Abstract
Mechanics are one of the pillars of gameplay, enabled by the underlying
implementation of the game. In particular, self-amending mechanics are
mechanics that change themselves dynamically and are a common source of
duplicate and coupled code because they occur in multiple situations
using specific interactions. The Rulebook is an architectural pattern
that generalizes how developers deal with these issues, based on a
careful research process including a systematic literature review,
semi-structured interviews with professional developers, and
quasi-experiments. The pattern codifies changes to the game state as
“effect” objects, which it matches against a dynamic pool of rules.
Each rule may amend, resolve, or chain effects. This design prevents the
rest of the game from becoming coupled to the specific interactions of
these mechanics while also promoting an extensible and flexible
structure for self-amendment. This paper details the Rulebook pattern
and presents a case study demonstrating its design process in three
different implementations of open-source jam games. Together with the
typification of self-amending mechanics, this article formalizes a
novel, state-of-the-art toolset for architecting games.