History Main / HouseRules

* Mocked in the article [[https://ronjeffries.com/xprog/articles/jatbaseball/ We Tried Baseball and It Didn't Work]], where some people decide to try baseball and don't like the official rules, so they make a bunch of inane "improvements" like replacing baseballs with wooden socks. When they have a bad time playing it, they blame it on [[NeverMyFault baseball being a bad game]].

* Mocked in the article [[https://ronjeffries.com/xprog/articles/jatbaseball/ We Tried Baseball and It Didn't Work]], where a group dscides to try baseball and doesn't like the official rules, so they make a bunch of inane "improvements" like replacing baseballs with wooden socks. When they have a bad time playing it, they blame it on [[NeverMyFault baseball being a bad game]].

** Another sees Igor describe the rules for what appears to be a typical RPG, until Matt frustratedly reveals in the last panel that they're playing ''TabletopGame/CandyLand''.

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'':
** Due to the customizability of the matches, house rules are easy to implement. And due to the Smash series being random and chaotic by default, they are widely deployed in competitive TournamentPlay scenarios to remove chaotic elements and create order and fairness to ensure that the winner is determined solely by show of skill. The tournament ruleset is varies slightly by installment and is too complex to list here but always restricts play to a limited subset of levels and requires that the random appearance of items be turned off.

* ''VideoGame/SimCity'', in all its KobayashiMario glory, is nothing but a game to be set by {{Self Imposed Challenge}}s and House Rules. Considering you can even use real-world urban planning and rules, it's no wonder why some [[SeriousBusiness incredibly well-built cities]] awe so many people... unless they used a GameMod.

** ''VideoGame/RiseOfNations'' has its own "no rush" mechanic that can be enforced before players reach a certain age, typically the [[TheCavalierYears Gunpowder Age]]. Outside of games using this mechanic, rushing is considered an acceptable strategy, due to its inherently high risk.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' has "draft"-style play, a common houserule for people playing together, where the players pick characters one by one, then play games side-by-side using only the characters they picked (similar to a sports draft). How exactly the draft shakes out can vary, but usually [[CantDropTheHero both players can use the Lord]], and particularly centralizing or overpowered characters (i.e. a very strong CrutchCharacter) will be limited in some way, such as both players being allowed to use them early on, and then them being banned afterward.

* How Blinds (bidding X books before the cards are dealt) are supposed to work in Spades, or even if said gambit is available. Whether you can call for one at any time or only after you're down X points. Do you automatically get them if you go into negative points? Standard scoring for failed blind or double-points? How they work usually depends on who you play with.

* The [[{{Calvinball}} faux-game]] ''[[Radio/ImSorryIHaventAClue Mornington Crescent]]'' consists almost ''entirely'' of the players "arguing" about which house rules are in effect for the particular game. Minutiae such as what day of the week it is, whether the House of Lords is in session at the time of play, and how many buttons are on the shirt being worn by the player to your right can all potentially be [[Main/SeriousBusiness of significance]].

** If you want to make the games even more chaotic than they already are, try skipping all the minigame explaination screens. [[FanNickname This is sometimes known as]] ''[[VideoGame/WarioWare Wario Party]]'' mode.

* Playing ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsThirdEdition'' without house rules is currently pretty much unheard of.

** Probably one of the most popular house rules in the third edition is adding experience points after each accomplishment (eg. defeating a monster) instead of at the end of each adventure (as suggested in Player's Handbook). Obviously the limit of one level-up per adventure is usually omitted as well.

** Many groups also implement more generous ability score generation methods than the defaults listed in the book or allow rerolls when a character is stuck with nigh unplayable stats. This was more common in earlier editions when HonestRollsCharacter was the default (six ability scores rolled in order with no rerolls). With third edition, the rules were changed to favor above average rolls (since the main characters are heroes) and to allow a complete set of rolls to be thrown out if they didn't meet certain minimum criteria. Point buy is also an official rule variant. So now, the HonestRollsCharacter is a house rule.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsFifthEdition'' has such a plethora of house rules that it would take a dedicated page just to list them all. All that can be said for now is that it has led to tales from players and [=DMs=] alike, and even the famous ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' show.

* Cass in ''Film/TheGamersDorknessRising'' argues with Lodge's HouseRules frequently. Of course, he is a {{Munchkin}}.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}'', in particular, is often modified. It's intentionally created with no balance to speak of, and each power, spell, and piece of technology is written without considering how it interacts with the rest of the system. Most of the rules were initially created for other Palladium games that focused on human (or human-ish) characters: Ninjas & Superspies, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Robotech, etc. Since Rifts has everything from super-powered humans to giant mecha to demons to gods in it, there aren't any guidelines for, say, when your martial arts stop being effective. (6-foot human throwing a 7-foot insect with Judo? Not mentioned, but probably okay. 6-foot human throwing a 25-foot demon? Still not mentioned.) For bonus points, the rules are (intentionally?) just slightly vague. For extra special bonus points, the entire Palladium game system (of which Rifts is a member) is supposedly cross-compatible, but each particular game uses slightly different rules. Main/HouseRules to the rescue!

* Virtually all Pen and Paper roleplaying games have houserules of some kind, and in fact many games encourage a DM to alter or change rules to make for a smoother game.

* HouseRules for most ''TabletopGame/HeroSystem'' campaigns were more about the flavor of the setting than modifying the actual game, though there were always additions to the already long list of Advantages and Disadvantages.
* ''TabletopGame/BigEyesSmallMouth'', having been built with the entire anime genre in mind, requires HouseRules and various GM fiats to keep the vaguely-written, easily [[RulesLawyer exploitable]] phrasing on the book rules in check. While most of them are internally consistent, conflicts between opposing Attributes can very quickly devolve into shouting matches.

* ''VideoGame/SimCity'', in all its KobayashiMario glory, is nothing but a game to be set by {{Self Imposed Challenge}}s and HouseRules. Considering you can even use real-world urban planning and rules, it's no wonder why some [[SeriousBusiness incredibly well-built cities]] awe so many people... unless they used a GameMod.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsFifthEdition'' has such a plethora of house rules that it would take a dedicated page just to list them all. All that can be said for now is that it has led to tales from players and DMs alike, and even the famous ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' show.

* Playing ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons 3.x'' without house rules is currently pretty much unheard of.
** In fact, what ended up in 3rd Edition that wasn't in 2nd?

* The radio panel show ''Radio/TheUnbelievableTruth'', where four panellists each give a short lecture on a subject that is entirely false save for five true facts which the other panellists have to try and spot, has established two "unofficial" rules over its lifetime. The first is that a panellist can guess that the ''next'' thing the current speaker is going to say is true before it's actually said, and the second is that panellists can get bonus points from truths the speaker accidentally included apart from the five they were given (which tend to be examples of ExactWords or LoopholeAbuse more than anything).

* HouseRules: Discussed in-universe in ''VisualNovel/{{Melody}}'', when a bunch of people at the college party play Suck ‘n’ Blow. The protagonist mentions that while he played the same game when he was in college, the rules are slightly different from the ones he played with.