Paradox of Self-Amendment by Peter Suber distinction fundamental to most other games: the distinction between constitutive rules and rules of skill, or between lawful and artful play, between permissible and optimal action. Similarly, most other games do not embrace non-play and do not become paradoxical by seeming to do so. Children often invent games that provide game-penalties for declining invitations to play, or that extend game-jurisdiction to all of "real life" and end only when the children tire or forget. ("Daddy, Daddy, come play a new game we invented!" "No, sweetheart, I'm reading." "That's 10 points!") Law does this too. One cannot choose not to play criminal law, and kill someone with impunity, or choose not to play tax law. These choices are not recognized by the rules of the "law game" as valid moves; one is liable anyway. Nomic can become law-like in this way, or child-like in the former way, to an arbitrary degree. A game of Nomic may embrace anything at the vote of the players. The line between play and non-play may shift at each turn, or it may apparently be eliminated. Players may be governed by the game when they think they are in between games or when they think they have quit. Part of the rationale of Rule 113 is to minimize the only obvious, disadvantageous consequence of this feature, or to require an explicit vote to institute those consequences. For most games there is an infallible decision procedure to determine the legality of a move. In Nomic situations may easily arise in which it is very hard to determine whether a move is legal. Moreover, paradoxes may arise in Nomic that paralyze judgment. Occasionally this will be due to the poor drafting of a rule, but it may also arise from a rule that is well-drafted but mischievous. The variety of such paradoxes is truly impossible to anticipate. Rule 213 is designed to cope with them as well as possible without cluttering the Initial Set with too many legalistic qualifications. Note that Rule 213 allows a wily player to create a paradox, get it passed (if the rule seems innocent enough to the other players), and thereby win. B. How to play Nomic Nomic is a game in which changing the rules is a move. In that respect it differs from almost every other game. The primary activity of Nomic is proposing changes in the rules, debating the wisdom of changing them in that way, voting on the changes, deciding what can and cannot be done afterwards, and doing it. Even this core of the game, of course, can be changed. Because the rules are always changing, there is no absolute set of rules to Nomic. There is only the starting or initial set of rules. There are 29 numbered rules in the Initial Set. Most are "procedural" and govern the process of changing the rules or the facts of life in a game where the rules are always changing. The chief exception is Initial Rule 202, which should be read first. Rule 202 is practically the only "substantive" rule in the Initial Set. It tells how to earn points to win. The mechanism is as simple as possible: one throws a die or makes a calculation. The substantive portion of the game is deliberately simple so that the players can decide, through rule-changes, what kind of game they want to play. If they make no decision here, they will be fully occupied in what I call a "procedural" game, which many players choose deliberately. In a substantive game, players aim to score points and win. In a procedural game, players try to tie the rules into the most interesting knots imaginable and to win not by points (Rule 208) but by paradox (Rule 213). Two can play, but three or more make for a better game. With only two players, there is no (initial) difference between unanimity and majority rule, which takes away a lot of the fun. For two-person games, I recommend that an early rule-change add at least one "robot" player who cannot propose changes but who can vote on them by some mechanism (e.g. by a throw of the die). That way two humans can simulate a larger game and distinguish unanimity from lesser majorities. Players will need paper and pencil and, at least in the beginning of face-to-face games, one die. Each player should have a copy of the Initial Set of rules to consult. The physical method of play, other than the die and a requirement to write down all rule-changes, is not specified in the rules. Players can keep track of rule-changes in any way they like. One good way is as follows. Take 29 index cards and number them from 101 to 116 and from 201 to 213. Lay them out on the floor or a large table. Their layout (and perhaps their color as well) should indicate which rules are "immutable" (101-116) and which are "mutable" (201-213). New proposals for rule-changes are also written on index cards, or (to save money) on scratch pads of the same size. If a proposal is adopted, the card is put in its place in the numerical order. If a proposal is an amendment to an existing rule, it lies on top of the card whose rule it amends. If a rule is repealed, its card is simply removed. Save the 29 cards numbered with the Initial Set for use in future games. For more complex games players may prefer to transcribe into their own notebooks the text of each new rule or amendment and to keep a separate list, by number, of the rules still in effect. If this method is adopted, the rules should probably define a "master book" that contains the authoritative text of each rule in case of conflicts or transcribing errors. The constantly changing body of rules makes Nomic a natural for word processors. Players who can share equipment or use a network to display the same file of rules might try to do so. A single player should probably be assigned the responsibility of entering and editing the text. Computers will permit very complex, long-term games to develop. Players may want to plan ahead when they start such a game, attempt to date each amendment and addition, and provide separate files for amended and repealed rules, and defeated proposals, in order to keep a record of the game. Players who try to go beyond text processing and actually put some Nomic bookkeeping in a program are warned that the complexities are subtle. First, such a program should be as easy to modify as the rules of the game, or else the difficulty of changing it will put an unwanted brake on play. 190