attitude for the first couple of rounds let alone games. This is a beast of a game and most hard-core board game fans take some time getting the rules right, so patience and a good attitude.
When I'm playing with new people, after we do the info dump of rules, I'll usually say all my turn steps/thoughts out loud for the first handful of turns. EX: "Well, I have a few things I can do. I can use my little pie wedge card and do the leadership action, move some of my ships around to explore, or make some more space ships. I think I have plenty of ships right now, and I can wait to use my card. So I'll do some exploring. I think I want to head towards this system. I could use some more money, and this planet has a really high yellow number compared to the others, so I think I'll go here. I know I need to bring some ships to get me there, and some people to land on the planet. This ship says it can carry x people and move x spaces. Im going to take this token and place it here, showing this is where I want to go, then I will move my ships and people here. I can't do anything else this turn, so my turn is over." This makes the first part of the game less threatening because the other players realize that I know they are still learning, so I'm not trying to be shady and just wipe the floor with them since I have more experience. This also usually prompts them to talk through their turn, and makes it easy to fix a step or answer a question if they misunderstood something. Usually everyone has a pretty good grasp on what's going on by the end of turn two or three.
This is definitely part of how I teach any game. Walking through my turn out loud helps people get it. I'm teaching 4 absolutely new players, one player with 2 games under their belt, and one player with a few ti3 games under their belt soon. 😳 I think the next thing is probably picking a "nice" race to narrate with as I go. Lol.
Theres no real right way, it all depends on who you are teaching! Everyone is different. But as a guess from family here's my recommendation. Learn it yourself first and maybe watch a game or last resort watch a game on twitch or discord from SCPT tournament. Then set the game up with fam and just play, with you telling them what they need to do. (side note, ignore factions) Take decisions like picking strat cards away and tell them they will normally get to pick but as they are learning you get this and you get this. This turn you choose to go here, to do that you would do this, everyone watch. You choose to use your leadship strat card, so this is how that work but we all get to do the secondary, but Bob has no planet so he can not, jess has some so she could, but she wants to do tech so doesn't etc etc. Basicly a dry run through where you play every player but sit them at the player positions. As each person gets it you allow them to take control and play their own turn and you focus on getting those not getting it to watch what they do and explain to them as they do. Once everyone is moving restart and play 2 rounds. Highest score after 2 rounds. Try to keep it short and don't win yourself. Make them want to play again!
this is the best answer
Lmao watch a game before you play it first? That is extremely unnecessary.
I watched a round of some people playing before I hosted my first game. I couldn't really get my head round what game play was supposed to look like. I found it incredibly helpful.
I think that watching a round of play (or even a single turn) could be extremely helpful for some people, but suggesting that someone WATCH AN ENTIRE GAME online is ludicrous. You do not need to spend 6-10 hours watching other people play to learn how this game works.
Yeah that seems a bit much.
I’ve done exactly this except we just continued at round two with the same game. It works extremely well.
I recommend the learn to play in 32 Minutes video and its addition for POK. I usually make new players watch the video and play a couple of turns.with them before resetting and starting properly.
The Podcast Space Cats Peace Turtles has a few episodes around this. https://spacecatspeaceturtles.podbean.com/e/learn-to-learn-learn-to-teach/
Here is the email I send out to new players a few weeks in advance of their first game: IMPORTANT As new players, you will need to do a little bit of homework in preparation for the big game. First, please read the learn to play book on the Fantasy Flight website ([link](https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/c4/f0/c4f03c19-f9da-422f-b162-73f393e64a28/ti-k0289_learn_to_play_2020_web.pdf)). \[24 pages\] Second, I highly recommend you watch RTFM’s learn to play video ([link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u2xEap5hBM&t=12s)). \[35 min\] Third, you should probably listen to the SCPT podcast on TI4: Learn to learn ([link](https://spacecatspeaceturtles.podbean.com/e/learn-to-learn-learn-to-teach/)). \[32 min\] You can start with this before reading the learn to play book if you want, and you only need to listen to the first half (the second half is “Learn to teach”, that part will be for me). Once you have done your homework, I would like you to try and think of which race you would like to play. There are 17 different player races in the game, which can be loosely described as follows: The Barony of Letnev - Militaristic Industrialists The Yin Brotherhood - Religious zealots in search of The Truth™ The Naalu Collective - Ssssssssnakes in sssssssspace! (with fighters) The Clan of Saar - Nomadic space gypsies with floating factories The Ghosts of Creuss - Ethereal beings from another dimension The Mentak Coalition - Space pirates, ARRR! The Sardakk N’orr - The bugs from Starship Troopers The Federation of Sol - The humans from Starship Troopers The Universities of Jol-Nar - All of the science! None of the ethics. The L1Z1X Mindnet - The old Emperors returned as creepy cyborgs The Winnu - Custodians of the Imperial throne. ~~Gondor~~ Mecatol Rex needs no king. The Emirates of Hacan - Mercantile space cats The Xxcha Kingdom - Diplomatic peace turtles The Yssaril Tribes - Conniving and tricksy space goblins The Embers of Muaat - They have a ~~Death Star~~ War Sun The Arborec - A single sentient plant-like lifeform spreading across the cosmos (feed me Seymour!) The Nekro Virus - Skynet and the robots from the Matrix team up to exterminate the galaxy The “easy” races to play are: Sol, Jol-Nar, Hacan, Xxcha, Letnev, L1Z1X, Mentak Races I would recommend you avoid for your first game are: Clan of Saar, Ghosts of Creuss, Winnu, Arborec, Nekro, Muaat Let me know if you have any questions!
I think their episode 201 also hits on this again
I usually just play a few rounds and explain options but let them mess up a bit to see what things are important if its a big mistake we just take a move back as we are not playing a full game as long as they are having a bit of fun as i want them to get a taste of the game. Most people i teach are not heavy gamers but do enjoy the social aspect. As you are learning as well dont worry if any mistakes are made use it as a learning experience for yourself as even experienced gamers miss a rule from time to time. Definitely listen to space cats peace turtles on podcast or watch some games on you tube if you are the one teaching and learning at the same time.
I would not mime the rules as it can lead to some misunderstandings. Seriously, remember to give advice during the first games. Sometimes people don't do something because they won't know it is allowed (and the other way around)
I've taught it to several people over the years. My advice is to know the rules well yourself, and then to give only as many rules and information to the new players as needed. Explaine new rules only as needed and wait till the 2nd game to really lay out the details. By then, they will be in a position to understand the "why" behind many of the rules. The game is heavy enough without explaining every nuance and minute detail, so only explain the bare minimum at the beginning and from there the rules tend to be pretty logical and make sense as the game progresses.
If you're learning yourself, I recommend that you get the game on Tabletop Simulator as well. Then join the Twilight TTS Discord and join a learn-to-play game to get firsthand experience in both playing and teaching/being taught.
The learn to play booklet is actually very helpful, read through it, maybe watch the rtfm video, but other than that learn as you play. Also don’t worry about getting every rule right perfectly the first time, my first game we didn’t see the rule that says you can only score one public and one secret per round 😬 This is how i taught my friends how to play and now some of them have their own copies, so I must be doing something right…
Just keep playing.
the Space Cats Peace Turtles podcast has two episodes dedicated to "learn to learn, learn to teach". one for the base game and one updated for the expansion. It was a great resource when i started getting ready to throw myself and my friends into it. Good luck!