That's Not a Hat
That's Not a Hat Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objective
Players give gifts to each other while trying to remember who gave what and which gift they have in front of them. If they can't remember, they have to bluff to avoid a penalty point. Whoever has the lowest score at the end wins!
Setup
Gift Shop: Shuffle the gift cards and deal each player a card. Players place the card face up in front of them. Place the rest of the cards face up in a draw pile in the middle of the table to form the gift shop. Pay attention to which gift is in front of each player.
How to Play
The player who last received a gift begins the game. To start the game, this player draws a new gift from the gift shop by taking the top card from the face up draw pile in the middle of the table. The player shows the card (the gift) to everyone, then places it face down in front of them. The card back has an arrow that indicates which direction the player must pass the gift (to the right or to the left). As the player passes the gift, they identify the gift out loud, saying "I have a nice __ for you." The player receiving the gift now has two options – they can either accept the gift or they can refuse it.
Accept a Gift
If the player receiving a gift believes the card actually has the gift identified by the giver, they should accept the gift. To accept, the player says "thank you" and places the card face down above their original ("old") gift card in front of them. Now the player has 2 gifts in front of them, so it's their turn to give a gift. However, it would be rude to re-gift a new gift! Players give their "old" gift (the card closest to them) and leave the "new" gift in front of them. (If this is the first time they give a gift in the game, they will need to flip their "old" gift card over so it's face down before gifting it.) They give the "old" gift to the person on their right or their left, following the direction indicated by the arrow on the card back.
Tip: Don't forget to identify the gift out loud when giving it away! The player who receives the gift then has the choice to accept or refuse the gift, following this same pattern. Play continues until a player refuses a gift.
Note: Once a gift card is flipped over so it's face down, no player can take a peek. But it's not a problem to remember a few cards, right?
Refuse a Gift
When a player believes the gift they are given was not correctly identified by the giver, they should refuse the gift by saying "That's not a ___." (Players do not have to correctly identify the gift after refusing it.) Next, the player flips the card over and reveals the gift. Whichever player is wrong (the giver or the receiver) takes the card and places it face up in their personal discard pile as a penalty point. The player who receives a penalty point must draw a new gift from the gift shop. They draw the new gift, show the card to all players, then give the gift to the appropriate player, following the direction indicated by the arrow on the card back. The game continues from this point.
Note: As you never buy gifts for yourself, new gifts drawn from the gift shop are always gifted immediately. They are never placed in front of the player as a "new" gift.