Штука Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Before the Game
• Playing the Game
  • The Explaining Player: Remember! You may not:
  • If the answer is correct:
  • If the guessers made 3 mistakes during one turn, or gave up after 2 mistakes:
  • The Guessing Player: Don't forget! You must:
  • If the answer is incorrect:
  • Winning the Game
• The Card, Coordinates and Methods of Explanation
  • Shtuka
  • Drawing
  • Gestures
  • Eyewitness
  • Yes/No
  • Blitz
• Playing in Teams
• Before the First Game
• Replacing Game Boards and Cards
• Hints
• Your Game, Your Rules

Before the Game

• Take the game boards with matching numbers out of the envelope. Hand them out, one per 1 to 3 players.
• Count out cards from the deck:
  • 30 cards if there are 5 or 6 players;
  • 28 cards if there are 4 or 7 players.
• Place the cards face down on the table and return the rest to the box.
• If there are more than 7 players, split into 2 teams.
• Place your pawns, or your team's pawns, on the race track (the "Start" space).
• Place the Shtuka (the wooden prism) in the center of the table.

Playing the Game

Players take turns drawing a card and, using the method shown on it (gestures, words, drawings and so on), explaining to the other players what is depicted in the hidden fragment of the game board.

The guessing players must understand what is meant, find this fragment on the game board faster than the others, and grab the Shtuka.

The Explaining Player: Remember! You may not:

• look at the game board;
• show the contents of the card to the other players.

If the answer is correct:

• the guessing player's pawn moves forward 2 spaces;
• the explaining player's pawn moves forward 1 space;
• the turn passes to the next player.

If the guessers made 3 mistakes during one turn, or gave up after 2 mistakes:

• the explaining player's pawn moves back 1 space;
• the turn passes to the next player.

The Guessing Player: Don't forget! You must:

• suggest an answer only if you are holding the Shtuka in your hands;
• point directly at the hidden fragment on the board and name its coordinates (the coordinates help the explaining player check whether the answer is correct);
• show your answer immediately (you are given no more than 3 seconds from the moment you grab the Shtuka).

If the answer is incorrect:

• the pawn of the player who grabbed the Shtuka and showed the wrong answer moves back 1 space;
• guessing continues: the player who made the mistake continues the game together with everyone else, and the Shtuka returns to its place.

Winning the Game

The winner is the player whose pawn has moved furthest along the race track after all of the cards selected for the game have been played.

The Card, Coordinates and Methods of Explanation

Each game board carries its number and a coordinate grid. Find the intersection of the column (letter) and the row (number). The hidden fragment that has been drawn is in that cell.

The card shows the target as a word-description of the fragment, and gives one of the explanation methods below. The leaflet's sample card shows eight slots, numbered 1 to 8: Shtuka, Eyewitness, Drawing, Yes/No, Drawing, Eyewitness, Gestures and Blitz.

Shtuka

The hidden fragment of the game board must be explained using words. While doing so, the explaining player may not say any nouns, except:

• "штука" (shtuka, "thing"), if the object is inanimate;
• "существо" ("creature") or "тварь" ("critter"), if the object is animate.

It is forbidden to describe the hidden fragment using words of the same root (for example, explaining the word "дверь" ("door") with the phrase "дверная штука" ("door shtuka")).

For each use of any noun other than the permitted ones, the player receives a warning. After 3 warnings, the explaining player's pawn moves back 1 space. The explanation continues.

Drawing

The card gives a verbal description of the fragment of the game board. The explaining player must draw the hidden fragment without looking at the game board. Writing letters and numbers is not allowed.

Gestures

Show the hidden fragment of the game board using gestures. You may use props at hand, but you may not make any sounds.

Eyewitness

There are two variants.

Variant 1: "Photofit" (Фоторобот). Players remove the game boards and draw what is explained to them. The explaining player may use poses, drawings, sounds and words, and may hint at what to correct, whose drawing is more accurate, and so on. On the explaining player's command, the players open the game boards and look for the answer, guided by their drawings.

Variant 2: "From Memory" (По памяти). Players remove the game boards. The explaining player looks at the card for 30 seconds, and then, from memory, explains what they have memorized by any means. The search for the answer begins on the explaining player's command.

Yes/No

Players look at the game boards and ask questions. The explaining player answers only "yes" or "no".

Blitz

Nothing needs to be said. The explaining player simply places the card on the table, and all players, including the explaining player, look for the indicated fragment as fast as they can.

Playing in Teams

• If there are more than 7 players, it is recommended to split into 2 teams. In this case, each player's successes and failures are credited to the whole team.
• When a player from one team explains, players from both teams guess.
• The right to explain passes in turn from one team to the other. The order of players within each team is agreed upon among the players.

Before the First Game

If players are playing a given game board for the first time, they may look over that game board before the start of the game. Up to 2 minutes may be given for this.

Replacing Game Boards and Cards

• If during play a task that is already familiar comes up, remove that card to the box and replace it with a new one.
• After a game has ended, put the game board that was played back into its envelope. For the next game, take a new game board. The cards may stay the same.
• A game board that has already been played can return to play only after all of the other game boards have been played.
• Each game board hides 90 fragments. Each game board can be played about 3 times.

Hints

• Use the conventional signs when you draw or explain with gestures.
• Feel free to show on your fingers, or with the help of the conventional signs, how many words you want to use in the explanation.

The leaflet's hint diagram gives the following conventional signs (the Russian example words are kept in brackets):

• ROBOT (робот), underlined once: noun (существительное);
• SURVIVE (выживать), underlined twice: verb (глагол);
• YELLOW (желтый), wavy underline: adjective (прилагательное);
• OVER (над), circled: function word (служебное слово);
• FLY-SWATTER (мухобойка), marked with two arcs: a word consisting of two parts.

Your Game, Your Rules

If you encounter a situation that is not covered by these rules, agree on how to resolve it among yourselves.