Zik
Zik Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
48 cards, a 30-second sand timer, a rulebook.
Goal of the Game
Get the other players to guess pieces of music by humming them using imposed sounds!
Overview
ZIK is played individually with 3 to 5 players, and in teams from 6 players.
Rules for 3 to 5 Players
Shuffle the deck of cards and place it in the middle of the players, onomatopoeia sides face up.
All players draw a card from the deck. Each secretly looks at the back of their card and chooses a piece of music they can hum from among the 8 proposed. (If a player does not know any of them, they put their card back under the deck and draw another.)
When all players have chosen their piece, the first singing round begins! The player who sings most often in the shower becomes the first singer and takes the sand timer in front of them.
First singing round
The singer announces the number of the song they chose (for example, number 7). Then they turn the sand timer over! They have thirty seconds to make the others guess the song by humming it with the onomatopoeia visible on top of the deck of cards (for example GLING). Each syllable or note of the chosen song is replaced by this onomatopoeia.
Example, to sing Happy Birthday:
JOY - EUX AN - NI - VER - SAIRE
Becomes
GLING - GLING GLING - GLING - GLING - GLING
Meanwhile, if one of the other players correctly says the title of the song or the name of the performer, the singer and the player with the right answer each win a card! (One card = one point.) The singer keeps the one they have in hand and places it in front of them. The player who gave the answer draws one from the deck and also places it in front of them.
If the song was not found during the time of the sand timer, the singer puts their card back under the deck.
Then it is the player to the left who becomes the singer and takes the sand timer. They sing with the onomatopoeia visible on top of the deck, which may have changed if a point was scored.
The first singing round ends when all players have been the singer.
Second singing round
Play as in the first round, but the remaining deck of cards is cut in two! There are therefore two onomatopoeias visible, with which you must sing by chaining them.
Example, to sing Happy Birthday:
JOY - EUX AN - NI - VER - SAIRE
Becomes
POUM - TSOIN POUM - TSOIN - POUM - TSOIN
NB for this singing round and the following ones:
- The same onomatopoeia must not be visible more than once (put it back under the deck).
- The singer decides which onomatopoeia to start with, and then goes clockwise.
- To take cards and points, players draw from any deck.
Third singing round
Play as in the first round, but the remaining deck of cards is cut in three! There are therefore three onomatopoeias visible, with which you must sing by chaining them.
Example, to sing Happy Birthday:
JOY - EUX AN - NI - VER - SAIRE
Becomes
WIZ - TSSI POUET - WIZ - TSSI - POUET
Fourth singing round
Play as in the first round, but the remaining deck of cards is cut in four! There are therefore four onomatopoeias visible, with which you must sing by chaining them.
Example, to sing Happy Birthday:
JOY - EUX AN - NI - VER - SAIRE
Becomes
BIP - DONG CRATCH - TUUT - BIP - DONG
End of the game
At the end of the fourth singing round, the player who has the most cards in front of them wins the game! In case of a tie, there are several winners.
Rules for 6 Players and More: Teams
Form 3 to 5 teams by distributing the players equally (with an odd number, one team may have one player more than the others), according to age, ease of singing or musical culture.
The game is played as with 3 to 5 players, in 4 singing rounds, with these changes:
- The team confers to know which song to choose on the card.
- The team confers on which onomatopoeia the song must begin with.
- All players of a team must sing the chosen song together.
- The points won are for the team (no individual ranking).
Expert Variant
You can start the game directly by cutting the deck in four to sing with 4 visible onomatopoeias! Then play four singing rounds like the last one explained in the rules above.
To put your interpretations to a harder test, you can also decide not to sing nursery rhymes, or to ask another player for the number of your song!
You can also add your own songs or your own onomatopoeias!