This is a simple, short, and step-by-step guide on how to play just one. An Exciting cooperative board game you can either play during parties, on game nights with friends, or with your family members.
Scroll on and let’s learn the rules and strategies for effective and successful gameplay.
Components
- 110 cards
- 7 easels
- 7 erasable felt markers
- Rulebook
Similar To Codenames, Mysterium, Taboo, Last Word
Objective of the Game
Although this is a party board game, it is cooperative in nature rather than competitive. This means that players combine their efforts to help the active player correctly guess the mystery word by using their easel to give clues. One player becomes the guesser (active player) with the others helping him or her out.
Players will have to come up with their own original clues without collaborating with each other or even showing anyone their clues. If the same clues are given by more than one player, that clue is discarded.
So, the goal of the game is to have fun helping each other.
Scores will also be tallied after the game ends.
Setup
To Setup the game, follow this process:
- Shuffle up all the cards and deal thirteen randomly drawn cards to the center of the table. Make sure they’re all face down and return the rest of the remaining cards to the box.
- Hand over to each player an easel and an erasable felt marker.
- Then, choose at random any player to be the guesser.
Remember each round is divided into four phases which we will discuss in the gameplay section
Gameplay
The game is played in turns with cards and ends when the deck of cards is empty.
There are 13 turns in total.
Here are the four phases of the game.
- Choosing the mystery word.
- Clue selection
- Comparing clues
- Guess
Phase 1 – Choosing the Mystery word
During this phase, the guesser or the active player will select one card from the deck and place it on the easel facing away from the other players. The active player must make sure he does not see the card. However, the players will have to see the card.
The player then chooses a number ranging from 1 to 5 for which the players will provide clues.
If any player does not know what the word is, they will respond by saying something like pick a different number.
This takes us to the next step.
Phase 2 – Clue Selection
Players will start writing out their clues on their easel without collaborating with each other. The clue is supposed to be Just one word as the name of the game suggests.
Clues given can either be digits, numbers, acronyms, onomatopoeia, or a special character.
For example, the euro sign is allowed to guess the United Kingdom and “boom” is allowed as a clue for the word “Bomb”.
Since certain clues are allowed, then there are certain unallowed clues.
Invalid Clues
Take heed to these rules when giving clues.
- Writing the mystery word in a different way
For example, you should not write “ruut” as a clue for the mystery word “Root”.
- Writing the mystery word in a foreign language.
For example, you should not write “froot” as a clue for the word “Root” which is the Spanish transition for root.
- Writing a word from the same word family.
For example, using the word “stem” as a clue word for root is not allowed.
- Inventing a word
You cannot invent a word like Ruut as a clue word for Root.
- Using phonetically similar words as clue words.
For example, you can use a word like Ruth to help the active player guess the word root.
Phase 3 – Comparing Clues
After each player has successfully written down their clues, the active player or the guesser will close his eyes.
This is the period when players will compare their clues in light of the rules given above and rule out invalid and identical clues. Players can cancel a clue by simply tipping over the easel face down.
Identical Clues
Identical clues are words or any other character given by more than one player.
For instance, if two players give the word plant, that clue will be eliminated.
Also, words from the same family are also considered identical.
For example, Prince and Princess belong to the same word family so they will be canceled.
Note: If all the clues are canceled, you return the mystery word back to the box and the game advances to the turn phase.
Phase 4 – Guessing
This begins when all identical and invalid clues have been eliminated. With the help of the remaining clue, the guesser will try to guess the mystery word. Only one guess is allowed.
Results
The active player is successful if he manages to accurately guess the mystery word. The card is then placed face up in the deck.
He or she fails if he does not correctly guess the mystery word. You will have to return the card and the top of the card to the game box.
If he, however, chooses to skip the word altogether, return the card back to the game box.
Some key points to note
If the guesser’s guess matches the pronunciation of the mystery word, the answer is considered valid.
Also, if the active player makes a wrong guess during the final turn, remove a previous successfully guessed card.
End of Turn
At the end of each turn, the player on the left side of the guesser becomes the next active player. Then, a new turn begins.
End of Game
When the deck turns empty, the game ends.
After that, count the number of successfully guessed cards. With that, compare the total with the score sheet in the game.
Over To You
The cooperative nature of this game creates an atmosphere that breeds creativity among people. Play and enjoy yourselves.
Enjoyed this tutorial. If so, check our board game page for more ideas.
Also, if you don’t own the game yet, buy it here on Amazon.
