51 Optional Nuzlocke Rules to Customize Your Challenge

Optional rules are a great way to customize your Nuzlocke.

Whether you’re looking to make the game easier, harder, or just more unique, we’ve put together a list of 51 optional rules to help you create the perfect Nuzlocke ruleset for your skill level – and for the specific type of experience you’re looking to get out of your Nuzlocke. For convenience, the list is split into categories based on whether the rules increase or decrease difficulty, or simply add variety.

Let’s get started!

Optional Nuzlocke Rules

Rules to Make Nuzlockes Harder

If your recent Nuzlocke successes have you feeling smug, here are some optional rules to boost your next run’s difficulty!

1. Limit yourself to using each Pokémon Center once.
2. Ban using the Pokémon Center completely!
3. Enforce Level Caps (your Pokémon can’t be a higher level than the next Gym Leader’s highest-levelled Pokémon – click here for a list of level caps in every Pokémon game).
4. Limit your team size to the same number of Pokémon as the next Gym Leader.
5. Once you enter a Gym, you aren’t allowed to leave it until you defeat the Gym Leader.
6. “Completionist Clause”: Force yourself to battle every optional trainer possible before challenging the next Gym.
7. Use “Set” battle mode.
8. Ban the use of healing items in battle.
9. If that seems too tough, limit yourself to one healing item per battle.
10. Alternatively, allow the use of healing items but ONLY the ones you pick up off the ground – no purchasing them.
11. No turning back – once you leave a route, area, or city, you may not return (unless required to).
12. Ban certain powerful Pokémon like Gyarados or Garchomp.
13. Ban all Pokémon above a certain “tier” (see our tier list index for some examples).
14. Ban the use of Starter Pokémon (release it after catching your first encounter).
15. Ban all “Gift” Pokémon (any Pokémon or Egg given to you by an NPC).
16. Ban setup or stat boosting moves like Dragon Dance, Encore, or Substitute.
17. Ban TMs – Pokémon are only allowed to use moves they learn by level up.
18. Do the run “blind” – ban online references.
19. No damage calculators.
20. Banning held items.
21. Banning moves above a certain Base Power.
22. Banning STAB moves.
23. Banning non-STAB moves.
24. Banning the use of super-effective moves.
25. Use only single-stage and/or not-fully-evolved Pokémon.
26. Banning Pokémon of a certain type.
27. Use ONLY Pokémon of a certain type (a Monolocke).
28. Ban dual-type Pokémon.
29. Use ONLY dual-type Pokémon.
30. Don’t allow any of your party Pokémon to share a type (only one Water-type, one Fairy-type, and so on- and secondary types count!).
31. Any Pokémon that leaves your party (gets placed in the box) can no longer be used.
32. You must use encounters in the order they are caught – when a party member faints, the next Pokémon in line replaces them.
33. Restart if ANY Pokémon faints (a Deathless run).

Rules to Make Nuzlockes Easier

If, on the other hand, the thought of a regular Nuzlocke makes you feel more like this:

… then here are some optional rules to make a standard Nuzlocke more forgiving.

34. Allow yourself ONE revive (or however many you decide) to bring back a fainted Pokémon.
35. Allow yourself to revive a fainted Pokémon by sacrificing a certain number of your other Pokémon.
36. Treat Gift Pokémon as “free” encounters (they don’t count as the encounter for that area). Commonly known as the “Gift Clause”.
37. Allow yourself to catch an extra Pokémon for HMs to avoid wasting your real Pokémon’s moveslots.
38. Pick one Pokémon at the start of the run to “lock in”, you may catch this Pokémon outside of normal encounter rules.
39. Teach your Pokémon egg moves, or other moves that are in their movepool but not normally accessible.
40. Modify your Pokémon to be have perfect IVs and/or change their Nature.
41. Give yourself unlimited copies of any TM you acquire.
42. Give yourself unlimited Master Balls to guarantee you catch every encounter.
43. If the first Pokémon you encounter on a route escapes (Roar, Teleport, etc.) you may choose to not count it and try again.
44. If using Level Caps, set your cap a certain number of levels higher than the next Gym Leader.
45. Rather than counting a whiteout as a loss, you may continue with a new team of Pokémon from your box.

Miscellaneous Rules to Add Variety

Finally, here are a few more rules that, while they might affect difficulty, didn’t fit cleanly into the first two sections. The first two are so common they’re practically standard, but read on for some more fun and creative ways to add a twist to your next run!

46. Duplicates Clause (no duplicate encounters, reroll if you encounter a Pokémon you already have – click here for more details).
47. Shiny Clause (allow yourself to catch and use any Shiny Pokémon you encounter, even if it would otherwise be against the rules).
48. Use Pokémon of a certain color.
49. Use Pokémon that fit a theme of your choice.
50. Use only Pokémon that were introduced in the generation you’re playing (ie. playing Platinum and only using Pokémon that were introduced in Gen 4).
51. Randomize your starter choice based on the last digit of your Trainer ID.
    • #1-3 = Grass
    • #4-6 = Water
    • #7-9 = Fire
    • #0 = Player’s choice.

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There’s 51 optional rules you can use to customize your Nuzlocke, hone in on the perfect difficulty, and spice up your next playthrough!

If you’re looking for a whole new way to play, check out our Nuzlocke Variants page for dedicated rulesets that transform the Nuzlocke challenge in fun and unique ways. And be sure to check out Nuzlocke University for tier lists, guides, tips, and more!

Thanks for reading, and Happy Nuzlocking!