Rosetta: The Lost Language Rulebook

Overview

Rosetta is a language puzzle game for two or more players. One player will act as the Author, who chooses and gives clues to the meaning of a piece of unknown writing called the Inscription. The remaining players act as Experts who try to guess the meaning in as few guesses as possible.

Components

• 15 Location Cards
• 30 Inscription Cards
• 9 Notation Cards
• 9 Guess Cards
• 1 Rosetta Token
• 1 Campaign Book
• 16 Ability Cards
• 4 Dry Erase Markers

The contents of the Campaign Book are intended for the Author only. Flipping through or peeking at this book will spoil the various pre-made scenarios within. During set-up, read the back of the campaign book for additional instructions on setting up a campaign scenario.

Set-Up

1. Select one player to be the Author. Place the Token in front of this player. They should have a strong rules understanding.
2. The Author shuffles and draws one random Inscription card and one random Location card face-up and places them side-by-side.
3. The Author shuffles and draws two Ability cards and keeps them secret, although they can look at them.
4. The Author takes the Notation card labeled 'Meaning' and writes the meaning on it, placing it face-down nearby (see Choosing a Meaning below). The Author also chooses the orientation of the Inscription.
5. The Guess cards are dealt out to the other players, known as the Experts, at random and as evenly as possible.
6. Set aside Notation card labeled 'Fragment'.
7. The unused Ability cards and Notation cards are turned to their blank side and kept available for use.

If the Author is new, inexperienced, or needs some help, consider using the Campaign Book as part of set-up.

Choosing a Meaning

The Author, at the start of the game, chooses the meaning (just one word!) that the Experts are trying to figure out. The Author wins if the Experts win, and thus should choose something very easy. There are some restrictions:

• The meaning cannot be something visible on the Location card.
• The meaning must be inspired by the Location card.
• The Inscription must be treated as made up of smaller symbols.

The Author should come up with reasoning as to why they chose what they chose. The better the reasoning, the more likely the Experts will succeed. Treating the Inscription as made up of smaller parts with separate meanings will give a veteran Author multiple strategies to win.

A classic strategy is to treat some part of the Inscription as meaning a key element that helps define the 'category' of the meaning, such as 'person' or 'tool'.

Example: Kat is the Author. They get the above Location and Inscription. They immediately think of arrows or weapons, but they cannot choose what can be seen in the picture. They instead think of the largest part as a person and the other two as tools - specifically those of a lumberjack. They write 'lumberjack' on the meaning Notation card and place it nearby. They then orient the Inscription and point out the bottom to the Expert. The Expert, Gene, may then start with his first guess.

When using the Campaign Book, the Location, Inscription, and meaning are pre-chosen, with suggestions about the meanings of various parts.

Gameplay

Gameplay begins with an Expert writing a word on the '1' Guess card. This can be done through consensus or by the holder of the card. The Guess is given to the Author, who invents a translation of the word into the same 'language' or writing system as the Inscription, making up new symbols as needed.

Then the Experts make another guess using card '2'. This continues back and forth until the game ends (see Ending the Game below). The Experts should use the available blank cards to keep a record of symbols and parts of symbols they feel they have translated.

Guessing

Guesses can be anything, but each one will be a chance for the Author to give clues to the meaning of the Inscription. Choosing something very obvious, or even something on the Location card, might be helpful to learn a piece of the Inscription. Players will have ten guesses total (the final is spoken out loud).

Example: Gene is trying to make his first guess. Since the Inscription likely has a connection to the Location card, he guesses 'tree'. He writes the word 'tree' in the top of the '1' Guess card and hands it to Kat to translate. He knows it won't be correct (since there are trees on the card), but has strategically decided to give Kat something they may be able to translate easily and helpfully.

Translating

The Author, when given an incorrect guess, must draw a new symbol to 'translate' the guess into the same 'language' as the Inscription. Their goal is to teach the Experts and guide them to guess the correct meaning for the Inscription. Translating takes practice and creativity and requires inventing new symbols to provide answers to the Experts. There are also some restrictions:

• The Author is not allowed to use common symbols, such as arrows, stick figures, or other drawings.
• The Author also cannot use letters or known writing forms.
• This writing system must be unique and match the style of the Inscription.

Sometimes the translation is as simple as writing a part of the Inscription or mixing up the parts to make a new meaning. If the Guess is too far from the answer to bother translating, the Author can instead cross it out to show it is not helpful. If the Experts are correct, the game ends (see Ending the Game below).

Example: Kat did not think about the Inscription including the word 'tree', but realizes a part could mean 'wood'. They draw that part twice, and add a 'trunk' to show it is part of a larger whole, the 'tree'.

Gene's second guess is 'flower'. Kat thinks this is too far from the correct meaning, so they cross it out. Better luck on the next one, Gene!

After thinking about it a bit, Gene feels he knows that the smaller symbol might mean 'wood'. So he draws it on a spare card as a note to himself.

Special Abilities

After three guesses, the Author looks at their two secret Ability cards and choose whichever one seems more useful to give to the Experts. The Author can use a blank card to record the revealed information, if needed. Abilities are meant to give a little information and help to the Experts, and the Author will make any clarifications if an Ability is unclear.

After six guesses, the Author has a choice:

• Reveal the Fragment.
• Give the players the other Ability card to use immediately.
• If using the Campaign Book, read the 'Previous Knowledge' paragraph as a clue.

If the Author chooses to reveal the Fragment, they use the 'fragment' Notation card to provide a translation of the Fragment circled in the corner of the Inscription card.

If the Author already feels like the Fragment is understood, use one of the other options (an additional Ability card, or the Previous Knowledge clue, if available). It is ultimately up the Author to decide how to be helpful!

Example: Gene thinks he knows that the fragment means 'wood'. He guesses the word 'person'. Kat is glad because they already thought part of the Inscription meant 'person'. They translate it easily.

Gene has made three guesses, so Kat chooses the Ability card 'Dialect'. This allows Kat to reveal the 'category' of the meaning from a list. This felt more useful than the other Ability card, which will be available later on. The card reads: "The Author chooses the category of the Meaning below: Tool, Place, Idea, Job, Material, Alive, Creation, Feeling, Other."

Using the Ability, Kat writes 'job' on a spare blank card and places it with the Ability card for reference.

Ending the Game

If the Experts guess correctly (the meaning or a synonym), all players win!

If they are not right after ten guesses (remember, the last guess is made out loud), all players lose.

Either way, the Author should explain their choices to help everyone improve at playing.

Variations

Besides using the Campaign Book (see the back instructions of the Campaign Book to learn more), there are a few methods of making the experience more challenging, and one method to make it easier:

• Pre-record the Fragment at the start of play so it cannot be changed during play.
• Allow the Experts to choose their Ability.
• Don't allow the other Ability in place of revealing the Fragment.
• Don't get an Ability after the third Guess.
• To make the game easier, allow the Author to choose the Fragment, rather than use what is selected on the Inscription card.

Example: Gene comes out of left field with this one, thinking more literally that the meaning is a 'wood person' ('dryad'). Kat wants to use the previous discoveries that were understood to mean those words, but be a little creative; this was their way to show the person is 'made' of wood, rather than works with wood.

After six guesses, Gene is getting a little off-track. Kat chooses to reveal the meaning of the Fragment, writing 'wood' on the matching Notation card.

On the next Guess, Gene decides to guess 'lumberjack', and so they both win! Kat reveals the Meaning Notation card, which reads 'lumberjack'.

Letter from the Designer

When we originally made this game, it was based on the somewhat strange idea that, as long as a person knew the meaning of a symbol, they could give a finite number of clues that would not just lead others to the correct answer, but to the reasoning for it.

As this game has evolved and travelled around the world, it has been played thousands of times by people across very different language and cultural backgrounds. I myself come at it from my partial Japanese upbringing and study of Mandarin Chinese. This gives some advantage in playing around with logograms, as they are called, but it may be harder to parse for those without such an experience (although emojis are becoming more like logograms in many contexts).

To that end, I wanted to record some advice that I have given Authors over the years since this game was first tested in late 2018. Hopefully it helps you connect with the game like I have.

With love, Jono Naito-Tetro

Advice

The following advice is for the Author:

• Remember that you win if players win. Nouns are better than verbs or adjectives, especially concrete ones. If you are uncertain if your meaning is in the picture, save yourself the trouble and choose something not ambiguous. At the same time, throw out this advice if you find yourself playing with the same people a lot, as you may be able to push the limits on what you can win with.
• Only loosely decide what each part of the Inscription means, but don't be afraid of changing your mind later.
• Consider space as a tool; a piece below another may be 'holding' it, or 'made' of it. Things arranged in a row may show order of events, or how one thing is used on another.
• Use the Campaign Book! We made this to jumpstart your games, but as noted, you should riff off it as well. Each entry is an example of how veteran Authors set up the game in their head, but you should adjust on the fly if it means winning. Being understood is the entire point.