Debate: is it gatekeeping or just good taste when experienced players refuse to play beginner-level games at meetups?

I've seen two camps in our local group-some folks think we should always welcome new players with gateway games like Ticket to Ride, but others argue they've played them 50 times and just want to dive into heavy euros like Brass; where do you draw the line, and does refusing to play lighter games actually push away newcomers?

2 comments

2 Comments

mitchell.wade21d ago

Gatekeeping? Nah, it's just survival instinct setting in after the 47th game of Catan this month. Let the newbies learn on the light stuff while I hide in the corner with my Brass board.

dakota78721d ago

Walked into a meetup last month where @mitchell.wade was already in the corner setting up Brass while a new guy was staring at his copy of Splendor like it was a puzzle. I grabbed a seat and taught him how to play Splendor in like 10 minutes, but halfway through he goes "this is cute and all but when do we get to the real strategy games." Kid was 19 and had watched like 20 hours of heavy strategy reviews on YouTube. Ended up pulling him into a game of Food Chain Magnate with me and Mitch and he got destroyed but loved every second of it. Sometimes new players want the deep stuff too, you just gotta ask instead of assuming.