Zendo

From RabbitWiki

Zendo at Boardgamegeek

Zendo is not a hard game to teach, although it is usually important to pick fairly simple rules and for experienced players to be the Master. Inexperienced Masters can really sour the game for the players and that is compounded if they are trying to learn the game.

Simple (not compound) rules that revolve around the following attributes are good to start with:

Number of pyramids
Color
Number of pips

Once players have a handle on the game, other attributes like pointed, grounded/ungrounded, and orientation can be introduced without overwhelming new players.

It is usually a good idea to keep the first two Koans fairly simple. More than four pyramids each usually means the Master is trying to add a bunch of unnecessary information to throw the players off, but that is usually unnecessary.

One way to keep the rules fairly simple is the Zendo Rule Cards. The new masters can modify the rules slightly if they prefer (e.g. Yellow instead of Red, Flat instead of Upright) without impacting complexity. Note: if you use five Treehouse sets, keep in mind that the card that refers to "each of the four colors" does not work (the author of this paragraph speaks from experience).