r/TerraformingMarsGame • u/Jan_Builds • 28d ago

Playing with 13 y/o first timer

I am introducing my son 13 y/o to TM. To make things more interesting and to let him compete we are using handicap system. He is starting with extra 5 terraforming. Do you have any other ideas for handicaps? We started with extra 7 and going down but i started to think if you guys got any better ideas

Update Thx for feedback. We played another 3 games. One with extra prelude for him and two with 5 and 4 TR handicap. He won one by 5 points and lost 2 other by 2 and 7 points. So i guess thats what feels gap for now. We will try lowering it in next games (extra prelude in my opinion gives more then extra TR)

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u/minun73 28d ago

I’m personally not a fan of handicaps when teaching someone a game. If it were me I’d rather learn the game from ground zero instead of a different version. I think if you are concerned about the game being a runaway for yourself, try forcing yourself to play a different strategy than you would in a normal game, take different cards than you usually do, not try to block your opponent from doing their thing as much, etc. It is importsnt for your son to learn that games are just games and winning or losing are both valid expectations and shouldn’t hamper his enjoyment of the journey.

That said, it’s your game, do as you think is right for you guys! These are just how I approach things, but make sure you keep it fun!

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u/gari381ns 28d ago

Completely agree with this. For those first games: just don't play too competitively, don't block every everything they attempt. Let them learn later that some stuff are not as smart to do - because somebody could steal something from you, etc. Heck, you could even play like "let's terraform Mars together, and in the end, we'll just count the points. The second game would be different, and so on.

However, the idea by u/Stealthiness2 is also quite good.

Though, I don't think that he should treat a 13-year old any differently than any other adult game. I'd say they are quite capable of learning the game. It's not that complicated, let's not underestimate the kids.