Word Slam Game Rules

Hey there! Are you ready to dive into the exciting world of the Word Slam game? Well, buckle up, because I’ve got all the information you need to get started. Let’s jump right in!

First things first, let’s talk about the objective of the game. The goal here is to use your creativity and word skills to get your team to guess a specific word. Sounds simple, right? Well, hold on tight, because there’s a catch!

In Word Slam, you’ll be divided into teams. Each team will have a set of word cards at their disposal. These cards come in different categories, like animals, objects, or actions. Your job is to pick a card from the category secretly assigned to you and then use a combination of verbal and non-verbal cues to help your team guess the word on the card.

Here’s where things get really interesting! You can’t just blurt out the word or use any letters from it. Instead, you’ll have to come up with creative ways to describe the word without using its name directly. Think of it like a brainstorming challenge, where you have to dig deep into your vocabulary to find alternative ways to convey the meaning.

Let’s say your card has the word “giraffe” on it. Instead of saying “It’s a tall animal with a long neck and spots,” you might say something like “Imagine a creature that can look over treetops and has a neck that rivals a basketball player!” See? It’s all about being clever and thinking outside the box.

Now, communication is key. You can use gestures, draw symbols, or even act out certain actions to help your team figure out the word. Anything goes as long as you don’t speak the word or any of its letters. Remember, you have a time limit to get your team to guess as many words as possible, so make every second count!

And that’s pretty much it! Word Slam is a fast-paced, brain-teasing game that will challenge your creativity and communication skills. Whether you’re playing with friends or family, it’s guaranteed to bring lots of laughter and excitement.

So, grab that dictionary, loosen up those vocal cords, and get ready to slam those words! Happy gaming!

Note: The symbols at the bottoms of the story word cards are only for sorting and have no real game function.

Setting Up

Let’s split into two teams. It doesn’t matter if one team is bigger than the other. We’ll gather on opposite sides of the table to play.

• The oldest player on each team will be their team’s first storyteller.
• Each team will receive the 105 story word cards and two cardholders in their team’s color: Blue or Orange.

Now, let’s set up the game:

• We’ll place the cardholders in the center of the table, facing our team. This way, only we can see our cards.
• Let’s sort the story word cards by their colors or the symbols on their fronts. We’ll arrange them in four stacks so we can access them quickly.
• First, grab the die and the hourglass.

The rest of us will do this:

Sit or position yourself so you can read the words on the story word cards that your team’s storyteller will put on your cardholders.

Note: These are the regular rules for four or more players. On page 4, you can find special rules for 3 players, and also rules for making the game easier or harder.

Getting Started:

If you’re new to the game, start by playing with the ten green answer cards for beginners.

Let’s get started. Grab the cards and lay them face down on the table, with the smiley face up. Make sure they’re accessible to both storytellers, forming the draw pile for the answer cards. Remember not to use the yellow, red, or black answer cards just yet.

Before we begin, it’s a good idea to play a few games without the highlighted answers on the answer cards. These answers usually refer to people or popular culture. So let’s save those for later.

When you look at each answer card, you’ll notice that it contains five regular answer words and one special name that stands out. This name could be the title of a book or movie, or the name of a real or fictional person. It’s always highlighted, like Dora the Explorer.

Remember: The answers can be objects, names of people or places, and titles from popular culture such as book titles, movie titles, or band names. Usually, the solution is just one word, but sometimes it can be more than one.

Let’s Play!

A game consists of a number of rounds. In the first game, we’ll have ten rounds. Here’s how a round goes:

I’m the storyteller for the blue team, so I get to start. First, I’ll take the hourglass and roll the die. Then, it’s the orange team’s turn. Their storyteller will pick up the answer card from the top of the draw pile.

Both storytellers need to look at the answer card and find the answer that matches the number on the die. It’s important that only we can see the word. Nobody else from either team should know what it is.

Let’s say I rolled a 6. For this round, I need to get my team to guess the word written next to the number 6, which happens to be “banana”.

Note: If we find that the word is too tricky or unfamiliar to our teammates, we can roll the die to select a different term.

We can also do this if we agreed to play without using the highlighted names. Just keep rolling the die until we find a suitable answer.

If we already know the answer, we can place the answer card face down next to the draw pile, ready to be played in the current round.

Now, let’s get started: The storyteller from the blue team says “WORD” and the storyteller from the orange team replies with “SLAM”. Let the guessing begin!

Hey there! As the storyteller, it’s my job to bring the answer term to my team using story word cards. I’ll quickly browse through the stacks of cards and choose the ones that I think will help my team guess the term.

I’ll place these cards on our cardholders, and then my teammates and I can freely chat and discuss our thoughts out loud.

Here’s what I need to keep in mind:

• I can’t talk, sing, hum, or make any sounds. No pantomiming, gesturing, nodding, or acting out words either. Only the story word cards can be used to communicate.
• I can arrange the cards on the cardholders in any order I want. I can change the order, remove cards, or add new ones whenever I like. I can use as many cards as I need, as long as they fit on the cardholders.

Now let’s talk about timing:

If you’re the one telling the story and you have the hourglass, you can choose whether or not to use it. Just let everyone know when the timing will start and flip the hourglass to get things going.

Both teams will have the same amount of time to guess the answer – the length of time it takes for the sand to run out in the hourglass.

If neither team can figure out the answer before the time is up, the storytellers will reveal the answer and take the answer card out of the game.

Here are some rules for the team members who are guessing:

1. Don’t start guessing until your team’s storyteller has put a story word card on your team’s cardholder.

2. You can’t cheat by looking at the other team’s story word cards.

However, you can try listening to what the members of the opposing team are saying. Maybe that will help you guess the answer.

Once a team correctly guesses the answer, the round ends. The winning team takes the answer card and places it face down on their side of the table. Together, everyone can decide how close the guess needs to be to the actual answer.

Next Rounds

At the start of the next round, the role of storyteller shifts to the team member on the left of the current storyteller (moving in a clockwise direction). The team that controlled the hourglass and die now swaps places with the team that drew the answer card.

In the second round, the orange team’s storyteller becomes the boss, using the hourglass and die. Meanwhile, the blue team’s storyteller randomly selects a new answer card.

Just like in the previous round, both teams will agree on the answer they want to convey.

The orange team’s storyteller shouts out “WORD” and the blue team’s storyteller responds with “SLAM.” This continues the round as usual.

When all the answer cards in the draw pile have been used up, the game comes to an end. The team with the highest number of collected answer cards is declared the winner.

If there happens to be a tie, a tie-breaker answer card is drawn from the pile set aside at the start of the game. The teams play through this tie-breaker round, and the team that correctly guesses the answer wins the game.

Imagine this: Let’s say the magic word is banana. I’m the blue storyteller and I choose the word card EAT to display to my team. They start guessing, throwing out words like food, pizza, apple, and spaghetti.

The orange storyteller, on the other hand, shows the cards YELLOW and PLANT. They listen to the blue team’s guesses and think that maybe the answer is a yellow plant that you can eat. So, they guess pineapple, corn, and lemon.

Back to me, the blue storyteller. I reveal the cards CIRCLE and DIVIDED. The orange storyteller shows EAT again. My team puts the pieces together and realizes that the item is semi-circular. They confidently say banana, and they’re right! The blue team wins this round, and we’re ready for the next one.

Ready for More Fun Games

If you’re ready to dive deeper into the world of games, you’re in luck! The next games will give you even more excitement and challenge. Just follow the numbers below to see how many answer cards you’ll need for each game.

• For a group of 3 players: You’ll need 15 answer cards
• For a group of 4 to 5 players: You’ll need 21 answer cards
• For a group of 6 or more players: You’ll need 25 answer cards