For the amount of money we pay for board games, no complex game should ever NOT include a glossary of terms at the back with short explanations all in one place. "What is the RECUPERATION phase, again?" "If a unit has the ANNIHILATION trait can they attack a unit with UNDAUNTED?"
TBF board games aren't that expensive and perfecting rules == time == a person == money. To point at other hobbies. Most board games cost the same as 1 box of 5-10 Warhammer miniatures (in a game where you need 10 boxes for an army) or they cost less than half of 1 golf club, etc. They often cost less and close to half of a brand new video game. Boardgames is a relatively cheap hobby in comparison to plenty of other common hobbies out there.
Maybe there should be a new yearly Dice Tower award for Best Rulebook of the Year for a few years to encourage improvement in this area. As Tom said there are some fantastic examples, so let’s encourage them!
Fantastic video but imo you left out the MOST IMPORTANT THING. Publishers... please... when you playtest your games... never never TEACH your playtesters how to play. ALWAYS give them the game while you sit in the corner SILENTLY taking notes as you WATCH them try to use your rulebook to learn the game ON THEIR OWN. Consumers do not have you sitting with us teaching us how to play. Your playtesters shouldn't either. Find out what confuses people about your rulebook BEFORE it goes to market.
I think a top ten with 3 presenters would totally work! Highlighting the strong points of their picks, giving credit to publishers who do it right, pointing inexperienced 'gamers' to easy-to-learn games would be great!
Yes, and when we complain about a rulebook to a publisher, don't tell us, "well the rulebook for game C was written by the same writer as the one who wrote our game A and B" As I'm thinking, game A's rulebook received criticism but I found not bad and game B's rulebook I had criticized when it came out and it was so bad that the publisher had the rulebook revised and made available digitally a month after the Kickstarter backers received their copy of the game. Yeah, game C is a game I backed on Kickstarter and received since New Year in which I couldn't figure out how to get it to the table until the publisher answered some questions in the forum about setup. I think the marketing department makes the rulebooks instead of technical writers. Publishers, No Excuses!
Yes, if a publisher can't explain their own game clearly, then they really don't understand it from the player's perspective. Having the game designer write their own rulebook is not a great idea, because it centers everything on the designer's assumptions. For example, in movie production, the saying is that a film is made three times: first written, then directed, and finally edited. It should be the same given the collaborative nature of board games: first designed, then tested, and lastly explained. Do not assume that design explanations during the development process equal a set of rules. Treating a rulebook as a technical document is not as simple as proofreading and smoothing ad hoc test notes.
This -.- So much this. I came from writing fiction into write games and learned the hard way just how much of a different set of tools it is. Two years later, I'm still learning.
It don't get no mo' technical manual than Star Fleet Battles. The problem rises when whiners complain about not having evocative art (diagrams being the exception) along with their rules to help them "imagine" what gameplay should feel like instead of, I dunno, playing the game.
as just a casual board/card/dice gamer I appreciate this. My wife will play a game with me if I ask and we very rarely play as a family with our boys. So a huge hurdle for me/us is that I not only have to learn and understand how to play a game but also well enough to explain it to my family, *then* hope that we actually do play it before I forget and have to re-learn it! The last thing I want to have to do is take 30 min to learn a game after my family actually agrees to play something and hope they still want to play 30 min later!
absolutely. I played Arkham Horror with my wife and she was so bored when I was constantly trying to look up rules that she said she's never play it again. Learned from that mistake.
The odd shaped rulebook for the giant large box is just the worst lol! WHY??!?! I agree with all of these points. Let's go publishers, establish best practices! Great vid 👍
It’s interesting to read this again and again. It will certainly have an effect on how I see this. As a media designer I was of the faction that appreciates the extra space in these rulebooks. You could, for instance, use A4/letter with for the rules and the remaining third(?) for examples or a rules summary. But I do get that some people find them just too big for their tables.
This. 1000 times this. I have games, that I know are great games, that are nevertheless gathering dust on the shelf for years now, because they are so freaking frustrating to play because of bad and/or incomplete rulebooks. Looking at you, Cry Havoc. Game is sick, but I've lost count of how many stuff I had to look up online back when I was playing it. Now that it's been quite a while since I've played it, I just can't gather the courage to start playing again, knowing I'll have to look all those edge cases and interactions between the factions, that are simply not in the rulebook.
@@salmonblox yes. Great game, terrible rulebook. You would not believe how many times you have to stop to check something out online because of weird interactions between the various abilities of the asymmetric factions.
@@DiegoDeschain I would believe it a little bit, as I have had similar experiences with other Portal games, ha ha. I like their games but their rulebooks are a chore to get through sometimes. Empires of the North was a refreshing departure from that
I played a game for the first time last night. They didn’t have player aids, but did have the “here’s some blank cards so you can make your own card” thing. So you didn’t include the helpful thing, but included the most useless thing imaginable in a card slot?
Such a great video. I hope it becomes a trend for publishers to make their game and then watch this before hitting print. All of this covered? Yes. Great let's print.
I love it when a rulebook not only tells you exactly HOW to do something, but also WHY you would want to do it. Cthulhu Wars is a great example of this (and every other point Tom made).
Exactly. This is actually the place where you should treat your consumers as human beings, thinking people. Answer any questions, be ahead of any doubts, basically sit in their heads and strike first. I love a rulebook that does that because I know that the writer respects the reader.
I have a ton of RPG books and I read the "Intro to RPG" chapter with everyone, because I want to know how the designer approached a game (plus it's fun for me, leeme lone!).
A bad trend I see now, perhaps as compensation for all the bad shallow rulebooks coming out of KS, is that many publishers are now becoming extremely verbose. I dont need rulebooks to read like normal books, an essay or poetry... It is fine if it reads like it was written by a robot. No long paragraphs! Make decisive imperative affirmations in sequence and using bullet points, no need for please, although, however, unfortunately, just make strong short clear sentences with consistent vocabulary.
An extra tip that's often passed around the TCG community about rulebooks, that I think also is very valuable for board games: *Explain how a player wins the game early* - usually either as the first thing, or right after the setup is recommended there. "What am I aiming to do" is the context that makes the rules make sense, and gives you a direction for your actions in games.
@@scottdebrestian9875 You can do both. There should be a page or two which summarizes the basics - how do I win, what are my main decisions during the turn, how is the rest of the game structured (rounds, phases etc), and then the detailed flow comes after that following the order of play.
These are all great recommendations and I heartily agree with all of them. The other day I gave a talk about a introduction to modern board gaming and had a slide explaining that rule books are often terrible so check out TH-cam videos in those cases to get a baseline understanding before rereading the manual. And just to emphasize how right Tom is here, a lot of people then instantly started commenting about their issues with rule books, and how painful they often are. Also call out to the Art Project rule book which uses tabs to make it even more accessible.
Wow! Great video! Many many excellent points. Also, When a game is complexe enough, I really appreciate when there is a Glossary for all the key words, and also an Icons reference sheet. Those 2 are often very helpfull.
this video needs to be pinned in every game designers forum on the internet. as a professional manual and test procedure document writer for about a decade (in a different industry, but the skills translate nearly 1:1), all of Tom's points ring true. if i could add one thing, it would be this: HIRE A PROFESSIONAL PROOFREADER / EDITOR if possible. the comparatively small upfront cost is worth reducing the barrier of entry for your game, i promise. (shameless plug: if you are in need of a proofreader / editor, feel free to reach out to me.)
Great video, Tom! This perfectly illustrates what we're trying to do with Rulepop. I think our supplements check most of the items on your list. They have quick reference player aids, complete components lists, indexes, in-depth rules and everyone at the table can have a copy. Plus we can include nice things that a printed rulebook can't like links, keyword search, and dynamic rules settings. Like other game components, it's included with the game, provided by the publisher, and at no extra cost to players. However, it's intangible - so it's often overlooked. What do you think about web-based rules supplements?
Player aids should always include an outline of turn and round structure. Players should not have to flip back through the rulebook all the time to make sure they aren't missing any steps.
One of the things that I hate about Frosthaven is that the "flow of the game" (campaign, not what happens inside a combat encounter) isn't on a player aid. So every time we finish a mission, I flip the rules open to The Outpost Phase, and we go through in order. That entire section could be abbreviated and fit onto a card or paper the size of a character sheet. But no.
My personal comment to publishers: Do NOT watch this video looking for some pointers to things that might be important for your game. Instead: Watch this and do ALL the stuff mentioned in this video! Even if YOU personally think it might be okay to skip it. In 49 out of 50 cases ignoring even one of the pointers given in this videos will probably make your game less-good than it could be.
A useful box insert is INCREDIBLY overlooked many times. Yes, a well written rulebook is very important (crucial) but also being able to store your very expensive game properly is very important.
I like when there's instructions on how to get those puzzles back into their inserts and boxes and when those instructions fit on a page that can sit in the top of the box or be attached to the inside of the box lid. Unfortunately the instructions rarely exist and my kids don't attempt to put games back because they say it takes longer to get them back in the box than to play them. Fair point, but ...
It has to be well designed though. A bad insert is worse than no insert especially when it makes the box much larger than it needs to be. I'd say that more 50% of the inserts that came with my games ended up in the recycling bin. A good insert should not just store the components in some random arrangement but should help with setup and even during the game if possible.
This may be the greatest video of all time. Thank you. 1 thing I will point out is if you need to pull 3 cards from the wunbado deck SAY IT EARLY. I hate when setup step 2 is shuffle these 3 decks, and step 6 is remove the Bob and Oak cards from one of those decks. Even if it isn't a "step" to shuffle a deck yet, call out if cards need removed early. Often someone's contribution to helping setup is shuffling decks. Annoying to have to redo it because we needed to pull out 2 cards first. Also, I just learned Euthia and it may have the best rulebook ever for a game that in-depth.
Put the ‘how to win’ section at the start of the rulebook. Being told up front that you win by scoring points in XYZ ways means that you will pay attention to the bits of the rules that tell you how to do XYZ. Leaving the ‘how to win’ to the back makes it more likely you’ll miss that. (For a bonus: give an approximate breakdown of typical scoring. If you will get the bulk of your points from doing X, and only a few points from Y, tell us so we don’t waste the first game doing too much Y)
Tom spitting facts. The Kickstarter components drive me nuts. So many times I'm just staring at some cards or tokens trying to figure out what the heck they are and I end up having to go to the Kickstarter page to figure out what they're for or how to use them.
Yes, and also when I receive a game that didn't come from Kickstarter but the manual shows the Kickstarter components and not the components that I have. Or as one came this week, which did come from crowdfunding and the manual showed the retail components but not the components that I had, so I'm trying to organize it looking for components that don't exist in my copy and some of the pictures of gameplay and setup were clearly from the early design phase looking very different than the finished product. That stuff makes me think of what I would say if my child showed me a clearly half finished project and told me they were ready to turn it in to their teacher.
I was fortunate to be able to play a demo version of a kickstarter game I was looking at. The manual had glossy black writing on a mat black background, no glossary, refused to even use standardized terms (What the hell is the "kick" player and why do they go before the "tree" player?), and the "exclusive prototype pieces" had nothing to do with the art on the rest of the game (I guess they had a few artists, each with their own interpretations).
If I have to go to TH-cam, Kickstarter, a Wiki page (this one is mainly video games), or a FAQ just to make it through the first 2-4 hours playing your game, YOU HAVE FAILED as a developer & designer.
Another thing I've been seing in the last year that's driving me crazy is when a rulebook shows a QR code and says that you need to go to that QR code for setup, or the campaign, or whatever. I'd like to see it in the rulebook, I don't care how many extra pages that is. I want to be able to open my game and play without being anywhere near a cell phone. But if a publisher absolutely has to give me a QR code because they are too cheap to pay for ink and paper or whatever excuse, then also give me the web address also because if I have to use technology to access those materials, I'm going to be grumpy about it and I'll be in a better mood if I can access that with a keyboard and my nice big monitor. I hate trying to read things off of cell phone screens and yes, I will send messages expressing my displeasure at being told to go to a QR code long before I will pull out my cell phone to read said code. Give me the web address and I'll be grumpy about it in silence as I type.
Yes! I've playtested several games recently in various stages of development and my first comment in 9/10 of them is either increase the font size (and I tell them if whether the font causes strain or is so small that I can tell it's letters but it could be in a foreign language for all I can tell) and/or increase the color contrast. Half the time they didn't realize and thank me for the heads up. Half the time they realized it was difficult to read but wanted to fit more on the card/page and were considering shrinking the font, at which point my response to that is "do you only want young customers?" Tiny print can be an issue at any age but as we get older not only do our visual challenges increase, but our patience for dealing with frustration decreases.
Much of this advice could lead to the opposite of what is truly needed though. Conciseness and efficiency. If you just took these recommendations on the surface, we will start having WAY too long of Rulebooks. I do agree with most to all of these, but only under the guise of brevity and conciseness.
A friend of mine got me to play Sorcery TCG recently. Comes with a rulebook. But it has a QR code that takes you to the real rulebook WITH DIFFERENT RULES. I shouldn’t need a smartphone to Google how to play the game.
What about also including the quick guide down the side of the page for experienced players who just need a memory jog? Something like what Race for the Galaxy and Castles of Burgundy have.
Thank you, Tom, for this clear and concise video. It needed to be said. Hopefully the publishers will listen and start making an effort. I've had a conversation with a "Spiel des Jahres" Judge about the game "Dice Forge" back in 2018. He told me, that it would have deserved to get a nomination, but because the rule book was so bad it was eliminated in the early stages of the selection process. Can you imagine how many more games the publisher would have sold, if only they had bothered to make the rule book as good as the gameplay?
ALSO, assume they’re dummies or to put it a more polite way, assume they’ve never played a game before. They’ve never played with Polyominoes. They’ve never played set collection. They’ve never done a split and choose. You want them to like your game and then they may be more likely to play another game.
Thank you for articulating a common frustration shared by many enthusiasts in our hobby. Dealing with a poorly written rule book can be extremely challenging. I am currently experiencing this issue with a new game I recently acquired. The setup instructions are incomplete, leaving you to guess how to utilize the remaining pieces. Upon overcoming this hurdle, I encountered scenarios where the same tile is used for two different locations, leading to confusion about which tile should be placed on the board and which one is meant to replace it. If the game had undergone thorough setup and playtesting, these issues would have been identified promptly. In the worst-case scenario, a slight delay in publishing and shipment.
Great stuff. My 2 biggest pet peeves: the objective of a game is never to score the most points. I hate that as a stated objective. An objective might be to collect the most sets, or sell the best goods, or complete the most goal cards, or control the most territory, or go up the highest on tracks, or whatever. It's never to "score the most points." My second pet peeve, which you covered, is not being able to tell what deck is what. There's 5 decks of cards, 3 of them have the same backs, how the *heck* am I supposed to know what deck is what if you don't show me a (good) picture?? And honorable mention, which you also mentioned is, "at the beginning, draw 5 and choose 3," but we have NO basis for choosing yet.
Can inherently bad games have good rulebooks? A super interesting topic could be rulebook quality vs rule quality. Is it even possible to make a good rulebook for every single possible game. And if no. Is there a correlation between the quality of the game and the potential quality of the rulebook.
It drives me nuts as someone who used to design packaging that there's not a packing guide for every game with an insert. If you designed it, you know what you're intending to go where!
I couldn't figure out how Wingspan was supposed to be organized because no matter how I set it up it didn't seem like there was the right number of containers for food and eggs. I messaged Stonemier and they told me there wasn't a planned setup and they hoped I figured it out. Yes, sometimes I do figure out how I want things, but I'd like to know the designers' plan at initial setup!
I like it when games do this - Fort and Ecos do the same "starting cards or drafting" thing, and Spirit Island has a suggested card progression for the four easiest spirits
Sometimes I wish there would be two different rulebooks. One for learning the game, with pictures and examples, and one without all that for when you need to look things up during play.
Rule books shouldn't be written by the developer, they are too familiar with it to be able to communicate the How To Play in a concise manner. They should be written by filming a few consumer tests of newbies being taught the game and be structured around all the questions the consumers ask as those are clearly the bits that aren't clear or easy to understand.
OMG the size of the rule book makes my urine boil !! Why why why make it as big as the box? I need it next to me during a game but I don't have a huge table. They take up half my playing space. WHHHYYYY????
Just played Tidal Blades Heroes of the Reef few days ago and having not one but TWO full box size rulebooks to find info from was crazy and horrible at the same time.
Isn't setting the game on the board and pieces and accidentally getting everything shifted around part of the fun? haha, no, it definitely isn't. I definitely prefer my rulebooks to not be larger than an 8.5x11 sheet of paper, but even better half that size!
Another way of getting a player aid is to check if your game is one of the 450+ that I've made comprehensive rules summary and player aids for at The Esoteric Order of Gamers!
lol....most people "read" at a 7th grade school level....lol...yep. There is a setting in MS Word that you can set that will tell you what grade reading level the content in the Document is. Time Magazine.....9th grade. A Steven King novel.....17th grade. Really......lol
Listen up publishers!! Do what Tom says in this video. Make us all happy customers. One more bit of advice, if you are not 100% sure if a lay person can understand your rules and game, get an average person with little to no gaming experience to play it. If they can do it, you are awesome. If not, get back to the development room now.
This should be a college course - Rulebooks For Dummies. Either publishers don't understand (likely) or don't care enough to invest the time and resources (also likely) to thoroughly vet the rulebook with average, but intelligent, people who KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THAT GAME. Everything is so obvious to the insiders. Preferably it is playtested by people who don't even play that type of game. If Fred only plays Spades and Canasta, he's perfect for giving your FINISHED game and rulebook. Pay Fred $100 to spend the weekend learning it, and listing the errors and omissions. Do publishers not have any friends like Fred?
Also, include the rulebook in the actual box! Looking at you, Cephalofair with Gloomhaven Buttons n Bugs. I shouldn't need to go online to read the full rules of your game. It is absurd this is even a thing we have to ask for, it's so fundamental.
That should go without saying. I don't care how interested I am in a game, if I see a review that says the rulebook isn't in the box, I won't buy that game.
Great list! The ones that annoy me the most: Games that have rules in an example, but it's not listed anywhere else in the rules, smh!! Rules that don't have pictures and explanations of ALL components. It really amazes me that these things are still happening. Publishers need to hand their game off to someone who is a casual gamer, and hasn't been a part of play-testing, to see if they can figure out how to play correctly with your rules.
I don't know why many page rulebooks don't all come with numbered indexing (2.1, 2.12,.3.41.....) It's universal in the war gaming community. Are others afraid to do that because of its association with war games? Just giving me the page number can still take a long time to find it on that page.
The last 3 games that I looked up something in the index were not even referencing the correct page. In one of them, I eventually realized that the index didn't list even numbered pages, so if it said it was on page 5, I would find it on pages 4-6. In another, it felt like the index contained completely random numbers and I messaged the publisher saying that I was confused about something and couldn't find the answer on the page mentioned in the index, the publisher told me that the index was made in the early stages of the development of the manual and not updated as the manual went through revisions. There's a reason that I curse at rulebooks. But yes, when an index gives us the right page and narrows down the search within the page, that's gold!
Important video! But... as a note... 'Assume people are dummies' isn't what they should do IMO. What I think you should have said was 'Do not let people assume anything'. That's the problem. If the rule book makes me assume, then I, as smart as I might be, might assume incorrectly. That's the correct phrasing IMO.
Publishers, all those things SHOULD ALWAYS BE DONE!! We love your games, makes it easier for us!! I just got one game from a very well known publisher, the game looks good, but I had to download 5 FIVE new glossary PDF files with the descriptions of the tiles and icons because it was not in the rulebook! Now I have to print them.. this should have been done BEFORE you sell me your game! :)
Or you know what, fine , I have to print them. So give me a better price to buy the game at. If I have to essentially complete the game for you, then give me a share/break on the price.
I agree with most of the points made in this video, except for one: the word "orthogonal" doesn't exist only in board games. Many people should have come across it in Math classes, so I don't think there's a need to explain what "orthogonal" is (but maybe the word could be changed to "adjacent" or something else)
These are the kind of observations that can become checklists for reviewing games and scoring them. They can also help build standards. yes standards. You know the kind of standards that the tv, radio, and movie industry follow in order for everyone to be able to buy a product that plays the content consistently. We have as a consumer base done next to nothing to develop a formal set of expectations that can become gold standards that the board game industry knows they should follow to get "certified" or a "seal" of approval. We often talk of production quality generally but fail to list clearly a list of expectations that oems should follow to earn such a designation. Thanks for contributing.
I will often sharpie setup details on my game boards or the box (e.g. starting resources, hand size, Etc.) so I don’t have to skim the rules to remember. I love when the details are in the board. Nice to have on a player aid also.
One of my Most Valuable Purchases was an Etsy bag set for Gaia Project. One of the worst designed rulebooks ever (setting up a non-starter game involves flipping between the starter game setup and the randomized game setup pages). But the bags are nicely done, and every bag has the setup instructions on it. Bonus tiles bag says "# of players + 3". So 75% of the setup rules you can get just from looking at the bag text as you open them.
Glossy pages is on my list. I need light to see and shiney rule book pages that I have to tilt and read at an angle are not useful... Matt for the win.
Since The Dice Tower Seal of Excellence is obviously the most sought after validation in the board game space, the Dice Tower could make this happen by creating a 10-point checklist for game accessibility (around player aids, rulebooks, etc.) and make a rule that, starting in 2025, a game that does not meet the minimum accessibility requirements cannot be considered for a Seal of Excellence.
@@thedicetower valid point, which is why I picked on the Seal of Excellence, not the Seal of Approval; I personally don't believe a rule book / accessibility has to be excellent for a seal of excellence, but it sure would be nice if publishers at least tried ... there's no excuse for horrendous rule books, illegible game boards, pieces that look the same unless you hold them 12 inches from your eye and squint, etc. in 2024 ...
Could have it as a side score in reviews, so you say this X game gets a Seal of Excellence, or 9.5/10 because it's a very good game, but gets just 2 stars from the accessibility check list because of a poor rulebook, player aids etc.
I just opened a copy of Winter Queen by CrowD Games. The presentation, including the artwork, is impressive. The components fit nicely into the well-designed box insert. The rules are clearly written and illustrated. Player-aid cards are provided for each player. Good job, CrowD Games!
Of course my first introduction to the hobby was Catan. I was annoyed at first that there were two separate rulebooks but when I got around to teaching it to the family, I so appreciated those two large format booklets (some of us are older; bigger is not always bad). I could find the answers quickly and keep things moving when I was even still learning it myself. More is always better, thank you, because I was a dummy when I started. The success of those rules, and I'll also give it to original Carcassonne and Ticket to Ride that let us all get into those games successfully. Look at the OGs. They did it right.
I've been wanting to play The Crew since my wife got it for me. Read the instructions, over and over again, and I end up having more questions that when I started. Not saying necessarily that it is the rulebook, but I've played far more complex games with no problem.
OMG! Without a doubt, amazing plea! THANK YOU TOM!!! I couldn’t have said it better other than to say that you cannot over emphasize…. well EVERYTHING YOU SAID! I was going to say index and player aids, then added back of book Iconography.. then added Comprehensive component guide in the beginning.. then realized… well EVERYTHING YOU SAID!!
We have the same opinion on the "front loading" of information in a rulebook - what you refer to as the pages of concepts before setup. This was never the case in any rulebook I wrote, and in many rulebooks that I edited, this was one of the first things I changed.
The question is whether a rulebook is thought of as a means to learn the game, or as a reference during play. If it is a reference, basic concepts should be fairly early. And you can make an argument a rulebook will be used to learn a game once, but used as a reference maybe hundreds of times, so it should be laid out as a reference.
I really wish more companies realized the value of extra paper. When I'm buying $60, $80, $100 games off Kickstarter, and it comes with a single 12 page instruction manual, I get seriously pissed off. These developers are spending $50+ per game in component costs to make their game look absolutely gorgeous, but they can't afford an extra $0.25 to make a 2nd rules book that has nothing but examples in it, and a full description of how each card works, in case the iconography is confusing? That exact book is what SAVED Architects of the West Kingdom for me. So many of the cards are a bit counter-intuitive for how their iconography works, so it's easy to make an assumption about what a card does, and be wrong. But you can just grab the book, flip to your card, and get a full non-icon-based version of what the card does. Player aids are the same. It can be a piece of flimsy paper, not a card or cardboard piece. It can be small or large. Just make it so that the player aid can resolve 75% of questions I have without looking in the rulebook. Especially if round order is complex. Like, say, a game that has 8 phases each round that need to be done in that order. That info NEEDS to be on a player aid so newer players aren't forgetting steps, or forgetting order.
To make the unboxing easier, I've been pressing for labels to be printed on the sprues of punchboard components. That way you can directly reference the Component section of the rulebook against the punch sheets as you sort them out for the first time.
Adding onto your 'show pictures of the components' comment -- if you offer a special edition with upgraded components (e.g. items instead of cardboard) AT MiNiMUM include an insert sheet with named pictures of the upgraded components! Even better would be for it would also include a picture of the base component; to assist in mapping them to the examples in the rulebook. (I can understanding not making a totally different edition of the rulebook with all pictures and examples redone for the deluxe component; but how lazy or thoughtless do you have to be not to provide any info on them?)
I was trying to get gigs as a technical writer a few years back and thought I'd hit up a few board game publishers. Even the big ones were dumbfounded that anyone other than the designer and a random assortment of people online proofreading would be needed to write a manual . . .
Oh man, rulebook dimensions.... Here's a scene from rulebook school in which Unsettled from ONeb has to see the principal: Unsettled!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GET IN HERE!!! EXPLAIN YOURSELF!!! WHAT IS THIS? WHAT WHERE YOU THINKING? JUST MAKE A NORMAL SHAPED BOX AND NORMAL SHAPED RULEBOOK TO GO WITH IT! NOW GET OUT OF MY SIGHT AND DON'T COME BACK!
one more thing to add to Tom's excellent points: please consider colorblind people when designing your games. surely it would not be difficult to include a couple colorblind folks in your playtesting groups.
yes and people over 45 years of age in the testing group. shouldn't need a magnifying glass to play. if I can read it but get a headache from the amount of eyestrain that it takes to read it, that's not ok either! I have friends who think that they either have to give up playing games or accept these issues in order to play. We don't have to accept this, but we need to complain to the publishers when these issues are ignored. I wish I could say that we could not purchase games which offend with these issues but reviews rarely mention these issues.
As somebody who writes work instructions in my job... A THOUSAND TIMES YES! Instructions and rules should always be written so that somebody with absolutely no experience can follow them and be able to understand and complete the task. Anything that assists in that makes life easier for everybody involved - and makes people WANT TO PLAY YOUR GAME. A POX ON ALL BAD RULE WRITERS! A POX, SAY
Another thing designers and publishers discount is that sometimes, players sit down at game night, open a brand new box, punch the stuff, and read the rules aloud to the group. (It's not ideal, but it happens a lot.) Rules should make sense when read aloud. "Shuffle the Monster cards (purple) and Treasure cards (yellow) separately...." Bam. The listening players can now easily spot which is which deck is which.
This is one of the most important and urgent videos you’ve created. Designers and publishers shouldn’t even be allowed to print another game until they’ve received some sort of certification that their game has passed the basic tenets outlined in this video. Sorry to pick on you, Dan Hallagan (designer of Obsession), but your game’s rulebook is the reason why your game sat unplayed on my shelf for over a year. Yes, there is a great game there which lives up to the hype, but your obvious enthusiasm for the subject matter and the typographical & information hierarchy choices made learning the game feel like a fraternity hazing. I know you’re working on a comprehensive rule book as I write this. PLEASE focus on simplifying the learning process.
"RULES SHOULD BE CLEARLY EXPLAINED!!" & "MAKE SENSE IN THEIR ORDER!!" Yes. Every game rulebook should be vetted by people who have NO IDEA of how to play the game and are not "gamers". If they have questions about the rules consider clarifying/re-writing.
Today I played my first game of Tainted Grail: FoA. There is a separate tutorial scenario that teaches you the basics of the game in one hour while you also have the feeling you are ACTUALLY playing the game. It has a pre-constructed deck and guides you through the motions. Now, not every game has to have a separate tutorial deck like this one does, but how about giving a list of cards you use to play a couple of turns? It just makes it click.
Agree with absolutely everything here, thanks Tom. Probably my biggest pet peeve with rulebooks is having components or a process that is referred to differently throughout the rulebook. Call the token you refer to as a VP token the same throughout the rulebook, don't later call it a coin or refer to counting coins as adding up to end of game points. Gets too confusing, if I am confused when reading rules that refer to a process or components that is so frustrrating. So many times a component is not even covered or it is called something at the start of the rulebook in component list but called something throughout the rules. Agree with rulebook needing to be a size to easily read by someone, but still prefer larger sized rulebooks but thinner less pages. That way it is easy to keep open on the table, not one that keeps closing on you each time you open it. One not featured in the video is box size. Publishers, remember to have your boxes big enough to hold parts, not big enough to hold flat punchboards. If it is already bulging when you print it, think of the end user when they realise not everything fits! Finally I would also like publishers, in the rulebook, to have a link or reference to an internet site where an FAQ or errata sheet is published. Not everyone who plays games go straight to the listing on BGG. Often games have missed something or a rule later comes up that just needs clarification or changed, then have an official update on a website or place we can refer to. This will obviously change and update as the game evolves.
So true. I had a buddy try to sit down and learn catan and was completely lost. I tried to learn mind bug, but I think the rules were written by people that played mtg… I can’t follow it, it looks cool, but what do you mean you place a card up there but don’t play it? What? I dunno… I watched tournaments on the developers TH-cam, asked why one card won over another and I get NO REPLY. Only a few hundred people watched this video…I assume the game is broken. I play dnd. I read books of rules and I hate it, but I need to know rules. When I get a new game, I read the book, make a sheet for a quick set up and a list of actions the players can make on their turn.
Great plea, Tom..! All of this makes clear logical and common sense. Also if a publisher creates a game insert, please make sure the insert can hold (comfortably) SLEEVED cards. Lastly, publishers should come together and STANDARDIZE card sizes. IEEE exists to standardize computer hardware for a good reason. I'm sure I'm not alone in this debate over being forced to purchase non-standard card sleeves. This games are increasingly getting more expensive, and when a publisher opts to print a cheap (non-linen-backed) card, then a sleeve to ensure it's protection is required.
This video should be a mandatory watch for creating BG projects on kickstarter. with an extensive quiz afterwards and automatic rejection if you don't get 99% on it. Watching this and going through some of the games in my head that violate many of those rules and remembering how TEDIOUS and ANNOYING playing those games for the first time was, how much fun all of that discussing and googling sucked out of starting the game made me actually angry! I mean, we played Everdell with ALL husband and wife mice the first time because it was never clearly explained that those are variants. in a €100+ deluxe kickstarter! I just now have hunted down and downloaded an extensive FAQ for clank in space because they neither explain the hack symbols nor sth basic like that you can do actions in between steps. I could go on for hours here. Also, I hate having to look up hand limits. EVERY game hides that important info somewhere else! This is infuriating. Again. Make this video a mandatory test in bg designer school!
I would even say having a QR code to a player aid that can be scanned on a phone - while not AS ideal as a paper player aid - could allow for all players to have one at their fingertips. Hell, at that point you can even have FAQs, Next->Next->Next functionality (we've done this, now what), all sorts of things. You know on software FAQs sometimes it asks if the article was helpful? You can find out pretty quick what players can't figure out...
For the amount of money we pay for board games, no complex game should ever NOT include a glossary of terms at the back with short explanations all in one place. "What is the RECUPERATION phase, again?" "If a unit has the ANNIHILATION trait can they attack a unit with UNDAUNTED?"
Why the double negative? You’re talking about making things easier for ppl ffs.
@VJMorph I never don't not want to make it confusing
TBF board games aren't that expensive and perfecting rules == time == a person == money.
To point at other hobbies. Most board games cost the same as 1 box of 5-10 Warhammer miniatures (in a game where you need 10 boxes for an army) or they cost less than half of 1 golf club, etc. They often cost less and close to half of a brand new video game.
Boardgames is a relatively cheap hobby in comparison to plenty of other common hobbies out there.
@@RyanPST88 Are you really using Warhammer as a value comparison? Porsche demolition derbies are cheap compared to Warhammer.
You hardly pay anything for board games? It's a terrible business because the profits are negligble.
Maybe there should be a new yearly Dice Tower award for Best Rulebook of the Year for a few years to encourage improvement in this area. As Tom said there are some fantastic examples, so let’s encourage them!
love this idea!
100%
Great idea!
Most reviews don't even cover the quality of the rulebook, I'd suggest to grade the player support material for each game in every review.
Definitely like this
This would be a worthy checklist before any game goes to publication. Every one of these suggestions will make your game a better experience.
As someone who regularly teaches games, I love when I can teach the whole game using just the player aid as reference.
Fantastic video but imo you left out the MOST IMPORTANT THING. Publishers... please... when you playtest your games... never never TEACH your playtesters how to play. ALWAYS give them the game while you sit in the corner SILENTLY taking notes as you WATCH them try to use your rulebook to learn the game ON THEIR OWN. Consumers do not have you sitting with us teaching us how to play. Your playtesters shouldn't either. Find out what confuses people about your rulebook BEFORE it goes to market.
Every rulebook complaint I've ever had and more. Excellent video.
These points are better than the ten commandments!
Top ten rulebooks?
Probably not worth one of the long everybody chimes in videos, but Tom doing a standalone 10 minute top 10 rulebooks video would be instructive.
Star Wars Outer Rim has a great rulebook!
The new version of Ra would be apparently, since they used it multiple times in this video.
I think a top ten with 3 presenters would totally work! Highlighting the strong points of their picks, giving credit to publishers who do it right, pointing inexperienced 'gamers' to easy-to-learn games would be great!
I would love a Top10 rule books video.
Excellent points!
To publishers: Rule books are technical manuals. Find a technical writer, and have them compile/edit your rule set.
Yes, and when we complain about a rulebook to a publisher, don't tell us, "well the rulebook for game C was written by the same writer as the one who wrote our game A and B" As I'm thinking, game A's rulebook received criticism but I found not bad and game B's rulebook I had criticized when it came out and it was so bad that the publisher had the rulebook revised and made available digitally a month after the Kickstarter backers received their copy of the game. Yeah, game C is a game I backed on Kickstarter and received since New Year in which I couldn't figure out how to get it to the table until the publisher answered some questions in the forum about setup. I think the marketing department makes the rulebooks instead of technical writers. Publishers, No Excuses!
Funny enough the rulebook for Tenares is exactly like a tech manual. It's strange at first, but makes looking ANYTHING up a snap.
Yes, if a publisher can't explain their own game clearly, then they really don't understand it from the player's perspective. Having the game designer write their own rulebook is not a great idea, because it centers everything on the designer's assumptions.
For example, in movie production, the saying is that a film is made three times: first written, then directed, and finally edited. It should be the same given the collaborative nature of board games: first designed, then tested, and lastly explained.
Do not assume that design explanations during the development process equal a set of rules. Treating a rulebook as a technical document is not as simple as proofreading and smoothing ad hoc test notes.
This -.- So much this. I came from writing fiction into write games and learned the hard way just how much of a different set of tools it is. Two years later, I'm still learning.
It don't get no mo' technical manual than Star Fleet Battles. The problem rises when whiners complain about not having evocative art (diagrams being the exception) along with their rules to help them "imagine" what gameplay should feel like instead of, I dunno, playing the game.
as just a casual board/card/dice gamer I appreciate this. My wife will play a game with me if I ask and we very rarely play as a family with our boys. So a huge hurdle for me/us is that I not only have to learn and understand how to play a game but also well enough to explain it to my family, *then* hope that we actually do play it before I forget and have to re-learn it! The last thing I want to have to do is take 30 min to learn a game after my family actually agrees to play something and hope they still want to play 30 min later!
absolutely. I played Arkham Horror with my wife and she was so bored when I was constantly trying to look up rules that she said she's never play it again. Learned from that mistake.
Quickstart rules help a lot, for either those who want to start playing right away or for those who have played and need a refresher.
The odd shaped rulebook for the giant large box is just the worst lol! WHY??!?! I agree with all of these points. Let's go publishers, establish best practices! Great vid 👍
Rule books in standard sizes (A4, A5, etc)
Nothing beats having to drag a bar stool over to the table to put a ginormous rule book on because the game already takes up 99% of the table.
It’s interesting to read this again and again. It will certainly have an effect on how I see this. As a media designer I was of the faction that appreciates the extra space in these rulebooks. You could, for instance, use A4/letter with for the rules and the remaining third(?) for examples or a rules summary. But I do get that some people find them just too big for their tables.
What do we want?
Reference sheets
When do we want them?
Now!
😂
When do we want them?
Page 17, 19 or 32.
This. 1000 times this. I have games, that I know are great games, that are nevertheless gathering dust on the shelf for years now, because they are so freaking frustrating to play because of bad and/or incomplete rulebooks. Looking at you, Cry Havoc. Game is sick, but I've lost count of how many stuff I had to look up online back when I was playing it. Now that it's been quite a while since I've played it, I just can't gather the courage to start playing again, knowing I'll have to look all those edge cases and interactions between the factions, that are simply not in the rulebook.
Portal game?
@@salmonblox yes. Great game, terrible rulebook. You would not believe how many times you have to stop to check something out online because of weird interactions between the various abilities of the asymmetric factions.
@@DiegoDeschain I would believe it a little bit, as I have had similar experiences with other Portal games, ha ha. I like their games but their rulebooks are a chore to get through sometimes. Empires of the North was a refreshing departure from that
I played a game for the first time last night. They didn’t have player aids, but did have the “here’s some blank cards so you can make your own card” thing. So you didn’t include the helpful thing, but included the most useless thing imaginable in a card slot?
Such a great video. I hope it becomes a trend for publishers to make their game and then watch this before hitting print. All of this covered? Yes. Great let's print.
I love it when a rulebook not only tells you exactly HOW to do something, but also WHY you would want to do it. Cthulhu Wars is a great example of this (and every other point Tom made).
Exactly. This is actually the place where you should treat your consumers as human beings, thinking people. Answer any questions, be ahead of any doubts, basically sit in their heads and strike first. I love a rulebook that does that because I know that the writer respects the reader.
Lots of players will complain, vocally, if you include 'spoilers' in the game, though.
I have a ton of RPG books and I read the "Intro to RPG" chapter with everyone, because I want to know how the designer approached a game (plus it's fun for me, leeme lone!).
A bad trend I see now, perhaps as compensation for all the bad shallow rulebooks coming out of KS, is that many publishers are now becoming extremely verbose. I dont need rulebooks to read like normal books, an essay or poetry... It is fine if it reads like it was written by a robot. No long paragraphs! Make decisive imperative affirmations in sequence and using bullet points, no need for please, although, however, unfortunately, just make strong short clear sentences with consistent vocabulary.
An extra tip that's often passed around the TCG community about rulebooks, that I think also is very valuable for board games: *Explain how a player wins the game early* - usually either as the first thing, or right after the setup is recommended there. "What am I aiming to do" is the context that makes the rules make sense, and gives you a direction for your actions in games.
I second that! Simon Sinek has a great video about 'start with why', I think that could totally be applied here too.
Yep. That’s also how many people prefer a fake to be taught. Tell me how I am winning it, then tell me how to do that.
Other players really want a manual that follows the sequence of play, though, and checking to see who won comes at the end of the game.
@@scottdebrestian9875 You can do both. There should be a page or two which summarizes the basics - how do I win, what are my main decisions during the turn, how is the rest of the game structured (rounds, phases etc), and then the detailed flow comes after that following the order of play.
These are all great recommendations and I heartily agree with all of them. The other day I gave a talk about a introduction to modern board gaming and had a slide explaining that rule books are often terrible so check out TH-cam videos in those cases to get a baseline understanding before rereading the manual. And just to emphasize how right Tom is here, a lot of people then instantly started commenting about their issues with rule books, and how painful they often are.
Also call out to the Art Project rule book which uses tabs to make it even more accessible.
Wow! Great video! Many many excellent points. Also, When a game is complexe enough, I really appreciate when there is a Glossary for all the key words, and also an Icons reference sheet. Those 2 are often very helpfull.
A glossary is great, as long as there are no rules hidden there :)
this video needs to be pinned in every game designers forum on the internet. as a professional manual and test procedure document writer for about a decade (in a different industry, but the skills translate nearly 1:1), all of Tom's points ring true. if i could add one thing, it would be this: HIRE A PROFESSIONAL PROOFREADER / EDITOR if possible. the comparatively small upfront cost is worth reducing the barrier of entry for your game, i promise.
(shameless plug: if you are in need of a proofreader / editor, feel free to reach out to me.)
Great video, Tom! This perfectly illustrates what we're trying to do with Rulepop. I think our supplements check most of the items on your list. They have quick reference player aids, complete components lists, indexes, in-depth rules and everyone at the table can have a copy. Plus we can include nice things that a printed rulebook can't like links, keyword search, and dynamic rules settings.
Like other game components, it's included with the game, provided by the publisher, and at no extra cost to players. However, it's intangible - so it's often overlooked. What do you think about web-based rules supplements?
Player aids should always include an outline of turn and round structure. Players should not have to flip back through the rulebook all the time to make sure they aren't missing any steps.
And, if an expansion alters the turn, round, or adds new icon/terms, then put new player aids in the expansion.
One of the things that I hate about Frosthaven is that the "flow of the game" (campaign, not what happens inside a combat encounter) isn't on a player aid. So every time we finish a mission, I flip the rules open to The Outpost Phase, and we go through in order. That entire section could be abbreviated and fit onto a card or paper the size of a character sheet. But no.
Also, with components, call them the same thing throughout rulebook!
My personal comment to publishers:
Do NOT watch this video looking for some pointers to things that might be important for your game.
Instead: Watch this and do ALL the stuff mentioned in this video! Even if YOU personally think it might be okay to skip it. In 49 out of 50 cases ignoring even one of the pointers given in this videos will probably make your game less-good than it could be.
A useful box insert is INCREDIBLY overlooked many times. Yes, a well written rulebook is very important (crucial) but also being able to store your very expensive game properly is very important.
I like when there's instructions on how to get those puzzles back into their inserts and boxes and when those instructions fit on a page that can sit in the top of the box or be attached to the inside of the box lid.
Unfortunately the instructions rarely exist and my kids don't attempt to put games back because they say it takes longer to get them back in the box than to play them. Fair point, but ...
My God, the amount of times I spent over $100 on a game and they couldn't give me 10 cents worth of extra plastic bags to store the pieces in!
It has to be well designed though. A bad insert is worse than no insert especially when it makes the box much larger than it needs to be. I'd say that more 50% of the inserts that came with my games ended up in the recycling bin.
A good insert should not just store the components in some random arrangement but should help with setup and even during the game if possible.
Inserts go straight into the trash.
This may be the greatest video of all time. Thank you. 1 thing I will point out is if you need to pull 3 cards from the wunbado deck SAY IT EARLY. I hate when setup step 2 is shuffle these 3 decks, and step 6 is remove the Bob and Oak cards from one of those decks. Even if it isn't a "step" to shuffle a deck yet, call out if cards need removed early. Often someone's contribution to helping setup is shuffling decks. Annoying to have to redo it because we needed to pull out 2 cards first.
Also, I just learned Euthia and it may have the best rulebook ever for a game that in-depth.
Put the ‘how to win’ section at the start of the rulebook.
Being told up front that you win by scoring points in XYZ ways means that you will pay attention to the bits of the rules that tell you how to do XYZ.
Leaving the ‘how to win’ to the back makes it more likely you’ll miss that.
(For a bonus: give an approximate breakdown of typical scoring. If you will get the bulk of your points from doing X, and only a few points from Y, tell us so we don’t waste the first game doing too much Y)
Tom spitting facts. The Kickstarter components drive me nuts. So many times I'm just staring at some cards or tokens trying to figure out what the heck they are and I end up having to go to the Kickstarter page to figure out what they're for or how to use them.
Yes, and also when I receive a game that didn't come from Kickstarter but the manual shows the Kickstarter components and not the components that I have. Or as one came this week, which did come from crowdfunding and the manual showed the retail components but not the components that I had, so I'm trying to organize it looking for components that don't exist in my copy and some of the pictures of gameplay and setup were clearly from the early design phase looking very different than the finished product. That stuff makes me think of what I would say if my child showed me a clearly half finished project and told me they were ready to turn it in to their teacher.
I was fortunate to be able to play a demo version of a kickstarter game I was looking at. The manual had glossy black writing on a mat black background, no glossary, refused to even use standardized terms (What the hell is the "kick" player and why do they go before the "tree" player?), and the "exclusive prototype pieces" had nothing to do with the art on the rest of the game (I guess they had a few artists, each with their own interpretations).
If I have to go to TH-cam, Kickstarter, a Wiki page (this one is mainly video games), or a FAQ just to make it through the first 2-4 hours playing your game, YOU HAVE FAILED as a developer & designer.
Another thing I've been seing in the last year that's driving me crazy is when a rulebook shows a QR code and says that you need to go to that QR code for setup, or the campaign, or whatever. I'd like to see it in the rulebook, I don't care how many extra pages that is. I want to be able to open my game and play without being anywhere near a cell phone. But if a publisher absolutely has to give me a QR code because they are too cheap to pay for ink and paper or whatever excuse, then also give me the web address also because if I have to use technology to access those materials, I'm going to be grumpy about it and I'll be in a better mood if I can access that with a keyboard and my nice big monitor. I hate trying to read things off of cell phone screens and yes, I will send messages expressing my displeasure at being told to go to a QR code long before I will pull out my cell phone to read said code. Give me the web address and I'll be grumpy about it in silence as I type.
This is one of the reasons I love stonemaier games. They pay attention to all these details.
Stonemaier has some of the best rulebooks and player aids out there.
Agreed
assume every game is someone's first game
Tiny Print!!!!!!!!! Is my top issue!!!! 🤓
Yes! I've playtested several games recently in various stages of development and my first comment in 9/10 of them is either increase the font size (and I tell them if whether the font causes strain or is so small that I can tell it's letters but it could be in a foreign language for all I can tell) and/or increase the color contrast. Half the time they didn't realize and thank me for the heads up. Half the time they realized it was difficult to read but wanted to fit more on the card/page and were considering shrinking the font, at which point my response to that is "do you only want young customers?" Tiny print can be an issue at any age but as we get older not only do our visual challenges increase, but our patience for dealing with frustration decreases.
This!!! A thousand times this!!!
Much of this advice could lead to the opposite of what is truly needed though. Conciseness and efficiency.
If you just took these recommendations on the surface, we will start having WAY too long of Rulebooks.
I do agree with most to all of these, but only under the guise of brevity and conciseness.
short setup and rule reminder book and long detailed rulebook then.
Nice one Tom. I've always said that making a good rulebook is an art in itself.
A friend of mine got me to play Sorcery TCG recently. Comes with a rulebook. But it has a QR code that takes you to the real rulebook WITH DIFFERENT RULES. I shouldn’t need a smartphone to Google how to play the game.
What about also including the quick guide down the side of the page for experienced players who just need a memory jog? Something like what Race for the Galaxy and Castles of Burgundy have.
Thank you, Tom, for this clear and concise video. It needed to be said. Hopefully the publishers will listen and start making an effort.
I've had a conversation with a "Spiel des Jahres" Judge about the game "Dice Forge" back in 2018.
He told me, that it would have deserved to get a nomination, but because the rule book was so bad it was eliminated in the early stages of the selection process.
Can you imagine how many more games the publisher would have sold, if only they had bothered to make the rule book as good as the gameplay?
ALSO, assume they’re dummies or to put it a more polite way, assume they’ve never played a game before. They’ve never played with Polyominoes. They’ve never played set collection. They’ve never done a split and choose. You want them to like your game and then they may be more likely to play another game.
Thank you for articulating a common frustration shared by many enthusiasts in our hobby. Dealing with a poorly written rule book can be extremely challenging. I am currently experiencing this issue with a new game I recently acquired. The setup instructions are incomplete, leaving you to guess how to utilize the remaining pieces. Upon overcoming this hurdle, I encountered scenarios where the same tile is used for two different locations, leading to confusion about which tile should be placed on the board and which one is meant to replace it. If the game had undergone thorough setup and playtesting, these issues would have been identified promptly. In the worst-case scenario, a slight delay in publishing and shipment.
Great stuff. My 2 biggest pet peeves: the objective of a game is never to score the most points. I hate that as a stated objective. An objective might be to collect the most sets, or sell the best goods, or complete the most goal cards, or control the most territory, or go up the highest on tracks, or whatever. It's never to "score the most points." My second pet peeve, which you covered, is not being able to tell what deck is what. There's 5 decks of cards, 3 of them have the same backs, how the *heck* am I supposed to know what deck is what if you don't show me a (good) picture?? And honorable mention, which you also mentioned is, "at the beginning, draw 5 and choose 3," but we have NO basis for choosing yet.
Can inherently bad games have good rulebooks?
A super interesting topic could be rulebook quality vs rule quality. Is it even possible to make a good rulebook for every single possible game. And if no. Is there a correlation between the quality of the game and the potential quality of the rulebook.
It drives me nuts as someone who used to design packaging that there's not a packing guide for every game with an insert. If you designed it, you know what you're intending to go where!
I couldn't figure out how Wingspan was supposed to be organized because no matter how I set it up it didn't seem like there was the right number of containers for food and eggs. I messaged Stonemier and they told me there wasn't a planned setup and they hoped I figured it out. Yes, sometimes I do figure out how I want things, but I'd like to know the designers' plan at initial setup!
Seasons (by Libellud) had suggested starting cards, for the first play. Then on 2nd playthroughs and so on, you do the drafting phase.
I like it when games do this - Fort and Ecos do the same "starting cards or drafting" thing, and Spirit Island has a suggested card progression for the four easiest spirits
7 Wonders Duel is another good example. Rather than drafting the wonders, it gives a recommended list for a first game.
was anyone else shocked that Tom isn't 18 anymore? i just can't guess the age of these millennial youngsters.😅😅
Sometimes I wish there would be two different rulebooks. One for learning the game, with pictures and examples, and one without all that for when you need to look things up during play.
Rule books shouldn't be written by the developer, they are too familiar with it to be able to communicate the How To Play in a concise manner. They should be written by filming a few consumer tests of newbies being taught the game and be structured around all the questions the consumers ask as those are clearly the bits that aren't clear or easy to understand.
Orthogonal is a common linear algebra term. Stay in school people! 😂
But yes, rules should not assume you know anything. 👍
OMG the size of the rule book makes my urine boil !! Why why why make it as big as the box? I need it next to me during a game but I don't have a huge table. They take up half my playing space. WHHHYYYY????
Just played Tidal Blades Heroes of the Reef few days ago and having not one but TWO full box size rulebooks to find info from was crazy and horrible at the same time.
Isn't setting the game on the board and pieces and accidentally getting everything shifted around part of the fun? haha, no, it definitely isn't. I definitely prefer my rulebooks to not be larger than an 8.5x11 sheet of paper, but even better half that size!
Best DT video in a long while. Publishers take note! I am a rules reader in my group and a lot of this is very painful stuff.
I think I screamed "AMEN" and passed out. I'm not sure what happened.
I really hope publishers take these recommendations to heart.
I really hope ALL publishers watch this video and learn from it!
That is so annoying when publishers do not include enough player aids for all the players in the game.
Another way of getting a player aid is to check if your game is one of the 450+ that I've made comprehensive rules summary and player aids for at The Esoteric Order of Gamers!
lol....most people "read" at a 7th grade school level....lol...yep. There is a setting in MS Word that you can set that will tell you what grade reading level the content in the Document is. Time Magazine.....9th grade. A Steven King novel.....17th grade.
Really......lol
Great segment, Tom!
Listen up publishers!!
Do what Tom says in this video. Make us all happy customers.
One more bit of advice, if you are not 100% sure if a lay person can understand your rules and game, get an average person with little to no gaming experience to play it. If they can do it, you are awesome. If not, get back to the development room now.
Yes, and get a variety of ages to playtest, not ignoring the eyesight of the 45+ year old player.
Awesome video & a great contribution ! Let‘s all hope that publishers view this video and actually listen…
This should be a college course - Rulebooks For Dummies. Either publishers don't understand (likely) or don't care enough to invest the time and resources (also likely) to thoroughly vet the rulebook with average, but intelligent, people who KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THAT GAME. Everything is so obvious to the insiders. Preferably it is playtested by people who don't even play that type of game. If Fred only plays Spades and Canasta, he's perfect for giving your FINISHED game and rulebook. Pay Fred $100 to spend the weekend learning it, and listing the errors and omissions. Do publishers not have any friends like Fred?
Also, include the rulebook in the actual box! Looking at you, Cephalofair with Gloomhaven Buttons n Bugs. I shouldn't need to go online to read the full rules of your game. It is absurd this is even a thing we have to ask for, it's so fundamental.
That should go without saying. I don't care how interested I am in a game, if I see a review that says the rulebook isn't in the box, I won't buy that game.
Great list! The ones that annoy me the most: Games that have rules in an example, but it's not listed anywhere else in the rules, smh!! Rules that don't have pictures and explanations of ALL components. It really amazes me that these things are still happening.
Publishers need to hand their game off to someone who is a casual gamer, and hasn't been a part of play-testing, to see if they can figure out how to play correctly with your rules.
I don't know why many page rulebooks don't all come with numbered indexing (2.1, 2.12,.3.41.....) It's universal in the war gaming community. Are others afraid to do that because of its association with war games? Just giving me the page number can still take a long time to find it on that page.
The last 3 games that I looked up something in the index were not even referencing the correct page. In one of them, I eventually realized that the index didn't list even numbered pages, so if it said it was on page 5, I would find it on pages 4-6. In another, it felt like the index contained completely random numbers and I messaged the publisher saying that I was confused about something and couldn't find the answer on the page mentioned in the index, the publisher told me that the index was made in the early stages of the development of the manual and not updated as the manual went through revisions. There's a reason that I curse at rulebooks. But yes, when an index gives us the right page and narrows down the search within the page, that's gold!
Important video! But... as a note... 'Assume people are dummies' isn't what they should do IMO. What I think you should have said was 'Do not let people assume anything'.
That's the problem. If the rule book makes me assume, then I, as smart as I might be, might assume incorrectly.
That's the correct phrasing IMO.
Agreed. A game should never treat its players like idiots.
If a game needs instructions on how to pack it up, I ain't playing, lol, that's just bad.
Publishers, all those things SHOULD ALWAYS BE DONE!! We love your games, makes it easier for us!! I just got one game from a very well known publisher, the game looks good, but I had to download 5 FIVE new glossary PDF files with the descriptions of the tiles and icons because it was not in the rulebook! Now I have to print them.. this should have been done BEFORE you sell me your game! :)
Or you know what, fine , I have to print them. So give me a better price to buy the game at. If I have to essentially complete the game for you, then give me a share/break on the price.
I agree with most of the points made in this video, except for one: the word "orthogonal" doesn't exist only in board games. Many people should have come across it in Math classes, so I don't think there's a need to explain what "orthogonal" is (but maybe the word could be changed to "adjacent" or something else)
Adjacent is contain 'diagonal' also, so many times it is not enough without further explanation.
These are the kind of observations that can become checklists for reviewing games and scoring them. They can also help build standards. yes standards. You know the kind of standards that the tv, radio, and movie industry follow in order for everyone to be able to buy a product that plays the content consistently. We have as a consumer base done next to nothing to develop a formal set of expectations that can become gold standards that the board game industry knows they should follow to get "certified" or a "seal" of approval. We often talk of production quality generally but fail to list clearly a list of expectations that oems should follow to earn such a designation. Thanks for contributing.
Some of the amazing rules content creators out there definitely saves some games from never getting played.
I will often sharpie setup details on my game boards or the box (e.g. starting resources, hand size, Etc.) so I don’t have to skim the rules to remember. I love when the details are in the board. Nice to have on a player aid also.
One of my Most Valuable Purchases was an Etsy bag set for Gaia Project. One of the worst designed rulebooks ever (setting up a non-starter game involves flipping between the starter game setup and the randomized game setup pages). But the bags are nicely done, and every bag has the setup instructions on it. Bonus tiles bag says "# of players + 3". So 75% of the setup rules you can get just from looking at the bag text as you open them.
Full round & rules summary on the back page of the rule book, INCLUDING SETUP!! No exceptions!!
This one is specifically for Garphill games (which I love most of Shem Philips games) - Include a scorepad please!!!!
Or use their companion app?
Glossy pages is on my list. I need light to see and shiney rule book pages that I have to tilt and read at an angle are not useful...
Matt for the win.
yes, I'm starting to have that problem with dry erase boards/cards
Since The Dice Tower Seal of Excellence is obviously the most sought after validation in the board game space, the Dice Tower could make this happen by creating a 10-point checklist for game accessibility (around player aids, rulebooks, etc.) and make a rule that, starting in 2025, a game that does not meet the minimum accessibility requirements cannot be considered for a Seal of Excellence.
Well, while I hold the rulebook accountable, I don't think that would be fair to consumers. A great game is a great game.
@@thedicetower valid point, which is why I picked on the Seal of Excellence, not the Seal of Approval; I personally don't believe a rule book / accessibility has to be excellent for a seal of excellence, but it sure would be nice if publishers at least tried ... there's no excuse for horrendous rule books, illegible game boards, pieces that look the same unless you hold them 12 inches from your eye and squint, etc. in 2024 ...
Could have it as a side score in reviews, so you say this X game gets a Seal of Excellence, or 9.5/10 because it's a very good game, but gets just 2 stars from the accessibility check list because of a poor rulebook, player aids etc.
Agreed.
@@thedicetowerisn't the rule book part of the game, though?
There were many MANY points ! I feel like we need an index for this video ^^
Many games are bad at this, war games are the worst. Yes, i am looking at you GMT, but not just you.
Agreed. By far the worst rulebook I have ever read was for The Last Hundred Yards. Absolute War rulebook wasn't good either.
I just opened a copy of Winter Queen by CrowD Games. The presentation, including the artwork, is impressive. The components fit nicely into the well-designed box insert. The rules are clearly written and illustrated. Player-aid cards are provided for each player. Good job, CrowD Games!
Of course my first introduction to the hobby was Catan. I was annoyed at first that there were two separate rulebooks but when I got around to teaching it to the family, I so appreciated those two large format booklets (some of us are older; bigger is not always bad). I could find the answers quickly and keep things moving when I was even still learning it myself. More is always better, thank you, because I was a dummy when I started. The success of those rules, and I'll also give it to original Carcassonne and Ticket to Ride that let us all get into those games successfully. Look at the OGs. They did it right.
I've been wanting to play The Crew since my wife got it for me. Read the instructions, over and over again, and I end up having more questions that when I started. Not saying necessarily that it is the rulebook, but I've played far more complex games with no problem.
OMG! Without a doubt, amazing plea! THANK YOU TOM!!! I couldn’t have said it better other than to say that you cannot over emphasize…. well EVERYTHING YOU SAID!
I was going to say index and player aids, then added back of book Iconography.. then added Comprehensive component guide in the beginning.. then realized… well EVERYTHING YOU SAID!!
Yes Yes Yes Tom thank you for this ...amazing...publishers pay attention!!
We have the same opinion on the "front loading" of information in a rulebook - what you refer to as the pages of concepts before setup.
This was never the case in any rulebook I wrote, and in many rulebooks that I edited, this was one of the first things I changed.
The question is whether a rulebook is thought of as a means to learn the game, or as a reference during play. If it is a reference, basic concepts should be fairly early. And you can make an argument a rulebook will be used to learn a game once, but used as a reference maybe hundreds of times, so it should be laid out as a reference.
I really wish more companies realized the value of extra paper.
When I'm buying $60, $80, $100 games off Kickstarter, and it comes with a single 12 page instruction manual, I get seriously pissed off. These developers are spending $50+ per game in component costs to make their game look absolutely gorgeous, but they can't afford an extra $0.25 to make a 2nd rules book that has nothing but examples in it, and a full description of how each card works, in case the iconography is confusing?
That exact book is what SAVED Architects of the West Kingdom for me. So many of the cards are a bit counter-intuitive for how their iconography works, so it's easy to make an assumption about what a card does, and be wrong. But you can just grab the book, flip to your card, and get a full non-icon-based version of what the card does.
Player aids are the same. It can be a piece of flimsy paper, not a card or cardboard piece. It can be small or large. Just make it so that the player aid can resolve 75% of questions I have without looking in the rulebook. Especially if round order is complex. Like, say, a game that has 8 phases each round that need to be done in that order. That info NEEDS to be on a player aid so newer players aren't forgetting steps, or forgetting order.
To make the unboxing easier, I've been pressing for labels to be printed on the sprues of punchboard components. That way you can directly reference the Component section of the rulebook against the punch sheets as you sort them out for the first time.
Adding onto your 'show pictures of the components' comment -- if you offer a special edition with upgraded components (e.g. items instead of cardboard) AT MiNiMUM include an insert sheet with named pictures of the upgraded components! Even better would be for it would also include a picture of the base component; to assist in mapping them to the examples in the rulebook. (I can understanding not making a totally different edition of the rulebook with all pictures and examples redone for the deluxe component; but how lazy or thoughtless do you have to be not to provide any info on them?)
I was trying to get gigs as a technical writer a few years back and thought I'd hit up a few board game publishers. Even the big ones were dumbfounded that anyone other than the designer and a random assortment of people online proofreading would be needed to write a manual . . .
Oh my gosh yes. So much yes.
Oh man, rulebook dimensions....
Here's a scene from rulebook school in which Unsettled from ONeb has to see the principal:
Unsettled!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GET IN HERE!!!
EXPLAIN YOURSELF!!!
WHAT IS THIS?
WHAT WHERE YOU THINKING?
JUST MAKE A NORMAL SHAPED BOX AND NORMAL SHAPED RULEBOOK TO GO WITH IT!
NOW GET OUT OF MY SIGHT AND DON'T COME BACK!
one more thing to add to Tom's excellent points: please consider colorblind people when designing your games. surely it would not be difficult to include a couple colorblind folks in your playtesting groups.
yes and people over 45 years of age in the testing group. shouldn't need a magnifying glass to play. if I can read it but get a headache from the amount of eyestrain that it takes to read it, that's not ok either! I have friends who think that they either have to give up playing games or accept these issues in order to play. We don't have to accept this, but we need to complain to the publishers when these issues are ignored. I wish I could say that we could not purchase games which offend with these issues but reviews rarely mention these issues.
Make enough room for sleeved cards.
As somebody who writes work instructions in my job... A THOUSAND TIMES YES!
Instructions and rules should always be written so that somebody with absolutely no experience can follow them and be able to understand and complete the task.
Anything that assists in that makes life easier for everybody involved - and makes people WANT TO PLAY YOUR GAME.
A POX ON ALL BAD RULE WRITERS! A POX, SAY
Another thing designers and publishers discount is that sometimes, players sit down at game night, open a brand new box, punch the stuff, and read the rules aloud to the group. (It's not ideal, but it happens a lot.) Rules should make sense when read aloud. "Shuffle the Monster cards (purple) and Treasure cards (yellow) separately...." Bam. The listening players can now easily spot which is which deck is which.
This is one of the most important and urgent videos you’ve created. Designers and publishers shouldn’t even be allowed to print another game until they’ve received some sort of certification that their game has passed the basic tenets outlined in this video. Sorry to pick on you, Dan Hallagan (designer of Obsession), but your game’s rulebook is the reason why your game sat unplayed on my shelf for over a year. Yes, there is a great game there which lives up to the hype, but your obvious enthusiasm for the subject matter and the typographical & information hierarchy choices made learning the game feel like a fraternity hazing. I know you’re working on a comprehensive rule book as I write this. PLEASE focus on simplifying the learning process.
"RULES SHOULD BE CLEARLY EXPLAINED!!" & "MAKE SENSE IN THEIR ORDER!!" Yes. Every game rulebook should be vetted by people who have NO IDEA of how to play the game and are not "gamers". If they have questions about the rules consider clarifying/re-writing.
Today I played my first game of Tainted Grail: FoA. There is a separate tutorial scenario that teaches you the basics of the game in one hour while you also have the feeling you are ACTUALLY playing the game. It has a pre-constructed deck and guides you through the motions. Now, not every game has to have a separate tutorial deck like this one does, but how about giving a list of cards you use to play a couple of turns? It just makes it click.
Agree with absolutely everything here, thanks Tom. Probably my biggest pet peeve with rulebooks is having components or a process that is referred to differently throughout the rulebook. Call the token you refer to as a VP token the same throughout the rulebook, don't later call it a coin or refer to counting coins as adding up to end of game points. Gets too confusing, if I am confused when reading rules that refer to a process or components that is so frustrrating. So many times a component is not even covered or it is called something at the start of the rulebook in component list but called something throughout the rules. Agree with rulebook needing to be a size to easily read by someone, but still prefer larger sized rulebooks but thinner less pages. That way it is easy to keep open on the table, not one that keeps closing on you each time you open it.
One not featured in the video is box size. Publishers, remember to have your boxes big enough to hold parts, not big enough to hold flat punchboards. If it is already bulging when you print it, think of the end user when they realise not everything fits!
Finally I would also like publishers, in the rulebook, to have a link or reference to an internet site where an FAQ or errata sheet is published. Not everyone who plays games go straight to the listing on BGG. Often games have missed something or a rule later comes up that just needs clarification or changed, then have an official update on a website or place we can refer to. This will obviously change and update as the game evolves.
So true. I had a buddy try to sit down and learn catan and was completely lost.
I tried to learn mind bug, but I think the rules were written by people that played mtg… I can’t follow it, it looks cool, but what do you mean you place a card up there but don’t play it? What? I dunno… I watched tournaments on the developers TH-cam, asked why one card won over another and I get NO REPLY. Only a few hundred people watched this video…I assume the game is broken.
I play dnd. I read books of rules and I hate it, but I need to know rules.
When I get a new game, I read the book, make a sheet for a quick set up and a list of actions the players can make on their turn.
I very much like this kind of video. Please do more :)
Great plea, Tom..! All of this makes clear logical and common sense. Also if a publisher creates a game insert, please make sure the insert can hold (comfortably) SLEEVED cards. Lastly, publishers should come together and STANDARDIZE card sizes. IEEE exists to standardize computer hardware for a good reason. I'm sure I'm not alone in this debate over being forced to purchase non-standard card sleeves. This games are increasingly getting more expensive, and when a publisher opts to print a cheap (non-linen-backed) card, then a sleeve to ensure it's protection is required.
This video should be a mandatory watch for creating BG projects on kickstarter. with an extensive quiz afterwards and automatic rejection if you don't get 99% on it.
Watching this and going through some of the games in my head that violate many of those rules and remembering how TEDIOUS and ANNOYING playing those games for the first time was, how much fun all of that discussing and googling sucked out of starting the game made me actually angry! I mean, we played Everdell with ALL husband and wife mice the first time because it was never clearly explained that those are variants. in a €100+ deluxe kickstarter! I just now have hunted down and downloaded an extensive FAQ for clank in space because they neither explain the hack symbols nor sth basic like that you can do actions in between steps. I could go on for hours here. Also, I hate having to look up hand limits. EVERY game hides that important info somewhere else!
This is infuriating. Again. Make this video a mandatory test in bg designer school!
I would even say having a QR code to a player aid that can be scanned on a phone - while not AS ideal as a paper player aid - could allow for all players to have one at their fingertips. Hell, at that point you can even have FAQs, Next->Next->Next functionality (we've done this, now what), all sorts of things. You know on software FAQs sometimes it asks if the article was helpful? You can find out pretty quick what players can't figure out...