How to Teach The Crew in Five Minutes

The Crew may be the easiest co-op to teach well and the easiest to teach badly. The rules are short. The trouble is a host who explains task tokens, dead zones, and the five-player rule to people who have not played a single trick. You only need three ideas to start. The logbook will teach the rest, one mission at a time.

Print the The Crew teach sheet for the middle of the table. It follows our method for teaching any game in five minutes.

Before anyone sits down

Sort out the components. You need the 40 large cards, the task cards, the radio tokens, the reminder cards, the commander token, and the distress signal token. Leave the task tokens in the box for now; the first missions do not use them. Open the logbook to mission 1 and read its short story bit ahead of time so you can read it aloud with some flair.

Minute 1: the goal

Say: “We are a crew of astronauts, and we win or lose together. Each mission says which cards someone has to win. If the right people win the right cards, we pass. If anyone wins a card that belongs to someone else’s task, we fail and try again.”

Minutes 2 and 3: a trick

Deal a practice hand to everyone and have them lay it face up. Then say:

1. “Someone leads a card. Everyone plays one card, going clockwise. That is a trick.”
2. “You must follow the color that was led if you can. If you cannot, play anything.”
3. “Highest card of the led color wins. A different color never wins, even a 9.”
4. “Rockets are trumps. A rocket beats any color card, but you can only play one when you cannot follow the color led.”
5. “You never have to win. Playing low on purpose is often the right move.”

Play one or two tricks with the cards face up. Point at who wins and why. This is worth more than any explanation, because everyone sees following suit with their own eyes.

Minute 4: tasks and the commander

Shuffle and deal for real. Say: “Whoever has the 4 rocket is the commander. The commander picks a task first, then the rest of us take one each going around. When you win a trick holding the card on your task, flip your task over. The commander leads the first trick, and whoever wins a trick leads the next.”

Minute 5: the signal

Say: “You can never talk about your cards. Not ‘I have the pink 9,’ not ‘I can’t win that,’ not a groan. Each of us gets one signal per attempt.” Then show it. Put one of your own color cards face up with your radio token on it. “Top means it is my highest of that color. Middle means it is my only one. Bottom means it is my lowest. You can only signal before a trick starts, never during one, and never with a rocket.”

Then start mission 1. Do not mention anything else.

Two rules to settle before the first card

These two come up in the first ten minutes of almost every new crew:

• The signaled card is still in your hand. It just sits on the table where everyone can see it, and you play it like any other card. Take a reminder card into your hand so people know it is out.
• Tasks are chosen in the open, but talk is still limited. Players can see the task cards, but you may not say “I can win that one” because of your hand. You choose by what your own cards tell you, in silence.

Running the first session

• Play several missions in a row. The early missions often last only a few minutes. Momentum is how a crew learns.
• Celebrate failure. A failed mission is a fresh deal and a better plan. Say “again” with a smile.
• Read the logbook aloud. The short story bits are part of the fun, and they mark each new rule.
• Write down your attempts. The logbook has a place for it, and it turns the campaign into a story your group shares.
• Stop on a win. End the night on a mission you passed, and people ask when the next session is.

Common table questions

• “What can I say, then?” You can talk about the rules, the mission, and whose turn it is. The rulebook’s test is simple: if you only know it because you see your own hand, keep it to yourself.
• “Can the commander be different next time?” Yes. Each new deal can bring a new commander.
• “Do I have to take a task?” In the early missions there are fewer tasks than players, so some people take none.

Our article on why The Crew is such a good teaching game has more on bringing it to new groups.