Facts in Five Rulebook

Table of Contents

Setup
Play
- Example of One Player's Entries
- Sample Scoring Illustration
Ending the Game
Variations
Class Card Notes

Setup

Place storage tray in center of table. Shuffle card deck and replace, face down, in tray; insert Timer upright in holder.

If five or more are playing, elect a Director to oversee the general progress of the game. He appoints two assistants — one to draw the letter tiles for each round and one to handle the Timer and signal the start and stop timer of each round.

Play

The standard game consists of five rounds (for a shorter game, see Variations). Each player begins the round with a blank Playcard on which he writes his name, the game and round numbers. Each round of play consists of the following, in order:

1. DRAWING CARDS. A total of five cards are drawn from the deck. Drawing begins with player to Director's left and rotates clockwise. When five play, each player draws one card. If fewer than five play, some players will draw more than one card. When there are more than five players, those not drawing a card in the first round will begin the drawing for the second round.

2. ANNOUNCING SUBJECT MATTER. From his card, each player selects and announces a Class of subject matter. Some cards list only one Class while others give players a choice of several Classes (see card examples in storage box lid). Player may also select one Category within that Class; selecting a Category is optional unless otherwise indicated by card. As each selection is announced, all players write them in the five Class/Category blanks on their Playcards. The five used cards are then set aside.

When fewer than five play, players with more than one card may select only one Class/Category from each card.

3. DRAWING LETTER TILES. A total of five letter tiles are drawn blindly and, as each is announced, all players write them in the Initial Letter columns of their Playcards. If a wild letter tile is drawn, it is marked accordingly on the Playcard.

At this point, Playcards of all players will be identical. The five letter tiles are returned to the tray and mixed.

4. MAKING ENTRIES. After the Timer is set (turned over), each player attempts to enter a word or phrase in each of the 25 blanks on his Playcard. Each entry must agree with or fit the Class/Category at the top of that column and its "Key Word" must begin with the letter at the left of the row in which it is written. A specific entry may be written only once on the Playcard even though it may be valid in another blank.

Key Words. Generally, the "Key Word" in an entry is the first word. However, if the first word or title prefix of an entry is part of the Class or Category, the next main word is to be regarded as the Key Word. A person's last or surname must always be regarded as the Key Word. Stage or titled names are permissible if validated. The articles "a," "an" and "the" are never Key Words.

Key Words in a row with a valid Initial Letter (a wild letter tile) may begin with any letter of the alphabet but need not begin with the same letter (see Example below).

Example of One Player's Entries

(Note: Not all entries are valid.)

Initial Letters	CLASS: World Leaders/Rulers — CATEGORY: King	CLASS: Books of Bible — CATEGORY: Old Testament	CLASS: Colleges Universities — CATEGORY: American	CLASS: Stage/Screen Personalities — CATEGORY: Living	CLASS: Edible Products — CATEGORY: Food Seasoning
C	King Charles the Fair	I Chronicles		Carol Channing	Cinnamon
M	Macbeth	Matthew	Mass. Institute of Tech	Lee Marvin	Mace
E	King Edward VIII	Exodus		Dale Evans	Evergreen
Wild	King Richard III	Genesis	Harvard	Frank Sinatra	Nutmeg
L	King Louis XIV	Leviticus	University of Louisville	Michele Lee

Facts in Five Playcard header: Player/Team ELAINE/KAREN — Game No. 1 — Round No. 2

When time is up, each player must stop writing immediately and pass his Playcard to the player on his left for validating and scoring.

5. VALIDATING ENTRIES. As a scorer, each player may rule that an entry is valid — or he may challenge it. (Minor variations in spelling should be allowed except in those Class/Categories where word spelling is part of the entry requirement. The first letter of a Key Word, however, must be correct.) All challenged entries are read aloud; if at least one other player recognizes or accepts the word or phrase as correct for its Class/Category and letter, the entry is valid. Disputes arising out of challenged or invalidated entries are resolved by majority vote of players. (Player who wrote entry and Director do not vote; in case of tie, Director may cast deciding vote.)

6. SCORING PLAYCARDS. The scorer places a check mark by each valid entry and crosses out each entry which is not valid. After counting the number of valid entries in the first column, he checks an equal number of blocks consecutively in the first column of the Scoring Table (see Sample Scoring Illustration). The total number of checks in this column is then multiplied by itself (squared) and the resulting number is written in the box beneath the column. This process is repeated for each of the four remaining columns.

The scorer now totals the checks for each horizontal row, squares the figure and enters the result in the box immediately to the right of the row.

Special Score. Next, all five numbers in the boxes along the bottom of the Scoring Table are added and the total is written in the box marked "Special Score." This score is a comparative index of the depth of a player's factual knowledge and his ability for quick recall within specific classes of subject matter.

General Score. All five numbers in the boxes at the right are added and the result is written in the box marked "General Score." The General Score is a comparative index of the extent of a player's factual knowledge and his ability for quick recall across many different and unrelated classes of subject matter.

Total Score. The Special and General Scores are added together and the total is written in the "Total Score" box. This score is strictly a numerical value which gives a comparative index of a player's ability to complete more valid Playcard entries than any other player. Theoretically, a player could score 250 points per round; however, any score over 100 points per round is generally above average. (A score of 50 might be considered very high with a difficult combination of letters and classes.)

Sample Scoring Illustration

Column check counts (out of 5) and their squares, for the example Playcard above: column 1 — 4 checks (Charles the Fair, Macbeth, Edward VIII, Richard III, Louis XIV all checked) scores 16; column 2 — 4 checks scores 16; column 3 — 3 checks scores 9; column 4 — 5 checks scores 25; column 5 — 4 checks scores 16. Special Score (sum of the five column squares) = 82. Row checks and squares are totted up in the same way to give the General Score = 84. Total Score (Special Score + General Score) = 166.

After all Playcards have been scored, scores for each player are recorded on a Master Score Card sheet under the player's name.

Ending the Game

When the five rounds have been played, all scores on the Master Score Card sheet are added to arrive at the Grand Totals for each player. Highest Grand Total score in each classification determines the winner for each. One player may win in all three classifications or three different players may each win in one classification.

Variations

After becoming familiar with the game, players may wish to add one or more of the following variations:

SHORTER GAME: For a shorter game, players may elect to play less than five rounds. They may also shorten the game by playing to a Total Score of 150 points. Large groups will find the game will be shorter if they play in teams rather than as individuals (see Party Game).
PARTY GAME: An excellent variation for party groups of eight or more. Players divide into teams of two or more players. (Teams may consist of men versus women, couples versus couples, etc.) A Director is elected; he appoints two assistants — one to draw the letter tiles and one to handle the Timer. Each team receives one Playcard for the round. A total of five cards are drawn, one by each team. If there are fewer than five teams, some teams will draw more than one card; if there are more than five teams, those not drawing a card in the first round will begin the drawing for the second round. All team members help decide which Class/Category will be announced. Play then proceeds in the usual manner. When filling in their Playcards, teams should be careful that opponents do not hear them discussing their entries.
VERIFYING ENTRIES: This game variation uses any available reference books (almanacs, dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc.) to resolve disputes arising out of challenged or invalidated entries. Entries that cannot be verified by reference books are then subject to a majority vote in the usual manner.
FORCED CATEGORIES: This method requires that wherever an option exists all players must choose a Category as well as a Class from the cards. This adds a degree of difficulty to the game and is recommended for advanced players.
COMBINED CATEGORIES: Two or more related Categories within one Class may be chosen to form a single combined Category to make play more difficult. For example, if the Class is "Military Figures," the player could combine the Category "U. S. Generals" with the Category "During World War II." Only entries which fit both Categories ("U. S. Generals during World War II") would be valid.
SINGLE INITIAL LETTER: In this variation, only one letter is drawn for each round. Players must then use the same Initial Letter for all five rows. Some of the more difficult letters (such as "Q" or "X") and wild letter tiles may be removed before attempting this method.
CHILDREN'S VERSION: When children play, they should use only the Class even when they are competing with adults who have chosen a Category. This will help to equalize the difference in knowledge between the child and the adult.

Class Card Notes

The deck's Class Cards come in several forms, illustrated below with actual examples from the deck.

CLASS: SCIENTISTS — Category choices: American, Foreign, European, Male, Female, Living, Past, Nobel Prize Winner / Physicist, Chemist, Nuclear, Medical, Astronomer, Psychologist, Mathematician, Space, Biologist Of (option) Descent, Philosopher Of (option) Nationality. With this card the player has no choice of Class. He must announce "Scientists." If he desires, he may also announce one of the Categories listed such as "Nobel Prize Winner."

CHOICE CARD (Class and Category) — Classes: Names of Aircraft (Category: Military Designation, Commercial Name); Types of Ocean Vessels (Category: Powered Military/Naval, Nonpowered Nonmilitary); Names of Ocean Vessels (Category: Military/Naval Ship, Commercial/Passenger Ship); Famous Structures (Category: American Modern, Foreign Historical); Resorts (Category: American European, Foreign Island). From this card player may select one of the five Classes listed. After announcing the selected Class, he may also select and announce a Category within this Class. For example, he may select "Famous Structures" as a Class and "Historical" as the Category.

CLASS: SPELLING OF ENGLISH WORDS (No option — a category and range must be selected) — Category and Ranges for No. of Letters Required: Any Word (over 7) (8-12) (13-17) (over 17); Noun (over 5) (6-10) (11-15) (over 15); Verb (over 5) (6-10) (11-15) (over 15); Adverb (over 5) (6-10) (11-15) (over 15); Adjective (over 4) (5-9) (10-14) (over 14); Proper Noun (over 4) (5-7) (8-10) (over 10). With this card the player again has no choice of Class. He must announce "Spelling of English Words." He does not have an option on selection of Category. He must pick a Category and a range of letters.

CHOICE CARD (Class only) — Class Only choices: Flowers, Germs or Bacteria, Human Body Bones, Adhesives, Weapons, Mathematical Forms / Electrical Machines, Fuels, Engine/Motor Parts, Laboratory Apparatus, Gases, Electronic Products. This Choice Card gives the player a selection of Classes from which to choose. It does not, however, allow him to choose a Category within his selected Class.

WILD CARD (Free Choice of Any CLASS/Category of Information) — The Wild Card permits the player to announce any Class of information which he desires. He may choose a favorite Class from one of the cards in the deck or may make up any Class he wishes. If he desires, he may also announce any Category for his Class.