The Challenge of Rules

Aside from the players themselves, the most important things in a game are the rules. The rules determine the mechanics of the game as well as the final goal and ending conditions. A well written set of rules willbe clear and concise. Ideally, the rules will also be intuitive so that they will only be needed for clarification. A poorly written set of rules, however, can be a large hindrance to an otherwise good game. If they are not clear, they are le! open to the interpretation of the players, which can lead to arguments and exploitations. The primary difficulty in writing clear rules is communicating the intent of the writer to the players. The writer has to remember to write for players that are coming into the game with no idea of how to actually play and may even have some preconceptions that need to be reinforced or corrected, depending on how similar the game is to others. Now, as the players are the most important part of a game, some groups like to change how they play a game. Adjusting, adding, or removing rules to beer emphasize the parts that they enjoy most and limit those that they dislike. These are known as house rules and help to extend the life of a game. So, the next time you play a game, give a little thanks to the people who worked hard to bring you the rules.

UPDATE! 3/11/17

Hello, everyone!

There’s a lot going on behind the scenes here at Move Rate 20, and we’d like to share some of what’s going on! We’ve got a couple of pretty big announcements this time around….so let’s get right to it!

First off, the revised version of our first game, Master of Spies, is ready to go! The Kickstarter for our new game will launch on March 27th, so be on the lookout for it! This has been a real labor of love, and it’s really nice to finally see this game coming to fruition. Thanks to all of the play testers for their input. It’s all been taken into consideration in the revised version!

Secondly, for the last couple of years, we have been sponsoring Gamer-Geddon, a game day celebration that we held each spring at Rivendell Books and Games. Well, this year we have stepped up our game to a whole new level! Let me introduce you to South Coast Game Fest, a con for gamers in the South Coast Massachusetts area! MR20, along with our friends from Mastermind Adventures and Rivendell Books, have kicked things up a notch or two and have decided to have a go at a two day gaming extravaganza! Coming to Swansea MA on April 1st & 2nd, you can get all the details, including a schedule of events, at southcoastgamefest.com.

So join MR20, first at Kickstarter and then at our con later on this month!

We hope to see you there!

The MR20 Team