Person Do Thing Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• The Basics
  • Example Turn
  • I. Working Together — COOPERATIVE
  • II. Head to Head — COMPETITIVE
• The Fine Print
• Note on the Vocabulary

The Basics

Person Do Thing is played by taking turns to describe a "target word" — shown at the top of the screen — using only 33 basic words, like Person, Do, and Thing. You'll need to get creative, using these simple words in funny combinations to get your message across.

A turn is complete when the rest of your group figures out your target word. Your group can guess and ask questions using any words at all — only the describing player is restricted to the 33-word vocabulary.

Playing for the first time? Check out Beginner Mode for easier target words and added hints.

Example Turn

Target Word: DESERT (Only the describer uses the 33 words.)

• You: Big place.
• Solvers: Earth?
• You: More no-big. Hot and no have person.
• Solvers: Country?
• You: Like but no same. Big hot place. No person.
• Solvers: Desert?
• Say-Person: Yes, yes!

Solver Questions (the solvers may use any words they like):

• Say-Person: Big place.
• Solvers: But does it have people?
• Say-Person: No no no, big place no have person.

There are two ways to play Person Do Thing: without scoring (cooperative) and with scoring (competitive).

I. Working Together — COOPERATIVE

One person describes until the group guesses, then passes the device to the next player. The next player taps the circular refresh button next to the target word to get a new word and begin their turn.

II. Head to Head — COMPETITIVE

Split into two teams. Teams alternate turns — one member describes while only their teammates guess. Each team has 2 minutes per word. The team that solves the most words wins.

The Fine Print

• If someone says a variant of your target word, that's a win. E.g. target is Believe and someone says Belief or Believing.
• If your group says three synonyms, that's a win. E.g. target is Handsome, group says Beautiful, Gorgeous, and Attractive.
• If the Say-Person accidentally uses a forbidden word, you can generally ignore it and keep going.
• Some gestures are allowed, but no miming.
• The vocabulary box is organized into four categories: Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, and Helpers.
• For an extra challenge, require guessers to ask questions using only the 33 words too.
• The meta-rule: if it's funny and your group allows it, it's allowed.

Note on the Vocabulary

The web page states that the describer uses 33 basic words and that the vocabulary box has four categories (Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Helpers), but the page text does not list the 33 words themselves. They are not transcribed here, as they are not in the source text. See the physical deck or the in-app vocabulary box.