Reply To: Top five things that help you getting into a new game

[kiranamida 5791xp 3]

I’ll take a stab at this. In no particular order:

1. A player base: Either one that already exists or enough interest from friends/local that one could be created. The rise of solo play games has maybe created a caveat to this but gaming is typically a social activity and having no one to play with isn’t fun.
2. A way to get an overview of how the game is played: Whether it’s a pdf of start rules, a play through video or a play through at an event (when we have those again). It really helps if I can see a game in action and get a feel for it before I commit to spending money on the rules. If I see it and like it, I am more likely to commit to putting money down on the product so I can get at the details and play it for myself.
3. Availability: This can be a few things, whether it’s making sure the rule books stay in print or providing a digital source that is kept available. Likewise it can also mean that there is an availability of miniatures either designed for the game or from an agnostic source. Miniature agnostic doesn’t mean much if they expect you to find a two-tailed, three-armed, seven-eyed ungulate or anything so specific before it gets to qualify for use on the table. It can come from many places but it is important that I can find what I need for the game with relative ease.
4. Understanding the scope of the game: If you’ve shown me what a turn looks like and I am interested, I next want to know what to expect a from a while game. Is this an hour long Skirmish? A weekend long real-time battle? If I am thinking about starting a game I want to know what kind of time I will need to play it because that will affect what opportunity I will have to play.
5. Modularity: Can I do something else with what I get? This is an easy win for a lot of historicals and a certain stripe of fantasy but knowing I can use the models elsewhere or perhaps use the same rules with a different set of minis (Saga, for example) is appealing because it means I am getting more bang for buck/time. Probably not often touted but this is why I like GW’s 40K. Knowing I can use the models in 40K, Kill Team, Wrath & Glory and still take them into agnostic Sci-Fi has informed a number of my purchases so this matters even with their dominance.

Interested to see what other have answered in the time it has taken me to type this.