NO RULES:
An Imagination Game

NO RULES: Governors Island Edition
(rule sheet, front)

NO RULES: Governors Island Edition (installation)

NO RULES: Governors Island Edition (playing)

NO RULES is a game that I invented in high school. It was originally a two-person drawing game, played on scrap paper, often in a library during lunch.

Fundamentally, NO RULES is a game of attack and defense, players imagine and then express scenarios in which their opponent must imaginatively counter.

There are no rules to NO RULES except one: you cannot repeat yourself.

Each variation of NO RULES offers a different scenario, roles for the players to take on, and a goal.

The game often triggers competitive play but ultimately winning is secondary to the chance to create a series of imaginative scenarios* together. I see it as a kind of storytelling and debate.

A game of NO RULES ends when one player runs out of ideas and gives up, or when a player accidentally repeats* themselves. The games can go on forever between two imaginative players and can also end in a tie, with both player agreeing to stop.

*How unique is unique? In the context of the game, “unique” is enough significant variation from previous ideas to satisfy both players. Agreement should be reached in the spirit of creating a series of curious scenarios rather than winning via technicality

I am currently unbeaten.

NO RULES: Kill the Bunny (detail, from video)

NO RULES: Kill the Bunny (detail, from video)