Playing nomic

Nomic is a game built around one simple premise: What if players could change the rules of the game as they play?

I'm a big fan of nomic, and you should play it :)

Joining an existing game

Many public games of nomic exist, and eagerly welcome new players. The longest-running public nomics include:

• Agora Nomic, the longest running single public game of nomic at 33 years, and the one I'm most involved with. Medium-to-slow-paced.
• Infinite Nomic, a medium-paced nomic played in cycles---the rules reset whenever someone wins, so it'll never get super complicated.
• BlogNomic, a very fast-paced game of nomic that resets roughly every month.

Starting a game

If you're able to find a group, setting up a small, private game of nomic can be a lot of fun!

The only essential components of a nomic are:

• players (you have this!)
• an agreed-upon medium
• an initial ruleset

Nomics can be played in any medium:

• For synchronous games, proposals and actions can be verbal, physical, or written, but should likely be in-person.
• For asynchronous games, mailing list, forum, and Discord tend to be the most popular. I strongly recommend something that supports searching and organizing (channels, threads, or subject lines), or else it can be difficult to follow or catch up on.

For an initial ruleset, you can choose from the list below, or create your own! Some tips for initial rulesets:

• Keep it simple and straightforward! Avoid the temptation to elaborate on a ruleset before players have a chance to start proposing. The more refined a ruleset, the harder it is to iterate on.
• Have a hook! A barebones ruleset can be difficult to come up with ideas for. Suber added a very simple game to inspire players to find more interesting ways to get points. Infinite Nomic's rulesets tend to spice things up by changing the gimmick each cycle. Rulesets without a hard gimmick, like Nomini and Boilerplate Nomic, rely on players' general interest in nomic to propel the game forward. Pick something that works for your group!
• What you exclude is also important! If you play a game of 1000 Blank White Cards, and no rule mention cards, then that requirement is intrinsic and forms the boundary of the magic circle, becoming pretty difficult to change without unanimity. You can use this to steer the broad experience of a particular nomic, if you have a specific game in mind.

Initial Rulesets

This is a collection of initial rulesets that have been used to create at least one successful game of nomic.

Some games are similar to nomics, and may be a good way to introduce the concept with minimal setup work:

• Mao, a card game played with a 54-card deck where only one player knows the rules.
• Fluxx, a published card game about changing rules.

These rulesets are often turn-based, which works well for in-person or small-group games:

• Peter Suber's nomic, the original conception.
• 1000 Blank White Cards, great for casual play. No true standard ruleset exists, but you can make a pretty simple one pretty quickly (feel free to reach out if you want to discuss this). Generally, winning ends the game, but subsequent games should start with the same deck that the previous game finished with. You do not actually need 1,000 cards for the first game.

These rulesets are typically not turn-based, which is usually more reliable for online games, games with many players, or games where players might drop in or out.

• Chloe Baldwin's Nomini, an easy-to-digest, beginner-friendly ruleset, designed to not include a fixed end. This uses Agora's method of perpetuity, where winning does not end the game, but also doesn't change the rules.
• CodeTriangle's Boilerplate Nomic, another streamlined ruleset that includes some basic mechanics shared by nomics. It is also slightly more code-ified, if that is your group's preference. Like Nomini, it doesn't prescribe an ending nor goal.
• Any of Infinite Nomic's cycle's initial rulesets. There are many to choose from, and ideas for the more recent cycles are also archived on the wiki. If you like an idea, it might be a good start to take another ruleset and add/change its win condition to align with the idea.
• Infinite Nomic's Metaruleset, which could be used to turn any other nomic into a cyclical nomic.