Nomic - Variants

Variants

Not only can every aspect of the rules be altered in some way over the course of a game of Nomic, but myriad variants also exist: some that have themes, begin with a single rule, or begin with a dictator instead of a democratic process to validate rules. Others combine Nomic with an existing game (such as Monopoly, chess, or in one humorously paradoxical attempt, Mornington Crescent). There is even a version in which the players are games of Nomic themselves. Even more unusual variants include a ruleset in which the rules are hidden from players' view, and a game which, instead of allowing voting on rules, splits into two sub-games, one with the rule, and one without it.

Online versions often have initial rulesets where play is not turn-based; typically, players in such games may propose rule changes at any time, rather than having to wait for their turn.

One spin-off of a now-defunct Nomic (Nomic World) is the Fantasy Rules Committee, which adds every legal rule submitted by a player to the ruleset until the players run out of ideas, after which all the "fantasy rules" are repealed and the game begins again.

The fictional game Calvinball, played by the main characters in the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, is sometimes compared to Nomic. However, Calvinball appears to have a permanent rule that the same rules may never be used twice; a nomic, at least in its initial state, has no truly permanent rules.