Time's Up! Édition purple
Time's Up! Édition purple Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object of the Game
Time's Up! is played over three rounds with 2 or more teams. The goal is to guess personalities. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
1 - Contents
- 218 cards with 436 personalities;
- a results pad;
- a 30-second sand timer;
- a booklet describing the personalities;
- these rules of the game.
2 - Quick Start
A game runs over 3 rounds and is played in teams. During its turn, a team has 30 seconds to guess as many personalities as possible. The speaker tries to make his teammates guess the personalities.
During the first round, the speaker talks freely.
During the second round, the speaker may say only a single word per personality.
In the third round, the speaker may not talk. He must use mime and sound effects.
At the end of the three rounds, the team with the most points wins the game.
Setting Up the Game
1 - Forming the teams
The first thing to do is to form teams of players.
If you are:
- 4 players: two teams of 2 players;
- 6 players: three teams of 2 players;
- 8 players: four teams of 2 players;
- 9 players: three teams of 3 players;
- 10 players: two teams of 3 and two teams of 2;
- 11 players: three teams of 3 and one of 2;
- 12 players: four teams of 3 players.
If you are 5 or 7 players, forming the teams is a special case. Please refer to the paragraph "Specific rules for 5 and 7 players" that you will find at the end of these rules.
Use a method of your choice (drawing lots, etc.) to form the teams.
Place yourselves around the playing area so that teammates are facing each other. For example, if you are 9 players, put the teammates in a triangle (every 3 chairs).
2 - Setting up the game
Deal 40 cards among the players (they may not all have the same number).
Then deal 2 additional cards per player.
Each card has 2 colours. Start playing with the personalities on the yellow background. Make sure everybody has understood which colour was chosen for the game. The whole game will be played with that colour.
Each player secretly looks at his cards and removes 2 cards, which are put back in the box (they will no longer be used during the game).
Gather the selected cards together and shuffle them. The packet so formed is the draw pile.
The player wearing the biggest sombrero begins. If nobody is wearing a sombrero, it is the player with the biggest moustache, otherwise it is the oldest. He will be the speaker for the start of the game. Everything is ready to begin.
Playing a Game
A game of Time's Up! has 3 rounds.
A round runs over a certain number of turns. Each team plays in turn. The other players are spectators and may not say anything (they may of course laugh).
The player to the right of the speaker is the timer keeper; he turns the sand timer over while shouting: "Off we go!"
The speaker has 30 seconds to make his team discover as many personalities as possible.
During the first round, the speaker talks freely.
During the second round, the speaker may say only a single word per personality.
During the third round, the speaker may not talk; he must use mime and sound effects.
Note: exactly the same personalities are used for all three rounds.
The playing area is laid out as follows: the draw pile in the middle, the current card in front of the speaker, the cards passed or missed on one side, the cards guessed kept by the team, and the sand timer with the timer keeper.
1 - First round
In the first round, the speaker may talk freely, but he must nevertheless respect a few rules explained further on.
The speaker's teammate or teammates may make as many guesses as they wish.
As soon as the surname AND the first name have been found (mentions in brackets are optional), the speaker lays the card face up in front of him. He turns over the next card and tries to make them guess it.
The speaker must have the card guessed before moving on to the next one.
As soon as time runs out, everyone shouts "Time's Up!". That team's turn stops instantly and no further guess is accepted. The current card is put back on top of the draw pile. All the guessed cards (the cards turned face up) are kept by the team. They are no longer used for this round.
Play passes to the next team. The speaker becomes the timer keeper and the player to his left becomes the new speaker. Note that in games of 10 and 11 players, the teams of 3 players only play twice per trip around the table! The members of those teams are speakers one after the other.
Play continues in this way until the draw pile is exhausted.
During the first round, the speaker may not:
- say parts or diminutives of the surnames and first names printed on the card, and this even in another language (for example: Michael White to make them guess Michel Blanc);
- list letters of the alphabet (for example: it is forbidden to say it begins with a b, it begins with the 2nd letter of the alphabet);
- pass a card.
If the speaker commits a foul, that team's turn ends instantly. The card is put back on the draw pile, which is shuffled.
2 - Scoring
When the draw pile is exhausted, the round is over. Each team counts the number of cards it has guessed. These points are noted on the score sheet.
Then each team reads out loud the personalities it has found.
The draw pile is reassembled and shuffled.
Exactly the same cards are used for all three rounds.
The first speaker of the second round is the next one in turn order.
3 - Second round
The second round is identical to the first except for the following changes:
- the speaker may now say only a single word per personality;
- the speaker's team may give only a single guess per card. Note that when teams have more than 2 people, only the first guess counts — even if a second guess turns out to be correct, the card is not won.
If the guess is correct, the speaker lays the card face up and turns over the next card.
If it is wrong, the speaker lays the card face down beside the draw pile (fouls do not end the turn) and turns over the next card.
The speaker is no longer obliged to have the card guessed before moving on to the next one; he may pass cards. Note that any passed card is passed definitively for that turn.
At the end of the turn, all the face-down cards (cards not found, passed, as well as fouls) are gathered up and added to the draw pile, which is shuffled for the next speaker.
Scoring is identical to that of the first round. The next speaker begins the third round after another reading-through of the characters.
During the second round, the speaker may not:
- say more than one word (compound words are accepted);
- say parts or diminutives of the surnames and first names printed on the card, and this even in another language (for example: white to make them guess Michel Blanc).
4 - Third round
The third round is identical in every respect to the second round except that the speaker is no longer allowed to talk. He may only mime and make sound effects (onomatopoeia). For example, "woof woof", "meow", "bang", "boom". Humming songs is forbidden.
We advise you to stand up when you are the speaker. It is easier to mime that way.
Specific Rules for 5 and 7 Players
The 5- and 7-player configuration is slightly more complex, and we advise you to play your first games with the basic rules.
With 5 or 7 players the rules are identical except that there are no longer any teams: you play sometimes with your right-hand neighbour, sometimes with your left-hand neighbour.
Indeed, when you have the draw pile and you are the speaker, you make your left-hand neighbour guess the cards; the guessed cards are then placed between the two of you. They are points in common.
At the end of the sand timer, you do not pass the draw pile to your left-hand neighbour (after all, he has just played) but to the second player to your left.
A little hint: later in the game the draw pile will come back to your right-hand neighbour. He will be your speaker and will make you guess the names. You will again keep the successful cards between the two of you.
At the end of each round, each player adds the number of cards to his right to the number of cards to his left; this sum is the number of points he has won in that round.
For example, the points collected by the yellow player are equal to E + A.
Notes
- For easier games, deal 4 extra cards instead of 2. Each player then removes 4.
- For more complex games, take 40 cards straight from the deck without reading them.
- The list of biographies is given for information only and must not be consulted during the game.
- The cards of the yellow Belgium and Switzerland edition can be identified by a small sun, those of the blue edition by waves, and those of the purple edition by a bunch of grapes. The cards of the red Switzerland edition can be identified by a cherry.
Expert Variant: The Fourth Round (The Pose)
This section is not in the 2006-2008 printing of the rulebook translated above; it is translated verbatim from the "Variante expert : la quatrième manche" section of Repos Production's own Time's Up! rules booklet.
The fourth round is identical to the second and the third except that the speaker is no longer allowed either to talk or to move. He may only strike a pose.
The speaker's teammates close their eyes. The speaker strikes the pose and says "Go" when he is ready. At that instant, the teammates may open their eyes and give a single guess.
We advise you to stand up when you are the speaker. It is easier to strike the pose that way.