Beginner’s Guide: Your First Megagame Turn
Just like the start of any board game, you can feel a bit lost at the start of a Megagame. There’s so much to do but you’re not exactly sure how to do it yet. There are a few things you can do to make the first phase of the game a little more digestable.
Priorities
My notebook from the first time I played Den of Wolves. My priorities were securing an engineer, finding food and water, and then confirming military strength throughout the fleet.
Each turn, it’s best to write down a handful of objectives to stay focused on your goals during a turn. Whether it’s securing food and water for your ship, protecting your county’s skies or establishing trade with your neighbors; you’re going to want have a reminder of your objectives when other topics start pulling you in a thousand directions.
More importantly, make sure that you know which ones are ‘must accomplish’ and get those done first. If you have checked your ‘must accomplish’ goals off your list, you can call the turn a win.
Rules
In many games, the first turn is used as a kind of tutorial turn. This will give you a general idea of how the entire game will operate, while also moving everything forward.
Depending on the game, you’ll likely have someone from the Control team there to help go over the ins-and-outs of your role before everything gets started. You read my previous article on Preparing for a Megagaming, so you are familiar with your role’s rules. Now, you get to see them in action. It’s silly to say but pay attention and ask questions if you have any.
Get to Know You
An empty battle map for Den of Wolves
The first turn is the best time to get to know the people you’ll be spending the day with. One of the stranger things for some first time Megagamers is just how little time you’ll spend with your team. You’ll often spend the majority of the game interacting with your counterparts on the other teams.
While it’s dependent on the game, you’ll often find yourself seated or stood next to the same people the majority of the day. You’ll want to do your best to get to know them and their goals, at least those that they’ll share. It’s up to you to decide how truthful their responses are.
Be Observant
One of the best ways to help your team in the earlier turns is to watch what other players are doing.
Who is talking to whom?
Do their actions line up with what they’ve told you?
Who is withholding information?
Who seems to be sharing information too freely?
Some of the most important information you can share with your team is what happened. In most games, no one well on your team will have observed what you observed. The information you share could help direct the team’s actions in the next turn or subsequent turns.
Notes
Whether you’re an avid note taker or your mind is a steel trap, you’re going to want to find a way to remember the key parts of the turn when you get back to Team Time. The information you share with your team is often just as important as the tasks you accomplished during the turn.
You don’t have to cover every minute detail but being able to paint, at least, a broad picture will help set your team up for success next turn.
Team Time
After your first action phase, you’ll return to your table to share your experience and listen to your teammates. Listen carefully to what they share. Just like your experiences could help their game, their stories could impact yours. After everyone has shared, work with your teammates to come up with goals for the next turn and to see if anyone needs any cross-role assistance.
And after Team Time is done, you’re back into action phase and the whirlwind of activity continues onward. Lean on your teammates, work with your allies and reach out to Control if you have any questions. You’re already well on your way to making some Mega Memories.
