- Rules are the most important aspect to convey to a player
- Less written information as possible for written rules.
Writing clear, cohesive rules:
Flavour First: If the game has a narrative within the mechanics, make that narrative clear immediately. The petaphors will be helpful in explaining and justifying the games logic and mechanics.
Get the boring stuff out of the way: List the meterials needed for the game next, followed by any pre-game instructions for setting up. If it gets wordy or over complicated, slim it down and add an Illustration or two to help explain.
Begin with the End: The first rule you should give the players is the winning condition of the game. Tell them what their objective is from a logical standpoint, all the other rules serve the winning condition and will make more sense when described with regards to it. It also makes it easier for players to find when they forget how to win.
Go from General to Spacific: Think of it like a newspaper journalism or an inverted pyramid. After the objective, describe the broad, overarching rules before describing the instances and expectations. If it's Mille Bonner explain the place mile cards before you explain the hazrds and remedies before you explain the saftey cards, and explain the saftey cards before you explain the coup four 'ACs'. Another way of saying this would be to explain the things that happen most often in a game first and the things likely to happen last.
Tell players what they can do before you tell them what they can't: Somewhat related to the previous point you should always explain the least constricting rules before explaining the most constricting. Rules explained earlier there become the primary rules and the rules following are the instances and exception where the primary rules change or don't apply.
- Short sentences
- Low level vocabulary
- Illustrations
- White space
- Bullet point
Be friendly unless style makes it so...
- use light hearted tone with your rules.
This reading was very useful for when I began thinking up rule sets for my developing ideas and for my individual game.
