Rabble
Rabble Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
Split players into two teams. Deal each team 20 Rabble Cards and 6 Challenge Cards. You can look at your team's Challenge Cards, but don't look at the Rabble Cards. For larger groups (9+ players), deal each team 25 Rabble Cards and 9 Challenge Cards.
Decide which team goes first - thumb war, staring contest, best dad joke, etc.
How to Play
One person from the starting team has 45 seconds to draw cards from their team's deck of Rabble Cards and give clues describing the words shown. The rest of their team tries to guess as many cards as possible. Once a card is correctly guessed, put it aside face-up. After time is up, add back in any skipped cards and give the remaining unguessed cards a shuffle.
The turn passes to the opposing team who now guess from their deck of Rabble Cards for 45 seconds. Turns pass back-and-forth until one team has finished guessing ALL their cards. When that happens, the ROUND ends. Rotate the players giving clues each turn.
To score a round, the team that finished their cards gets 1 point for every unguessed card the other team has left. If the team that finished their cards went first that round, the opposing team gets one more 45-second turn before points are scored.
After points are scored, the team that did not guess all their Rabble Cards does the "browse of shame" and briefly looks through their remaining unguessed cards.
Reset each team's deck by combining guessed Rabble Cards with any unguessed cards and giving it a shuffle. Move onto the next round with each team going through the same decks again but with different restrictions on how to give clues (next page). Try to remember the words & clues from previous rounds because they'll show up again.
Round Restrictions
Round 1: Words, sounds, and acting are allowed. Teams can't use any part of the card name.
Round 2: One word per card. No acting or saying any part of the card name.
Round 3: Acting only. No words or sounds.
Rabble Cards
Get your team to guess this card while following the Round Restriction.
Illustrations and additional text on Rabble Cards are for effect only and don't impact the game. We like to have fun around here.
Rabble Cards marked with a devil icon are "naughty cards" that you can remove depending on the crowd.
Example card: "Cookie Dough" — Self-Growth: I made cookies and only ate 1/4 of the cookie dough.
Challenge Cards
Before each team's turn starts, the opposing team can give the clue-giver a Challenge Card. The clue-giver has to perform the challenge (e.g. talk in a British accent) in addition to any Round Restrictions. The Challenge Card's effect lasts one turn and is not revealed to the clue-giver's team until after the turn is over (unless otherwise stated).
Each Challenge Card shows: the name of the hilarious challenge about to be performed; the round(s) the Challenge Card can be played on; and what the clue-giver has to do during their turn. Challenge Cards supersede Round Restrictions (e.g. a challenge that makes you talk during Round 3).
Example card: "The British Are Coming" — Play on: Round 1 — Give clues in a British accent.
Winning Rabble
After the third round, the team with the most total points wins. If it's a tie, swap decks with the other team. Each team has one 60-second turn to guess as many of the opposing team's Rabble Cards as possible under Round 3 restrictions. The team that guesses the most cards wins.
FAQ
Keeping it Competitive - If one team falls really behind, give that team an extra Challenge Card for every 3 points they are behind by to use for the following round.
Skipping Words - We recommend unlimited skips for beginners and one skip per turn for pros. Make sure to shuffle skipped cards back with the unguessed cards at the end of each turn.
Whose Turn Is It? The team with fewer points goes first each round. If it's a tie, alternate which team goes first. Rotate who gives clues each turn.
But They're Breaking the Rules! If someone breaks a Round Restriction or fails to follow their Challenge Card, they must skip the Rabble Card they are on for the remainder of their turn. The other team should also heckle them to provide the appropriate "motivation."
Not Enough Players? If you want to play Rabble but don't have 4 players, you can play Rabble cooperatively. Deal out 20 Rabble Cards to the group and 1 Challenge Card to each player. Try to finish all three rounds in as few total turns as possible with everyone performing their Challenge Card during one of their turns.
Above All Else... Rabble is meant to be fun. If the group runs into something unclear that isn't in the rules, make up a rule and get back to having fun.