There’s no magic system or formula for writing good rules for your games. Each game has its own quirks, its own vocabulary, its own gameplay. However, I’ve found that there is a general pattern to how you can think about rules. I’ll call it my recipe.
Just like a recipe it has a name, preparation information, description, ingredients, and step by step instructions to make the recipe. If you think about your game rules like that, you’ll at least be headed down the right path. In final form, you will probably still want to lay this out with a proper graphic editor, but this will get you the substance.
So, without further ado, the following is a slightly annotated game rules recipe template (a Google Doc Version):
Requirements: Number of Players (2-4 Players); Playing Time (Approximately 30 minutes); Age (12+)
Give a very brief introduction to the theme of your game. Any important set up or background story.
Objective:Short description of what players are trying to do.
The location of this section might vary. Are any pictures helpful? Relevant card descriptions? It might be easier to put this in line when describing actions.
To set up a game:
Include a picture of a setup table.
Describe an overview of how the game works.
For example: The Game is played in a series of rounds. During each round, players can do x, y or z.
Or: During the game, players take turns drawing a card and playing a card.
In games with rounds, you may wish to describe tasks that are necessary at the start of each round.
If players have some choice of actions, set out what those actions mean. Give each action its own paragraph.
What happens at the end of a turn or round? Which direction does play continue?
Describe the end of game conditions.
Describe how to win a game.
How is a turn or hand played? Pictures relevant?
