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- Writing a rulebook is hard. You’ll never get it right the first time. Because of that, it’s important that you keep writing, changing, revising, and re-organizing your rulebook throughout your design process.
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Rules can feel hard to write. They have to make a game feel understandable to the reader, clarify your intentions, and make sure players feel like they know what they’re doing. It’s a weird blend of technical writing that shouldn’t sound like technical writing.
- Decide on A Structure
- Just Write, Re-Write, and Write Some More
- Highlight Important Concepts with Pictures
- Be Consistent When You Capitalize, Bold, and Italicize
- Get A Friend to Read Your Rulebook Or, Even Better, Hire A Professional Editor
- Conduct A Blind Playtest
- Final Thoughts
Every game is different. So there is no standard structure for rulebooks. However, the best rulebooks I’ve seen generally follow the format below. Each section builds on information presented in previous sections. This format builds knowledge in a logical and concise manner. Whatever structure you decide on, I recommend drafting an outline of the f...
Just as game design is an iterative process, so is the writing of rulebooks. You will likely write several versions of your rulebook before completion. I highly recommend writing your rulebook in stages with specific goals at each stage. In the first stage, your goal is to capture all the rules on paper. Don’t worry too much about formatting, as lo...
Some concepts need a bit more explanation. In these cases, pictures are a huge help. Go through your rules, find any of the following areas, and use pictures to reinforce to the rules 1. Critical concepts or game mechanics – use pictures to highlight the primary game mechanics for your game. If players don’t understand these, your game likely won’t...
Overall your goal for rulebook writing is clarity and consistency. If anything you do seems to detract from that then you need to rethink what you’re doing. I recommend, writing down how you will use capitals, bold, italics, or any other special formatting. Then applying those rules uniformly throughout your rulebook. You can look at my rules for S...
There’s nothing worse than a beautiful game with a confusing and baffling rulebook. The best way to avoid this is to get as many eyes on your rulebook as possible. The most inexpensive method is getting your friends to take a look. I recommend having at least two people review your rules. If you’re lucky then you have a friend with professional exp...
The final stage of rulebook writing is blind playtesting. Blind playtesting involves giving your complete prototype and rules to a group of playtesters to evaluate if they can understand how to play just by reading the rules without any assistance from you. None of the playtesters should have previously played your game at all. You can be present d...
Writing rulebooks isn’t easy. There’s no real secret to creating them. You just have to tackle each problem one at a time. Ask for help from your network of designer friends when you’re stuck. After a little time and determination, you’ll have a rulebook worthy of being included in your awesome game.
Mar 1, 2023 · Whether you’re creating your own indy game or writing up rules for an established boardgame publisher, here are some tips on how to write the perfect boardgame rulebook.
Writing good rulebooks is one of the most challenging aspects of making a board game. Let’s face it: learning a game from a rulebook sucks. No matter how good you are at parsing written instructions, complex systems are simply hard to explain with text and images.
Intro to Rulebook Writing. Rules 1: Induction. Rules 2: Under/Over Specification. Rules 3: Terminology. Rules 4: Use Your Words. Instructions: A Game’s Gateway. Why You Should Write Your Rules Early. Playtest from the Rulebook. Rulebook Writing: The Good and The Bad. Making Your Rulebook Easy to Teach. The Limitations of Rules. What Makes a ...
Mar 11, 2024 · Most game designers find that writing rulebooks is the bane of their existence. But it doesn’t have to be that difficult or time-consuming. You just need to follow a process. So, let’s talk about how to write your rules with ease. Document the steps in your game.
Nov 4, 2020 · While revising or, ideally, before starting to write a rulebook for a game, it's a great idea to establish some principles to guide your writing – rules for rulebooks, if you will. Here's my take on what they should be.
