I literally wrote the rulebook...

Writing the rulebook for a board game is a very different process to writing instructions for a video game, and it's a fascinating process.

In a video game, the rules are built in, so it's effectively impossible to break them either on purpose or accidentally unless the design actively allows it. For that reason, it's fairly rare for all aspects of rules to be explicitly stated except as part of a tutorial or reference guide - mostly the basics are simply introduced as needed and the player picks up on the details through experience.

In a board game, the game depends on all players understanding the rules enough to follow them accurately and without discrepancies between players. That requires a rulebook that is quick and easy to read, but also perfectly communicates every detail of the rules. That perfect rulebook is the Holy Grail of board game design.

For Glass Ceiling, the target audience may not be regular board game players so I have had to be more careful about the rules containing jargon or niche language than might have been necessary with a game targeted at experienced tabletop gamers.

All that being the case, I have been writing up the rulebook this week with a focus on principles of Plain English, using plenty of pictures in place of the equivalent thousand words, and using structures based on the long experience of others in the industry.

Here's a sneak peak of the game setup image for a two-player game.