Importance of rules

Rules have a massive impact on how players play games. Rules are the defining aspect of how the game designer governs what we can and can not do. The rules are the basis of how you will achieve the obstacles  to complete the goal. Rules can work to the players advantage that if you touch this mushroom you will have a special ability. Rules can also say that the character can't swim so the player has to find another way of getting to the end goal.

Rules are a "structure to adhere to in order to understand how the player can compete and win...it's the very framework that allows the player to master the gameplay."(Mitchell.2012)

Rules give the player limitations on what they can and cannot do. And it creates challenges, for example in chess there is a rule placed on every chess piece and how it can move. This gets the player to think of a strategy based on how the pieces move. If you took away the rules in chess it would make the game unplayable as any piece could do anything and anymore would be possible! "[♦ Rules limit player action ♦ Rules are explicit and unambiguous ♦ Rules are shared by all players ♦ Rules are fixed ♦ Rules are binding ♦ Rules are repeatable" -(Tekinbaş and Zimmerman, 2003 A)].

In modern computer games a lot of the rules are hidden in the background, coded in to prevent players from doing just anything or cheating.The rules place limits on the game play, providing a structure of what can or cannot be done. It is important for the player to know at least some of these rules, eg. now far they can jump or how much ammo they can have. These rules can bring a greater sense of achievement at having overcome these limitations.

A lot of games such as role playing games try to mimic what is realistic in every day life. For instance in skyrim you have to buy a house and  stealing a horse will get you in prison, falling off a cliff will kill you. 
There are different types of rules:"Three kinds of rules: Operational rule, Constitutive rule and Implicit rule"(Tekinbaş and Zimmerman, 2003 B).
Operational rules are basically what the player can and cannot do, eg you can only operate one gun at a time or have a maximum of 30 rounds on a pistol. 

Constitutive rules are those that bind the game world to a set of rules. The player isn't allowed to float in the air, one punch doesn't kill an enemy, and character can't walk up a wall.

Implicit rules are the unwritten rules of how the game can be play, the etiquette the players should adopt while playing the game. For example in multiplayer games while it isn't written that you can not kill your team member, it should be a rule that you pick up.



  Bibliography 

Mitchell, B. (2012). Game design essentials. Indianapolis, In.: Wiley.

Tekinbaş, K. and Zimmerman, E. (2003) A. Rules of play. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p, 134.

Tekinbaş, K. and Zimmerman, E. (2003) B. Rules of play. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p, 138.