Getting together for the holidays represents a great oppurtunity to introduce new players to the fun of tabletop gaming. Make sure to introduce them right with these five handy tips.

Courtesy of GeekDad, we find five tips for introducing new players to the fun of tabletop games old and new over the holidays. Tip number one:

1. Start short.

Not everyone is ready for a multi-hour game session right after a big holiday dinner. Post-prandial drowsiness doesn’t go well with a game that takes twenty minutes to set up and another fifteen to explain, so don’t lose your audience before you get to the good stuff. Pick something speedy that gets people into the game with little downtime. If possible, get them laughing — I hear it causes the release of endorphins, which makes them feel better, which will lead to more gaming. (We’ll work on the dopamine receptors later, when you get them hooked on learning new games.)

Games like Zombie Dice and Spot It! are easy to teach and can handle a pile of players. FlowerFall and Ca$h ‘n’ Gun$ are guaranteed to make people gravitate to the game table to see what’s going on.

How To Delete, Move, or Rename Locked Files in Windows

HTG Explains: Why Screen Savers Are No Longer Necessary

6 Ways Windows 8 Is More Secure Than Windows 7