The Decades Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Goal
• Setup
• Playing the Game
  • Step 1: Betting on the YEAR
  • Step 2: Using ACTION CARDS
  • Step 3: Scoring
    • Final Round
• End of Game

Components

• 14 Action cards
• 43 Question cards (double-sided)
• 1 answer decoder (two-sided, with answer tables)
• 2 pawns
• 2 sets of 6 Answer tokens
• 2 game screens
• 1 score board
• 2 sets of 3 Year Extension tokens (for 2, 3 and 4 years)

Goal

Over the 4 rounds, guess the year in which the event of each of the 6 categories took place. The team that answers most precisely scores the most points and is the grand winner.

Setup

• The players form 2 teams.
• Each team takes a game board (choosing one of its two sides to play on), a pawn, a game screen, 6 Answer tokens (one for each category) and 3 Year Extension tokens (for 2, 3 and 4 years).
• Place the score board in the centre of the table and place the pawns on The Decades logo.
• Shuffle the 43 Question cards, then place the pile and the answer decoder in the centre of the table as well.
• Finally, shuffle the Action cards. Each team draws 7 at random and chooses 4 of them without showing them to the other team. The remaining cards are returned to the reserve.

The six categories are:

• Births and Deaths (Naissances et Décès)
• Cinema, TV and Video Games (Cinéma, TV et Jeux vidéos)
• Music (Musique)
• Objects and Technology (Objets et Technologie)
• Sport and Hobbies (Sport et Hobbies)
• News and Society (Actualités et Société)

Playing the Game

The Decades is played over 4 rounds. Each round is divided into 3 steps, carried out simultaneously by both teams.

Step 1: Betting on the YEAR

Draw a Question card. Each card has 6 questions, one per category.

Read the first question aloud.

Each team must decide which year corresponds to the event mentioned and gives its answer by placing the Answer token of that category on the game board. The team must bet on its answer year behind its game screen so as not to reveal anything to the other team.

When both teams have placed their Answer tokens, they announce them aloud.

Then read the next question and repeat the operation until the 6 Answer tokens (corresponding to the 6 categories) have been placed.

Finally, each team places its 3 Year Extension tokens on the Answer tokens whose period it wishes to extend (e.g. 2, 3 or 4 years).

The years under which Year Extension tokens are placed are considered to be the same year.

There are 3 Year Extension tokens:

• Year Extension token of 4 years
• Year Extension token of 3 years
• Year Extension token of 2 years

In this example, the players of one team have placed the 3-year Extension token under the 1987 space. The Extension token extends the range of the Answer token on top of it. The Answer token is therefore valid for the 3 consecutive years 1987, 1988 and 1989.

Extension tokens may only be placed horizontally and may not overlap. Warning! If an Extension token is placed over two or more Answer tokens, that Extension token is valid for all of those Answer tokens.

Bonus spaces: the game board has special spaces that modify the final score if you bet on those years.

• +5 — On this space, add 5 points to those earned. (Example: the space showing 02.)
• +3 — On this space, add 3 points to those earned. (Example: the space showing 91.)

Strategy: place your Year Extension tokens so that they reach the Bonus spaces. Thus, if the correct answer lies under your Year Extension token, you can apply the bonus points granted by that space.

Step 2: Using ACTION CARDS

Raise the screens and reveal the boards with the 6 answers. Each team chooses one of its Action cards and places it face down in front of the board. The teams reveal their cards at the same time.

Each Action card explains the effect it produces.

Cards are removed from the game once they have been played.

Note: the three Action cards illustrated in the rulebook are titled "Retire le jeton Extension d'Année" (Remove the Year Extension token), "Bloqué" (Blocked) and "Annule la réponse" (Cancel the answer). The effect text of each card is printed on the card itself and is not reproduced in the rulebook.

Step 3: Scoring

To find the points earned in each round, check the answers of each category by placing the answer decoder over the right-hand column of the card.

Then, taking into account the Year Extension tokens and the Bonus spaces, count the points earned for each Answer token as follows:

• The answer given is the exact year: 8 points
• The answer given is 1 year away from the exact year, in the same decade: 4 points
• The answer given is 2 years or more away from the exact year, in the same decade: -1 point
• The answer given is in a different decade: -5 points

Warning! A Bonus space counts only if the Year Extension token is placed on the correct answer.

For each category, move each team's pawn on the score board by as many spaces as the number of points it scored.

Final Round

Once all 6 categories' scores have been taken into account on the score board, remove the Action cards from the game and put them back in the box. A new round can begin. A game of The Decades is played over 4 rounds.

Note: the source prints this passage under the heading "Manche Finale", but its text describes the end-of-round clean-up rather than a separate final round. The source also uses "manche" and "tour" for the round; both are translated here as "round".

End of Game

A team wins the game if it has more points than its opponent at the end of the 4th round, or if it reaches the last space of the score board at any point in the game.