---
title: "On simple and complex games"
author: "Stan Voo"
url: https://www.99rabbits.com/blog/on-simple-and-complex-games
published: 2010-08-09
summary: "The more rules a game has, the fewer people want to play it. That goes for web services, and just as much for laws, the state and business."
---

# On simple and complex games

![](https://www.99rabbits.com/blog/on-simple-and-complex-games-1.webp)

The more rules, the more complex the game. And the fewer people will want to play it. Want laws not to be obeyed? Make them complex and incomprehensible.

People don't like complicated things. [Google Wave](http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/update-on-google-wave.html) turned out to be too complicated. [Twitter](http://twitter.com/) is simple and growing.

**People have no time to figure out complicated things.** Technology has already made our world so informationally voluminous (it was really hard to find the words here) that we no longer need all this information. There's a new task: "getting information" is giving way to "filtering information". That's a big difference. Information is no longer valuable.

**Classifications are now useless.** Imagine a modern classification of occupations! Eh? Paper encyclopedias are useless.

There's no point even trying to print modern encyclopedias. You won't make it in time: you'll have to correct them!

Soon it will be impossible to write manuals: you won't be able to describe every possible situation and object. We need principles instead of manuals. We need "visions" (a disgusting word, isn't it?) instead of rules. This only looks like simplification; in fact it reflects growing complexity.

People want, and will want more and more, greater simplicity. People will demand **simplicity and speed.** That's about interfaces and web services. And to the same degree it's about social institutions. Draw the parallel. Laws and the state. Society. Business.