Portmanteau: A Cooperative Game of Linguistic Fusion
Portmanteau: A Cooperative Game of Linguistic Fusion Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Overview
Definition: A Portmanteau is a fusion of 2 words to create a brand new word.
Examples:
- Brunch (Breakfast + Lunch)
- Spork (Spoon + Fork)
- Smog (Smoke + Fog)
Players are cooperatively working to solve 6 Portmanteaus. All players either win or lose together. There are no points scored in the game.
The game can last between 2 rounds (a very quick loss) and 12 rounds. Each round, a new player will take on the role of the Speaker "fusing" a Portmanteau with 2 of the 9 Icon cards on the table.
Components
- 100 Icon cards (double sided, numbered 1-200)
- 9 Speaker tiles
- 6 Portmanteau tiles (double sided, numbered 3-8)
- 1 Dry-erase marker
Game Setup
- Empty all components from the game box. Place all the Speaker tiles and Icon cards in separate piles.
- Place the Portmanteau tiles in the center of the table, white side up. Tiles should be placed in ascending order 3-8.
- Shuffle the pile of Icon cards and draw 9. Arrange the 9 cards in a 3x3 grid below the Portmanteau tiles. The small red number shows the bottom right of each Icon card.
- Randomly decide who will be the first Speaker. Give them the game box and dry-erase marker.
You are now ready to play Portmanteau!
Start of a Round
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The Speaker shuffles and secretly draws 2 Speaker tiles.
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Place the 2 tiles with the grid side faceup next to each other in the game box. The Portmanteau #'s will be at the top of the tile. Speaker Tiles may not be rearranged and must be hidden from other players!
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Find the corresponding icons in the 3x3 grid according to the stars (★) on the Speaker tiles.
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Write your interpretations of the 2 icons on the lines in the game box.
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Underline letters you will use from:
- The beginning of your first written word (left Speaker tile) and
- the ending of your second written word (right Speaker tile).
The player has the choice of how long or short the Portmanteau will be based on Portmanteau tiles available (not discarded).
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Phonetically speak the fused Portmanteau and total number of letters used. Present the Portmanteau tile showing the total amount of letters.
The 3 options on the right are a few examples of how you can split and fuse the 2 words.
Example of a round (from the rulebook's illustration): the Speaker writes "Stack" (for the Icon card showing a stack of coins) and "Power" (for the Icon card showing an atom). The underlined letters are the beginning of "Stack" and the ending of "Power":
- Option 1: "St" + "wer" = STWER, 5 letters.
- Option 2: "S" + "ower" = SOWER, 5 letters.
- Option 3: "Sta" + "ower" = STAOWER, 7 letters.
In the example the Speaker chose Option 1 ("STWER", 5 letters), so the Speaker presents the 5 Portmanteau tile.
Guessing the Portmanteau
After hearing the Portmanteau and the number of letters used, the non-Speaker player(s) make their official guess about which 2 icons were fused together to create the Portmanteau.
The group must come to a consensus, with 1 person pointing to the 2 guessed icons.
- If both guesses are correct, regardless of their order, the Portmanteau tile used is discarded out of play. The tile is discarded even if it was previously flipped to its "danger" (red) side.
- On an incorrect guess, the Portmanteau tile is flipped to its "danger" (red) side...a step closer to potentially losing.
End of the Round
After resolving the guess, the next clockwise player will be the new Speaker. Empty the game box of Speaker tiles, reshuffling all of them. All of the Icon cards flip once, revealing 9 new icons. Draw 9 new Icon cards for the following round.
Illustration labels: "CORRECT!" – "Discard out of play." "INCORRECT!" – "Flip to danger side." Then "Next round setups."
The Team Wins If...
There is a correct guess, and all Portmanteau tiles have now been discarded!
Illustration labels: "Last Portmanteau tile regardless of color" and "Previously discarded Portmanteau tiles."
The Team Loses If...
There was an incorrect guess, and the Portmanteau tile used this round was already in danger (red)!
Illustration label: "Game over!"
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I give any other clues after speaking the Portmanteau?
- No, but you may repeat the word as many times as necessary! Never spell out the Portmanteau!
How are silent letters handled?
- Many words in the English language have silent letters or may sound different when not spoken phonetically. Use your best judgement in the spirit of the game to seamlessly and phonetically speak your Portmanteau. Example: 'Ba' in Baseball sounds like "Bay" while 'Ba' in Basketball sounds like "Baa".
When fusing a Portmanteau, how do I split the letters?
- Players have the freedom to use as many, or as few, letters of each icon when fusing their Portmanteau. You may even include an entire word interpretation into the Portmanteau if possible! Example: "Stackwer"
Is order important when guessing the Portmanteau icons?
- No! If you close your eyes and hit a home run, it's still a home run!
Is discussion allowed before hearing the Portmanteau?
- Other players may talk while the Speaker is preparing but players may not actively discuss the icons they see as to not give clues to the Speaker. Same goes for the Speaker, try to remain silent as you interpret the icons and fuse the Portmanteau.
Why are there numbers on the cards?
- Interpretations for each icon are being collected and each card number serves as a unique identifier.
Transcription note: the printed FAQ reads "playes" in one answer; it is corrected to "players" here.