#106: Actual Plays for Teaching
I. Dear Reader
Sticking to our topic of teaching and learning games, I want to talk about Actual Plays. Like I said in issue 104, some Actual Plays do explicitly try to teach the game as they go. And I think they have a couple of main strengths. First, you’ve got a narrative running which makes the whole experience more pleasant and engaging. Second, you’re seeing how GMs and players actually turn those inert rules into play. Third, you get to see people learn the rules live - to some extent.
To me, it’s the third part that is most intriguing.
I get that Actual Plays have to do a lot - be stories, be shows, be educational, etc. What if they could just focus on the teaching and learning? Character creation is usually the place in an AP with the most explicit “on camera” teaching. But when I see character creation being done live in an AP, the players are usually partially or fully onboarded for the game already. They’ve figured out lots of things “off camera”. But what if they didn’t? What if that part was the focus?
I’m imagining one GM and one player. You get to see the player go from zero context to fully playing the game. You’re being taught the game … and at the same time, you get to watch someone teach the game. In a process that exactly mirrors what you’ll have to do for your players. You can see the pitch, character creation, the layered introduction of terms and concepts, and so on.
This is basically Shawn Tomkin’s original AP for Ironsworn except that both people knew the game already. And it very similar to Jeff Stormer’s excellent Party of One though, again, teaching is only one of the many things that show tries to do. (If I had to guess at Party of One’s priorities, I’d say “showcasing why a game is good” is probably at the top.)
I’m also imagining that it would take multiple episodes to fully teach a game. Especially because I’m imagining these are games that have some crunch to them. Maybe one episode for players, one episode for GMs. This is all just thinking out loud, of course. And it’s not a new idea by any means. I’m just hoping that it somehow becomes a standard practice.
Yours dreamily,
Thomas
Also, one of my games is in the new Indie Treasure Trove at the Bundle of Holding. The Spider and The City is my most successful game. It’s a solo game which combines tactical resource management and a tight three act story structure. You tell the story of a criminal mastermind in a city that has rebelled against the emperor. Check out the entire bundle - there’s eight other carefully chosen games, including the wonderful Girl Underground by Jesse Ross and Lauren McManamon, Dueling Fops of Vindamere by Greg Stolze, and the Jojo-inspired anime game, Over Arms.
II. Media of the Week
I love listening to people just get excited by things they find weird and wonderful. This one by AA Voight is about a fascinating zine called Houses of the Sun By Night by Emily Zhu. I highly recommend you check it out.
Colostle is a solo adventure game that did really well at the Ennies. So if you wanted to know what the fuss was about, Dave Thaumavore does a thorough overview of what seems to have got people’s attention.
III. Links of the Week
Relatable read of the week: Lowell Francis writes about ‘Pandemic Brain’ and reading block
There’s a TTRPG accessibility drive being organized through itch.
The Phillipine Gamer blog has one of their standard, in-depth breakdowns of Adventures in Rokugan.
Molten Sulfur blog has some of its regular content: whimsical inspiration for your games from historical sources. Here are some fantastical islands and some space voyages via the Romans.
A review of a|state, the cyberpunk game that has got a slick second edition based on the forged in the dark framework.
IV. Small Ads
All links in the newsletter are completely based on my own interest. But to help support my work, this section contains sponsored links and advertisements. If you’d like your products to appear here, read the submission form.
Nothing this week!
This newsletter is currently sponsored by the Bundle of Holding.
Apart from the Indie Trove, there’s a new bundle for Never Going Home, an occult horror RPG about a weird, haunted World War 1.
Hello, dear readers. This newsletter is written by me, Thomas Manuel. I’m half-man, half-beast, half-journalist, half-game designer.
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