Verba Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Purpose of the Game
• Kit
• Setting Up
• The Game
• Use of the Special Cards
• Note
• Winning

Purpose of the Game

To compose at each turn a different word with as many cards as possible and be the first player left without any cards.

Kit

A pack of 120 cards composed of:

• 105 cards each depicting a letter of the alphabet
• 6 jokers
• 6 deleting cards
• 3 anagram cards

Setting Up

The pack of cards is distributed to the players in equal parts. Each player, thus, has his/her own "stock" (personal pack to pick from). Any cards left over are discarded. At this point each player picks out the following from his/her own stock:

• the first eight cards if 2 to 4 players or teams are playing;
• the first six cards if 5 to 8 players or teams are playing.

If you play in teams each team has one pack of cards to pick from and a spokesperson is chosen for each team.

Lastly, the players decide on the number of games to be played (e.g. same number of games as the number of players or teams).

The Game

The game is played clockwise and players can choose whether to play holding the cards or, preferably, with the cards face up on the table in front of each player.

The first player starts by composing an initial word at the centre of the table with the cards he/she has picked. Each card used must be replaced by another one from the player's own stock.

At turns the players have to try to change the word on the table by inserting and/or covering the letters with the cards he/she has at disposal. At each turn there should always be a different word at the centre of the table and each player should always have the same number of cards placed in front of himself/herself.

If after a reasonable lapse of time a player is unable to change the word the turn passes to the next player. If all the players pass their turn the word is deleted by removing the cards that formed it from the table and the player who made the last change gets to compose a new word.

Use of the Special Cards

The "special cards" can be used at any time and they have the following functions:

• a white card deletes the letter over which it is placed;
• an anagram card is used to compose an anagram of the word on the table, which also includes adding letters a player has at disposal;
• a joker can replace any letter of the alphabet.

Note

• valid words: words included in the dictionary (including foreign words), individual letters, singular and plural words, gender differences, all verb forms and tenses;
• invalid words: initials, names of persons, place names and repeated words;
• the order of letters can be changed only by using an anagram card and a letter can be deleted only by putting a different letter or a white card over it;
• you can delete a letter with a white card and put a same letter in its place only if the meaning of the word changes;
• although no letters are marked it is understood that letters that use a diacritical mark can be used in the game and such letters cannot be changed.

Winning

The player who is the first to use up his/her stock of cards wins the game.

In tournaments, the other players have to count one point per card left in his/her stock. Cards that were played are not counted.