Why does nobody warn you that teaching Catan to your in-laws takes three hours
My buddy Dave, who has played Catan since college, told me to just "jump in and teach as you go" with my wife's parents over Thanksgiving. Three hours and one near argument about the robber later, I learned that was terrible advice. Her dad kept forgetting what ore does and her mom thought the longest road was a race. Next time I'm printing cheat sheets and doing a practice round with no points, no robber, and no trading for the first 20 minutes. How do you all handle teaching heavier games to family who have never touched a board game?
Three hours is rough, but the part I want to know is what happened after the near argument about the robber. Did her dad calm down once he realized it was just a game mechanic, or did that sour him on the whole night? I ask because with my own in-laws the robber rule was fine, but losing settlements early killed the mood and my father in law basically checked out by round four. Curious if the practice round idea is meant to protect them from losing or just to slow the rules down before real stakes hit.