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That time a playtester roasted my rulebook and saved my game night
I spent 6 months writing this 20 page rulebook for my homemade deck builder and a guy named Mark at my local shop in Columbus told me it read like a legal contract. He said nobody wants to flip through paragraphs to find out when a turn ends, just give them bullet points and examples. I cut the whole thing down to 8 pages with pictures and my group finally stopped arguing over the rules. Has anyone else had to kill a rule they loved because it made the game too confusing?
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rodriguez.mia7d ago
wait hold on I actually think you might have been onto something with the longer rulebook. I've played so many games where they cut corners on explaining stuff and then you're stuck guessing how something works halfway through. like yeah bullet points are fine for basic stuff but when you start getting into weird card interactions or edge cases a few paragraphs can save a lot of headaches. I remember one of my buddies brought a game that had like a one page summary and we spent the whole night debating whether you could chain effects during combat. turned into a huge fight. sometimes the details matter and a 20 page rulebook that covers everything is better than an 8 page one that leaves you hanging.
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brooket436d agoMost Upvoted
Oh man, I feel that. I once tried to write my own game rules and ended up with a 30 page monster that had a whole section just on what happens if someone sneezes during a turn. @betty_perry24 knows, I can't help myself.
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