That Escalated Quickly
That Escalated Quickly Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
What Is This?
That Escalated Quickly is a cooperative game — you'll all succeed or fail together. Each round, everyone will get a secret card with a number from 1 to 10. One player will then try to order those cards from lowest to highest without looking at anyone else's card.
To do this, you'll read a question out loud.
Everyone will then say an answer they feel matches their secret number, and then you'll try to put those answers in order from lowest to highest.
If you're successful, everyone scores! If any of the numbers are out of order, everyone fails.
EXAMPLE:
I'm jumping out of an airplane.
When I pull the ripcord, what comes out of my pack?
From 1 (LEAST helpful) to 10 (MOST helpful)
Setup
- Shuffle the Question Cards and Number Cards separately and put them both on the table.
- Put the Score Mat in the middle of the table.
- Pick a player to go first.
NOTE: The Question Cards are double-sided. Pick one color to use for the whole game. Put that color face down.
Taking Your Turn
When it's your turn, you are the Organizer:
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As the Organizer, you're going to be in charge of this round, so deal everyone (including yourself) a Number Card face down. Everyone can look at their card, but keep it secret. Put any unused Number Cards aside face down. You won't use them for this round.
PLAYING WITH 2 OR 3 PLAYERS? Continue reading all the way through, then read the section at the end called "2 or 3 Players" before you start!
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Turn over the top Question Card and read the whole thing out loud.
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Answer the question in a way you think matches the secret number on your card. You (the Organizer) answer first, then proceed clockwise until everyone has given an answer.
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Organize all answers from lowest to highest after everyone has given their answer. (We'll talk more about this in a moment.)
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Win or lose the round. (We'll talk more about this in a moment too!)
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The round is over. Collect ALL 10 Number Cards, shuffle them, and hand them to the player on your left to begin their turn as the Organizer.
Answering the Question
After you read the question, everyone (starting with you, the Organizer) will respond with answers to match their secret number based on what you, the Organizer, would agree with. These answers will help you organize the Number Cards from lowest to highest.
EXAMPLE:
I'm jumping out of an airplane. When I pull the ripcord, what comes out of my pack?
From 1 (LEAST helpful) to 10 (MOST helpful)
If your secret number was a 1, you might say: "An elephant."
For a 5, you might say: "A large umbrella."
And if your number was a 10, you might say: "A gigantic parachute with an extra back-up gigantic parachute!"
WHEN ANSWERING THE QUESTION:
- No one can say the number on their card.
- No one can use indicators of value that suggest their number like "the most," "the least," or "half."
- No one can change their answer after they've given it.
Remember: if it feels like cheating, it's cheating!
Organizing the Answers
After everyone has given their answer, it's time to organize them from lowest to highest. Ask the player you believe has the lowest Number Card to slide their card to you FACE DOWN. Once the card is in front of you, flip it over. Continue this process — trying to reveal the cards from lowest to highest — until you've flipped over all the cards.
AS THE ORGANIZER:
- You are the only player allowed to flip over cards! (This way no one will accidentally think you chose them when you may have just wanted them to repeat their answer.)
- You can ask a player to repeat their answer at any time.
- You can talk with everyone about which card to choose, but the final decision is yours.
- You can choose any player's card including your own.
Winning or Losing the Round
If you revealed all the numbers correctly from lowest to highest, you all get a point! Place your Question Card on the GOOD CARDS spot on the Score Mat.
If you reveal a Number Card out of order (so it's lower than the previous card you flipped over), you made a mistake! Depending on the number of players, you might be able to make one mistake per round and still score.
YOU ARE ALLOWED:
- 2 - 3 players: See the "2 or 3 Players" Section
- 4 - 5 players: 0 Mistakes per round
- 6 - 8 players: 1 Mistake per round
If you're allowed to make a mistake and you flip a card out of order, discard all the revealed Number Cards, including the one you just flipped. Then, continue revealing the remaining Number Cards as if the mistake never happened (even if there's only 1 Number Card left, or if the mistake happened on the last card).
Bad Cards
If you make more mistakes than you're allowed, place your Question Card on the BAD CARDS spot on the Score Mat.
Ending the Game
Keep playing until you get 3 Question Cards in either the Good Cards spot or the Bad Cards spot of the Score Mat.
If you get 3 Good Cards, everyone wins!
If you get 3 Bad Cards, everyone loses.
2 or 3 Players
The rules are the same, except you'll deal 2 Number Cards face down, side-by-side, in front of each player. You can look at your cards, but don't change their positions, and keep the numbers secret.
This means each player is pretending to be 2 players — this way you have enough cards to make the game challenging.
When it's your turn as the Organizer, read the Question Card out loud. Then, all players (starting with you) will give an answer for the card on their RIGHT. After each player has given their first answer, you'll go around again and (starting with you) each give an answer for the card on your LEFT.
Play the rest of the game as normal by trying to get all the cards in the correct order.
YOU ARE ALLOWED:
- 2 players: 0 Mistakes per round
- 3 players: 1 Mistake per round
Legal
© 2023 Exploding Kittens | Made in China
7162 Beverly Blvd #272 Los Angeles, CA 90036 USA
Imported into the UK by Exploding Kittens Oceana House, 1st Flr 39-49 Commercial Rd Southampton, Hampshire SO15 1GA, UK. Imported into the EU by Exploding Kittens 10 Rue Pergolèse, 75116 Paris, FR.