Wat'n dat!?
Wat'n dat!? Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
What Belongs in the Game
- 1 game board
- 206 cards with words
- 8 player cards (numbered 1–8)
- 10 long and 6 short wooden sticks
- 2 large and 2 small glass stones
- 84 point chips
- 1 hourglass
- these rules
To Begin With
Each player receives one of the numbered player cards — starting at 1 — as an orientation for playing order. The remaining cards are not needed.
The game board is placed in the middle of the table, next to it a face-down draw pile of word cards, the chips, the hourglass, and the wooden sticks and glass stones used to depict the words.
The round table on the back of the rules ("Who Plays with Whom?") shows everyone who forms an action team with whom, and in which order. The remaining players each form the guessing team. The players numbered 1 and 2 start as the first action team.
The Action Team Gets Going
The two players of the action team each take 5 long and 3 short wooden sticks as well as 1 large and 1 small glass stone. Then one of the two draws a card from the draw pile.
Both read the word on the card — naturally without showing it to the guessing team. This word is now for the action team to depict on the game board within 60 seconds.
At the same time, that is, within that same time, the players of the guessing team try to guess the word.
The Hourglass Is Turned
The hourglass is turned as soon as the first playing piece has been placed on the game board. With it, the countdown begins equally for the action team and the guessing team.
Teamwork Has to Be Learned
- The ASS logo marks the lower edge of the picture. This makes it clear for the action team and the guessing team: here is down and there is up.
- Both players of the action team alternately place always only one playing piece at a time, either a wooden stick or a glass stone.
- A placed playing piece may neither be moved nor removed.
- For the action team there is an absolute ban on speaking and hand signals. The two players may therefore not confer with each other. Otherwise they are disqualified for that word, and the next action team takes its turn with a new word.
- Only the word "Stop" is allowed: as soon as one of the two players of the action team says "Stop", the other may place at most one more playing piece — if he wants to. After that the "work of art" is finished.
Dog, Cat, Mouse...?
What is the emerging "work of art" supposed to depict? As soon as the hourglass is running, the other players may, to their heart's content, at any time and in no particular order, call out words. And indeed unlimited numbers of them; so everything that occurs to them. Because whoever first names the correct word before the 60 seconds expire gets a chip.
Scoring
- With only 3 players, the player with the correct word gets 2 chips — the players of the action team 1 chip each.
- With 4 and more players, both players of the action team and the player who first named the correct word each get 1 chip.
- If the 60 seconds on the hourglass run out without the correct word being named, none of the players gets a chip.
Afterwards it is the next action team's turn (see the round table), and straight away it starts again with depicting and guessing a new word.
End of the Game
The game runs over one or more rounds; with 3 and 4 players, over at least three complete passes through the table. How many rounds the game lasts, the players can decide at the end of a round. When all action teams of a round table have been formed, really everyone has tried their hand at a "work of art" with everyone. The winner is whoever has won the most chips by the end of the game.
Who Plays with Whom?
Action team pairings, in the listed order ("1 + 2" means players 1 and 2 act, everyone else guesses). With 3, 4 and 5 players the table has no round headings — it is one list that may be repeated as often as needed. With 6 to 8 players the list is divided into rounds (Runde 1, Runde 2, ...), where all action teams of one round have guessed at least once before the next round begins.
Game with 3 players
1 + 2, 2 + 2, 3 + 1
Note: the second line is printed exactly like this in the original ("2 + 2"), but it is a typo — with three players it must read 2 + 3, which is the only pairing that pairs every player with every other one once, as all the other blocks of the table do.
Game with 4 players
1 + 2, 3 + 4, 2 + 3, 1 + 4, 2 + 4, 1 + 3
Game with 5 players
1 + 2, 3 + 4, 1 + 5, 2 + 3, 4 + 5, 1 + 3, 2 + 4, 3 + 5, 1 + 4, 2 + 5
Game with 6 players
- Round 1: 1 + 2, 3 + 4, 5 + 6, 2 + 4, 3 + 5, 4 + 6, 1 + 5, 2 + 6, 1 + 3
- Round 2: 2 + 5, 3 + 6, 1 + 4, 2 + 3, 4 + 5, 1 + 6
Game with 7 players
- Round 1: 1 + 2, 3 + 4, 5 + 6, 1 + 7, 2 + 3, 4 + 5, 6 + 7
- Round 2: 1 + 4, 3 + 6, 5 + 7, 2 + 4, 1 + 6, 3 + 5, 2 + 7
- Round 3: 1 + 3, 4 + 7, 2 + 5, 4 + 6, 3 + 7, 1 + 5, 2 + 6
Game with 8 players
- Round 1: 1 + 2, 3 + 4, 5 + 6, 7 + 8
- Round 2: 2 + 3, 4 + 5, 6 + 7, 1 + 8
- Round 3: 2 + 5, 4 + 7, 1 + 6, 3 + 8
- Round 4: 1 + 4, 3 + 6, 5 + 8, 2 + 7
- Round 5: 1 + 5, 2 + 4, 6 + 8, 3 + 7
- Round 6: 2 + 8, 5 + 7, 4 + 6, 1 + 3
- Round 7: 4 + 8, 3 + 5, 2 + 6, 1 + 7