Fudgerylog

Have you ever noticed that board games come with one rule book, but they are typically designed for two to four players? Why? They come with more than one token — one for each player. Why not include more than one rule book — how about one for each player?

What would be served by including more rule books, you might ask, except for increasing the cost of the game? Apart from the fact that in most board games the cost of the rulebook is negligible (the infamous exceptions being games such as Advanced Squad Leader or Star Fleet Battles), the obvious benefit is that everyone can learn to play at the same time, rather than waiting for one person to learn the rules and teach it to everyone else. This is especially helpful if there is more than one rule book aficionado in the group. The other benefit is that everyone can look up rules at the same time when a question arises during play. Yet another benefit is that players are free to consult the rules without drawing attention to the fact, thereby answering their own questions without tipping their hand (a factor not to be underestimated in serious strategy games).

It is true there are game companies that routinely provide free PDF versions of their rule books online (e.g. Columbia Games), and I applaud them, but there are still many gamers who do not have Internet access or even computers, believe it or not. This significant fact ought not to be ignored by publishers of board games and war games. These customers, after all, are not being lured away by the computer game industry and they deserve to be catered to, not dismissed. Most rule books are a few pages of black & white print. Just throw a few more in the box! Your customers will be happier, and happy customers are loyal customers.

Additionally, many players are content to let someone else teach them the rules, usually the person who bought the game. If it were made easier for all the players to read the rules by providing more copies, then casual players may come to feel less intimidated by rule books and become buyers of games themselves. This, of course, helps both the hobby and the industry. I am calling upon all publishers of games to create a new standard: one rule book for each player in every boxed game. That’s all I ask.