SłowoStwory Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Easier Variant
  • Setup (Easier Variant)
  • Goal of the Game
  • Gameplay (Easier Variant)
  • End of the Game (Easier Variant)
• Harder Variant
  • Setup (Harder Variant, 3-Player Game)
  • Goal of the Game
  • Sequence of Play (Harder Variant)
    • 1. Reveal the Round Token
    • 2. Word Duels
      • 2.1. Choosing an Opponent
      • 2.2. Choosing a Die
      • 2.3. The Duel / Exchanging Cards with the Bank
      • 2.4. End of the Duel
    • 3. Obtaining SłowoStwory
    • End of the Round
• Categories on the Dice
  • City – Country – Profession (blue stickers)
  • Animal – Plant – Thing (green stickers)
  • Film – Sport – Music (red stickers)
  • Fairy Tale – Toy – Joker (yellow stickers)

Components

• 72 letter cards (front and back; the front shows the letter)
• 40 SłowoStwory (creature tokens), in five sizes: 12, 10, 7, 6 and 5 pieces
• 4 dice (category dice)
• 24 stickers for the dice
• 7 activity tiles (one side marked with a green check "V", the other with a red cross "X")
• 7 joker cards
• 7 help cards (karta pomocy), with the scoring table for alphabet fragments and the alphabet printed at the bottom
• 4 round tokens (numbered 1–4)
• 1 hourglass
• 1 starting-player marker

Before the first game, stick 6 stickers of one colour on each die, as shown in the illustration in the manual.

The game has 2 variants:

• Easier variant: for younger players (age 8+) and people playing the game for the first time.
• Harder variant: for older players (age 12+) and people who have already played the easier variant.

Easier Variant

Setup (Easier Variant)

1. Shuffle the letter cards and place them face down in the centre of the table as a face-down letter pile.
2. Place the hourglass in the centre of the table.
3. Place the 4 dice next to the hourglass.
4. Place the SłowoStwory to one side of the table.

Return the remaining components (joker cards, help cards, activity tiles, round tokens and the starting-player marker) to the box; they are not needed in this variant.

Goal of the Game

The goal is to collect as many SłowoStwory as possible. Players collect them by coming up with words in a given category that contain the letters shown on the cards (for example, a city containing the letters R and W).

Gameplay (Easier Variant)

The game lasts several rounds. The first round is started by the player whose name has the most letters (or the youngest player). Each following round is started by the player sitting to the left of the previous round's starter.

Each round proceeds as follows:

1. Choose a die. The player starting the round chooses any die and places it in front of them. The category descriptions on the dice are at the end of the rulebook.

The player then carries out the following actions, in this order:

• Turn the hourglass.
• Roll the chosen die with its categories.
• Reveal two cards from the letter pile. To make the game easier for the youngest players, you may reveal only one letter card instead of two.

Once the second letter card has been revealed, all players simultaneously try to find and say a correct word. The word must contain both letters shown on the cards and must belong to the category rolled on the die.

• In all categories, the answer should be in the singular nominative (for example "dog", not "dogs"). Proper names (film titles, music band names and the like) may contain at most 3 words.
• Words given by players may not repeat within the same round.
• A player who gives a correct word immediately takes 1 or 2 SłowoStwory (2 if they were the first to give a correct word).
• A SłowoStwór can be received only once per round. Players who have already received a SłowoStwór in this round do not take part in finding words for the rest of the round.

Example: the category rolled is "fairy tale" (bajka) and the letter cards show "K" and "L". Correct answers would be, for example, Kaczor Donald or Koralgol.

2. End of the round. Players have until the hourglass runs out to give words. When all the sand has run through, the round ends. The letter cards that players were searching for are placed face up on a discard pile.

The discard pile is formed beside the letter pile. When the letter pile runs out, shuffle the discard pile and form a new letter pile from it.

A new round begins, and the next player chooses a die.

End of the Game (Easier Variant)

The game ends when one of the players collects their tenth SłowoStwór. The round is finished to its end; then all players count the SłowoStwory they have. The player with the most SłowoStwory wins. In the event of a tie, the players share the victory.

Harder Variant

Setup (Harder Variant, 3-Player Game)

The illustration in the manual shows the setup for 3 players (named Michał, Kuba and Mateusz). The steps are:

1. Shuffle the letter cards and deal 3 cards to each player.
2. Place the remaining letter cards face down as a face-down letter pile.
3. Reveal 6 cards from the top of the letter pile and place them in the centre of the table. These form the letter bank (bank liter).
4. Deal 1 joker card to each player. Each player adds it to the 3 letter cards they received earlier.
5. Deal 1 help card (karta pomocy) to each player. Each player places it face up in front of them.
6. Deal 1 activity tile to each player. Each player places it in front of them with the "V" side facing up.
7. Stack the 4 round tokens one on top of another in the order 1–4, so that token 1 is on top, and place the stack to the side of the table.
8. Sort the SłowoStwory by type and place them to the side of the table.
9. Place the hourglass in the centre of the table.
10. Place the dice next to the hourglass.
11. The player whose name has the most letters (or the youngest player) receives the starting-player marker.

Goal of the Game

The goal is to score as many points as possible. Points are earned in the following way:

• in word duels, players win letter cards;
• from their letter cards, players form fragments of the alphabet;
• at the end of each round, players exchange these fragments for SłowoStwory.

The longer the fragment of the alphabet, the more points it is worth!

Sequence of Play (Harder Variant)

The game is played over 4 rounds. Each round proceeds as follows:

1. Reveal the round token.
2. Word duels.
3. Obtain SłowoStwory.

1. Reveal the Round Token

Round tokens show which round is currently being played. At the start of the game the top token, numbered 1, is revealed and round 1 is played. At the start of each following round, the next round token is revealed. The previous token is returned to the box.

2. Word Duels

In each round, every player takes part in two word duels. The player who wins a duel gets letter cards! In each duel exactly two players take part; the other players may meanwhile exchange their letter cards with the bank.

2.1. Choosing an Opponent

At the start of each of the 4 rounds, the player holding the starting-player marker first chooses the player they want to duel. After the duel is finished, the player who was challenged starts a new duel and chooses whom to challenge.

2.2. Choosing a Die

After the opponent has been named, the player chooses any die. The category descriptions on the dice are at the end of the rulebook.

2.3. The Duel / Exchanging Cards with the Bank

The duel. After choosing the die, the player carries out the following actions, in this order:

• Turn the hourglass.
• Roll the die with its categories.
• Reveal two cards from the letter pile.

Once the second letter card has been revealed, the duel begins. The task of the two duelists is to say the correct word aloud as quickly as possible. The word must contain both letters shown on the cards and must belong to the category rolled on the die. The first player to say a correct word wins the duel.

Example: the category rolled is "city" (miasto) and the letter cards show "L" and "D". Correct answers would be, for example, London (Londyn) or Lądek Zdrój.

The following rules apply during a duel:

• In all categories, the answer should be in the singular nominative (for example "dog", not "dogs"). Proper names (film titles, music band names and the like) may contain at most 3 words.
• The word given must differ from the object depicted graphically on the letter card. In the example in the manual, the letter A card shows a watermelon (arbuz), so the word "watermelon" is not allowed for that card.
• If there is any doubt whether the word given is correct, the players who are not taking part in the duel act as judges.
• If both duelists say a correct word at the same moment, the duel does not end; the players must find another word.

Exchanging cards with the bank. While a duel is in progress, the other players may (but need not) exchange letter cards with the bank. Letter cards must be exchanged one at a time. All players may do this at the same time. A player may exchange any number of cards, but only while the duel lasts. Once the duel has ended, players may no longer exchange letter cards with the bank.

2.4. End of the Duel

A duel can end in one of two ways:

1. One of the two duelists says a correct word. The winner of the duel receives a reward in the form of letter cards. The winner chooses one of two options:

   • a) Take two letter cards. The player may take the letter cards from the bank or from the top of the letter pile, in any combination:
     • 2 cards from the bank;
     • 2 cards from the top of the letter pile;
     • 1 card from the bank and 1 card from the top of the letter pile.
   • b) Take one random letter card from the player who lost the duel.

2. The hourglass runs out before anyone says a correct word. The duel ends without a winner, and no player receives letter cards.

In both cases, the player who was challenged to the duel turns their activity tile to the side marked "X". This means that the player cannot be chosen for a duel again in this round.

The letter cards that the duelists were searching for are placed face up on the discard pile (see below).

New duel. The player who was last challenged chooses the next opponent, and may choose any player except:

• the player with the starting-player marker (who will be challenged last in the round);
• players who have already been challenged in this round (their activity tiles show the "X" side).

End of the duels. The duel phase ends when all players have their activity tile showing the "X" side.

Discard pile. Letter cards that players searched for during duels are placed face up on the discard pile. The discard pile is formed beside the letter pile. When the letter pile runs out, shuffle the discard pile and form a new letter pile from it.

3. Obtaining SłowoStwory

After the duels are finished, the players may exchange the letter cards they have won for SłowoStwory. Starting with the player holding the starting-player marker and continuing clockwise, each player in turn may (but need not) lay down on the table cards that form fragments of the alphabet.

• Jokers used in fragments are returned to the box after use.
• In the rare situation where a type of SłowoStwór runs out, the player records their points on a piece of paper.

A correct 4-letter fragment of the alphabet is shown in the manual (C, D, E, F). An invalid 4-letter fragment is also shown, in which the letters are not consecutive in the alphabet.

The help card shows the points awarded for fragments of different lengths:

Length of fragment	Points
3 letters	3 points
4 letters	5 points
5 letters	7 points
6 letters	9 points
7 letters	13 points

For example, a 5-letter fragment gives 7 points.

To make it easier for younger players, the bottom of the help card shows the alphabet: ABCDEFGHIJKLŁ MNOPRSTUWYZ. This makes it easier to gather the letter cards needed.

A joker card replaces any letter in a fragment of the alphabet.

Immediately after laying down a fragment of the alphabet, the player receives the matching SłowoStwór and places it in front of them.

Example: a player lays down a 3-letter fragment (C, D, E) and a 4-letter fragment (M, N, joker, P). They receive 2 SłowoStwory worth 3 points and 5 points.

End of the Round

At the end of each round, players must hold at least 3 letter cards. Each player who has fewer than 3 cards in hand draws new cards from the letter pile until they have 3.

The 6 cards in the letter bank are placed on the discard pile, and 6 new cards are drawn to replace them.

The starting-player marker is then passed to the player sitting to the left, and the next round begins.

End of the Game (Harder Variant)

The game ends after the fourth round. Players count the points for all the SłowoStwory they have collected. The player with the most points wins.

If there is a tie, the player who has collected the larger SłowoStwór wins. If the tie remains, the player who has collected more SłowoStwory wins. If it is still tied, the players share the victory.

Example scoring from the manual:

• Mateusz: three 3-point SłowoStwory and one 9-point SłowoStwór = 18 points.
• Michał: two 9-point SłowoStwory = 18 points.
• Kuba: SłowoStwory worth 15 points in total.

Mateusz and Michał both have 18 points. In both cases the tie-breaking creature is the blue one, the larger SłowoStwór. Looking at the number of SłowoStwory collected, Mateusz has 4 and Michał has 2, so Mateusz wins the game.

Categories on the Dice

Each die has three categories, shown on two faces each. The sticker illustration in the manual groups the faces as follows.

City – Country – Profession (blue stickers)

• City (Miasto): any city, e.g. Madrid.
• Country (Państwo): any country, e.g. Ecuador.
• Profession (Zawód): any profession, e.g. police officer (policjant).

Animal – Plant – Thing (green stickers)

• Animal (Zwierzę): any animal, e.g. giraffe (żyrafa).
• Plant (Roślina): any plant, e.g. grapevine (winorośl).
• Thing (Rzecz): any object, e.g. table (stół).

Film – Sport – Music (red stickers)

• Film: any film title, or an actor's surname, e.g. Rejs, Pitt.
• Sport: any sports discipline, team name, or athlete's surname, e.g. football (piłka nożna), Real, Małysz.
• Music: any music track title, band name, or musician's surname, e.g. Hey Joe, Iron Maiden, Waglewski.

Fairy Tale – Toy – Joker (yellow stickers)

• Fairy tale (Bajka): any fairy-tale title, or the name of a character appearing in one, e.g. Królewna Śnieżka (Snow White), Kaczor Donald (Donald Duck).
• Toy (Zabawka): any toy, or the name of a character who is a toy, e.g. doll (lalka), bicycle (rower); also Bakugan or Dragonoid (Dragonoida).
• Joker: any word, e.g. moon (księżyc).