Borrowing a game for the weekend

Source A: an original imagined comment by a visitor to a community games library.

Borrowing gave us a way to discover whether a game suited us before finding somewhere permanent to keep it. The first one took longer to explain than we expected. We returned it without deciding that either the game or our evening had been a failure. We had learned something about the sort of game we wanted next.

I did worry about the pieces. A borrowed box made me more careful, but I could not always tell whether an unfamiliar token belonged in it. The inventory helped, especially because it described pieces as well as counting them. I would not want a newcomer treated as careless for asking which object was meant.

The best part was being able to try again. A library should make unfamiliar games available without making every borrower feel that they must already know how to use them perfectly.

Source B: an original notice for an invented community games library.

WEEKEND GAMES LOANS

• Choose one available game for a seven-day loan.
• An illustrated piece list is included in each box.
• Check the list with a volunteer at collection. Ask if a description is unclear.
• Return the game in its box and tell us if anything is missing or damaged.
• We can explain the loan arrangements, but cannot promise to teach every game at collection.
• A game may be unavailable while pieces or instructions are being checked.
• Tell us which explanations helped and which made a first attempt difficult. We use comments when preparing borrower information.

Trying a game does not mean you must borrow it again. Choose something different next time if it did not suit your group.

Compare how Sources A and B present the opportunities and responsibilities involved in borrowing a game.