Player constructed rules are really interesting to me from a designer as well as player stand point for a variety of reasons, most notably the ways in which self or locally imposed rules influence the personal meaning or culture within or surrounding a game. And while I have one particular instance of self imposed rules which I am particularly fond of, I’d first like to explore some of the various ways in which I see them implemented, knowingly or not, and perhaps we can extrapolate something meaningful from there existence.

The most obvious and ground floor example of player imposed rules I can think of is free parking in Monopoly. Nearly everyone I’ve ever played the game with uses the rule that if you land on ‘free parking’, you win the current pot of cash that has been stored in the middle from taxes and payments. This drastically changes the pacing of the game, and perhaps most importantly, allows for people to come back from an otherwise crushing deficit. After all, the original design of Monopoly was to put one person in power, slowly (or quickly) depleting their opponents cash. What’s particularly striking to me about this example is the pure ubiquity of this particular house rule, so much that I, and imagine others as well, didn’t realize that this wasn’t one of the foundational rules of the game.

Another interesting example of player rules are game modifications (mods) and cheat codes. Although I could understand an argument that mods are in fact something else entirely, the fact that vast majority of mods utilize an established set of rules and mechanics in addition to being built primarily as an alternative way to play means most of the time they are functionally identical to cheat codes in my book. While I actually think that in most situations mods and cheat codes aren’t that much different from house rules, there is one extreme that they facilitate that house rules can’t, really; when a mod becomes independent of or more relevant than it’s base game. While admittedly house rules CAN theoretically spin off into entirely new board games, I can’t think of any off the top of my head, which at the very least speaks to the infrequency that it happens. Perhaps the most notable example of a mod overcoming it’s base game is that of Defense of the Ancients, or DOTA as it’s more commonly known. Originally, the game was a Warcraft 3 mod, a Real Time Strategy game, which could only be played through Warcraft’s proprietary engine. But as a result of increasing popularity of the game at tournaments and other events, DOTA’s developers soon left to create their own game(s), leading to the eventual productions of the inescapable League of Legends and DOTA 2. Two other interesting examples are that of Project Melee, a Super Smash Bros Brawl mod, and the Stanley Parable, a game that started as a Half Life 2 mod. These games both managed to redefine the culture of their base game or their context of the modded game itself, respectively. Project Melee was more widely appreciated than it’s base game, even though they were functionally similar (unlike Warcraft 3 and DOTA), which has resulted in ongoing tension between the PM community, the game’s original developers (Nintendo and especially Masahiro Sakurai), and the mods creators. Conversely, the Stanley Parable took a recognizable engine and completely redefined what the game meant, creating an entirely unique experience, aside from its underlying mechanics. But are mods the only way to create new meaning from an otherwise determined system? I think not.

While the Pokemon series can be praised for many, or at least some, things, I genuinely doubt that many people regard it as a hallmark of storytelling or tension. The games exist more as a system of player expression where you collect things you like, and then use those things to achieve a somewhat arbitrary goal. However, one mode of play, completely unintended by the developers, actually moves the game beyond the original some of its parts. My favorite self-rule staple, the Nuzlocke. For those of you who don’t know what a Nuzlocke is, it’s three basic rules that help to completely change the way the game plays and, more importantly, means. The rules themselves are as follows: 1. You can only catch the first pokemon you find in an area 2. If a pokemon faints, it’s dead 3. Nickname all your pokemon. While obviously rule number 3 doesn’t affect gameplay all that much, it does reinforce the most important aspect of a Nuzlocke, it’s a personal story. While there are clear gameplay implications for both rules 1 and 2, they also do really important things to the way you interact with the game on a narrative and emotional level. Rule 1 limits how many pokemon you have access to AND how many pokemon you can catch total, which inverts the original point of collecting things you like; your pokemon are no longer emblems of your subjective taste, they are emblems of your objective experience. Rule 2 obviously changes how you relate to your pokemon, providing actual gravitas to your failures, but it also does something tremendous and subtle. Rule 2 completely changes the context of pokemon battles, putting both you and the opponent in control of the lives of creatures you’ve (potentially) invested a great deal in. The cumulative effect of these rules results in a completely different narrative experience, instead of a carefree jaunt through mindless hurdles the game becomes a deeply personal tale of struggle, regret, and sacrifice.

While you can run a Nuzlocke in any Pokemon game, the best experience I’ve had was with Pokemon Black and White. The reason is actually pretty simple, Black and White has the best story out of all the Pokemon games by a pretty significant margin, dealing with the suspect nature of human/pokemon relations and especially in regards to Pokemon battles. Regardless of which game might be best for Nuzlockes, they have had a clear and significant influence on the pokemon community at large. Many let’s plays* of Pokemon games are Nuzlockes, and their are dozens of internet comics that depict a persons Nuzlocke run. In fact, the original name ‘Nuzlocke’ refers to a specific character in the comic that started it all, a comic simply named pokemon hard-mode.

All in all, I think that player imposed rules are most significant for their ability to provide new play experiences for players, even to the degree of completely redefining what the game originally meant, even if most just make specific games more enjoyable for a broader audience. At least that’s what I find most interesting about them, in all reality this topic is incredibly deep and broad, and I’m looking forward to what others might have to say on the topic.

*Let’s plays are video series of one or more commentators playing through a video game from start to finish.