Evernote and Rules

I write everything that pops into my head in Evernote.

The increasing list of ideas and notes that was being kept up with became impossible to reference, so I decided it was time, after just a week or so, to write up some rules.  I believe there is a best structure to rules and explaining/teaching a game:

Name
Theme
Who am I?
Victory Condition
Components List
Round Order
Turn Structure
Common Special Rules(combat/auctions/special actions/etc)
Miscellaneous

I also believe in writing out clear goals for a project.  I need to be able to forget what I was doing or why I was doing it, and be able to go back and read what my past self wrote and start back up again.  If you don't know what exactly your goals are, you won't know how to sort feedback, find collaborators, or make decisions between similarly good choices.

So, I sorted that out, and that always helps me see where my game is unready.  Usually there is an entire facet of the game I have ignored, like turn structure, victory condition, etc.

Almost every part of this document changes over and over.  One thing that doesn't get changed much is the goals.  Here is that section:

"Design Goals:Produce a heavily thematic set collection game with emergent strategy.  The game should start slow and simple, while decisions will grow increasingly complex as the game goes on, and end swiftly.  It should feel tense yet lighthearted.  Players should benefit from different pacing strategies, knowing that if they advance too fast, they will be vulnerable, and if they get left behind, they are in a good place to catch up while the big crabs are fighting."