Hollywood Squares
Hollywood Squares Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
Gameboard & Tray • 12 "Celebrity Guest" Inserts • 5 Plastic X's • 5 Plastic O's • 2 Decks of 126 Question & Answer Cards (double-sided) • Play Money
Object
Just like on TV! Correctly agree or disagree with answers to win "celebrity" squares. Get 3 squares in a tic-tac-toe pattern (or 5 total squares) to win a game. The first player or team to earn $5,000 wins the match.
Assembly & Setup
Refer to the photo on the back of the package.
- Open up the gameboard so that the black side faces you, and carefully pull down the flaps of the 9 squares, as shown.
- Remove the 12 "celebrity guests" from the parts sheet. Choose 9 celebrities for your first game and insert one into each of the slots in the board's squares. Make sure the celebrities' blank sides face you, as shown. Put the 3 "spares" in the plastic tray.
- Remove the 2 support strips from the parts sheet, and insert them along the vertical backsides of the center squares, as shown (black side facing the black side of the gameboard).
- Punch out the 3 die-cut slots on the back of the gameboard, and bend the board along the fold so that the artwork faces you. Then insert the tabs on the back of the 3 top squares into the slots in the back of the board, as shown.
- Fit your assembled gameboard into the plastic tray.
- An adult should use scissors to carefully cut the 5 X's and 5 O's from the plastic runner and place them near the assembled game.
- Put 2 stacks of cards in the plastic tray.
Celebrity Guests
The twelve celebrity guest inserts are: Milton Brothers, Parker Bradley, Avalon Hill, Tommy Thom, Platinum Blonde, Bubba D. Fence, Larry Latenite, Harmony, Mike Rafone, Sally Serve, Dr. Vivian Values, and Carla Craft. Nine are placed on the board for each game; the other three are kept as spares in the tray. (The printed blurbs describing each guest's current TV work are flavour text and are not reproduced here.)
How to Play
Starting a Game
Place your favorite 9 celebrities into the gameboard squares, and put the 5 X's and 5 O's in the plastic tray. One player or team selects X or O as a marker. The other player or team then goes first. Alternate turns during a game. (With more than 2 players, one of you can be the "host"! See "Gameplay Variations" below.)
On Your Turn
First announce the name of the celebrity whose square you'd like to win. Your opponent takes the top Question & Answer Card from either stack and reads the question. Then your opponent reads one of the answers on the card, or makes up a false answer. Now you must say if you "agree" or "disagree" with the answer given, exactly like the TV game. Your opponent then tells you if you were correct in agreeing or disagreeing with the answer.
- When you're correct, you win the square. Place your X or O marker on it.
- When you're incorrect, your opponent gets the square by default. EXCEPTION: If the square would win the game for your opponent (by making tic-tac-toe or 5 total squares), place no marker on it. Players must earn a game-winning square on their own!
Once a square has been won (directly or by default), it cannot be selected by the opposing side.
Place the used cards off to the side. Replenish the card stacks as required.
- Giving Answers: Each Question & Answer Card includes one true answer and one false answer or "bluff." When it's your turn to read a question and give an answer, you can read the true or false answer from the card, or you can make up your own false answer. Inventing your own wacky bluffs is half the fun of playing Hollywood Squares — so feel free to improvise a false answer as often as you like.
- Secret Squares: Some of the Question & Answer Cards are also "Secret Square" Cards. Before reading the question on one of these cards, say, "This is the Secret Square!" If a player wins the Secret Square, that player also wins $1,000 in bonus money. If a player loses the Secret Square, the opponent may get the square by default, but no bonus money is awarded. There can be only one Secret Square per game. If another Secret Square Card comes up during a game, just ignore its "Secret Square" designation.
- Winning a Game: The first player or team to get tic-tac-toe or 5 total squares wins the game and is awarded $1,000. Remember, you cannot receive a game-winning square by default!
Starting Another Game
Remove all the X's and O's from the board and place them back in the tray. The loser of the previous game goes first in the new game.
Winning the Match
The first player or team to win $5,000 is the winner!
Gameplay Variations
- With 3 Players: One of you can be the game host! The host should read the questions and give answers, mark the squares with X's and O's, keep track of turns, award the money, and announce the winner of the match.
- With 4 or More Players: Form 2 teams. When there's an odd number of players, one of you can be the host.
- Half-Hour Match: Play as many games as possible in 30 minutes, as if you were on TV. At the end of the half-hour, the player or team with the most money wins the match!
Examples of Winning Games
The rulebook shows four tic-tac-toe diagrams (X = X marker, O = O marker, blank = empty square, rows read top to bottom):
- Horizontal Row, X Wins: top row X X X; middle row blank O blank; bottom row O blank blank.
- Vertical Row, X Wins: top row X blank O; middle row X O blank; bottom row X blank O.
- Diagonal Row, O Wins: top row O blank blank; middle row X O blank; bottom row X blank O.
- 5 Squares, O Wins: top row X O X; middle row O O X; bottom row O X O.
Re-storage
When storing the game in its box, remove the celebrities and supports from the board before refolding.
Replacement X's & O's
To order a replacement set of X's & O's, send a check made out to HPD for $1.50 (postage and handling included). Mail to HPD, P.O. Box 693, Pawtucket, RI 02862, or telephone 888-836-7025 (toll-free) to place a Visa or MasterCard order. California and Rhode Island residents, add sales tax. Please allow 4-6 weeks. Offer valid in U.S. and Canada, while supplies last, and price is subject to change without notice.