Oh My Word Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Materials
• Game Setup
• Gameplay
• Game End
• Tips
• Timer

Game Materials

• 4 double-sided boards
• 108 letter tiles
• 12 reverse tiles
• 25 bad luck tokens, with values of 1, 2, or 3
• 1 bag
• 1 timer

Game Setup

1. Place the timer in the middle and arrange the four boards around it.
2. Put all of the letter tiles and the reverse tiles in the bag.
3. Place all of the bad luck tokens face down next to the boards.

For more variety, use the backs of the boards. For shorter games, use only 1, 2, or 3 boards.

Gameplay

Whoever grabs the bag first goes first. Press the timer to start the game, and then play proceeds clockwise. Your turn begins when you are handed the bag. Just follow this procedure:

1. You receive the bag.
2. Draw one tile.
   • If you draw a letter tile:
     1. Out loud, name a category without a letter tile on it from any of the boards. Then say a word or phrase that matches the category and begins with the letter you just drew.
     2. Cover the category with your letter tile.
     3. Give the bag to the next person.
   • If you draw a reverse tile:
     1. Place the tile next to the boards.
     2. Give the bag back to the person who handed it to you. The direction of play is now reversed.
3. Your turn is over.

If the timer goes off while you are holding the bag, you must take one of the face-down bad luck tokens. If you drew a tile from the bag, return it to the bag (even if you already used it to cover a category). Hand the bag to the next person and restart the timer.

Game End

The game ends when the last category has been covered on all boards or if all bad luck tokens have been taken. Reveal all of your bad luck tokens and add up their values. The player with the fewest bad luck points wins.

To simplify the game, you can ignore the point values. Then the player with the fewest bad luck tokens wins.

Tiebreaker. In the event of a tie, all players involved play a tiebreaker. Return all letter tiles and reverse tiles to the bag, clearing the boards. Now play as usual, with one difference: whoever is holding the bag when the timer ends is eliminated. The last player remaining wins the game.

Tips

• You can look at your own bad luck tokens at any time.
• You can change your chosen category at any time as long as you haven't covered it with a letter tile yet.
• Remember to pass the bag when you receive a bad luck token. You do not start the next round.
• If you are handed the bag exactly as the timer goes off, you're out of luck. Take a bad luck token.
• It is up to the group whether or not a term fits the chosen category. But feel free to be generous in your decisions.
• The chosen term can have more than one word (for example, a book title), but the important part of the term should begin with the letter you drew (for example, The Man in the Iron Mask is valid for M but not for T). Again, you can decide as a group how strict you want to be.

Timer

To operate the timer, you will need two AAA batteries (1.5-volt, LR03) and a small Phillips-head screwdriver. The batteries must be inserted and replaced by an adult.

1. Loosen the small screw on the battery compartment on the bottom of the timer and lift off the cover. The screw will remain in the cover.
2. Insert the batteries into the battery compartment with the correct polarities (+ and -), then close the cover and tighten the screw.
3. To start the timer, press the large button on the top. The countdown music will start. If it doesn't work, first check that the batteries are inserted correctly and then insert new ones if necessary.
4. Follow the same procedure to remove the batteries.

The battery safety, disposal, and electronic-waste notes printed after these directions are product-safety boilerplate and are not reproduced here.