Scattergories Junior Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Object
• Setup
• Game Play
• Winning The Game
• Rules for Acceptable Answers
• Starting A New Game

Contents

4 Folders, 4 Answer Pads, 12 Category Cards, Timer, 20-Sided Die, Die-Rolling Board, 4 Pencils

Object

Quickly fill out a category list with answers that start with the same letter. Score points if no other player matches your answers. The player with the highest score after 2 rounds of play wins the game!

Setup

Do this for all 4 folders: Assemble an answer pad into a folder by sliding the cardboard backing into the slot. See Figure 1.

Then, slide a category card with List # 1 behind the answer pad, as shown.

NOTE: Each folder should hold cards with Lists # 1 to # 12 (3 cards per folder). You just inserted the first card. You can insert the other 2 cards per folder now, for easy storage.

Figure 1: Assembling the Folders. The answer pad sits on top of the folder, with Category List # 1 slid underneath. The other category lists are slid underneath as well.

Game Play

The game is played in 2 rounds. To play a round, do the following steps in order:

1. All players take a folder and a pencil. Make sure all players have the same List # faceup in their folders.

2. Set the die-rolling board on the table. One player rolls the letter die on the board and calls out the rolled letter. The rolled letter is the key letter that will be used in this round of play.

Rolling a Wild Star: Whenever a star is rolled on the die, the die-roller can choose any letter as the key letter—as long as it hasn't already been used in that game.

Caution: The die is heavy. Roll it only on the die-rolling board to prevent possible damage to table tops.

3. Start the timer by turning it upside-down.

4. All players now quickly fill in the first column of their answer sheets. Answers must fit the category, and should start with the key letter. (See Rules for Acceptable Answers on the back of this card.)

If you can't think of an answer that starts with the key letter, you can write an answer that begins with any other letter—as long as it fits the category. However, less points are possible for this kind of answer.

EXAMPLE: In Figure 2, the key letter is P. Notice that the player couldn't think of a Valentine's Day Thing starting with P, so the player answered Cards.

Figure 2: A Filled-In Answer Sheet. List 1 is Holiday Fun, with the categories Christmas Things, Summer Vacation Things, Winter Vacation Things, Halloween Things, Holiday Food or Drink, and Valentine's Day Things. The player's answers for category 1 through 6 are: Presents, Pool, Playing in Snow, Pumpkin, Punch, and Cards.

5. When the timer runs out, all players must immediately stop writing. NOTE: If all players agree, the timer may be flipped over again to allow more time.

6. Scoring A Round: Players, in turn, read their number 1 answers aloud. Players circle their answer if it DOES NOT match any other player's answer.

If no one matches your answer, score it as follows:

• If your answer starts with the key letter, score 2 points! Write "2" next to your circled answer.
• If your answer does not start with the key letter, score 1 point. Write "1" next to your circled answer.

Score your other 5 answers the same way, then add up your points. Write the total at the top of your sheet and circle it, as shown in Figure 3. All players do the same.

Figure 3: This Player Scored 7 Points. The player's List 1 (Holiday Fun) sheet for column "One" (key letter P) shows the answers Presents, Pool, Playing in Snow, Pumpkin, Punch and Cards. Pool (2), Playing in Snow (2) and Punch (2) are marked with 2 points, Cards is marked with 1 point, and Presents and Pumpkin, which match other players' answers, are not scored. The total of 7 is circled at the top of the sheet.

7. Starting The Second Round: Roll a new letter, start the timer again and continue playing, using the same category list as in the first round. Fill in the next column with your new answers. NOTE: If the same letter is rolled twice in a game, reroll the die for a different letter.

Winning The Game

After 2 rounds have been played, all players add up the circled scores on the tops of their answer sheets. The player with the highest score wins! See Figure 4 for a fully-scored answer sheet.

In Case of a Tie: The players who tie play one more round using a new key letter. The player who scores highest in that round is the winner.

Figure 4: This Player's Final Score Is 15 Points. The fully-scored List 1 (Holiday Fun) sheet shows column "One" with a round score of 7 (Pool 2, Playing in Snow 2, Punch 2, Cards 1) and column "Two" with a round score of 8 (Santa 2, Swimming 2, Scary Mask 2, Sweets 2; Sled is not scored), for a final total of 15 points.

Rules for Acceptable Answers

• To score 2 points, the first word of your answer must begin with the key letter.
• The words A, An and The cannot be used for key letters. Example: For Movies, B is the key letter for The Black Stallion.
• You cannot use the same answer twice in one round. For example: If you write Hot Dog for Picnic Things, you cannot write Hot Dog again for Things at a Baseball Game.
• If your answer is a person's name, the first or last name can begin with the key letter. For example, if the key letter is M and the category is Songs or Singers, Michael Jackson and George Michael both use the key letter.
• Creative answers can be acceptable. For example, you could write Turkey for Stuffed Animal. But if a player challenges your answer, the group must vote on its acceptability.

Challenging Answers: While answers are being read, players who question an answer may challenge it. When an answer is challenged, all players (even the challenged player) vote on whether or not to accept it. Players who accept the answer give a thumbs-up sign. Players who do not accept the answer give a thumbs-down sign. Majority rules. In case of a tie, the challenged player's vote does not count.

Starting A New Game

To start a new game, remove the category card in your folder and turn it around. Then insert it into the folder with a new category list faceup. If both lists on one side of the card have been used, flip the card over and use the lists on the back. Make sure all players are using the same List #.