GAMES
Okay, we know it's odd, but we really like games and wanted to share our love for them with you at our wedding. Although nominally a competition this is more a way of encouraging everyone to socialise and have fun. But there will be various prizes, and not just for winning the most games.
We've given each game an indicative time and scoring mechanism. Basically, short games score low values and longer games score more (if you do well).
Awards available are as follows:
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King/Queen of Games - Highest overall score
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Winner of Games - Most individual wins
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Jack-of-all-Games - Most different games played
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Master of Some - Most different games won
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Wooden Spoon - Overal lowest score
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Big Cheetah - You know who you are...
We'll bring along some non-competition games too and guests are encouraged to do the same. Our competition list is as follows:
Details of each are below...
ARTICULATE
Players
4-6
Time Allocation
20 minutes
Objective
Describe stuff on cards without saying stuff on the cards.
Set Up
Split into two even teams, each team place their coloured piece on the starting place.
Play
Teams take turns. One player takes a pile of cards and turns over the hour-glass. They then give clues to their team-mates for the answer on the card. They are not allowed to use the word on the card or any derivatives. Players must stick to the topic which the team’s piece is on (ignore All-Play just do the one with the club).
In-Game Scoring
Team-mates call out guesses until they get it right. One pass is allowed per round. Stop when the time limit is up and move your piece forward as many spaces as your correct answers.
Competition Scoring
Play until time is up (but get to even number of turns). Winning team scores 15 points.
ASCENSEUR
Players
4-5
Time Allocation
45 minutes
Objective
Bid for tricks, and then win that number. Also known as “Up-and-down whist” in certain plebeian circles. We’re just playing up here.
Set Up
Shuffle a deck of cards.
Play
Rotate the dealer and re-shuffle cards for each hand. Deal 2 cards per player for first hand, 3 for second, building up to 9 cards. Turn over the top card of the deck for trumps.
The player to the left of the dealer bids first. Based on the cards in their hand (and the trump suit), they bid the number of tricks they intend to win. Proceed clockwise until all players have bid. Total tricks bid may NOT equal the number of tricks available. Players may bid zero but risk the scorn of the group, with the jeer of “Mrs Zero” being an optional chant.
The player to the left of the dealer lays first. Play proceeds clockwise with each player laying once. Players must follow suit if possible. Highest card in the lead suit wins (aces high) unless a trump suit is played. Winning player leads the next trick.
In-Game Scoring
Any player who wins the number of tricks they bid scores 10+#tricks. All other players lose points equal to the difference between the tricks they bid and the tricks they won.
Competition Scoring
Continue until you have played the nine-card hand. 1st place scores 30 points, 2nd scores 15.
BOGGLE
Players
4
Time Allocation
5 minutes
Objective
Make as many unique words as you can within the time limit.
Set Up
Each player takes a pen and paper.
Play
Shake the dice-holder and settle it down with all the letter-dice flat in the grid. Start the timer.
Each player writes down as many words as they can from the grid. Words must be made up of connecting letters (any order but diagonals don’t count), with each letter being used once within a word. Usual Scrabble rules apply (no proper nouns, needs to be in English, etc). Plurals are fine.
In-Game Scoring
Each player reads out their list of words. Any word found by more than one player is crossed out for all players.
Remaining words score as follows:
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3-4 letters = 1 point
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5 letters = 2 points
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6 letters = 3 points
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7 letters = 5 points
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8+ letters = 11 points
Competition Scoring
1st place scores 5 points.
CAMEL UP
Players
6-8
Time Allocation
30 minutes
Objective
Bet on a camel race. YOU ARE NOT A CAMEL!
Set Up
Each player takes a set of character cards (for bidding on the overall race). The coloured leg betting tiles (3 per camel colour) are placed around the tents in ascending number order. Roll the 5 dice and place the matching camels on the resulting numbered race tracks spaces, stacking if necessary. Place the 5 dice in the pyramid.
Play
Rotate clockwise with each player performing one of the three available actions:
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Take a pyramid tile and move a camel. Roll a die from the pyramid and move the corresponding coloured camel. Camels on top of that one move too, and if they land on the same square as another camel then the moving camels are placed on top.
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Take a leg betting tile (see scoring) from the top of a pile.
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Play an overall winner/loser card (see scoring). These are played face down in the corners of the board furthest from the pyramid.
In-Game Scoring
Score each player at the end of each leg (when the 5th camel has moved) and when the 1st camel crosses the finish line. Where camels are stacked the top camel is considered in the lead. After leg scoring, return all dice and tiles then continue taking turns.
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Players score 1 point per pyramid movement tile. Tiles are then returned.
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Leg betting tiles score according to the position of the relevant coloured camel (5/3/2 for 1st place, 1 for 2nd place, -1 for all other positions). Tiles are then returned.
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For the end of the race ONLY, the overall winner/loser piles are scored in the order cards were played. 1st correct card scores 8 points, 2nd correct card 5 points, continuing as per the numbers on the board. Cards for non-winning/losing camels score -1.
Competition Scoring
1st place scores 25 points, 2nd place scores 15 points, and 3rd place scores 5 points.
CARDS AGAINST HUMANITY
Players
Any number
Time Allocation
N/A
Objective
Try to make someone spurt their drink out of their nose.
Set Up
Rather than a specific number of players, we’re going to do this as a continuous dip-in/dip-out game. Set some piles of the black cards up around a table, and some piles of the white cards. Each player should take a handful of white cards (5 to 10).
Play
Take turns playing a black card, and read it out. All other players check their hand of white cards and try to find the funniest card(s) to fill in the blanks. Players may replenish their cards from the white decks when running low.
In-Game Scoring
One point for the player who plays the funniest card(s) each hand. Whoever turned over the black one decides, but in general stick with the common consensus.
Competition Scoring
Maximum score of 10 points from this game, so try to be the funniest person 10 times then walk away.
CONNECT 4
Players
2
Time Allocation
5 minutes
Objective
Get four in a row.
Set Up
Each player takes one side of the game and one set of coloured counters.
Play
Players take turns to drop one of their counters into the board.
In-Game Scoring
N/A.
Competition Scoring
Winner scores 5 points.
DIXIT
Players
4-6
Time Allocation
30 minutes
Objective
Describe a French drawing in a vague manner.
Set Up
Each player chooses a colour rabbit and starts at 0 on the board. Players also take the numbered tiles of the same colour.
Play
Each turn deal all players back up to 6 cards. Rotate clockwise. The player whose turn it is chooses one of their cards and tells a “story” about it (anything from one word upwards), then lays their card face-down.
Other players then choose one of their cards which best fits the “story” and lay them face down. The current player shuffles these played cards and lays them face up numbered 1 to 4/5/6 (number of players).
Other players then secretly decide which card they think belongs to the current player (i.e. is the right one for the story) and plays their corresponding numbered tile face down. Once everyone has decided they turn over their tiles and score. Don’t vote for your own card.
In-Game Scoring
Current player scores: 0 points if everyone OR nobody chose their card; or 3 points if some (but not all) other players have done so.
Other players score: 2 points if everyone OR nobody chose the current player’s card; 1 point if only some people found the current players card and they were one of those people; 1 point for each other player who chose THEIR card.
Competition Scoring
Play enough full rounds to fill 30 minutes (2 or 3 turns per player). 25 points for first place, 15 points for second place.
DOMINOS
Players
2-4
Time Allocation
5 minutes
Objective
Be the first player to lay all of their tiles.
Set Up
Shuffle the tiles face down on the table, each player chooses 7 at random, set aside any remainder to form the bone-yard, each player checks their own tiles but don’t show the others.
Play
Player with the highest double (usually double 6) plays first. Working clockwise, each player must either lay a tile with one side matching an end of the existing snake, or draw from the bone-yard until they can play something. Blank tiles can play on anything. If the bone-yard is exhausted then players miss a turn when they cannot lay. The snake has 2 ends only.
In-Game Scoring
The first player to lay all their tiles is the winner.
Competition Scoring
Winner scores 5 points.
DOWNFALL
Players
2
Time Allocation
5 minutes
Objective
Get all your pieces to the bottom first. Hitler used to play this in his bunker so they made a film about it.
Set Up
Arrange all the cogs with the little arrows lines up. Each player chooses two sets of coloured pieces and put them in the holding places at the top of your side of the game.
Play
Take turns rotating a cog. You may not rotate the same cog your opponent just used. Each turn you may rotate your cog as far as you like but only in one direction.
In-Game Scoring
The first player to get all their pieces to the bottom wins. Cheaters forfeit.
Competition Scoring
Winner scores 5 points.
HANABI
Players
2-5
Time Allocation
15 minutes
Objective
Work together to create runs of the same colour. DON’T LOOK AT YOUR OWN CARDS.
Set Up
Remove the multi-coloured cards and shuffle the deck. Deal 5 cards to each player (2/3-player game), or 4 cards to each player (4/5-player game) face down. Players should NOT look at their cards. Place 8 black/white chips in the game box lid, and 3 purple chips (lives) next to the lid.
Play
Hold your cards up facing away from you, so your team-mates can see your hand but you can’t. On your turn you may perform one action:
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Give information to one other player. First remove a black/white chip from the box and place it outside. Then tell them ONE thing, which can relate to as many cards as are relevant. E.g. “This card and this card are blue” or “These three cards are number 4”. You can mention ONLY one colour OR ONLY one number.
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Discard a card from your hand. First move a black/white chip back into the box. You can’t discuss which card with other players. Place face-up in a discard pile and draw a new card from the draw deck.
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Play a card. Choose one from your hand and place face-up in the middle. If it starts or continues a chain then that’s good, draw a replacement from the deck. Otherwise discard the card, draw another, and lose a life for the team (remove a purple chip).
There can only be one run of each colour, ordered from 1 to 5. There are 5 different colours. Cards within a colour must have been played in number order with 1 first. Any cards played which don’t meet these conditions must be discarded and result in losing a life. If you complete a run then move a black/white chip back into the box as a reward.
In-Game Scoring
Stop when the third life is lost, or all 5 runs are complete, or the draw deck is empty (in the final case each player has one more turn). Add up the highest card in each run to form the team score.
Competition Scoring
Each player scores the team score. Feel free to watch another team playing and call them out on cheating (so they lose a life).
RHINO HERO
Players
3-5
Time Allocation
10 minutes
Objective
Build a tower, help a rhino superhero climb it, don’t knock it down.
Set Up
Lay the foundation card (flowers around the edge) with 2x L-shapes face-up. Deal 5x roof cards to each player and set the rest aside as a draw pile. Set the folded walls and the rhino aside nearby.
Play
Take turns to build walls and play one of your roof cards. Walls must be built on the shapes dictated by the previous roof/foundation card. Roof cards are placed lined up with the foundation and with silver L-shapes face-up. Some roof tiles have no symbol, others do:
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Purple with 2x arrows – Change direction of play.
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Blue ! – Next player misses a turn.
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Green +1 – Next player draws an extra roof card before building.
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Red 2x – Current player lays a second card (must be of another type) directly onto this one.
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Rhino – Next player places the rhino on this card, on the rhino symbol.
In-Game Scoring
Ways to win:
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Use all your roof cards.
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Be the penultimate player to lay a roof card before the building collapses.
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Use all the walls (in which case everyone wins).
Competition Scoring
Winner scores 10 points.
QWIRKLE
Players
4
Time Allocation
45 minutes
Objective
Play lines of matching tiles, the same colour or the same shape.
Set Up
Each player draws 6 tiles from the bag at random. There are 6 different colours and 6 different shapes.
Play
Each turn a player may either:
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Play as many tiles from their hand as they like, so long as they share a common attribute (colour or shape). Then draw back up to 6 tiles.
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Exchange as many tiles from their hand as they like with new ones from the bag.
Played tiles must form part of a single grid (like Scrabble). Connected lines (like words) within the grid must:
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Share a common attribute (colour or shape).
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Contain only one of each tile (one of each shape if same colour, or one of each colour if same shape).
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Based on the above a line may only be 6 tiles long.
Start with the player who can lay the longest line with their opening hand. Finish the current round once the 45 minute time limit is up.
In-Game Scoring
When you create a line or extend a line, you score one point for each tile in the line. Tiles placed in two lines may score twice, since all extended lines score. When a player completes a line of 6 they score an additional 6 points.
Competition Scoring
Play until someone finishes all their tiles or the 45 minute time limit is up (finish the current round).1st place 30 points, 2nd place 10 points, 3rd place 5 points.
NO THANKS
Players
3-5
Time Allocation
20 minutes
Objective
Take a card or pay a chip, score as low as possible.
Set Up
Each player takes 11 chips and keeps them hidden for the rest of the game. Shuffle the cards, remove 9 at random and place the others face down in a pile at the centre of the table.
Play
The first player turns over the top card of the deck. They can either take the card, or place a chip on it.
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When a chip is placed, play proceeds to the next player. They then decide to take the card or pay a chip.
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If a card is taken then it is placed face-up in front of the player and they take the chips on it too. The same player turns the next card and again has the choice of taking it or placing a chip.
Your supply of chips is limited (and should be kept secret), so you’ll have to take cards at some point. Try to form runs of cards as it is only the lowest which counts for scoring, but bear in mind there are 9 cards missing from the deck. And everyone else is trying to do the same thing.
Continue until there are no cards left in the deck.
In-Game Scoring
The lowest number in each unbroken run of cards is added up for each player’s score. Then subtract the number of chips in their hand. Lowest total score wins.
Competition Scoring
15 points for first place. 5 points for second place.
HIVE
Players
2
Time Allocation
10 minutes
Objective
Surround your opponent’s Queen Bee.
Set Up
Each player takes a set of tiles (black or white).
Play
Players take turns to lay OR move their tiles. There can only be one block (hive) of pieces. Aside from the second tile laid, all new tiles must only touch those of their player. Each player must lay their Queen Bee by their 4th turn. Players may only move tiles once their Queen Bee has been laid, and moving tiles must abide the following conditions:
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Queen Bee (gold) – May slide one space per turn.
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Beetle (purple) – May slide one space per turn OR may climb on top of an adjacent tile (which cannot then be moved).
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Grasshopper (green) – May leap over an adjacent row of pieces to the next available space. Straight lines only.
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Spider (brown) – May slide exactly 3 spaces per turn, with no backtracking.
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Ant (blue) – May slide any number of spaces per turn.
Sliding moves must remain in contact with the hive at all times, and must be able to physically fit along their route.
Diagrams of the available moves are in the full rule booklet.
In-Game Scoring
Win by surrounding your opponent’s Queen Bee on six sides so they cannot move. Surrounding pieces may be those of either player.
Competition Scoring
Winner scores 10 points.
TSURO
Players
4-8
Time Allocation
15 minutes
Objective
Don’t fall off the board.
Set Up
Each player takes a ship token (which looks like a dragon) and chooses a dash at the edge of the board to start from. Try not to start too near the corners or each other. Place the tiles face-down in a pile, and each player take 3 into their hand.
Play
Working clockwise, each player must lay a tile from their hand next to their ship. The ship moves along the trail until it ends. If this means moving along multiple tiles then so be it. If this means moving your ship when someone else lays a tile then so be it. Ships pass each other and continue to the end of the trails. Draw back up to 3 tiles. If you fall off the board then you’re out, return your un-played hand of tiles to the bottom of the draw pile.
In-Game Scoring
N/A
Competition Scoring
Final player on the board scores 10 points, penultimate player scores 5.
TOO MANY CINDERELLAS
Players
4
Time Allocation
10 minutes
Objective
Convince the prince that YOU know who Cinderella is
Set Up
Each player takes a pair of Yes/No tokens, and is dealt 4 cards from the shuffled deck. Player with smallest shoe size starts.
Play
The cards in your hand are your Cinderella candidates (the top half describes their ages, likes and dislikes) AND are rumours about who Cinderella is (bottom section).
Players take turns to lay a card as a rumour. The text on the bottom of that card gives a condition which must be met for other cards to qualify as Cinderella.
All players then have the opportunity to veto the condition. They all choose one of their Yes/No tokens and play face-down. All turn over together. Any No tokens played are placed on the card and invalidate the condition. Those players have then used their one veto.
Then the next player lays a card. Repeat until all players have lain twice. This will leave everyone with two cards in their hand as potential Cinderellas.
Finally a random card is dealt from the top of the deck, which can be vetoed if any players still have a No token.
In-Game Scoring
If any player has a card which meets all conditions specified in the rumours then they have won. If more than one card meets the conditions then that with the lowest ranking number (top left) wins.
Competition Scoring
10 points to the winner.
SHITHEAD
Players
2-4
Time Allocation
15 minutes
Objective
Play all your cards, don’t be the last person not to have done so. It doesn't matter who wins, just who loses.
Set-Up
Shuffle a standard deck of cards. Deal 3 cards face-down in front of each player, three cards face-up on top of the other three, and three face-down for their hand. Players may swop cards between their hand and the face-up cards to put themselves in the best position for later in the game. Nobody may change or check their face-down cards. The remaining cards form a draw deck.
Play
A player with a 4 lays first (or a 5 if nobody has a 4, or a 6 if no 5, etc). Working clockwise the next player must lay a card of equal or higher value (see exceptions below). Players can lay multiple cards of the same value. If 4 cards of the same value are laid consecutively then burn the played deck (i.e. discard it from play). Pick up the played deck if you can’t lay a card. If you have fewer than 3 cards in your hand then draw from the draw deck.
Exceptions:
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2 – Can lay on anything, resets the value back down to 2
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3 – Can lay on anything, but keeps the value of the card below it
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7 – Must be followed by a card of lower or equal value (and then play reverts to normal)
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10 – Can lay on anything. It burns the deck, permanently discard the played pile, and then whoever laid it plays again (after drawing up to 3 cards if necessary).
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Ace – High
When the draw deck is exhausted, a player with no cards in their hand plays their face-up cards, and then plays their face-down cards blind.
In-Game Scoring
N/A
Competition Scoring
All players gain 5 points, except the loser (aka the Shithead)