---
key: mechanic/time-world-rules--t257
type: mechanic
id: time-world-rules--t257
lang: en
title: Changing rules and interface metagames
summary: >-
  Players change an active rule or treat interface elements as world objects,
  expanding ordinary permitted transformations.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/time-world-rules--t257/'
jsonUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/time-world-rules--t257.json
markdownUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/time-world-rules--t257.md
aliases:
  - Changing rules and metagames
tags:
  - 'Time, information and world rules'
  - Mechanics and variants
sourceIds:
  - source-eceba0e40b661634
  - source-d99c3809fdf4654d
sources:
  - id: source-eceba0e40b661634
    title: 'PuzzleScript: Rules'
    url: 'https://www.puzzlescript.net/Documentation/rules.html'
    verifiedAt: null
  - id: source-d99c3809fdf4654d
    title: Baba Is You
    url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/736260/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: time-world-rules
    id: t257
    title: 'Time, information and world rules'
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/time-world-rules/#t257'
    categoryIds:
      - mechanics
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: Changing rules and metagames
    description: >-
      Players change an active rule or treat interface elements as world
      objects, expanding ordinary permitted transformations.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/adventure-baba-is-you-00.webp
      width: 850
      height: 472
      game: Baba Is You
      sourceUrl: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/736260/'
      originalUrl: >-
        https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/736260/ss_908c8a4fd0ffec9f29341eb50eb7f074c105342f.1920x1080.jpg?t=1760102539
      credit: Hempuli Oy
      rights: >-
        Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed
        Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.
      caption: Words on the board also define the game’s rules
      alt: Words on the board also define the game’s rules
      markers:
        - x: 35
          'y': 70
          label: A rule is formed from movable words
        - x: 13
          'y': 10
          label: Another rule defines the win condition
    tips:
      - Distinguish changing a rule from moving an ordinary object.
    examples:
      - title: Baba Is You
        url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/736260/'
endsAt: null
provenance: >-
  Original bilingual editorial overviews authored for gamemechanics.pro on
  2026-10-20 and reviewed on 2026-10-21. Scenarios are hypothetical design
  examples; prototype checks describe work to perform, not completed playtests.
  Primary sources support the stated techniques and implementation context, not
  every proposed variant.
license: CC-BY-4.0
codeLicense: MIT
attribution: gamemechanics.pro contributors
catalogKey: catalog/time-world-rules
---
# Changing rules and interface metagames

id: time-world-rules--t257
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/time-world-rules--t257
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/time-world-rules--t257/

Players change an active rule or treat interface elements as world objects, expanding ordinary permitted transformations.

## At a glance

![Words on the board also define the game’s rules](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/adventure-baba-is-you-00.webp)

[Baba Is You](https://store.steampowered.com/app/736260/) · Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.

1. A rule is formed from movable words
2. Another rule defines the win condition

- Distinguish changing a rule from moving an ordinary object.

- [Baba Is You](https://store.steampowered.com/app/736260/)

## How it works

Players change an active rule or treat interface elements as world objects, expanding ordinary permitted transformations.

## Variants

### Mechanic variants

<a id="t257-variants"></a>

- Rule words change properties of an object group. <a id="t257-v1"></a>
- Reordering conditions changes the victory method. <a id="t257-v2"></a>
- Interface windows become movable geometry. <a id="t257-v3"></a>
- Rule changes have a visible scope of effect. <a id="t257-v4"></a>

## Design example

Replacing a rule's wall with door opens passages but simultaneously removes a needed support.

Prototype check: Test self-applying rules and recovery after creating a state with no available actions.

## Context and limits

Time and space rules change action causality; the interface must show which state survives a transformation. Each overview separates player actions, state changes and alternative rules. Examples are hypothetical design scenarios, not claims about a named game. A prototype check states an observable question for the next iteration. Existing detailed references remain separately linked from the direction map.

## Connected materials


## Sources and provenance

Original bilingual editorial overviews authored for gamemechanics.pro on 2026-10-20 and reviewed on 2026-10-21. Scenarios are hypothetical design examples; prototype checks describe work to perform, not completed playtests. Primary sources support the stated techniques and implementation context, not every proposed variant.

- [PuzzleScript: Rules](https://www.puzzlescript.net/Documentation/rules.html) (id: source-eceba0e40b661634)
- [Baba Is You](https://store.steampowered.com/app/736260/) (id: source-d99c3809fdf4654d)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors