A few years ago I found myself in the position of trying to teach someone who had never played a single video game in their life – and had extremely limited experience of board or card games – the very basics of video games.
Super interesting read, and helpful when thinking about game design. (The authors blog is amazing, btw. Tons of great articles breaking down game mechanics. He’s also working on an amazing game project of his own. http://www.ultimaratioregum.co.uk/game/info/)