212
« on: April 21, 2013, 10:42:20 pm »
As others said, don't include cards with choices (either directly like pawn or indirectly like swindler). Courtyard is about the limit of where I would go. They already are trying to figure out how this game works and what's good or not, no need to give them even more action paralysis.
I agree with what others said about the first game set, but if you want to spice it up, try to pick similar cards (e.g. worker's village or bazaar for village, courtyard or similar for smithy). In particular, I think cards that lend themselves to treasureless engines or alternate victory cards may confuse the issue; you want them to pick up the basic concepts of the game as a whole, not unrepresentative edge cases.
Also try to limit the bookkeeping aspect of things; this is one reason I would be tempted to hold off on duration cards, since the "did I play that this turn or last turn?" aspect can be annoying to keep track of when you're already trying to remember what everything does.
Avoid cursers; you want her to have fun, not discover the "joys" of a torturer chain her first game. Once she's seen how a regular game goes (and hopefully enjoyed it), then you can hit her with the torturers. And obviously, King's Court-Goons-Masquerade pins are right out.
Ideally, you want a game where they can both learn things and have fun.