Jarnac
Jarnac Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Box Contents
- 1 bag with 166 letter tiles
- Instructions, 2 trays, and 1 bag for the Spanish-language edition
- Letters to be set aside before playing in Spanish: 1 B, 1 G, 1 H, 2 K, 1 N, 1 P, 1 Q, 3 T, 2 V, 2 W, 1 Y, 1 Z, 1 A, 1 O, 1 U, 2 IJ
Objective
Score more points than your opponent(s) by forming words of 3 to 9 letters.
Only the following are allowed: verbs in any tense, mood, or person.
Excluded: prefixes, interjections, abbreviations, symbols, compound words, and proper nouns.
Playing the Game
Each player (or team) takes a tray.
Player A (chosen by a draw) draws 6 letters at random from the bag. These are placed face up on the left side of their tray (fig. 1).
*If these 6 letters are all consonants, the last one drawn is exchanged for one or more further draws until a vowel is obtained.
Player A then forms, on the first line of their tray, a word of at least 3 letters. In figure 2, the player has formed the word "PAR," which entitles them to draw a new letter, which is placed on their tray (fig. 3).
To "keep playing," a player must carry out one of the following two actions:
- Form a new word of at least 3 letters on the next line (fig. 4).
- Transform a word already on their tray by adding one or more letters to it.
Any new word a player forms — whether formed completely from scratch or by adding a letter (or letters) to a word already formed — entitles that player to draw a new letter.
A letter may not be removed from a word already formed, nor may a letter be moved from one line to another.
Whatever word is formed, vertical alignment of the letters between lines does not matter — only the words formed by the letters on each horizontal line count.
When player A can no longer do anything further with the letters on their tray, they must choose one of the following two options:
- Announce "Jarnac" immediately.
- Draw letters — 6 letters if this is the first turn of the game. On later turns, a player instead chooses one of these two possibilities:
- Draw 1 letter.
- Exchange 3 letters from their tray (no more, no fewer) for 3 new letters from the bag.
Announcing "Jarnac"
If player A could still have formed a word and did not do so, and player B notices this, player B has the right to announce "Jarnac" and take over the word that they spotted, placing it on their own tray.
"Jarnac" may only be announced once the opponent has declared "pass."
It is also possible to make a double Jarnac. For example: player A forms "GOL," draws an M, and passes (fig. 6). Player B notices that "RAPE" could be formed. Player B then announces "Jarnac," takes the letter E from their opponent, and places the word RAPE on the first line of their own tray (fig. 7); play then continues under the normal rules until either player finds another solution, at which point they pass and are in turn exposed to having a "Jarnac" announced against them.
Example: if player A passes with the tray shown below (fig. 8), their opponent could announce "Jarnac" and take over 2 words at once, since PAREJA + S could be transformed into PAJARES, and CERRITO + A could be transformed into RETORICA.
End of the Game
The game ends when one of the players:
- Has filled their tray with 8 words
- Has stopped adding to their tray even though letters are still available to them (3 to 9 letters)
- Cannot continue and cannot announce "Jarnac"
- Finds that their opponent cannot continue playing
The winner is whoever totals the higher number of points on their tray: 9 points for a 3-letter word, 16 for a 4-letter word, and so on.
*Special case: if a player makes a "Jarnac" that allows them to place their 8th and final word, they keep the turn and draw one additional letter each time they form one of these words, until a "Jarnac" is announced against them.
For Experienced Players: Competitive Jarnac
The dictionary should only be consulted in case of disagreement.
- Accepted words: the same as under the normal rules, except that verbs are only accepted in the infinitive, past participle, or present participle.
- Disagreement: when a player believes a word is incorrect, they must say "I disagree" before their opponent has drawn a new letter. The word is then checked against the chosen dictionary.
- If the word is correct, the challenged player has the right to keep playing, and draws two letters instead of one.
- If the word is incorrect, the turn passes to the opponent, who may in turn announce "Jarnac" if the situation allows it.
- Either way, the challenging player draws two letters instead of one. (Likewise, if they choose to exchange three letters instead, they draw four.)
- Thinking time: limited to one minute per turn.
Some Tips
- The bonus for forming a word is always a single extra letter each time a word is formed, so it is worth building words up gradually rather than all at once.
Example: if a player's tray holds the letters O, R, E, T, I, they could place the word RETIRO immediately. Instead, they gain an extra letter each time they successively form ORE, RETO, TORRE, and then RETIRO — drawing a letter each time they extend the word.
- Playing quickly can often be an advantage, since it reduces your opponent's thinking time and, as a result, the threat of a "Jarnac."
- Disagreements are resolved without penalty, using the chosen reference dictionary.