Halfway

 A little bit ago, I was teaching a friend how to play Mindbug, and I caught myself with a touch of exasperation.

A situation which seemed very obvious to me-reading the cards on the board, explaining the situation would provide an answer-had my friend stumbling. And I was trying to provide hints but not give the game away, if you will.

It wasn't working though. They were stuck. 

The next day I realized that it was me who was the problem. 

I've got, broadly speaking, two kinds of friends: gamer friends, non-gamer friends. And by this I really mean: people who are familiar with the lingo and mechanical elements of deeper games, and those who aren't. People who know what it means to 'tap a card' and people who have no idea why you'd use those terms-or why other games can't use that phrase and Magic can.

It's on me to be as encouraging as I can! To provide as much guidance as they want. 

I was taught a certain way-to be given hints and then to mostly be left in the wild to figure it out. And sometimes I figure it out-but there are many, many. situations in my life where I hate having to figure it out on my own. I want help! All the help you can give me!

I could do better at recognizing those situations for my friends. Because when some of them, god love 'em, decide to indulge me in a game that they are unfamiliar with, I want them to have a good time! However, I don't think that I've been as enabling of that good time as I could be. 

That makes me feel bad. I appreciate it when my non-gamer folks are willing to give it a go! I should do better at meeting them at whatever level they want, so they have a good experience.