Lapsus Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Object of the Game
• Game Setup
• Turn Sequence
• Turn Scoring
• End of the Game and Scoring
• Simplified Variant
• Competitive Variant

Components

• 1 one-minute sand timer
• 56 Theme cards
• 64 Syllable cards
• 1 Rulebook

Object of the Game

Lapsus is a cooperative game (with a competitive variant) in which the players, in turns, act as interpreters, matching the words created by their companions with the themes present on the table.

For each correct match, the players score 1 VP (Victory Point). The number of points they manage to earn determines the group's level of success.

Game Setup

The players form 2 decks: the first with the Syllable cards and, next to it, the second with the Theme cards. Finally, the sand timer is placed within everyone's reach.

In each turn the players are divided into 2 groups: on one side the Interpreter (a single player), who is in charge of guessing the creations of the rest, and on the other side the rest of the players, who are the Creators.

Turn Sequence

The first player to act as Interpreter is the one whose name has the most letters. Afterwards, this role passes to the next player clockwise.

1. To begin, the Interpreter deals face down 1 Theme card and 8 Syllable cards to each of their companions (the Creators). The players pick up and look at their Theme card (in secret) and their Syllable cards.

2. Next, the Interpreter draws one additional Theme card and places it face down in the centre of the table; this is called the intruder (2 cards in games of 2 or 3 players).

3. The Interpreter turns the sand timer and the word-creation time begins.

4. The Creators try to form (publicly), in front of themselves and using only the 8 Syllable cards they were given, a word that has some kind of relation to their Theme card. For example, if the theme is "office supplies" they could form the word "lápiz" (pencil) or "escritorio" (desk).

   Creators are not allowed to:

   • Form words that represent a part of the word on their Theme card.
   • Form words that are a translation of the word on their Theme card.
   • Form drawings with the Syllable cards.

   Allowed:

   • Creating words that are onomatopoeias and acronyms.
   • Overlapping some cards on others, or using the back of the cards to create letters that they do not have, or to cover parts of syllables that they do not want to show.
   • Using fewer cards than the Creator has in hand.

5. Once the time has run out, the players place their unused Syllable cards at their side of the table. Then a deck is formed with each player's Theme card plus the intruder card that the Interpreter had previously set aside. The Interpreter shuffles that deck.

6. The Interpreter draws each card of the new deck one by one; with this card they can do 2 things:

In games of 6 to 8 players, once the Theme cards have run out, they are shuffled again to form a new deck.

Turn Scoring

Once the Interpreter has assigned all the Theme cards, the turn is scored.

For each correct match 1 VP is obtained (noted down on paper). Mistakes are not penalized in any way.

End of the Game and Scoring

The game lasts a total of 10 turns, regardless of the number of players.

After the last turn, the players add up the total VP obtained and consult the level of success reached:

Level	2 players	3 players	4 players	5 players	6 players	7 players	8 players
You are the best team in the world!	>8	>18	>26	>35	>44	>53	>62
You almost reach excellence!	8	17-18	24-26	32-35	40-44	48-53	56-62
You are magnificent!	7	15-16	21-23	28-31	35-39

Simplified Variant

There is another, simpler way to play: in step 6, the Interpreter reveals all the Theme cards on the table at the start and associates them with each player in whatever order they see fit.

Competitive Variant

The game has a competitive mode.

In each turn:

• The Creator wins 1 VP if the Interpreter has correctly matched their theme word.
• The Interpreter wins 1 VP for each word they have matched correctly; that is, they could win as many VP as there are Creators in the game.

The number of turns depends on the number of players:

• 3 players - 9 turns
• 4 players - 8 turns
• 5 players - 10 turns
• 6 players - 12 turns
• 7 players - 7 turns
• 8 players - 8 turns

This way all the players will have played as Interpreter the same number of times. The player with the highest score at the end of the last turn wins the game.

In case of a tie, the victory is shared.