Funglish
Funglish Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
For 3+ players, ages 12+.
Object: Quickly find and play tiles on the easel to get players to guess as many words on a card as you can. Score points for successfully giving clues and for correctly guessing words. To win, have the most points after three rounds of play.
Contents:
- 120 descriptive tiles
- 50 cards
- timer
- easel with 2 leg supports, 3 rails and timer clip
Adult assembly required.
The First Time You Play
Carefully separate the tiles from their sheets. Discard the waste materials. Carefully remove the two leg supports from their connecting runners. Discard the runners. If needed, use an emery board or sandpaper to remove any excess plastic from the leg supports. Then assemble the easel:
- The three rails: Press their pegs into the holes in the easel.
- The two leg supports: Press one onto each side of the easel.
- The timer clip: Snap it into the leg support hole on either side.
- The timer: Slide it into the timer clip.
Get Ready
- Pick a partner. Choose a player to be your clue-giving partner throughout the game. (If there's an odd number of players, play by the Solo Clue-Giver Rules, below.) On your turn as clue-givers, you'll both stand at the easel and play tiles on it to describe the words on your card, while everyone else shouts out their guesses.
- Place the easel on a tabletop with plenty of surrounding space, facing the players who will be doing the guessing.
- Spread out the tiles near the easel within easy reach of the clue-givers. We suggest organizing them by color category for quick reference, and taking a few minutes to look them over before playing your first game.
The Color Categories
- Green = Positive Traits
- Olive = Negative Traits
- Black = Colors and Patterns
- Gray = Materials
- Yellow = Sizes and Shapes
- Orange = Opposites
- Red = High-Powered Adjectives
- Tan = Everything Else!
- Blue = Geography, History, Arts & Sports
- Shuffle the card deck, then place it facedown near the easel.
- Take a pencil and paper (not provided), and write each player's name on it. The clue-givers will tally the score at the end of their turns.
Play!
Decide which clue-giving partners will take the first turn. All other players will be the guessers. The clue-givers stand near the easel, facing the guessers.
On Your Turn as Clue-Giver
- Draw the top card from the deck, then turn it faceup. As you do this, the guesser closest to the timer flips it over to start your turn. This player must also keep an eye on the timer and announce when time runs out. Note: Make sure the timer is positioned straight up-and-down, so that the sand will flow freely.
- Now you and your partner have about three minutes to give clues! Quickly choose any one of the six words on the card, scanning the tiles for good descriptors, grabbing them and playing them on the easel. Guessers can start guessing as soon as the timer is flipped.
Playing tiles on the easel: There are three sections on the easel. Try to play as many tiles as you can in any or all of the easel sections:
- Definitely: In this section, play tiles that perfectly describe the word. For example, if the word is eraser, you may play the manmade, rubber, pink and small tiles here.
- Kind of: In this section, play tiles that only somewhat describe the word. For example, you could play the flexible tile here to describe eraser.
- Not: In this section, play any tiles that will help to convey what the word is definitely not, or is the word's opposite. For example, playing the written tile here might be the final clue that gets someone to shout "eraser" for a correct guess!
A successful guess: As the guessers guess, listen closely so you don't miss hearing a correct guess. As soon as someone shouts out the word, say, "That's it!" Then clear the tiles off the easel, and (if there's still time left) start giving clues for any other word on the card.
Ending your turn: Your turn is over when either of the following happens:
- The guessers have guessed all six words on the card; or
- Time runs out.
Clear any tiles off the easel and replace them in their category groups. Now tally the score for your turn.
Scoring: The clue-givers review the card and score for the turn as follows: For each word that was correctly guessed, both clue-givers score one point each; the guesser also scores one point.
Bonus point: If all six words on the card were successfully guessed, the clue-givers score one bonus point each.
Now the next clue-giving partners take their turns as clue-givers by standing at the easel and drawing a new card.
Ending a Round
A round ends when all clue-giving partners have had one turn. Then the next round is played with the same partners in the same order.
Winning the Game
The game ends after the third round. The winner is the individual player who scored the most points!
Clue-Giving Rules
- You can't talk, make noises, or make charades-like signals ("sounds like," "small word," etc.).
- You can point to a player and move your hands in a "keep going" kind of way if that player is getting close. You can also nod or shake your head, as long as it's not in direct answer to a question.
- The guessers can prompt you to play certain tiles by asking questions like: "What color is it?" or "Is this person living or dead?" You can respond to them only by playing more tiles!
- Skipping: If you or the guessers are having too much trouble with a word, you may skip to any other word on the card. You can always go back to it later, if you have enough time. Just remove all of the tiles played, and announce that you're moving on to another word.
Penalties for breaking rules: Oh, lighten up. You're here to have fun! But seriously, if someone is openly defying the rules, we'll leave the type and severity of the punishment up to you.
Solo Clue-Giver Game
You have an odd number of players. Or you've got a few games under your belt and you need a fresh challenge. Whatever the reason, feel free to hog the hot seat! Just take turns as individual clue-givers. For each successfully-guessed word, the clue-giver and the guesser each score one point.