Without Fail Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Start Here!
• Setup
• The Challenge Cards
  • The Setup Side of the Card
  • The Challenge Side of the Card
• Becoming the Teammate
  • Make the Challenge Harder
  • Drop Out
  • Example of How to Get a Teammate
• Starting the Challenge
• Ending the Challenge and Awarding Points
• Time to Play
• Winning
  • Ties
• Hero Mode
• 2-Player Rules
• Before You Ask...

Contents

• 150 Challenge Cards
• 40 Point Tokens
• 1 Tee Token
• 6 Cups
• 1 Ball
• 3 Dice
• 1 Pen
• 30-second Timer
• 1 Notebook
• 1 Blindfold

2+ players, ages 10+, 20 minutes.

Start Here!

There are two important roles in this game: the Challenger and their Teammate.

As the Challenger, you'll perform a simple challenge. But first, one of the other players will become your Teammate.

If you succeed at the challenge, you and your Teammate both get points! But if you fail, everyone else gets points instead.

Here's the tricky part: to become your Teammate, they have to make your easy challenge more difficult. The player who makes it the MOST difficult becomes your Teammate. And hopefully they didn't just sign you up to do something impossible.

The first player with 5 points wins.

2 Players: Read the 2-Player Rules (see below) when you're done reading the full instructions, but before you start playing!

Setup

Components: Point Tokens, Challenge Cards, and the box with unused Point Tokens and the rest of the materials inside.

1. Give 1 Point Token to each player around the table.
2. Shuffle the Challenge Cards and put them on the table with the SETUP SIDE (the lighter side) facing up.
3. Put the box of materials on the table.

One of you is going to be the Challenger, and one of you will be their Teammate. But first, let's walk through the Challenge Cards.

The Challenge Cards

Each Challenge Card has two sides. The Setup Side explains how to set up the challenge, and the Challenge Side tells the Challenger what they will have to do. No one can look at the Challenge Side of a card until the Challenger has a Teammate!

The Setup Side of the Card

1. Location (table, floor, or against a wall)
2. A picture of how to set up the challenge
3. How to make the challenge harder
4. Difficulty Scale to help when making the challenge harder

Icons at the top of the card:

• 1 Player Active
• Multi-Player Active
• 1 Player Seated
• Multi-Player Seated

Note: Sometimes there are extra items that aren't in the box. These are common objects that you probably have lying around. If not, just skip the card.

Note: If a ball won't stay put when you're setting up a challenge, use the Tee Token to hold it in place. Extra Point Tokens can be used to hold cups in place too.

NEVER put yourself or others in a dangerous situation. Make sure that any players involved are comfortable with the challenge before proceeding. If a challenge makes you uncomfortable, just skip it and move on to the next one.

The Challenge Side of the Card

The Challenge Side of the card describes the challenge that the Challenger will attempt. The Challenger will read this aloud ONLY after they have a Teammate when they're ready to start the challenge (see "Becoming the Teammate").

Becoming the Teammate

The Teammate is the player who ultimately decides how hard a challenge will be, but you don't get to pick your Teammate.

Set up the challenge as pictured on the card. Then, starting with the player to the left of the Challenger, each player must either:

Make the Challenge Harder

If you want to make the challenge harder, follow the instructions on the bottom of the Setup Side of the card and physically do whatever the instructions say (move the cup, tilt the timer, say a number out loud, etc.).

Even though you don't yet know what the Challenger will have to do, pay attention to the Difficulty Scale at the bottom of the card!

You're allowed to make the challenge harder than the "hard" level, but it will probably make the Challenger fail and you will lose points!

SO DON'T MAKE THE CHALLENGE TOO HARD!!

Drop Out

If you don't want to make the challenge harder because you think the Challenger will fail, you can say: "drop out."

When you drop out, you can't increase the difficulty again during this challenge, and you will not be the Teammate for this challenge.

Don't be scared of dropping out. If another player made the challenge too hard, the Challenger will probably fail and by dropping out, you'll earn points!

If all players drop out without making the challenge harder, skip the card.

Note: For any challenges that ask "How Many?" you can skip numbers, but you can only use whole numbers.

Proceed clockwise around the table so that every player (except the Challenger, because they will be attempting the challenge) either makes the challenge harder or drops out.

Continue going around the circle repeatedly until all but one player has dropped out -- this final player is officially the Teammate. They have set the difficulty for the challenge, and their final answer cannot be changed.

Example of How to Get a Teammate

Card: "How Much Time?" (set up on the table). The Challenger sets up the challenge as pictured on the card. Players 1, 2 and 3 sit around the table.

• Player 1 goes first. They make the challenge harder by tilting the timer so some sand falls from the full side to the empty side, then returning it horizontally. This makes it so the Challenger has less time to do the challenge.
• Player 2 goes next and does the same to make the challenge even harder.
• Player 3 thinks the Challenger will fail and drops out.
• Now, Player 1 goes again and lets a few more grains of sand fall through the timer.
• It's Player 2's turn again, but they decide the challenge might be too hard and they drop out.
• Player 1 is the only player left and becomes the Challenger's Teammate.

Now you're finally allowed to turn over the card and start the challenge! (Example Challenge Side: "I must run from one cup to the other 10 times. I have 30 seconds. Start the timer now.")

Starting the Challenge

Once a player has become the Teammate (and not before!), the Challenger can turn over the card and read the Challenge Side out loud to everyone. Then, they must attempt the challenge at the difficulty level that was just set by their Teammate.

Unless stated otherwise on the Challenge Card:

• The Challenger is the ONLY person who can participate in a challenge.
• NO ONE (including the Teammate) can interfere with the player(s) attempting a challenge.

Note: Sometimes there's a more creative way to attempt a challenge than the most obvious way -- we encourage you to think outside the box. It's not cheating if you don't violate any of the rules on the card or the list above.

Ending the Challenge and Awarding Points

After the Challenger either succeeds or fails, the challenge is over and it's time to award Point Tokens.

	If the Challenger succeeds	If the Challenger fails
Challenger	+1 point	-1 point
Teammate	+1 point	-1 point
Everyone else		+1 point

LOOK! Everyone else gets a point if the Challenger fails! This is a HUGE penalty for failing. Making a challenge too hard is the fastest way to lose the game!

If a player doesn't have any Point Tokens and loses a point, they stay at 0 Point Tokens.

Time to Play

1. Pick a player to be the first Challenger.
2. Look at the Setup Side of the top card of the deck and set up the challenge as pictured.
3. Go through the process of "Becoming the Teammate."
4. Flip the card over to attempt the challenge.
5. Hand out points and discard the card.
6. Proceed clockwise around the table with the next player as the Challenger.

This is important! When a card says "move the cups to make this harder," physically MOVE THE CUPS! Don't just call out numbers.

Winning

The first player to have 5 Point Tokens wins.

Ties

If more than 1 player gets 5 Point Tokens, all tied players go back to 4 points and play 1 round of Hero Mode (no other players can play, lose points, or gain points).

Hero Mode

Getting good and want to even the playing field a bit? Time to try Hero Mode.

The moment any player has 4 Point Tokens, add these 2 rules:

1. There are no more Teammates. Instead, starting with the most recent Challenger and continuing clockwise, all players can make the challenge harder until all but 1 player drops out. That player becomes the Challenger and must attempt the challenge. In other words, you're betting on yourself!
2. After the challenge:
   • If the Challenger succeeds:
     • Challenger has 4 points: they win the game.
     • Challenger has less than 4 points: they steal 1 point from every player with 4 points.
   • If the Challenger fails: Challenger: -1 point, and everyone else: +1 point.

Notes:

• Skip all challenges with the two icons shown in the manual here (icon graphics are not reproduced in this transcription).
• For all cards that use the word "Teammate," just pretend it says "Challenger" instead.

2-Player Rules

Both players start with 1 Point Token. Pick a player to go first, then both players play Hero Mode from start to finish (but skip rule #2).

Before You Ask...

• You don't need a tape measure! Estimating distances is part of the challenge.
• You can play this game again and again. Many cards have identical setups, so if you think you recognize one there's a good chance you're wrong.
• If you run out of paper, replace it with any kind of paper you have.
• Hand-wash and air dry the blindfold as needed.