Really Loud Librarians Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Start Here
  • Goal
  • Assembling the Chain
  • Assembling the Score Trackers
• Setup
  • Contents
• Teams
• Shouting Out Words (the most important part of the game)
• Gameplay
  • Letter Tiles
  • Team Gertrude's Turn - Gertrude goes first each round
  • Team Wilfred's Turn
• Scoring
• Lapping the Board
• Valid Words
• Winning
• HEY! Don't read these rules!

Start Here

Goal

Be the first team to get 12 points.

Assembling the Chain

First, flip all 3 Plastic Ring Pieces so that the bridge between the small and large circles is at the top. Next, place the small circle on top of the large circle and gently push until you hear a click. When you're ready to play, the standee will gently click into the large circle at the end of the Chain.

Assembling the Score Trackers

Knock out the 2 black squares and 2 gray squares from the punch board. Then, line up the slit in the 2 black squares and slide the pieces together to form an X. Do the same for the gray squares. These are your 2 Score Trackers.

Setup

Place the game board on the table and set up the pieces.

Contents

• A: 1 Game Board

• B: 60 Category Cards

• C: 3 Plastic Ring Pieces that snap together to form the Chain

• D: 2 Librarians

• E: 2 Score Markers

• F: 12 Bonus Tokens (6 of each color)

• G: 20 Letter Tiles

• H: 1 One-Minute Timer

• I: 2 Lap Tokens

• Letter Tiles (all face down).

• Place the 2 Score Markers on the fleur-de-lis space (marked START) of the Score Track.

• 2 Librarians on the table next to the "E."

• Chain should highlight the letters E, L, S, and K. The large circle will highlight the E.

• Each card has four Categories (numbered 1-4). Pick one number to use throughout the entire game, then shuffle the cards and place them (with your chosen number face down) next to the board to form a Draw Pile.

• The example card illustrated shows the Categories School Supplies (numbered 4) and Musicals and Plays (numbered 3).

Teams

Divide all players into 2 teams. It's ok if 1 team has more players than the other.

Team Gertrude Birdwhistle VS. Team Wilfred Dankworth

Shouting Out Words (the most important part of the game)

Before we talk about taking your turn, we have to talk about shouting out words. Your team will get points by moving your Librarian (and the Chain) farther around the track than the other team. To do this, you have to shout out words. On your team's turn, your team's Librarian will be in the large circle of the chain and you will all be shouting out words that:

1. Satisfy the category card.

AND

2. Start with one of the letters highlighted in the three rings of the Chain.

If the Chain were in this position, your team could shout out any School Supplies that start with the letter C, T, or P. For example, "Calculator!"

Each time someone on your team shouts out a valid word (judged by the other team), you get to move the Chain COUNTERCLOCKWISE around the track so that your Librarian rests on the first letter of the word you just shouted and 3 new letters are highlighted in the small rings.

For example, when you shouted "Calculator!" you would slide your Librarian and the Chain counterclockwise on the track until your Librarian covered the letter C (the first letter of Calculator) and 3 new letters were highlighted by the small rings.

Keep shouting out words and moving the Chain until your time runs out.

Your team can continue shouting out School Supplies, but now use the 3 new letters T, P, and J. For example, "Pencil!"

If you're doing it right, you should be pushing your Librarian and the Chain counterclockwise around the track.

Your Librarian will not leave the large circle of the Chain, they will just slide with the Chain around the track.

Your goal is to move your Librarian as far around the track as possible. You only have 60 seconds, so shouting out words that start with a letter farther along the chain is always an advantage.

In this example, the letters S, K, and B are available to use. Shouting a word that begins with the letter S will move the Chain only 1 space. Shouting a word that begins with the letter B will move the Chain 3 spaces.

Gameplay

The game is played over several rounds. A round consists of both teams taking a single turn. Both teams will start with the Chain in the same location and then move it as far as they can by shouting out words. After a team takes their turn, move their Librarian to the side of the board to mark how far they got. Then move the Chain back to the starting position for that round (the location of the Librarian that hasn't taken a turn yet) so that the other team can begin their turn from the same location. The team that moves the Chain the farthest wins the round and earns points.

Letter Tiles

At the beginning of each round and before either team takes their turn, a single Letter Tile is chosen at random, turned over, and placed on the board next to its corresponding letter on the track. Letter Tiles apply to both teams and there's no limit to the number of times you can land on a Letter Tile. If you shout a word that begins with a letter that has a Letter Tile next to it, your team immediately collects a bonus token. If you win the round, those bonus tokens each add 1 point to your score. Each team can only collect up to 6 bonus tokens per round.

Letter Tiles are placed at the beginning of each round, and they are not removed from the board until the end of the game.

Transcriber's note: the Letter Tiles text says a tile is chosen "before either team takes their turn," while the turn steps below flip the tile only at step 2 of Team Gertrude's turn, and Team Wilfred's turn has no tile step. This is transcribed as printed; the tile is flipped once per round, at that step.

Team Gertrude's Turn - Gertrude goes first each round

1. Gently click Gertrude into the large circle of the Chain.

For the first turn of the game, the large circle starts on the E, so you will insert Gertrude to cover the letter E. The small rings of the Chain are now highlighting the letters L, S, and K.

2. Flip over 1 random Letter Tile and place it on the dot next to the matching letter on the track.

The Letter Tile R was flipped, so it is placed on the dot next to the R on the board.

3. Flip over the top Category Card in the Draw Pile so everyone can see it while the other team starts the Timer.

4. Everyone on your team can shout out words and move the Chain around the track as described in "Shouting Out Words" until the Timer ends.

In this example, the Category was School Supplies, and the last valid word Team Gertrude shouted out before the Timer expired was "Calculator!" Team Gertrude has moved the Chain so that Gertrude was covering the C, and has now removed Gertrude to place her on the table next to the letter C to mark their progress.

5. When the Timer ends, take Gertrude out of the Chain (without moving the Chain) and put her on the side of the board in the same position to mark how far Team Gertrude moved the Chain.

6. Discard your Category Card. Your turn is over. Now it's Team Wilfred's turn.

Team Wilfred's Turn

1. Move the Chain around the track so that the large circle lines up with Wilfred's position next to the board. Then, put Wilfred into the large circle, so both teams begin their turn from the same position each round.

For the first turn, Wilfred is on the table next to the letter E, so move the Chain so that the large circle is highlighting the letter E and then put Wilfred into the large circle.

2. Flip over the top Category Card in the Draw Pile so everyone can see it while the other team starts the Timer.

3. Everyone on your team can shout out words and move the Chain around the track as described in "Shouting Out Words" until the Timer ends.

4. Discard your Category Card.

5. Now that both teams have taken their turn, the round is over and the team that has moved the furthest around the board scores points (see Scoring).

6. After scoring, take Wilfred out of the Chain. Leave the chain exactly where it is because this will be the starting position for the next round. Put both Librarians on the table next to the large circle.

Scoring

At the end of each round (meaning both teams have taken a turn), the team who traveled the furthest around the track wins the round.

In the case of a tie, neither team scores.

The winning team scores 1 point for winning the round, plus 1 extra point for each Bonus Token they have collected. Move your team's Score Marker along the Score Track according to the number of points you just scored. The losing team does not score any points, even if they collected Bonus Tokens.

After each round, both teams return all Bonus Tokens to the table.

Lapping the Board

Any time your team completes a full lap around the board from your starting position, take your team's Lap Token from the middle and set it in front of you with the "1 Lap" side face up. If you complete another lap, flip it to the "2 Laps" side. Put these Lap Tokens back into the middle after each round.

Valid Words

During your opponent's turn, you have the opportunity to challenge them if they say a word that you don't believe fits the Category, is not a real word, does not start with one of the correct letters, or has already been used during this turn. Shout "challenge," flip the Timer sideways (to stop the time), and discuss the objection. Once a decision is made and the Chain is pushed back (if needed), start the Timer back up and continue playing.

NOTE: Teams are not allowed to use the same word twice on any turn.

Winning

Once either team gets 12 or more points, they win!

HEY! Don't read these rules!

Reading is the worst way to learn how to play a game. Instead, watch our instructional video: www.reallyloudlibrarians.com/how