My wife and I join some neighbors every now and again for a few passes of Hand and Foot, a card game that’s basically a variant of canasta.

Except, the version we play is different from the rules published in official online resources. We have more rounds of play with higher penalties and different scoring. And we’ve talked about adding more twists on top of that.

Much the same way there is beauty in the evolution of language when you submit to the chaos of independent speakers instead of squabbling over prescriptive rules, it’s a joy to try increasingly subtle changes in gameplay until you reach a point where you’re not even sure it’s the same game. Whatever it is we’re doing, it’s been a blast. I’m glad I get to play it with a group of people that’s not uptight about the “purity” of rules.