Watch any group of children playing in a courtyard and you will see something remarkable: long before an adult arrives, they are already negotiating rules. “That doesn’t count!” “You have to start again!” “Last time we said three lives!” Rules are not something imposed on play from outside – they are the way players build fairness and trust together. In this lesson we look at what rules actually do, and why the informal nature of traditional games gives you, the facilitator, a special responsibility.

01What rules do

The I-PLAY Training Curriculum identifies three core functions of rules in any game:

• They create fairness. Everyone knows what is allowed and what is not, so success depends on playing, not on bending the rules.
• They draw the line between play and harm. Rules define where effort, contact and competition stop being fun and start being dangerous.
• They signal shared expectations. When rules are clear, players can relax and trust each other, because they know what will happen next.

When rules are unclear or unfairly applied, trust breaks down quickly. Some players stop trying; others become aggressive or withdraw. Often the first to drop out are the participants who already felt least sure they belonged: the newcomer who does not fully understand the language, the young person with a disability who is unsure whether an adaptation is “allowed”, the girl who has been told she is not good at sport.

02Rules in traditional games: informal by nature

In traditional games, rules are rarely written down, rarely uniform and rarely fixed. They are passed on orally and agreed locally. The same game may be played with five stones in one village and seven in the next; the throwing line in La Rana may be closer or further depending on who is playing. Historically, community authority – older players, families, the village – kept the game fair and safe.

This informality is both the charm and the challenge of traditional games. The charm: rules can be adapted to the group without “breaking” the game. The challenge: when you bring a game into a new setting – a youth club, a school gym, a public park – you inherit the role that the community once played. You become responsible for making sure the rules are fair, understood and safe for every person present.

03Holding the line and adapting

Module 2 is about developing professional judgement: knowing when to hold the line and when to adapt. A useful principle from the curriculum is that this decision is never arbitrary – it is always grounded in the safety and inclusion of every person in the room.

Adapting is not “watering down” a tradition. Because rules in traditional games have always been negotiated, thoughtful adaptation continues the tradition rather than breaking it.

04Rules and authenticity

A guiding question of this module asks how to balance the authenticity of a game with the safety needs of the group in front of you. One practical approach is to teach the “heritage version” first – by telling or showing how the game is traditionally played – and then explain clearly which rules you are adjusting today and why. This respects the game’s origin and helps participants understand that adaptations are a deliberate choice, not a mistake.

05Ground rules: more than game rules

Besides the rules of the game itself, every I-PLAY session has ground rules about how people treat each other. The Digital Toolkit recommends agreeing two or three simple ground rules with the group at the start – for example respect, participation and no pressure. When participants help create these rules, they feel ownership and are more likely to keep them. Ground rules also give you a neutral reference point if conflict arises later: “Remember what we agreed together?”