Rulebooks: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

 Rulebooks: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Oof. Not that ugly...

I recently ran a Star Wars Armada tournament at our FLGS, Game Nite, and we had far more rules questions than we normally do! When the tournament is a more casual event, I'm more likely to participate because the prizes are just alt art cards that we happen to have on hand. Sometimes, we get some fancy alt art cards courtesy of the most excellent Jack Otto! Thanks, Jack! (You, too, can get these fantastic cards if you e-mail Jack at Jotto.alts@gmail.com!) Anyway, all of that to say: this is the first tournament in several years in which the tournament was a bit more "seriously competitive." We had some sweet swag courtesy of Admiral Tater's Ship Shop, so the stakes were a little higher - the entry fee was higher than usual and people really wanted to place higher for reasons beyond pride in playing well. I was happy to sit this one out because we had 10 people show up and with such awesome prizes, I wasn't making a play at winning any of them.

I mention all of this because I'm so glad I didn't play; we had a bunch of rules questions that required more investigation than I anticipated. And part of that was because the FAQ for Star Wars Armada is not, in my opinion, very well written. It takes longer to find things than we'd expect, and this is for players who are not new to the game. It can be difficult to find these things that we already *know* are rules, but don't necessarily know where to go looking for them.

*Cue Bilbo panicking and looking desperately for the Ring, only to discover it's in his pocket.*

Pass tokens. Information about passing in this game should be under "Pass Tokens," yeah? But this section strictly refers to the tokens themselves and not about the mechanic. Except when it does talk about a pass token being spent to pass their turn and then being discarded. In looking for specific phrasing about how passing works, it's listed under "Ship Phase," which is a much bigger topic, but not a much bigger section of the rulebook. And despite the fact that passing affects ship activations, there's not a single word about "passing" noted in the section designated "Ship Activations."

I'll be the first person to admit that it's gotta be really hard to write a games rulebook. Especially for a game like Armada, that has a decent number of rules, complicated by a lot of specific upgrade, ship, and circumstantial interactions. But that's also what the game calls for, right? Ultimately, a combination of the rules reference, the FAQ, and the internet answered all of our questions. I had to make a ruling or two with which some players didn't agree, but that's the job description. And if it turns out I was mistaken, then I'll apologize and set it straight for future events.

But all of this got me thinking about rule books. I've stopped playing games before because the rules were so unclear and frustrating that it was more effort than it was worth. There aren't a lot of those, mind you! But there have been a couple. And more than that, there are others wherein the rule books are frustrating even for people who are pretty thoroughly familiar with the game. And then there are those rule books that almost make it seem easy. So I thought I'd write a little bit about rule books - the good, the bad, and the ugly.

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I wrote the above post months and months ago, but never finished it. I had every intention of dissecting various rulebooks in order to share the so-called "good, bad, and ugly." But that also got moved to the back burner and I just didn't carve out the time to do the work I wanted in order to explore such an important and often overlooked topic.

But now I find myself writing up my own rulebook, and thusly, revisiting the topic. As I wrote above, it's rare, but I've given up on games that have incomprehensible rulebooks. I'm also less likely to play games in which I know I'll be checking rules at least several times a game in a rulebook that is frustrating. With Stonemaier Design Day quickly approaching, I've written up all the rules for our game, Familiars, so we've got a point of reference for everything. I'll also be the first to say that it was intended to be a "sort of rules reference" without being a formal rulebook. But as long as I was already ass-deep in the rules of the game, I thought I might as well try my hands at an actual rulebook.

And unsurprisingly, it's a tough task! For me, anyway. But it's also a vital one. It's frustrating to play a game and later learn one's been playing it incorrectly. It can border on rage-inducing when the entire table is looking for rules and can't find them, thus slowing down the game. My favorite types of rulebooks are the ones that have generally 2-3 sections: a thorough explanation of the game and its rules, a quick guide and reference section, and an FAQ that covers specific rule and component interactions.

For the purposes of writing my own rulebook, I pulled some rulebooks that I think are well-written, but also belong to games that are at least somewhat similar to the game that Chad and I are designing - a pick up and deliver game. There are other components to Familiars, but that's the core premise and everything else is (hopefully!) meant to complement that core mechanic. So I pulled rulebooks to the following three games: Horrified, Flash Point, and Pandemic: Iberia. All 3 are effectively pick up and deliver games, but Pandemic: Iberia has some extra rules when compared to the core game; I thought it might also offer some insight as to how I could best introduce complementary game mechanics (since Horrified and Flash Point don't really have any, in my mind). Immediately, though, I also knew the structure of my book would have to be different than these because all 3 of these were co-op. Familiars, though, is definitely on the lighter side when it comes to game weight and complexity. So I thought I could learn a lot from these 3 rulebooks while still referencing some rulebooks for competitive games. So I grabbed two other rulebooks from *lighter*, competitive games to inform my choices for my own rulebook: Puerto Rico and Everdell.

If you don't have this game yet, though, seriously, you need to get after it.

It's a journey. I've finished the first draft and Chad is going to run through it. I know it need not be perfect, but I want it to be a strong rulebook. Because much like how in Armada, we say that deployment won't win you a game, but it'll definitely lose you a game, I don't think a rulebook will earn us any players, but it'll certainly lose us players if it's poorly written! It's worth the time and effort to create a document that sets the players up for success. Because that's the ultimate goal of the rulebook, right? It's not just for teaching a game, but teaching it in such a way that players have enough success while playing it that they want to come back. As gamers, we want rulebooks that are clear, that get us playing the game quickly (or get us back to the game quickly if we're referencing a specific rule mid-play), and that are written with us in mind. They should be accessible and as succinct as possible. They should be thorough.

Here's what I want:

• A component list with pictures. This is especially important if there are a multitude of tokens with iconography that I do not understand just yet. Cross-referencing the components list with set-up and rules helps me visualize what they tokens do and what they're for.
• Give me a clear, succinct game setup. Sometimes, folks try to explain too much about the rules of the game in the setup section. Forget that - I'll learn the rules in another section. For now, just help me get the game set up as quickly as possible!
• I want a clear section that tells me how I'm going to play, and bonus points to folks who include an example of a game turn. It need not be exhaustive, but it helps me grasp the pace of the game and what I should expect to do in a turn.
• If you're going to get into the nitty-gritty of the rules, please do it after I've had game play explained to me in a broad sense. And if you don't mind, please include page numbers for the nitty-gritty in the midst of the "how to play." It's one more way to show me what I'm looking for, and some of us jump ahead and read the details of an action before doubling back to continue reading the rules. It helps some of us to do that, but it doesn't help others; it just depends on how your brain works.
• I want Game End to be clear and as concise as possible. There may be more details, but you can refer  me to those in the next section or something. I don't need to know EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING as I start playing the game.
• I want an appendix. I know it can sometimes feel as though you've made things clear enough, but please, for the love of God, give me an appendix. A glossary can be real helpful too. Again, if I'm going to look up a rule in the middle of a game, it helps if I can find it quickly and easily so I don't get frustrated and so others don't get frustrated as I hold up the game.
• I'm okay with a quick start, but only if it's actually a quick start and not just an alternate version of the game that doesn't teach me how to play the actual game. I think Fantasy Flight Games is guilty of this with their Learn to Play guides. They often omit some more of the confusing or complex rules. And I get why! Except by the time I'm done playing from the Learn to Play, I haven't actually learned how to play the game because there's more to it.
• Also, I don't need diagrams and pictures for every action. I think a lot of them can do without pictures. I'm happy to read! But a visual aid from time to time along with an explanation can help with the more complex stuff. Also, pictures break up walls of text that can sometimes feel overwhelming. My little brain sees a wall of text when it comes to game rules and I'm instantly inclined to put it down and take a break. 

I love writing, but honestly, I'm finding the rulebook to be a lot of work. But also? It kinda keeps me honest in a way! It helps me to think through the game and its rules. Am I including too many exceptions? Is this intuitive? Do I have difficulty articulating any of these rules or interactions, despite the fact that I'm the one who designed them and will need to teach them? It's a humbling experience and I think poring over a rulebook helps make one a better designer. I certainly think it's having a positive impact on me. And it's worth taking the time to do it right.