Hunch! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
  • 1. Distribute the components
  • 2. Choose the secrets
  • 3. Create the word matrix
  • 4. Remove unused material
  • 5. Determine the starting player
  • Rule for 5-6 players
  • Example (with 3 players)
• Sequence of Play
• 1. Clue Phase
  • All clues must...
  • "Question (Yes/No)" and "Free Choice"
  • Tips
• 2. Trading Phase
  • 1. Auction round
  • 2. Bargain round
  • 3. New starting player
• 3. Hunch Phase
• End of the Game
  • Group result
• Advanced Rules

Components

• 64 target word cards: to choose your secrets.
• 12 secret cards: to write your chosen secrets (target words).
• 32 victory points (1/3): the player with the most wins!
• 1 rocket: indicates who starts.
• 48 clue cards: to create clues.
• 54 hunch cards (9 in each colour): to write your hypotheses and guess the secrets.
• 34 Hunch coins (1/3): to bid for clues.
• 6 markers.

Setup

1. Distribute the components

Each player takes a marker, 6 hunch cards of their colour (they will not need the other 3 in the basic game) and 5 Hunch coins. Leave the remaining coins, victory points and the deck of clue cards within reach.

2. Choose the secrets

Shuffle the target word cards and deal 3 to each player. Each player must choose one word from each card and write it on one of their secret cards. Then each player places their 3 secrets face down, forming a row in their play area, leaving space in front of each one for the clue cards and hunch cards.

Example: Hannah chooses "Rosa" (Rose) from her first card, "Canela" (Cinnamon) from the second and "Abeto" (Fir) from the third. Hannah writes each secret on one of her secret cards and places the 3 face down in her play area, leaving space for clues and hunches in front of each of them.

3. Create the word matrix

Collect, without looking at them, all the players' target word cards and form a face-down deck with them. If necessary (with 3 and 5 players) add extra cards from the main deck so that there are a total of 12 target word cards. Shuffle that deck of 12 cards and then place them face up in a 3x4 matrix in the middle of the table. This matrix contains exactly 36 words, with all the secrets chosen by the players hidden among them.

4. Remove unused material

Return all remaining target word cards and unused coloured components to the game box. They will not be needed.

5. Determine the starting player

One of the players, at random, receives the rocket.

Rule for 5-6 players

The basic rules of the game are for 3-4 players. When playing with 5 or 6 players, there is only one change: instead of 3 secrets, each player receives 2. This means that in setup only 2 target word cards and 2 secret cards are received.

Example (with 3 players)

Players: Hector, Hannah and Helena. Leave space between the word matrix and your secrets. This is where the clue and hunch cards will be placed during the game.

Sequence of Play

Each game of HUNCH consists of 3 rounds. Each round is divided into 3 phases:

1. Clue phase: Try to think of good clues and write them on the clue cards.
2. Trading phase: Buy and sell clues to describe secret words.
3. Hunch phase: Use your hunch cards to guess other players' secrets.

1. Clue Phase

1. Each player draws 2 clue cards from the deck. If you do not like a clue category, you can discard that card and replace it by drawing another - but only once per turn!
2. Write 1 clue, fitting the corresponding category, on each of your clue cards. Keep in mind that you are creating clues for the other players, not describing your own cards!
3. Place your 2 clues in front of you in the play area, visible to the whole table. You will offer them to the rest of the players in the next phase.

Example: Helena writes "Rojo" (Red) on the clue card with the category Colour and "¡Me encanta!" (I love it!) on the card with the category Free Choice.

All clues must...

• Fit on the front of the clue card.
• Not contain any of the words present in the matrix, or derivatives of them.
• Match the category of the clue card (at the discretion of the writer).

"Question (Yes/No)" and "Free Choice"

In addition to the normal clue categories, there are 2 special categories: "Free Choice" and "Question (Yes/No)". "Free Choice" allows a player to write any type of clue freely. "Question (Yes/No)" requires the clue to be a question that can be answered with "Yes" or "No". The player who buys that clue card is the one who answers the question.

Tips

• Try to write clues that can be associated with many of the words present in the matrix. This will increase your chances of selling a clue well in the auction phase.
• If you cannot think of a good clue, let the others do the thinking! Simply write any word that matches the category. Even if you see no connection, the other players may find a way to make use of your words.

2. Trading Phase

1. Auction round

Starting with the starting player (and continuing clockwise) all players have the opportunity to sell their clues in an auction.

Note: Bids are not made for a specific clue, but for being the first to choose among all of the seller's clues.

First, the seller reveals their 2 clue cards. Then, clockwise from the seller, all players may offer an amount of coins or pass. Bids may be raised in response to higher offers, but once a player has passed they cannot rejoin the auction. The auction continues until all players but one have passed.

When the highest bidder has been determined, that player pays the corresponding amount to the seller, chooses one of the 2 clues and places it face up in front of one of their secrets. Then it is the next seller's turn.

Example 1: Helena puts her clues up for sale. Hannah likes "Rojo" as a clue for her secret "Rosa". But Hector is interested in Helena's other clue, since he wants to pair "Pizza" with "¡Me encanta!". Hannah bids 1 coin, Hector raises to 3 coins. Hannah decides not to spend so many coins and passes.

Example 2: Hector pays the 3 coins to Helena and decides which of the clues to keep. He takes "¡Me encanta!" and places it face up in front of the secret he wants to describe.

2. Bargain round

When all players have been the seller once, the players (starting with the starting player and continuing clockwise) choose an action:

• A) Keep a leftover clue card
• B) Gain 2 coins from the supply

Afterwards, all leftover clue cards are discarded.

Note: You are not allowed to keep your own clues, not even in the bargain round.

3. New starting player

The player with the fewest coins receives the rocket. Ties are broken in favour of the player closest to the current starting player, in clockwise order.

3. Hunch Phase

1. Draw a number of hunch cards of your colour equal to the number of the current round (1/2/3). 1 hunch card in the first round, 2 in the second round, 3 in the third round.

2. Write a hunch on each of your cards and assign it face down in front of the secret of another player whose solution you think you have found.

3. Clockwise, reveal all the hunch cards assigned to your secrets and determine whether any of them have been guessed correctly. For each secret that you guess correctly, as well as for each of your secrets that is guessed, you gain a victory point. If one of your secrets has been guessed by more than one player, you gain another point.

   Note: Even if more than two players correctly guess the same secret, the owner of the secret only gains one additional point.

   Example 3: "Rosa", Hannah's secret, has the clues "Rojo" (Red) and "Visible en Primavera" (Visible in Spring) assigned to it. Hector's hunch, "Marte" (Mars), is not correct... but Helena has hit upon the right word! Helena receives 1 victory point for guessing correctly. Hannah also gains 1 point, because her secret has been guessed. Hopefully Hector will have better luck next time! (Helena +1, Hannah +1, Hector +0.)

4. Remove from the game all correctly guessed secrets along with their assigned clues and their corresponding target word card. The clue cards assigned to secrets that have not been guessed remain in the game.

End of the Game

After playing 3 rounds, the game ends. The player who has won the most victory points is the winner. In case of a tie, the tied player with the most coins wins. If this does not resolve the tie, the tied players share the victory.

Group result

What is your combined result as a group? Check it!

Secrets guessed (3/5 players)	Secrets guessed (4/6 players)	Result
0	0	Luckily, you can only progress...
1-2	1-2	You can do better.
3-4	3-5	Not bad, I guess.
5-6	6-8	You are certainly a good team.
7-8	9-11	Overwhelmingly good!
9-10	12	Are you sure you did not cheat?

Advanced Rules

In the advanced game, the following options are added to the bargain round (but there is still a limit of one action per player):

• Extra hunch card: Discard 2 coins and gain another hunch card for this round (use the 3 additional hunch cards in each of the player colours).
• "This is very easy": Place 2 coins on one of your secrets. If it is guessed during the next hunch phase, you and all the players who guessed it correctly each gain 1 additional victory point. Discard the coins before the next round.