Self Modifying Game

A self-modifying game is one in which the rules affecting how the game is played can be changed by the players, according to rules, during the game.

Sounds like software engineering, except it's not just a game of course. -- PeterForeman

NomicGame is the quintessential and best-known self-modifying game, invented by PeterSuber, and described by DouglasHofstadter, who discusses all sorts of self-reference, self-modification, recursion and meta-behaviours.

MagicTheGathering is self-modifying. Some cards even change the betting rules which govern what card(s) is won by the winner from the loser. Other games exist which use specialty card decks, like KnightmareChess? where the rules of chess change with each card played.

CosmicEncounter? is the early self-modifying game which helped inspire MagicTheGathering.

Illuminatus! NewWorldOrder is an open TradingCardGame which tried to give MagicTheGathering some competition. (It also contains clues to guide wise players into the heart of the real GlobalConspiracy?, and red herrings to distract the foolish.)

Mao and Warthog are self-modifying games played with ordinary decks of cards. Rules available online.

The rules of Mao are available online? Shaaaame. At least, well, at least 1% of the fun is in the fact that when you start playing you don't know quite what the rules are. And of course it's carefully designed to ensure that this state of affairs persists for the entire game.

Fluxx - a card game with modifying goals

I don't consider CalvinBall to be precisely a self-modifying game because it has no rules about how to modify itself. If Hobbes declared that a new rule could not be invented until a round was over, then it would suddenly have become a self-modifying game. -- LisaDusseault

Au contraire, I think CalvinBall is the ultimate SelfModifyingGame. --AalbertTorsius.

What about CoreWars?

Self-modifying players, but the rules don't change.

MagicTheGathering is not quite self-modifying. There is a finite set of rules, and some of the rules only apply in some situations. That is not unusual. A truly SelfModifyingGame like Nomic or Dvorak (http://www.dvorakgame.co.uk) has no limit on the number or scope of the rules. -- OleAndersen

That criticism applies more closely to CosmicEncounter?, at least if you don't use add-on sets, since all the possible rules are already there in the box. Still, the set of rules is large enough, and the players have sufficient control over which rules are in play, to give the feeling of self-modification. -- DaveHarris

Discussion moved to MagicTheGathering

On the other hand, any game is potentially self-modifying, if the process leading up to the actual playing is considered part of the game. I think we should use my house rules and such. -- Ole Andersen

We can also consider "secondary" rules (can't think of a better name right now) - pseudo rules derived as a consequence of the primary rules. For example, in chess the importance of controlling the centre varies as the game progresses. -- DaveHarris

Does the FreeParkingRule in Monopoly count? -- NickBensema

I think this is a joke, but it doesn't count because it is modified before the game starts... not during the game (at least hopefully not during the game...) -- ChuckSmith

It does count, IMNSHO. Choosing which variants and/or HouseRules to play with has substantial influence not only on the game, but also on the perception of the game. -- OleAndersen

To be a self-modifying game, obviously the game must modify itself. While playing Monopoly, no rule changes and therefore it does not count. Somebody might argue that if there was a card which says: You can disable or enable the FreeParkingRule at will then Monopoly would be self-modifying. I would still not agree.

Agreed. To claim that modifying rules before a game makes it self-modifying is to claim that macro expansion and other compiler preprocessing makes for a reflexive language.

The problem with most of the rule-changing games is that they seem quite heavy. Fluxx http://www.wunderland.com/LooneyLabs/Fluxx/Default.html is a great little card game where some cards have new rules on them to play and even the object of the game changes as new cards are played. Great chaotic fun. This was on my mind since I just talked to the designer at JohnCon? (John Hopkins University Game Convention) about it. -- ChuckSmith

Seconded on Fluxx. Had a player come in midway through the game and won on his first turn. Unlike other card games, there's less feel about who's screwing over who when you play this.

Hey, don't forget DrinkingGames, especially QuartersGame?. (QuartersGame? may be an AmericanCulturalAssumption.) -- MikeSmith

Let's not forget Fizzbin.

Or Blitzball, perhaps the first SMG, from JohnKnowles?' book ASeparatePeace.