In which a new teammate joins Our Hero.
What is it like to add a new player to an established team?
Today we added a new player to our 3-person cooperative poker game.
Upon adding this fourth person, we reverted back to the basic version of the game as it was a fitting level for them.
Here’s what the experience was like for me:
- Less psychologically engaging. The game was simpler so the intensity was lower.
- More meta-play. I asked more questions, engaged in more conversation, made more jokes. We all did. The game itself was less of the game. We added other games to fill the empty space.
- It was fun for a different reason. The relationship is one I care about. So I prioritized connection and play with this new player. The other players did too. We all wanted them to have a good time. So we left having enjoyed ourselves, but not as much due to the game itself as we had previously. Instead, it was more due to compersion.
Our new player stepped away. We returned to our triumvirate crew. We took one round to re-acclimate and then clicked back into it.
Perhaps much of socialization is knowing what game you’re playing at any given time and effectively switching between them. If you have more capacity, add another game. If you’re overwhelmed, let go more. If you’re welcoming a wobbly player you care about, play with them more (outside of the main game itself). And always know which game is most important.
Julian Wise 