Rolling with the Rules

Welcome to Rolling with the Rules, a game about the Hidden Curriculum for 4-7 players.

Within this game, most players will take on the roles of different Students, who, although diverse in their backgrounds, are all trying to succeed in their studies. To represent this, Students play the dice-game Yahtzee, which is all about making the most of what’s available to you.

Not everybody agrees on what’s best for you, however, and the university has demands that it expects you to follow—even if you don’t know what they are. During play Students will have the opportunity to earn additional points if they follow a hidden Rule, which changes every round. These Rules reward Students for rolling in a certain way; the more a Student follows the Rules, the more Insight they gain into which ones will be chosen in future. Those who do not or cannot follow, however, can instead Resist with powerful abilities that help the group—or provide an edge over it.

Although it can seem as though the Rules are chosen arbitrarily, there is in fact a logic underlying their selection. One of your group members will play as the Institution, who selects Rules in an attempt to arrange them into different Criteria. At the end of the game these Criteria form a Hidden Curriculum for which the Institution earns points. They will therefore need to choose carefully between communicating their choices to the Students and working towards their own ends.

This is a game about occlusion and transparency, secrets and speculation, the hidden and the revealed. No matter whether you choose to confront or conform to the Hidden Curriculum, you will always have to be careful that it doesn’t take that choice away from you. Good luck!

Designer's Note: this game is a bit of a work in progress. If you have any feedback about the theme, balancing, or visual design, I'd love to hear it! Please let me know in the comments below.

Rolling with the Rules is liscensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. Do whatever you want with it, as long as it's non-commercial and you let me know what you're up to!