How Not to Start an Obsession
One of the items found in each goodie bag from Gen Con was a complete starter deck of Magic the Gathering cards. Now, I don't play MtG, so I just kind of shrugged and said "Oh, that's nice," and let the cards slip out of mind.
Naturally, the kids decided they wanted to learn how to play, so they perused the huge foldout sheet on "How to Play MtG" and got stuck in several points. I haven't played in ages --and then with a deck on loan from a friend-- so I did the next best thing: I hunted on YouTube for a MtG tutorial.
Yes, among the comedy clips, music videos, and movie trailers, was a multi-clip tutorial.
The kids watched, salivated*, and ran upstairs to try their hand at MtG.
I knew we were in a bit of trouble when my son and then my youngest beat our oldest at the game. She pouted and threw fits whenever she lost, so I decided that the Black starter deck from her swag bag didn't fit her playing style and gave her my White starter deck.
She lost again, and threw another fit.
I told her to stop grumping and study the game. "Look at your cards and see what's the best strategy; don't try to play something you don't have."
She went away, and a few days later won her first game.
We now have three kids who not only can play but are rapidly becoming card sharks at the game. At least they haven't started asking me to take them to the store to ask for booster decks....
*I swear I could almost see the Pavlovian reaction to just how easy the game was to play...
Naturally, the kids decided they wanted to learn how to play, so they perused the huge foldout sheet on "How to Play MtG" and got stuck in several points. I haven't played in ages --and then with a deck on loan from a friend-- so I did the next best thing: I hunted on YouTube for a MtG tutorial.
Yes, among the comedy clips, music videos, and movie trailers, was a multi-clip tutorial.
The kids watched, salivated*, and ran upstairs to try their hand at MtG.
I knew we were in a bit of trouble when my son and then my youngest beat our oldest at the game. She pouted and threw fits whenever she lost, so I decided that the Black starter deck from her swag bag didn't fit her playing style and gave her my White starter deck.
She lost again, and threw another fit.
I told her to stop grumping and study the game. "Look at your cards and see what's the best strategy; don't try to play something you don't have."
She went away, and a few days later won her first game.
We now have three kids who not only can play but are rapidly becoming card sharks at the game. At least they haven't started asking me to take them to the store to ask for booster decks....
*I swear I could almost see the Pavlovian reaction to just how easy the game was to play...