The Rules tab on a game gives you a rich-text editor for drafting your rulebook. It's not a layout tool, for final printed rules you'll typically take the text into a layout app, but for an iterating draft, it's where the rulebook should live.

What this page helps you do

Open the Rules editor.
Write rules with structure (headings, lists, callouts).
Add images and tables when needed.
Export to PDF for sharing or printing.

Open the Rules tab

On the game's page, click Rules. You land on the editor with whatever content already exists.

If this is the first time, the editor is empty.

The editor

The Rules editor supports:

Headings (H1, H2, H3) for sections.
Bold, italic, underline.
Bulleted and numbered lists: including nested.
Tables for matrices and reference grids.
Inline images: drag in or use the toolbar.
Block quotes and callouts for emphasis.
Code-style formatting for game terms (rare in board games but useful for game-specific vocabulary).

Typing works as you'd expect. The toolbar at the top of the editor exposes formatting; most options also have keyboard shortcuts.

Structuring a rulebook

Most game rulebooks follow a similar structure. A useful default outline:

Overview, what is this game about, in 1–2 paragraphs.
Components, what's in the box. (You can mirror the Components tab here, but the rules version is the player-facing one.)
Setup, step-by-step, often a numbered list.
Goal, how to win.
Round structure, turn flow, phases.
Actions, what players can do on a turn.
End of game, when the game ends, scoring, breaking ties.
Reference / appendix, special cases, FAQ, edge rules.

Use H1 for the game's title, H2 for top-level sections, H3 for sub-sections. Don't go deeper than H3, readers get lost.

Iterating

The Rules editor is the place to iterate. As your game changes, update the rules; export when you need a snapshot.

If you maintain rules elsewhere (Google Docs, InDesign), use Boardssey Rules as the playtest version, the working draft that changes frequently, and keep your polished version externally for layout.

For tracking version-by-version changes, see Game versions and changelog.

Adding images

Drag an image into the editor. It's embedded inline. Use this for:

Setup diagrams: what the table looks like at the start.
Component examples: "this is what an action card looks like."
Iconography reference: what each icon means.

For full-bleed page art, that's a layout tool's job; keep rule images small and explanatory.

Tables

Click the table tool. Pick rows and columns. The table is editable cell by cell.

Use tables for:

Cost tables: what each action costs.
Reference matrices: when X happens with Y, the result is Z.
Component breakdowns: quantity × type × variant.

Don't use tables for layout (multi-column text). Tables are for tabular data only.

Export to PDF

Click Export in the editor (or the ⋯ menu) and pick PDF. The rules render to a print-ready PDF with whatever formatting you've used.

Use this for:

Sharing with playtesters before a session.
Sending to publishers as part of a pitch.
Printing for in-person playtests.

The PDF output is functional, not designed. For a designed final rulebook, export the text and lay it out in InDesign or similar.

Tips & common questions

Can I version the rules? The Rules editor itself doesn't keep version history visible to you in detail. To preserve a snapshot, export to PDF before a major rewrite. Game versions and changelog covers tracking changes at the game level.

Can two people edit the rules at the same time? Concurrent editing is supported but heavy simultaneous editing on the same paragraph can have minor conflicts. Coordinate when collaborating live.

Can I import rules from a Word doc? Paste from Word usually preserves headings and bullets. Complex formatting (footnotes, comments, tracked changes) doesn't translate.

Where does the rulebook show up publicly? On the public catalog game page if you've toggled rules public, the rulebook is linked. See Add a game to your public catalog.

Can I have multiple rulebooks (one quickstart, one full)? Today each game has one Rules document. For a separate quickstart, maintain it in Notes or in External resources.