These are the instructions for PONG(above), Atari’s first arcade videogame. Following the same abstract functionality as the game’s graphics, they’re the barest of structures, an almost blank screen for players to project their rivalries, victories and defeats upon.
But rules don’t have to be dead-eyed mantras. They can be creative. Bad Signal – Andrew Kenrick’s Convoy meets The Crazies Role Playing Game (RPG) scenario for the horror system Dead of Night – was the most impressive game I played at recent Sheffield RPG convention Furnace.
And its rules were beautiful.