Word Slam Midnight
Word Slam Midnight Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 100 Guess cards (with a total of 600 words to guess in 4 difficulty levels): 10x Green = Beginner, 27x Yellow = Easy, 35x Red = Experienced, 28x Black = Expert.
- 210 Explanation cards (105 per team): Beige = Subjects, Violet = Verbs, Light green = Adjectives, Light blue = miscellaneous parts of speech. (Card backs and fronts are shown in the manual; there is one back design for Team Orange and one for Team Blue.)
- 2 box halves as screens
- This rulebook
NOTE: The symbols at the bottom of the Explanation cards only serve to tell them apart more easily and have no other function in the game.
NOTE: Some Explanation cards are marked in the corners. They show 2 words! When placing the card, turn it the way you need it.
Setup
- Split into 2 teams. It does not matter if one team is bigger than the other. The teams sit on opposite sides of the table.
- Agree together on how exactly you want words to be guessed (e.g. "Raupe Nimmersatt", or "Die kleine Raupe Nimmersatt").
- The person in each team who most recently had a birthday becomes the team leader and explains the word to be guessed in round 1.
- Each team receives the 105 Explanation cards in its team color, Blue or Orange.
If you are the team leader:
- Place the box halves in the middle of the table so that exactly one half always faces its inside toward you and your team. This is your screen.
- Then place a smartphone, an hourglass or any other timer ready on your side of the screen, as shown in the illustration.
- Then sort the Explanation cards by color or by the symbol on the front, and place them so that you can reach them easily.
For the teams:
- Sit or stand so that you can read well the words on the Explanation cards placed on your side of the screen.
ATTENTION: First we explain the rules for 4+ players. The special rules for 3 players are given at the end (see "Rules for 3 Players").
Introductory Game
To get to know Word Slam and the Explanation cards, we recommend playing the 1st game with the green Guess cards.
These 10 Guess cards form the guess pile. Shuffle them face down and place the pile on the table so that it is easy for both teams to reach. Then draw 1 more Guess card at random and place it on the other side of your screen with the back side up. You do not need any of the other Guess cards in this game!
Course of Play
A game consists of several consecutive rounds. In the introductory game that is 10 rounds. A round always proceeds as follows:
Team leader Blue draws the top Guess card from the guess pile. This is the active Guess card. The die symbol on the next Guess card shows which word on your active Guess card you have to explain.
First team leader Blue looks at the active Guess card and then gives it to team leader Orange. Make sure that only you can see the words on the card, and nobody else in your teams!
EXAMPLE: The next Guess card shows a 6. So in this round you have to explain the word "Unterleib".
ATTENTION: Do you think the word is too hard or unknown to your teams? Then choose another word on the card.
If you know the word, place the Guess card face down next to the guess pile. Both teams play for this Guess card in the current round. Now give the command: Team Blue calls WORD, Team Orange answers SLAM. And off you go!
As team leader you must describe the word to be guessed to your team with the help of the Explanation cards. To do so, search through the piles and place on your side of the screen those Explanation cards that you believe will put your team on the right track. Meanwhile your team members may guess wildly, in any order and as often as they like.
Important rules for the team leader:
- You may neither speak, sing, hum nor make any other sounds that could help with the explanation. Pantomime is also forbidden. You also may not partially cover words on the Explanation cards so that, for example, word fragments of the word to be guessed result.
- You can use as many Explanation cards as you like and arrange, re-sort or remove again the Explanation cards on your half of the screen as you like. You can also point to an Explanation card if it is especially important. If the word to be guessed is a two-part word, you can, for example, place word part 1 in the first row and word part 2 in the second row.
- Place the Explanation cards behind the screen, if possible, so that only your team can see them. If you like, you can also extend your screen with objects such as books or other game boxes.
- If neither team is successful, you name the word and remove the Guess card from the game.
ATTENTION: Is the explanation taking too long? Then the team leaders may decide at any time during the explanation whether they want to limit the remaining time. Simply start your timer at 60 seconds. Both teams may then keep trying to guess the word until the time has run out.
Important rules for those who guess this round:
- Only start guessing once the first Explanation card lies on your side of the screen.
- Peeking at the opposing team is forbidden! Of course, you may listen to which words the opposing team names! Perhaps that will help you get to the word faster yourself.
As soon as a team guesses the word, the round ends. The successful team receives the active Guess card and places it face down on its own side of the table.
New Round
Afterwards a new round begins. The team leader changes clockwise within your team. Then Team Orange calls WORD and Team Blue calls SLAM, and so on.
End of the Game
For the last Guess card of your guess pile, look at the Guess card set aside at the start of the game. The die number there shows which word you have to explain.
The game ends after you have played for the last Guess card of the guess pile. The team that has collected more Guess cards wins. In case of a tie, you play for a tiebreaker card. Draw it from the Guess cards set aside at the start of the game. Here too the die number of the Guess card set aside at the start applies. The team that now guesses the word wins.
Detailed Example
The word is Banane (banana). Team leader Blue looks for the Explanation card FOOD and places it. The team starts guessing: pizza, apple, spaghetti... Team leader Orange places the Explanation card YELLOW and then PLANT. Since Team Orange listened closely to Team Blue, they combine that it is a yellow plant that is edible and guess: pineapple, corn, wheat... Team leader Blue then places CIRCLE and DIVIDED, team leader Orange adds FOOD. Shortly afterwards Team Blue is the first to guess the word "Banane", keeps the Guess card, and the next round begins.
If you have already played the introductory game, form the guess pile as follows:
| with 3 players | with 4-5 players | with 6+ players |
|---|---|---|
| 15 Guess cards | 21 Guess cards | 25 Guess cards |
Rules for 3 Players
The game proceeds as described, with the following changes:
- You play with only 1 set of Explanation cards (Blue OR Orange).
- There is only 1 team leader; the other two people guess.
- Before a round begins, the team leader always starts the timer at 2 minutes.
- If the word to be guessed is guessed before the hourglass runs out, the person who guessed the word receives the active Guess card. In addition, the team leader takes a Guess card from the pile of Guess cards not needed in this game.
- If the word to be guessed is not guessed before time runs out, you remove the active Guess card from the game. Then the team leader role passes clockwise and a new round begins.
Difficulty Level
The Guess cards are divided into 4 difficulty levels: Beginner (green), Easy (yellow), Experienced (red), Expert (black).
Depending on how you put together the guess pile, you can adapt the game to your personal taste or the composition of the group, and so have a simple, balanced or challenging game experience.
Sort the Guess cards by color and shuffle them well face down. Then, depending on the desired difficulty and number of players, take the corresponding Guess cards. We recommend:
- after the introductory game: 10 green Guess cards + yellow Guess cards.
- for experienced players: mainly yellow and red Guess cards
- for experts: mainly red and black Guess cards
- for mixed groups: green and yellow Guess cards for younger or less experienced team leaders of the round, red and black cards for experienced and older team leaders. You can also form two guess piles for this, an easy one with green and yellow Guess cards and a demanding one with red and black Guess cards, depending on who is currently the team leader.
Once you have put the guess pile together, shuffle it well face down and begin as described. If you have two guess piles, shuffle them separately. You do not need the remaining Guess cards for this game.
Playing with Word Slam or Word Slam Family
Word Slam Midnight can be played completely as a stand-alone game. However, if you already own Word Slam or Word Slam Family, you can mix the Guess or Explanation cards with each other as you like, or use them as an expansion.