Wheel of Fortune Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object
• Contents
• Assembly
  • Puzzleboard Assembly
  • Wheel Spinner Assembly
• Setup
• How to Play
• Winning the Game
• Gameplay Variations
• Restorage

Object

Correctly solve a word puzzle to win a round, and be the first player to earn $10,000 in cash and prize winnings!

Contents

Wheel Spinner, Base, Insert; Special Prize Wedges; Puzzleboard Frame, Doors, Backboard & Legs; 48 Cards with 96 Game Puzzles; Letter Guide (in this booklet); Letter Pad; Free Spin Tokens; Play Money.

Assembly

Puzzleboard Assembly

Refer to the photo of the assembled game on the package back.

Components labelled in the assembly diagram: Backboard, Puzzle Board, Support Legs, Snap Fingers (towards top), Letter Doors.

1. An adult should use scissors to carefully cut the 33 letter doors from the plastic runners. Hold the Door up against the opening at a 45° angle, then rotate it into place, making sure the "snap fingers" lock in behind the wall. Repeat with all doors.
2. Remove the Backboard from the parts sheet, and remove the Wheel Spinner insert from the Backboard. Now slide the Backboard into place on the Puzzleboard.
3. Snap the 2 support legs into the back of the Puzzleboard.

Wheel Spinner Assembly

1. Break the wheel and Base off the runner.
2. Punch out the cardboard insert and fit it faceup into the backside of the Wheel, as shown.
3. Place the assembled Wheel into its base.

Diagram labels: Wheel Spinner, Insert.

4. Remove all special prize wedges from the parts sheet, and place them near your Wheel.

Setup

1. Slide all letter doors into their top (closed) positions.
2. Place all the puzzle cards into the Puzzleboard. Each time you start a new round of play, or a new game, move the front puzzle card to the back of the stack. (When you've played through all the puzzles on one side of the cards, just flip over the entire stack for 48 more puzzles!)
3. After the first round of play, at the beginning of each new round put one special prize wedge into the $100 sector on the Wheel. If no one wins the special prize during a round, change the wedge for the next round.
4. To play solo, or to have someone "host" your game, see "Gameplay Variations" on page 6.
5. Pick one player (or the host) to act as the game's banker.

How to Play

Starting a Game: Each player spins the Wheel. The one who spins the highest dollar amount goes first. The player to the left goes second, and so on.

On Your Turn: Spin the Wheel of Fortune, and follow the instructions below. Or, after the first turn of any round and before spinning the Wheel, you may also buy a vowel and/or try to solve the puzzle.

When you spin, if the Wheel stops at a ...

• Cash Wedge ... Call out a consonant that you think might be in the puzzle. If you're correct, collect the cash amount multiplied by the number of times the letter appears in the puzzle. You may now buy a vowel and/or try to solve the puzzle, or you may spin again. If your guess is incorrect, your turn is over.
• Prize Wedge ... Call out a consonant that you think might be in the puzzle. If you're correct, you win a prize wedge from the Wheel; put it with your cash. You may now buy a vowel and/or try to solve the puzzle, or spin again. If your guess is incorrect, leave the prize wedge in the Wheel; your turn is over.
• Free Spin ... Call out a consonant that you think might be in the puzzle. If you're correct, you win a Free Spin Token and your turn continues. You can buy a vowel and/or try to solve the puzzle, or spin again. If your guess was incorrect, your turn ends.
• Lose a Turn ... Shucks! Your turn is over immediately. You may not guess a letter, buy a vowel, or try to solve the puzzle. You can escape this fate only if you have a Free Spin Token (see "Using Free Spin Tokens").
• Bankrupt ... Too bad! You must return all the cash and prizes won during the current round of play. Your turn is over.

When You Guess a Letter: After guessing a consonant, an opponent (or the game host) opens the Letter Guide (it begins on page 7) to the page for the selected letter. The Letter Guide tells you if the letter is in the puzzle, and if it is, the number(s) of the door(s) that the letter is behind.

If the letter guessed is in the puzzle, an opponent (or the host) lowers the door(s) indicated by the Letter Guide. You may spin again, buy a vowel, or try to solve the puzzle.

If the letter is not in the puzzle, mark that letter on the Letter Pad. Your turn ends.

Buying a Vowel: At the beginning of each of your turns after the first turn of the round, you can buy a vowel for $250. Of course, you'll need to have accumulated at least $250 in cash winnings before you can make the purchase.

To buy a vowel, before you spin the Wheel, put $250 back into the game box and call out the vowel you want. Your opponent (or host) then checks the Letter Guide and opens any door(s) on the Puzzleboard for that vowel. If the vowel is not in the puzzle, mark the vowel on the Letter Pad. Buying a vowel always costs just $250, whether that vowel appears in the puzzle once, multiple times, or not at all! And no matter what, after you buy a vowel it's still your turn. You may continue your turn by buying another vowel, trying to solve the puzzle, or giving the Wheel a spin.

Losing a Turn: There are 3 ways you can lose a turn ... 1) You guess a consonant that's not in the puzzle; 2) you spin the Wheel and land on "Lose a Turn"; or 3) you spin and land on "Bankrupt."

Using Free Spin Tokens: Use this to avoid Losing a Turn. After you use a Free Spin Token, put it back in the game box. Unused Free Spin Tokens carry over from round to round.

Solving the Puzzle: When it's your turn, you may try to solve the puzzle instead of spinning the Wheel. You must first announce that you'd "like to solve," and then say your guess aloud for all to hear. Once you've given your solution, carefully slide up the puzzle card to reveal the correct answer — keeping it hidden from everyone else — and see if you've solved the puzzle. Remember, your solution must exactly match the puzzle answer to be correct.

• When you solve the puzzle correctly, you win the round and can keep all the money and prizes you earned during that round! Plus, your opponents must give back any money and prizes they may have earned during the round.
• When your solution is incorrect, slide the puzzle card back down, and tell your opponents that you did not solve the puzzle. You now must return all the money and prizes you won during the round, and drop out of play until the next round. The other players continue taking turns until someone solves the puzzle or every player has made an incorrect guess.

Note: If you are playing with a host — which means you won't have seen the answer — you may continue to play.

Starting a New Round: When a player solves the puzzle (or all players have tried to solve and failed), the round is over. Now close all the doors on the Puzzleboard and move the puzzle card to the back of the stack. The winner of the previous round goes first in the new round. If no one solved the last puzzle, all players spin the Wheel, and the player who spins the highest dollar value starts the new round.

Adding Up Your Winnings: Your total winnings at any point in the game equal your cash amount added to the value of your special prizes. Each special prize is worth $2,000. So if you've accumulated $5,000 in cash and won 2 special prizes, your total winnings would be $5,000 + $2,000 + $2,000 = $9,000 in all.

Winning the Game

The first player to reach $10,000 in total cash and prizes wins the game!

Gameplay Variations

Solo Play: If you'd like to play Wheel of Fortune solo, follow the general rules above. In this type of game, however, "Lose a Turn" and "Free Spin" wedges do not apply. You'll also check the Letter Guide yourself. When you try to solve the puzzle, make your guess and slide the puzzle card up to see if you've won the round. Then start a new round of play with a fresh puzzle.

Add a Game Host: When you have 3 or more players, one of you can be the host. The host sets up the Puzzleboard at the start of each round, checks letters guessed in the Letter Guide, and lifts up the puzzle card to privately view the solution. The host should also keep track of turns and winnings, and encourage the players — just like on TV!

Half-Hour Game: Like the TV game show, you play as many rounds as possible in 30 minutes. At the end of half an hour, the player with the highest total in cash and prizes wins the game!

Restorage

Unsnap and remove the Puzzleboard's support legs before storing the game in its box.