New Player Reference Sheet

[Guymyer]

I’ve been designing some reference sheets for helping new players along, similar to the race sheets from Twilight Imperium. Looking for some feedback, just not sitting right with me and can’t put my finger on what exactly to change at this time without starting from scratch. I have a game next week with some new players and looking to have these done by then. This is just the US sheet, I’ve done one for each nation obviously.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7fw0BWqDsN6SnI2REpSSEZXb0U

[Wolfshanze]

@Guymyer:

I’ve been designing some reference sheets for helping new players along, similar to the race sheets from Twilight Imperium. Looking for some feedback…

Personally, it looks very nice… I suppose you mean “new” to 1940, not “new” to Axis and Allies… because if you’ve never played A&A before, I’m not sure if anyone jumps straight to 1940 with no knowledge of the game at all… with that in mind, that’s what the help sheets should be targeted at… people familiar with A&A but not the differences of 1940 itself over the “simpler” games.

[Mr_Tricorder]

I like the layout. I have not played A&A 1940 (Europe, Pacific, or Global), but I imagine I would find this useful if I did. I do have a few suggestions though.

The background should be a bit more subdued. It’s coming through a bit strong and distracts from the information, making it harder to read. This is especially problematic for the smaller text near the bottom.

The decorative font you chose for the Political Situation and the charts is a good font for titles, but I would recommend using a more basic and readable font for the actual information. Your “Axis Victory | Allied Victory” chart is a perfect example of good font selection for title vs info with the title in an eye-catching font and the info in a more plainly readable serif font. This example should be followed throughout the reference sheet.

Keep up the good work. I’m sure the new players in your game will find this extremely helpful.

[Der Kuenstler]

My first thoughts looking at it:

1. Remove the background picture and simplify - it’s too busy - there is too much going on with all the text and the picture together
2. Use an easier font to read - Arial is one of the best
3. Font is too small - especially at the bottom - use minimum of 12 font if possible - 14 is even better
4. Remove or simplify all the information you can - there is too much - they won’t read it in a game situation Â

[Mr_Tricorder]

Der Kuenstler is absolutely right about too much tiny text. Also, I would recommend removing the large background text behind the sections in the bottom half of the sheet. “Order of Play” and “Rule Reference” should instead be placed above those blocks of information as titles just like the blocks of information in the top half of the sheet. The numbers behind the text for “National Sovereignty” and the blocks that follow it should be either above or below the text.

Personally, I would recommend printing double-sided reference sheets and moving the more text-heavy and less frequently referenced sections such as “Political Situation” and “Rule Reference” to the back side of the sheet. That should give you more room for larger text and to properly display the titles for them.

[Guymyer]

Thanks all for the advice, I ended up starting again from scratch. Anyone whose played Twilight Imperium would be familiar with the race sheets with all the documentation right there. I will post some updates hopefully soon.