Optional Rules
Rules of a game that players can choose to use or not.
This pattern is a still a stub.
Since the gaming rules[1] of any game is decided by the players, all games in one sense have Optional Rules.
Contents
Examples
Tabletop Roleplaying Games can easily be modified by the game masters and players themselves so they have rules that suit their needs and wishes. In addition, many of them include various Optional Rules that can be added if more options or detailed outcomes are wanted, as one example GURPS provide many Optional Rules for actions and modifiers in combat situations.
The expansion Settlers of Catan Event Cards offers players a way to modify the gameplay of Settlers of Catan - by using cards instead of dice the distribution of resources can become less random so the outcome depends less on players' luck. Besides being optional themselves, expansion to board game often include Optional Rules. One example of this can be found in the exodus expansion to Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game which provides the Cylon Fleet, Conflicted Loyalties, and Ionian Nebula options that can either be added individually or be combined depending on how players wish to change the gameplay.
The hardcore mode in the Diablo series and Torchlight is an option players can use which makes character deaths permanent - instead of being able to respawn one must complete the whole game without dying a single time.
Using the pattern
Diegetic Aspects
Interface Aspects
Narrative Aspects
Consequences
Relations
Can Instantiate
Can Modulate
Can Be Instantiated By
Can Be Modulated By
Possible Closure Effects
Potentially Conflicting With
History
New pattern created in this wiki.
References
- ↑ Sjöblom, B. (2008). The Relevance of Rules: Negotiations and Accounts in Co-operative and Co-located Computer Gaming. Proceedings of the [player] conference, IT University of Copenhagen, August 26-29, 2008, pp. 335-378.
