Nomic

About this board game

Nomic is a rule-changing strategy game for 2–99 players, with a listed play time of 360 minutes. Players begin with an initial rule set, then take turns proposing changes, debating them, voting, and carrying out the results.

Gameplay proceeds clockwise, with each player proposing a rule change during their turn. The other players vote on the proposal, and the active player rolls a die to determine how many points to add to their score. If the proposal passes, it takes effect at the end of that player’s round.

The defining feature of Nomic is that changing the rules is itself a move. Rules may be added, amended, repealed, or shifted between two categories: mutable and immutable. Immutable rules must first be transmuted into mutable rules before they can be changed or removed, and they take precedence over mutable rules.

• Add a new mutable rule
• Amend or repeal a mutable rule
• Transmute a rule from mutable to immutable
• Transmute a rule from immutable to mutable

Because even the core rules can be changed, the structure of the game may quickly transform. Players are not only competing within a system; they are deciding what that system will become through proposals, discussion, voting, and interpretation.

Nomic can be played around a table using written notes or online through mailing lists and forums. Alternative starting rule sets also exist, especially for online and postal games that do not suit the usual clockwise turn order. Released in 1982, Nomic offers a distinctive experience built around negotiation, evolving rules, and collective decisions.