The Rules Can Set You Free

I recently discovered Radiolab and have been listening to it every chance I get. It's a fantastic and free educational podcast that talks about everything you can think of. So imagine my happiness when I found the episode they made on games. You can find the entire episode here, but my favorite section is "The Rules Can Set You Free" featuring Alison Gopnik where she talks about the tension between imaginative freedom and rules in game design.



To give a quick summary, Alison noticed that kids engage in two very different style of playing depending on their age and environment. Three year olds would play through imagination or pretend play, tea party, princess on the moon, pillow fort, etc. As the kids get a little older and interact more with other kids, their playing would revolve around rules like freeze, tag and various war games. The main topics of discussion around this period becomes what is yours, what is mine, what move is allowed, what the time restriction is, and most importantly, what is fair.

The combination of imaginative freedom and rules is what makes a good game. In table top speak, imaginative freedom is world creation based on theme and mechanics while rules are the components and flow of the game that restrict what you can and cannot do. So the next time you evaluate or design a board game, imagine yourself transported to a new world and the size of your world depends on the number of possible scenarios allowed by the rules. If you are playing a simple games like checkers, you can probably see the edge of your world without trying very hard. But when you like how the world looks and cannot see an end, you are probably in for a great ride.

The quote I'd like to leave you with is from the first section of the podcast where Stephen Dubner (the host of Freakonomcs Radio) discuss why people are so passionate about sports, I think you'd agree with me that the following quote is equally, if not more so, applicable to table top games.

"It’s a proxy for real life but better, it renews itself, it’s constantly happening in real time, there are conflicts that seem to carry real consequences but at end of the day don’t. It’s war where nobody dies. It’s a proxy for all our emotions and desires and hopes, I mean, heck, what’s to not like about sports table top games."