Good/easy games for newbies to try that won't kill my karma figuring them out?

[One True Morty]

I apologize if this has been posted before....I tried searching a bit and couldn't find much, but I'm not all that good with forums...I see that there are a lot of games on this site, but only about 5 that I have any experience with, and like 2 that I'm actually decent at. I've played a couple games now, and I see that there is a time limit...is there anyway to practice games before playing them with people so I don't ruin my karma by running out of time playing games for the first time and running out of time figuring out what to do? I know how to play hearts and yahtzee, and i'm ok at checkers and chess, but I've been royally pwnd on those two already lol, and I learned can't stop from the tutorial when I signed up, but that's about it for the games listed on this site.

[dim2a]

Several things you can do:

1). You can play turn based rather than real time, that gives you plenty of time. The downside is that games in turn based usually take a while to finish.

2). On the slowest setting, most games are OK as long as you know the rules in advance. I do wish the settings were a bit further apart -- fast/normal/slow settings are not as different as they should be, but it is what it is...

[Peyrol]

Hex has simople rules, and you can practice against an offline opponent. You have to send an email in order to get unlimited plays, but it's free and you won't get any extra spam. My email is twixtfanatic atsymbol gmail period com if you have any question or comment.

[Jest Phulin]

When you have been on long enough to talk in the general chat (3 days?), post a message asking for people to teach you a game. This will generally be done with ELO off and turn-based. Turn based just means that you have up to that much time to make a move, not that it is required to wait that long. This should give plenty of time to think about the move and the interface. Don't forget to give a green thumb to your teacher -- they get gift points if you do, so it helps them. Also, it is a good idea to read the rules of the game(s) you want to learn beforehand. Most members of the Game Tutors group are willing to teach, but don't broadcast when they are on.

When creating tables, make sure to specify a slow time. Also, until you get better at some games, restrict the table to Beginners (people who have never won that particular game on BGA) and Novices (people who have played, but have a low ELO). This will help reduce the number of pwnies trampling you.

[senatorhung]

6nimmt is a pretty easy game to pick up ... if you get a table of 5 ... there will be at least one who can explain the rules as you go or give strategy tips.

as far as time goes ... you can always get the other players at a realtime table to set the game to turn.based, but knowing that you will play realtime.

[Nanaki404]

Regardless of the new game you choose to learn, ALWAYS read the rules first.
Once you have (fully) read the rules, you have two choices :
- If you are confident enough in your understanding of the rules and your abilities to adapt, start a Slow (or Turn-based) game.
- If you still have doubts, you can watch (Spectate) a game played by others, as this should help you better understand how the game works. You can even chat with the player when you are a spectator (even if some players do not like to explain stuff to beginners and might ignore you...)

[One True Morty]

Regardless of the new game you choose to learn, ALWAYS read the rules first.
Once you have (fully) read the rules, you have two choices :
- If you are confident enough in your understanding of the rules and your abilities to adapt, start a Slow (or Turn-based) game.
- If you still have doubts, you can watch (Spectate) a game played by others, as this should help you better understand how the game works. You can even chat with the player when you are a spectator (even if some players do not like to explain stuff to beginners and might ignore you...)

This was good advice, I tried reading the rules for nnite(sp?) and I though they made sense, but watching a game in progress just confused me to high hell....I think I'll have to study the rules of a few interesting sounding games further, and then try out some turn based games as others suggested....

[One True Morty]

Several things you can do:

1). You can play turn based rather than real time, that gives you plenty of time. The downside is that games in turn based usually take a while to finish.

2). On the slowest setting, most games are OK as long as you know the rules in advance. I do wish the settings were a bit further apart -- fast/normal/slow settings are not as different as they should be, but it is what it is...

ITT - several = 2 lol, kidding ofc, thanks for the tips, just joking around hehe. Turn based is definitely something I am gonna look into

[One True Morty]

When you have been on long enough to talk in the general chat (3 days?), post a message asking for people to teach you a game. This will generally be done with ELO off and turn-based. Turn based just means that you have up to that much time to make a move, not that it is required to wait that long. This should give plenty of time to think about the move and the interface. Don't forget to give a green thumb to your teacher -- they get gift points if you do, so it helps them. Also, it is a good idea to read the rules of the game(s) you want to learn beforehand. Most members of the Game Tutors group are willing to teach, but don't broadcast when they are on.

When creating tables, make sure to specify a slow time. Also, until you get better at some games, restrict the table to Beginners (people who have never won that particular game on BGA) and Novices (people who have played, but have a low ELO). This will help reduce the number of pwnies trampling you.

This is wonderfully helpful advice! Can I give you some thumbs up for this?

[Liallan]

This is wonderfully helpful advice! Can I give you some thumbs up for this?

No, they don't have thumbs for posts. But you could play with him and then give him a thumb.

If you go to the Games tab, scroll down til you see the "Casual" games. That might be a good starting point. Or the "Classic" games might more likely have stuff you're familiar with. All the games have a complexity rating. You could look for ones with 2 or less.

You can join this group:
https://en.boardgamearena.com/#!group?id=1111129
and post something you'd like to learn and see if there's someone willing to teach. They might want to do turn-based or real-time on slow. I prefer turn-based. As had been stated, turn-based doesn't mean you can't play it live, but it will give you plenty of time to take your turns. And if you're reading rules and still confused, having someone who knows the game can answer your questions. If you get on games with random people, not all of them are going to be willing to help, but anyone in the Games Tutor should be.