About Family Game Rules
Family Game Rules is a free site of card, dice, domino and board game rules written in plain words. It is for anyone at a table with the game already out.
What this site is
The site holds the rules for 40 games, from Go Fish and War to Euchre, Cribbage, Yahtzee and Backgammon. Each page is written for a person who wants to start playing in a couple of minutes, or who needs to settle an argument in the middle of a game.
The rules are short and in everyday language. A word that only players of the game know is explained the first time it appears.
What every game page gives you
- A quick start that covers the whole game in 6 steps.
- Setup, how a turn or round goes, scoring and how the game is won.
- Answers to the disputes people look up mid-game.
- A one-page rule sheet and a one-page score sheet, both free to print.
- A scorekeeper that works on your phone.
- A list of what you need to play, with links to buy it if you want to.
- The two sources the page was checked against, and the date it was checked.
How the rules are made and checked
Every game page is written in our own words from two sources. The sources are named at the bottom of the page under Checked against, with the date we checked them.
After the page is written, it is checked against both sources again, line by line. Every number on the page has to match. Then a separate reader who did not write the page checks it again from the sources, without seeing the writer’s notes.
Many games are played differently from house to house. Where the sources disagree, the page gives the most common rule first and lists the other rules as variations.
Corrections
If you read a rule differently, tell us. Send the game, the rule and where you read it, and the source if you can. We check the report against the sources. A confirmed mistake is fixed, and the page’s checked date is updated.
Who pays for the pages
No game maker pays for these pages or reviews them, and the site is not affiliated with any game maker. Game names are used only to say which game a page is about. The site is paid for by ads and by Amazon links, which are explained on the disclosure page.
What the site leaves out
Casino games and drinking games are not covered. That includes games played for money against a house and games where the rules ask players to drink. Poker appears only as a hand rankings chart.
Who publishes it
Family Game Rules is published by Evergreen Digital Media LLC, an Oregon company.