40K Deep Thought: Down With Complex Rules
I’m way too busy for crazy complex rules – and I have a feeling I’m not alone.
There was a time when I LOVED complexity. The more complex the better.
Then I graduated from college…
Then I got married…
Then I had to do stuff like taxes…
Don’t even get me started on the kids…
The point is I still LOVE games – so much that I site behind my editor’s desk every day and think about all the cool things in the industry I want to play and write about…
But let me tell you – the days of 256 page rulebooks is in the rearview window for me.
No thank you – I have a mortgage…
I perfectly understand those of you who want all the detail all the time with no respite. May I suggest a career in forensic accounting or particle physics, or parenting. You’ll get your complexity itch scratched and make some decent cash – except the parenting part…
But as a professional industry watcher I’m noting a trend that is only accelerating these past few years.
The Majority of Big players are Streamlining and Shortening Their Games
- Age of Sigmar – 4 pages of rules, replacing the 30 year old and extra complex Warhammer Fantasy
- Warhammer 40,000 – dropping to 8 pages of core rules and roughly 50 pages of misc stuff like missions. 1/3 to 1/4 of the pagecount of previous 7th Ed rules counting all the extras.
- X-Wing – A 24 pages booklet.
- Star Wars Armada: 2 books 40 pages in total.
- Runewars: 2 books 48 pages in total.
- Kings of War: 40 pages.
- Flames of War : 95pp, roughly 1/3 the pagecount of the previous edition. (big but slimming fast)
You still have the more complex systems out there like Warmachine clocking in at 80 pages (with moderate slimming from V2), and Infinity clocking in at an amazing 180 pages of rules!
Polar Opposites…
What’s Going On?
To be honest I have this feeling I’m just lucking out and jumping on the ADD addled culture that wants physical games that have to compete with cellphone and console games. In our GO GO GO lifestyle I think everything is speeding up – and folks have not only less time but less patience for long-form activities of any type. Manufacturers are clearly giving the consumer what they want. If you look at that list up there you’ll note that that majority of the biggest systems are at the lower end of the pace count of rules.
But no matter the reason – I’m getting in more of the industry’s shorter games in my gaming days and having a blast – which is what it’s all about.
~How about you? What is your ideal pagecount for games and what do you think explains why the industry is moving this direction?
