Writing a Rulebook
A rulebook should be a set of clear commands, in a specific order and structure. It should say "Do this, then do this."
A rulebook should not be a general encyclopedia of concepts, that the player must assemble into a larger picture in their head.
I've had a few publishers, despite not publishing my games, compliment me on my rulebooks.
Structure
The first part of the rulebook should deal with three things: the story, the objective, and the setup. They can be in any order, depending on what makes the most sense. I'll use a fictional game here, and we'll go through the entire rulebook.
Here's the entire structure. I'll break it down.
Components
- Story
- Overview
- Objective
- Setup
- Master statement
- Turn structure
- Extra stuff
- Game end
- "Start playing now"
- "Refer to the reminder card"
- Strategic tip
- FAQ
Components
A list of the components. Pictures are helpful.
The story
At least a brief statement is necessary, so the players know what they're doing, and why they're doing it.
In Cow Stampede, the players are farmers, attempting to raise enough cows to storm the other players' barns, and demolish them.
The overview
This is a redundant paragraph of rules, that gives the players an idea of the game at the highest level, so they can start slotting information into it.
Here's part of the overview from Radlands:
In Radlands, players will receive a set of three unique camps to protect.
You win by destroying all three of your opponent’s camps.
The main resource in the game is water. You will spend it to play people and events,
and to use the abilities of cards you already have on the table.
The objective
In Cow Stampede, you win when you are the last player with a barn standing.
The setup
This explains the initial state of the game. A picture is essential here, for all but the simplest of games.
Put numbers on your diagram, and on each instruction, to link them together.
SETTING UP THE GAME (picture)
- Each player takes two barn pieces, and puts them in front of themselves.
- Each player puts a cow on each of their barns, and draws three Moovement cards.
- Shuffle the remainder of the Moovement cards into a deck.
- Choose a player to go first.
The master statement
The master statement defines the style of gameplay. This statement sits at the top of the hierarchy of explanation, and encompasses the entire game. Most games have turns, so we'll define a turn-based game here.
The players take turns, going around the table.
The turn structure
Having defined that the game is composed of turns, we now detail the structure of the turn. This is an explicit list of steps the player must carry out, in order. I start this section with a big "Your turn" heading.
On your turn, do the following, in order:
- Draw a Moovement card. (See "Moovement cards", below.)
- Either build a barn, or add a cow to one of your existing barns.
- You may attack another player's barn. (See "attacking", below.)
- Your turn ends.
Note here, that this is a description of the entirety of the game, using the turn structure as a framework. Other than the setup and game end condition, there is no gameplay outside the turn structure (and the rules the turn structure refers to).
It's important that players first understand the structure of play. They can then slot the information into it later, even during the game.
Extra stuff
If the game is super-simple, you might be able to get the whole rules into the turn structure. Generally, however, you should break out any complex concepts, into their own paragraphs, below. The turn structure should specifically tell the reader to refer to the explanatory paragraph.
ATTACKING: Choose a barn. Roll a die. If you roll 6, discard that barn and all cows in it. Otherwise, nothing happens.
End of the game
At the end of any player's turn, if they are the last person with any cows left, and they do not have the Mad Cow Disease card, they win the game.
Get people playing
You can start playing now.
You don't want players reading any of the extra information, so tell them to start playing.
Hand off to the reminder card
To see what the icons mean, refer to the reminder card.
If the game has a variety of actions, icons, or other data, I don't actually put that in the rules. I just tell the players to refer to the reminder card. This lets them start playing, without having to memorise data. Any extra information, and clarifications, can go in the FAQ.
Strategy tip
In games with a lot of choices, it can be good to give a very basic paragraph of advice, at the end of the rules. This should suggest a first turn or two, and maybe a very simple piece of strategy. This also allows you to explicitly re-explain the rules of that turn, in case the players hadn't understood it properly.
My gangster game's rules end with "A good first turn is to move your figure to the Bank, to roll the green die, and get some money. This stops other players going to the Bank."
This neatly recaps the entire game rules, in case the players have misunderstood something fundamental.
Examples
If your game is complicated, and you have the space, feel free to add examples of the complicated bits, in amongst the previous steps. Even if you're technically correct, people might still fail to understand things.
FAQ
In games with cards (or other complex pieces), I usually include an FAQ section, after the rules. This section should be an alphabetical listing of every single card a player could possibly misunderstand. Every possible interaction or question should be in here. A player should never have to search online for an answer to their question. Publishers will be impressed by your attention to detail, and players will avoid frustration. As far as I am concerned, failure to include a FAQ is poor workmanship.
FAQ
Do not read this. Just refer to it if you have any questions.
Aardvark Assault
The cows you choose must all be in one barn. This cannot be used on cows in multiple barns.
Extra Barn
The Extra Barn is treated like any other barn. If you play the Barn Extension card, it can extend the Extra Barn. The Extra Barn can be destroyed by the Flaming Cowbell card.
(lots more cards)
General
The General section should be at the absolute end of the FAQ. It should restate commonly misunderstood rules, and deal with fringe cases, like what happens when a component runs out.
Complexity
The rules are not some kind of legal document. They are there only to instruct the players how to play the game.
Do not create long and complex if...then chains and trees.
Do not "nest" rules. This is where you define something, so that you can use it in multiple places, rather than repeating it. Usually, it's better to just repeat the thing.
In my pirate game, you can attack other players, but the pirate ship can also attack you. It works in mostly the same way. The attacker rolls some dice, and steals some cubes from the other ship. The pirate's version of attacking said "he attacks you, but he destroys the cubes instead of stealing them." The player had to go and read what the nested rule "attacking" meant, and stitch the two together in their head, with the pirate being the "attacker" and the player being the "defender". That's just too complicated. Now, the pirate attack and the player attack both just restate all the rules for attacking, with their own little modifications.
"Quick rules"
Rules have to be comprehensive, so they cover everything. However, this usually makes them unnecessarily long and complex.
I've taken to writing "quick rules". This is a one-page rulebook, that omits the tedious, obvious stuff. These quick rules don't tell you to put the board in the middle of the table, shuffle the decks, and how to move a piece along a scoring track.
My farm game has a five-page rulebook, plus a one-page quick rules. It begins:
Give each player a board. Set up these boards and the main board as shown in the picture in the comprehensive rules.
Give a player the starting token. It moves clockwise each round. Give each player one food (icon).
Each player draws a hand of these deeds (images)
Having a separate "quick rules" might create a lot of duplication of rules, for some games.
My pirate game uses a different strategy — each section of the rulebook has "quick rules", followed by a block of "comprehensive rules", that the reader can ignore.
When you use quick rules, you can actually make your comprehensive rules even more comprehensive, as people don't have to read them. You should fill them with examples, repetition, and clarifications that only 5% of people would need.
Don't write a rulebook
During the development of your game, you should absolutely not be writing and maintaining a rulebook. Just have a "reminder card" in the game, that paraphrases the rules, so you and the playtesters know what the rules are. I usually have one reminder card for the rules, and one for all the icons. Any more than that, and playtesters won't read it.
Writing a rulebook should be the very last thing you do, before proposing your game to publishers. If you do it sooner, you'll need to update it, every time you make a change, or just let it become obsolete. Then, you'll have to rewrite the whole thing. I've made this mistake numerous times.