Guess What! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Goal of the Game
• Components
• Setup
• Turn Structure
  • The Active Player Places the Icons
  • The Active Player Gives a Clue
  • Clue Notes
  • The Other Players Guess
  • Revealing and Scoring
  • End of the Round
  • Further Notes
• End of the Game
• Variants
  • Game Master
  • Chrono (from 2 players)
  • Connoisseurs
  • Experts
  • Solo
• Examples of Combinations

Introduction

Guess What! is a game of speed and deduction in which you use one word, an expression, or a film, song, or TV series title, or the name of a person, to get the other players to guess 3 icons. Be clear...

Goal of the Game

On your turn, you must get the other players to guess 3 of the 9 icons on the board. These 3 icons must represent a word, an expression, a film, song, or TV series title, or a person's name.

The more players who guess these 3 icons, the more points you score. Players who guess correctly also score points.

The first player to reach 12 points wins the game.

Components

• 1 rulebook
• 110 icon cards
• 1 game board
• 4 marking cards (1 per player)

Setup

Place the game board in the centre of the table, then shuffle the icon cards to form a face-down deck placed next to the game board.

Each player takes a marking card and places their score marker on "0".

The youngest player becomes the active player and starts the game. Play then proceeds clockwise.

Turn Structure

The Active Player Places the Icons

The active player places 9 icon cards face up on the spaces of the game board.

The Active Player Gives a Clue

The active player then has 1 minute to find a word, an expression, a film, song, or TV series title, or a person's name that will allow the other players to identify one icon in each of the 3 columns ("A", "B" and "C").

When the active player has found the clue, they use their marking card, out of the other players' sight, to memorise the icon they have used in each column of the board. They then place their marking card face down in front of them, and say their clue aloud. For example: "Voyager" (Travel).

Clue Notes

• Any word may be used as a clue, including proper names or foreign words. A clue may also be a film, song, or TV series title, a character's name, or an expression, as long as it does not directly name one of the 9 images.
• If the clue is considered too simple by ALL the other players, the active player must find a different clue.
• If the active player cannot find a clue, they may discard 3 images of their choice from the board and replace them with 3 other images drawn from the deck. The active player then has only 30 seconds to propose another clue.

The Other Players Guess

The other players then simultaneously look for the combination of 3 icons (one per column) that they think best matches the clue given by the active player.

When a player thinks they have found the combination, they secretly use their marking card to indicate the combination they have chosen. When they are done, they place their marking card face down in front of them.

Revealing and Scoring

When all players have made a combination on their marking cards, they reveal them. The answers of all players are then compared with the answer of the active player, and points are scored as follows:

• An answer is considered correct if a player has discovered all 3 icons.
• Each player who gave the correct answer scores 1 point.
• The active player scores 1 point for each player who gave the correct answer.
• Incorrect combinations score no points.

Players adjust their score on their marking cards and announce it aloud to the other players. Scores are not confidential.

End of the Round

Discard the 9 cards from the board, and the next player clockwise becomes the active player. A new round begins.

Further Notes

• If the active player has not found a clue within the time allotted, they pass their turn. The next player then has 30 seconds to find a clue using the same 9 icon cards.
• If the icon card deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile to form a new deck.

End of the Game

The game ends at the end of a round in which at least one player has reached 12 points. The player with the most points wins. In case of a tie, the tied players should play a new game to break the tie.

Variants

Guess What! offers endless possibilities. Here are a few variants, but you can create your own!

Game Master

One player is the "game master". They do not play, but they give clues to the other players in the same way as in the classic game. The first player to find the combination scores 1 point. The first player to reach 10 points wins.

Chrono (from 2 players)

The players all play together against the clock. In this mode, the players have 3 minutes to solve riddles together.

One player is in charge of filling the board. Once the board is full, all players look for a riddle at the same time. The first to find one says "J'ai !" ("I've got it!"). That player becomes the active player and gives their clue to the other players. The other players look for the 3 icons that represent this clue and make ONE joint proposal to the active player.

• If the answer is correct, the players take one card from the board, which will be worth 1 point at the end of the game. The other 8 icon cards are discarded. 9 icons are placed on the board again and a new turn begins.
• If the answer is wrong, the active player replaces one row of the board with 3 new icon cards, and all players look for a new riddle at the same time.

After 3 minutes, the game stops and the players count their points. The goal is to do better than the last time.

Connoisseurs

The game is the same as the normal game, with one difference: if all players have found the correct answer, the active player scores no points.

Experts

There is no active player. All players search at the same time. The first player to say "J'ai !" becomes the active player and must get the other players to guess the icons.

When the players have made their combinations on their marking cards, they place them in the centre of the table in a pile, with the first player to have found the combination underneath, and so on.

The points for a correct answer are then scored as follows:

• The last player to have answered scores 1 point.
• The second-to-last player to have answered scores 2 points, and so on.
• The active player always scores 1 point per correct answer.

Solo

Following the same principle as the Chrono variant, the player does not try to guess the riddles. Instead, they simply find as many combinations as possible within 5 minutes.

Examples of Combinations

The rulebook shows examples of clues with the combinations that are checked as correct or incorrect. The icons are shown on the printed sheet. The clues are:

• "Fête tropicale" (Tropical party): correct.
• "Internet": correct.
• "Agent secret" (Secret agent): correct.
• "Opéra" (Opera): correct.
• "Coup de foudre" (Love at first sight): correct.
• "Cool attitude!": correct.
• "Fierté masculine" (Masculine pride): correct.
• "Un dromadaire fait du ski sur la neige" (A dromedary goes skiing on snow): incorrect.
• "Le feu c'est chaud" (Fire is hot): incorrect.

Note: the examples show a single clue with a set of icons; the printed sheet marks each as correct (check) or incorrect (cross).