History Main / LoadsAndLoadsOfRules

** The difference being scientists figuring out rules that people have no choice but to comply with, while lawyers are figuring out rules that either non-lawyers agreed to vote on, then forgot, or ''other lawyers came up within the first place.''

* ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'':
** ''VideoGame/TetrisTheGrandMaster''[='=]s [[GameplayGrading Grade Recognition System]] rules are deceptively complex for a game that's about putting tetrominos into a well to make solid lines. While they basically boil down to "play quickly and make a lot of Tetrises", the exact workings are far more complex than just "more lines means more points":
*** In the first game, the grade system isn't too bad, as it's based on points...that is, until you get to grade S9. To achieve the final grade, Grand Master, simply earning points isn't enough (the game's "Next Grade" display will show the next threshold at "?????? points"), you ''also'' have to meet time-and-grade thresholds at three particular checkpoints during the game. Failure to meet these checkpoints and you're locked out of GM grade.
*** The second game, ''Tetris: The Absolute - The Grand Master 2'' and its UpdatedRerelease ''Tetris: The Absolute - The Grand Master 2 PLUS'' is significantly more complex with how grades work. First of all, your on-screen score doesn't reflect your grade anymore. Then, [[https://tetris.wiki/Grade_Recognition_System#The_Absolute_Plus its version of GRS]] is influenced by several factors: Clearing multiple lines at once and making consecutive line clears, and the hidden points that contribute to your next grade slowly decrease if you don't make new line clears. ''And then'' to get the GM rank, you have to make a certain number of Tetrises in each section, complete each 100-level section within a target time, and for the second half of the game, [[DynamicDifficulty the target time is no longer fixed but instead based on your previous sections' times]]. If you meet ''those'' requirements, then in the MiniGameCredits that follow, your pieces ''turn invisible'' when they lock down and you have to survive for one minute (akin to a TrueFinalBoss), or else you only get an M grade instead of GM.
*** The third game, ''Tetris: The Grand Master 3 - Terror-Instinct'', stacks ''two more'' sub-systems [[https://tetris.wiki/Tetris_The_Grand_Master_3_Terror-Instinct#Master on top of that]]. The version of GRS is carried over to this game, ''and'' implements a new system wherein if you complete a 100-level section[[note]]more specifically, its first 70 levels[[/note]] fast enough, you will get a "COOL!!" bonus that raises your grade by one...but every time you get a COOL!!, the next section's requirements for one will be based on your time for the section you just cleared, [[DoWellButNotPerfect so you can lose COOL!!s because you keep going faster and faster]]. You can't dawdle in 100-level sections either, otherwise you will get a "REGRET!!" and lose one grade. And on top of ''that'', if you make it to level 999, the credits mini-game comes back, ''and'' the lines you clear in this section contribute towards your final grade; normally each piece will vanish 5 seconds after being placed, but meet certain conditions and they will ''immediately'' turn invisible, ''and'' you will earn substantially more points towards your grades. If you master all of that, you will only get a Master M grade and not the coveted GM grade. To get ''that'', you have to get a "Promotional Exam" for a "Qualified" MM rank, which itself requires you to (to oversimplify) maintain an average MM grade over the course of a seven-run period, then take the exam, which is randomly given out and does not give you the option to opt out and get an MM grade there, ''then'' play well enough to be issued the exam for a GM grade.
** Even non-''TGM'' games aren't exempt from this. Modern ''Tetris'' games use what is known as the [[https://tetris.wiki/Super_Rotation_System Super Rotation System]]. In many older ''Tetris'' games, it can be hard to rotate pieces in tight spots, since if the piece's new orientation would be blocked by another block or a wall, the piece will not rotate. So some ''Tetris'' games implemented a "kick" mechanic where if you try to rotate a piece but it would be blocked, the game will attempt to shift its new position to an adjacent space. SRS involves a complex set of tables to determine how pieces should rotate in tight spots. Ironically, the ''TGM'' series' wall kick behavior is much more simple relative to their complex grade systems: If the newly-rotated piece would be blocked, try to shift the piece one cell to the right, then if that doesn't work then shift it one cell to the left instead, and fail if neither of those kicks work.

* ''VideoGame/TetrisTheGrandMaster''[='=]s [[GameplayGrading Grade Recognition System]] rules are deceptively complex for a game that's about putting tetrominos into a well to make solid lines. While they basically boil down to "play quickly and make a lot of Tetrises", the exact workings are far more complex than just "more lines means more points":
** In the first game, the grade system isn't too bad, as it's based on points...that is, until you get to grade S9. To achieve the final grade, Grand Master, simply earning points isn't enough (the game's "Next Grade" display will show the next threshold at "?????? points"), you ''also'' have to meet time-and-grade thresholds at three particular checkpoints during the game. Failure to meet these checkpoints and you're locked out of GM grade.
** The second game, ''Tetris: The Absolute - The Grand Master 2'' and its UpdatedRerelease ''Tetris: The Absolute - The Grand Master 2 PLUS'' is significantly more complex with how grades work. First of all, your on-screen score doesn't reflect your grade anymore. Then, [[https://tetris.wiki/Grade_Recognition_System#The_Absolute_Plus its version of GRS]] is influenced by several factors: Clearing multiple lines at once and making consecutive line clears, and the hidden points that contribute to your next grade slowly decrease if you don't make new line clears. ''And then'' to get the GM rank, you have to make a certain number of Tetrises in each section, complete each 100-level section within a target time, and for the second half of the game, [[DynamicDifficulty the target time is no longer fixed but instead based on your previous sections' times]]. If you meet ''those'' requirements, then in the MiniGameCredits that follow, your pieces ''turn invisible'' when they lock down and you have to survive for one minute (akin to a TrueFinalBoss), or else you only get an M grade instead of GM.
** The third game, ''Tetris: The Grand Master 3 - Terror-Instinct'', stacks ''two more'' sub-systems [[https://tetris.wiki/Tetris_The_Grand_Master_3_Terror-Instinct#Master on top of that]]. The version of GRS is carried over to this game, ''and'' implements a new system wherein if you complete a 100-level section[[note]]more specifically, its first 70 levels[[/note]] fast enough, you will get a "COOL!!" bonus that raises your grade by one...but every time you get a COOL!!, the next section's requirements for one will be based on your time for the section you just cleared, [[DoWellButNotPerfect so you can lose COOL!!s because you keep going faster and faster]]. You can't dawdle in 100-level sections either, otherwise you will get a "REGRET!!" and lose one grade. And on top of ''that'', if you make it to level 999, the credits mini-game comes back, ''and'' the lines you clear in this section contribute towards your final grade; normally each piece will vanish 5 seconds after being placed, but meet certain conditions and they will ''immediately'' turn invisible, ''and'' you will earn substantially more points towards your grades. If you master all of that, you will only get a Master M grade and not the coveted GM grade. To get ''that'', you have to get a "Promotional Exam" for a "Qualified" MM rank, which itself requires you to (to oversimplify) maintain an average MM grade over the course of a seven-run period, then take the exam, which is randomly given out and does not give you the option to opt out and get an MM grade there, ''then'' play well enough to be issued the exam for a GM grade.
[[/folder]]

** The second game, ''Tetris: The Absolute - The Grand Master 2'' and its UpdatedRerelease ''Tetris: The Absolute - The Grand Master 2 PLUS'' is significantly more complex with how grades work. First of all, your on-screen score doesn't reflect your grade anymore. Then, [[https://tetris.wiki/Grade_Recognition_System#The_Absolute_Plus its version of GRS]] is influenced by several factors: Clearing multiple lines at once and making consecutive line clears, and the hidden points that contribute to your next grade slowly decrease if you don't make new line clears. ''And then'' to get the GM rank, you have to make a certain number of Tetrises in each section, complete each 100-level section within a target time, and for the second half of the game, [[DynamicDifficulty the target time is no longer fixed but instead based on your previous sections' times]]. If you meet ''those'' requirements, then in the MiniGameCredits that follow, your pieces ''turn invisible'' when they lock down and you have to survive for one minute, or else you only get an M grade instead of GM.

* ''VideoGame/TetrisTheGrandMaster''[='=]s [[GameplayGrading Grade Recognition System]] rules are deceptively complex for a game that's about putting tetrominos into a well to make solid lines:

** The second game, ''Tetris: The Absolute - The Grand Master 2'' and its UpdatedRerelease ''Tetris: The Absolute - The Grand Master 2 PLUS'' is significantly more complex with how grades work. First of all, your on-screen score doesn't reflect your grade anymore. Then, [[https://tetris.wiki/Grade_Recognition_System#The_Absolute_Plus its version of GRS]] is influenced by several factors: Clearing multiple lines at once and making consecutive line clears, and the hidden points that contribute to your next grade slowly decrease if you don't make new line clears. ''And then'' to get the GM rank, you have to make a certain number of Tetrises in each section, complete each 100-level section within a target time, and for the second half of the game, the target time is no longer fixed but instead based on your previous sections' times. If you meet ''those'' requirements, then in the MiniGameCredits that follow, your pieces ''turn invisible'' when they lock down and you have to survive for one minute, or else you only get an M grade instead of GM.
** The third game, ''Tetris: The Grand Master 3 - Terror-Instinct'', stacks ''two more'' sub-systems [[https://tetris.wiki/Tetris_The_Grand_Master_3_Terror-Instinct#Master on top of that]]. The version of GRS is carried over to this game, ''and'' implements a new system wherein if you complete a 100-level section[[note]]more specifically, its first 70 levels[[/note]] fast enough, you will get a "COOL!!" bonus that raises your grade by one...but every time you get a COOL!!, [[DynamicDifficulty the next section's requirements for one will be based on your time for the section you just cleared]], [[DoWellButNotPerfect so you can lose COOL!!s because you keep going faster and faster]]. You can't dawdle in 100-level sections either, otherwise you will get a "REGRET!!" and lose one grade. And on top of ''that'', if you make it to level 999, the credits mini-game comes back, ''and'' the lines you clear in this section contribute towards your final grade; normally each piece will vanish 5 seconds after being placed, but meet certain conditions and they will ''immediately'' turn invisible, ''and'' you will earn substantially more points towards your grades. If you master all of that, you will only get a Master M grade and not the coveted GM grade. To get ''that'', you have to get a "Promotional Exam" for a "Qualified" MM rank, which itself requires you to (to oversimplify) maintain an average MM grade over the course of a seven-run period, then take the exam, which is randomly given out and does not give you the option to opt out and get an MM grade there, ''then'' play well enough to be issued the exam for a GM grade.

** As pointed out in the Spoony One's review, starting from ''Nightmare II'', more and more sets of cards started to be introduced that broke the game flow. Chief among them was ''Nightmare III'''s "spell cards" - there were several named spells, but they wouldn't work unless you had a specific pair of cards from the deck ''and'' someone read the activation phrase off a specific time card, which was virtually impossible to do in the course of an hour-long game. Likewise, cards that expressly gave one player permission to ask another for a specific spell card wouldn't work because the one being asked wouldn't voluntarily give an advantage to someone else.
--> '''Spoony''': So assuming you get the ''two'' exact spell cards you need out of this entire deck (sprays all the spell cards into the air), which you won't, and someone else gets the time card with the activation phrase you need to play the spell, which they won't, and the time card hasn't already expired, which, trust me, it has, yeah, ''then'' you can play your spell.

* One of the most famous examples was the ''TabletopGame/StarWarsCustomizableCardGame'', from the genre's height; some people for whom ''[=M:tG=]'' is breakfast, lunch, and dinner still can't hear the word "attrition" without curling up into a ball. The glossary was about ''four times'' the length of the core rulebook. That said, the rules did provide a very solid, balanced, even briefly popular game once you wrapped your head around them, and underground circles persist to this day. [[note]] For the (morbidly) curious: "attrition" was a minimum total of the "forfeit value" of the character and vehicle cards "forfeited" (discarded from play) after a battle, and it was determined if the total "ability" was four or greater (i.e., one Jedi or trainee, one major character and one {{Mook}}, two {{Mauve Shirt}}s, or four {{Mook}}s), by "drawing destiny," i.e., choosing a random card and looking at a number - just for these and some other pseudo-dice rolls - generally inversely proportional to how much of a powerhouse the single card was (to encourage more balanced decks). These forfeits also counted toward "battle damage," sustained only by the losing side based on the difference in "power," plus the "destiny" drawn above, which could also be paid one point at a time by discarding from the hand or deck (although attrition could not be), and had to be paid in full even if all the characters in the battle were gone; also, characters hit by a weapon, unless the weapon said otherwise, also counted toward both. Finally, many, ''many'' characters were "immune to attrition (< x)" where, if all the other cards were gone, and the initial (not just remaining) attrition had been less than x, remaining attrition (but not battle damage) could be ignored. This is all assuming there are no cards with less common effects mucking things up, of course, which there usually ''were''. [[/note]]
** Also, just to give an idea what the glossary was like, one entry dealt with how, precisely, to interpret a card (appropriately called "Brainiac") with a destiny of pi and power of ''sqrt(3(number of cards in opponent's hand - number of cards in your hand) + 2(a gauge of opponent's strategic strength from battlefields in play - a gauge of yours) + pi)'', but always at least 1. How, then? Well, to start, it insists that these values ''not'' be rounded...

*** ''Webcomic/FullFrontalNerdity'' [[http://ffn.nodwick.com/?p=191 once joked]] that a full, every-rule D&D computer game would never be released because [[LogicBomb the contradictions cause computers to explode.]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' is a game that has this as its mission statement. The core rule books for 4th Edition is 450 pages long with only 10 devoted to the vaguely defined {{Multiverse}} setting. Splat books inevitably add rules for specific situations that show up in the setting or genre they describe. 3e had rules for ''sliding down banisters'', including the [[GroinAttack consequences of not taking due care when you get to the bottom.]] In fact, GURPS often has multiple (non-overlapping) rules for the same action depending on the setting.
** That said, GURPS also ''subverts'' this in that most of the rules are explicitly optional. The game designers have noted that there are only three mechanics that MUST be learned: success rolls (roll low on 3d6), reaction rolls (roll high on 3d6) and damage rolls.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}'' has such a ridiculously boggled set of rules that it's known among fans as "The best-selling game that nobody actually plays". It doesn't help that the books aren't very well organized - in the core book, for example, the only mention in the entire book of how you resolve skill rolls is in the ''glossary''.

** ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' and ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' both have core books that contain the games' standard rules, and each faction has an Army Book or Codex that will tell you how to use them on the tabletop, so at the very minimum, you just need those two books. But if you're trying to get a sense of what your opponents are capable of, that will involve buying up to sixteen other army rulebooks. However, this doesn't account for campaign books, expansions, or variant game type rulebooks that introduce additional units, datasheets, characters, wargear or formations, or rules that only appeared in a specific issue of ''Magazine/WhiteDwarf'' magazine. And then you'll have to track down [=FAQs=] or rulings that correct or clarify issues with the above rule sources. And then you argue over anything not covered by those official rulings, and whether it's better to read the Rules As Intended or Rules As Written.
*** As an example, to have access to everything in the Tyranid army you'll need ''Codex: Tyranids'', all three ''Leviathan'' supplements, the ''Shield of Baal: Deathstorm'' mini-booklet, the ''Shield of Baal: Leviathan'' campaign book (distinct from the three previous ''Leviathan'' books), the datasheets missing from ''Shield of Baal: Leviathan'' which consist of six different pages printed across four different issues of ''Magazine/WhiteDwarf''...and if you want to use any Bio-Titans or stuff from GW's Forge World subsidiary, you're looking at additional ''Imperial Armour'' books. Oh, did we mention that all of this will be rendered obsolete every few years, whenever a new edition and codex roll around?

* ''TabletopGame/PhoenixCommand''. The game used real ballistics tables for calculating damage. Its hit location table had ''twelve tables inside of it''. This was apparently deliberate; the creators didn't want to compromise on realism.

*** One of the major selling points for the new game ''Eldritch Horror'' has been "Arkham Horror, but streamlined, more fast-paced and globe-trotting" and taking half the playtime (meaning it still clocks in at around 2-4 hours).
* The board game ''Cosmic Encounter'' has so many rule variants that it is possible to play it a dozen times or more and never play the same game twice.
** At least partly this is because in CE, players draw an "alien" card to determine which race they're playing as. Each race's "[[Main/PlanetOfHats hat]]" is the ability to break the rules in a particular and unique way.

* Having grown from an 80s beer-and-pretzels game for reasonably detailed and flavorful duels and skirmishes between HumongousMecha into a fully-featured futuristic wargame by organically adding bits and pieces on a case-by-case basis, ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' has a pretty solid case of this. It's not quite literally true that (for example) ''every'' piece of equipment that might be encountered and every critical hit that could happen have their own special-case rules...but it does get pretty close, and that's just using the "standard" tournament rules without going into the additional options offered by such further tomes as ''Tactical Operations''. Rules for [[SpacePlane aerospace fighers]] and [[MileLongShip WarShips]] (in the ''Aerotech'' spinoff) are infamous for being nightmarishly complicated (''especially'' with the optional zero-SpaceFriction rules) with [[SubsystemDamage hugely complicated record sheets]] and requiring things like rotation, height, and motion of travel having to be recorded or calculated every turn.

* [[http://www.fantasycomic.com/index.php?p=c553 This strip]] of ''Webcomic/ChasingTheSunset''.

* A UsefulNotes/WorldWarI wargame in ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable'' features these. It came in a genuine military surplus footlocker, features ''at least'' three different table-sized maps, and has enough rules and variable factors to choke a small horse. The entire game cost $400, which was split between ten or so players who would be in on the first game with the winner getting to keep it for himself. Four years later (i.e. as long as the actual war), ''the first game is still going'' (though only Weird Pete and Brian are still actively playing). The game itself is [[UpToEleven an exaggerated]] (though not by much) version of ''TabletopGame/AdvancedSquadLeader'', requiring over twelve hours to play a single turn involving two players, with such factors as weather, politics, population growth, food supplies, and so forth. And that's only what's shown on screen.

* One of the many criticisms of ''TabletopGame/{{FATAL}}'', whose creator thought you might really need to know the number of words your character can say in a minute...or what volume of cargo you can pack should you ever decide to become a cocaine mule...or an entire chart for "anal circumference"...why on Earth would they think that?

* ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}'' has such a ridiculously boggled set of rules that it's known among fans as "The best-selling game that nobody actually plays".

* The whole plot of Iain M. Banks' ''Literature/ThePlayerOfGames'' concerns the hyper-complicated game of Azad in the Empire of Azad. The game and the Empire are synonymous, and it is meant to reflect absolutely every single aspect of it. Your skill at the game determines your position in the Empire, up to and including becoming Emperor. Thats the official version at least - unsurprisingly, the system is intentionally weighed in favor of the upper classes.
* Quidditch in ''Literature/HarryPotter'' has over 700 fouls, including, among others, not being allowed to release 200 vampire bats from underneath one’s robes. Why this needed to be made a rule is [[NoodleIncident anyone’s guess]].