Every once in a while you get the chance to bring someone new into the fold. This time it happened to be a kid who was in town just for a week, on vacation as it were. Still, he’s into games and seemed up to spend a few hours tossing dice and setting dials. So on a Wednesday night in April I found myself teaching my nephew how to play X-Wing in West Warwick.

The game itself is pretty simple, or so I told him. You move your ships, you shoot the opponent’s ships, and you hope they don’t shoot back. But my nephew is a quick study, and pretty soon I was explaining barrel rolls and target locks in very close detail. By the time we got to the shop, he was buzzing, and so was I.

Our opponent was my friend Ron, which was fortunate since I had some reservations about asking another player to let me teach while playing. Ron was a good sport though, giving us the benefit of conversing about strategy when he had already committed to his move dials.

As the game wound through its twists and turns, my nephew and I took turns calling our shots, moving ships, and bringing the pain on our Resistance opponents. Turns out the kid had a better eye for asteroids than I did, on more than one occasion. Finally, after about an hour and a half, we emerged the winners, and Ron gave my nephew a handshake for the good game.

Afterward we took a few minutes to wander around the shop, ogling the various trinkets and books that held games or campaigns within them. We’re somewhat similar that way, separated by years and a generation, though not entirely apart. I left the shop with my nephew feeling a little tired, a little hungry, and very proud. It was a good night for the new kid.