My Favourite Things
My Favourite Things Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 36 Ranking Cards
- 36 Writing Cards
- 6 Category Cards
- 36 Sleeves (+6 Spares)
- 6 Pens
- First Player Marker
- 10 Hearts
There are six sets of ranking and writing cards, one set per player colour. Each set of 6 ranking cards is numbered 1 through 5, plus one card marked with the Broken Heart symbol instead of a number — this card represents your least favourite thing, and functions as a special "0" in play.
Setup
- Have each player choose a colour and give them all the cards of that colour.
- Give each player a dry-erase pen.
- Place the hearts in a pile in the centre of the table.
- Give the youngest player the first player marker.
How to Play
The game is divided into two rounds. Each round has three parts: card preparation, card play, and cleanup. At the end of two rounds, the player that collected the most hearts wins the game.
Card Preparation
Choose a category for the player to your left. Write the chosen category on your category card.
See advice for coming up with a category in Coming Up With Categories and example categories in Example Categories.
Pass your category card and your sleeved writing and ranking cards to the player to your left.
In the second round, come up with a category for the player to your right instead. Pass them your cards.
Take the six writing cards and ranking cards you were passed. Partially remove the writing cards from each sleeve, so that the white area of the writing card is unsleeved and you can see the number on the ranking card below.
On the unsleeved portion of the writing card paired with the 1 ranking card, write down your favourite thing in the category you've been given. On the unsleeved portion of writing cards paired with numbers 2, 3, 4, and 5, write four other things you like in the category selected, one on each card, in order of preference. On the unsleeved portion of the writing card paired with the Broken Heart, write down one thing in the category selected that you do not like. Fill out your writing cards in secret, making sure other players don't see the ranking card associated with each of your writing cards.
Then, slide each writing card fully back into the sleeve, so the portion of the card you wrote on is now sleeved and you cannot see the number on the ranking card below. Shuffle the sleeved cards and return them, and the corresponding category card, to the person who gave them to you.
Beginning with the person with the first player marker, each player reads out the category they chose and the six things on the writing cards they got back. Players then take their sleeved cards into their hand.
Card Play
After you've finished card preparation, you'll play five tricks.
In each trick, starting with the player with the first player marker and proceeding clockwise, each player plays one sleeve from their hand face up into a trick in the centre of the play area, announcing what is on the writing card as they do.
Once all players have played a sleeve, the person with the first player marker pulls the writing card from the sleeve they played, revealing the ranking card behind it. Then, all other players in clockwise order do the same.
The player that played the sleeve with the lowest numbered ranking card (ie. the most favourite thing) wins the trick.
However, if someone played their 1 rank card into the trick, and another player played their Broken Heart card, the player who played the Broken Heart card wins instead.
In case of a tie, the tied player earliest in turn order wins.
The winner of the trick takes a heart.
The sleeves and writing cards played into the trick are placed to the side of the play area, such that players can see the ranking cards that have been played.
The player with the first player marker passes it to the player to their left, who begins the next trick. This process is repeated until five tricks have been played.
You don't play your last card.
Clean-Up
Return all sleeves to their owners. Each player wipes all their cards clean.
- If this was the first round, proceed to the second round.
- If this was the second round, the game ends and the player with the most hearts wins. In case of a tie, tied players share the victory.
Worked Example
Tom, Becca, Rich, and Samantha are playing a four-player game. Tom is the first player.
Once all cards have been revealed, Tom played a 1, Becca played a Broken Heart, Rich played a 3, Samantha played a Broken Heart.
If no Broken Heart had been played, Tom would have won the trick, with his 1 beating Rich's 3.
If no 1 had been played, Rich would have won the trick. However, because a 1 and a Broken Heart have been played, the Broken Heart wins.
Because two players played a Broken Heart, the player who played their card earliest breaks the tie. As Becca played her Broken Heart card before Samantha, Becca wins the trick, and gets a heart.
Coming Up With Categories
Good categories are broad enough that it's easy to come up with things in them, but not so broad that they're overwhelming. If you need to narrow down a category, consider adding a caveat – instead of giving the category "places", say "places you'd want to buy a house".
Try to come up with a category that you have some idea of the other player's preferences in. If you know them well, this could be something very specific to them. If not, choose a category that there is some level of cultural consensus on, like "days of the week" or "flavours of icecream".
Categories that allow creativity on the part of the person filling in the cards work well. "Favourite planets", for example, allows players to draw from both fiction and non-fiction. Dune, Gallifrey, or Hoth are as valid an answer as Earth, Jupiter, or Mars.
The game works for most kinds of top fives, not just favourite things. For example, "Top five animals you would not want to be stuck in a swimming pool with" would work, with 1 being the animal you would least like to be stuck with, and the Broken Heart card being an animal you would like to swim with.
Credits
Game Design: Nilgiri
Art & Graphic Design: Archie Edwards
Game Development: Anthony Howgego
Project Management: Paul Spencer
Special thanks to all of our Kickstarter backers.
Example Categories
TV Shows, Board Games, Films, Restaurants, Characters, Modes of Transport, Animals, Shapes, Languages, Holiday Destinations, Activities, Periods of Time, Apps, Content Creators, Brands, Clothing, Musicians, Slang Terms, Supermarkets, Flags, Snacks, Franchises, Things About Your Partner, Things About Yourself, Villains, Sports, Flavours, Weather, Colours, Fictional Worlds, Words, Authors, Geographical Features, Mythical Beings, Idioms, Genres, Historical Figures, Excuses, School Subjects, Vegetables, Ways to Exercise, Ways to Relax, Emojis, Video Games, Books, Award Winners, Date Ideas, Electronic Devices, Gifts You Have Received, Things About Summer, Presenters, Greetings, Family Traditions, Inventions, Superpowers, Teams