IMO the best way is always to explain as much as you can while actually playing the game. Just accept that there's no way anybody is going to fully learn the ga

IMO the best way is always to explain as much as you can while actually playing the game. Just accept that there's no way anybody is going to fully learn the game on their first try. Even in a simple game like Hearts there is enough strategy that nobody is going to play very well their first time, so there's no point in trying to make them understand everything Once people are actually playing the game then 1) They will be having fun, which is the whole point of board games 2) They can ask you anything they don't get, and you can make sure that they actually understand 3) It will force you to explain mechanics in a logical order that gives people information only when they need it and can actually use it For Hearts I would probably just deal a hand to each player, maybe face up, and go from there