Time’s Up! Game Rules

Hey there! Are you ready to have a blast with Time’s Up? Well, let me fill you in on all the important rules. Trust me, this game is an absolute hoot!

The Basics

So, here’s how it works: you’ll need at least four players, divided into two teams. Each team will have a set of cards with famous names on them. The goal? To make your teammates guess as many names as possible in a limited amount of time. Simple, right?

Alright, here’s where it gets fun. There are three rounds, each with its own set of rules:

Round 1: Describe

In this round, you can use any words or phrases, except for the name on the card, of course. You can get as creative as you want, but remember, no rhyming or miming. Trust me, it’s harder than it sounds!

Round 2: One-Word

Now things start to heat up. In this round, you can only use one word to describe the person on the card. Yes, you heard me right, just one! Get ready for some hilarious and frantic guessing as the clock ticks away.

Round 3: Charades

This is where things get really crazy. In round three, you can only use gestures and actions, just like in a game of charades. No words allowed! It’s a race against the clock as you act out famous names to your bewildered teammates.

Scoring

Now, let’s talk about scoring. It’s pretty straightforward. You’ll get one point for each card your team guesses correctly. At the end of all three rounds, the team with the most points wins. It’s as simple as that!

Oh, and by the way, if you’re playing with younger players, you can make it easier by allowing hints or skipping difficult cards. The most important thing is to have a fantastic time!

So, are you ready to put your guessing skills to the test? Grab your stopwatch and get ready to have a blast with Time’s Up!

To win the game, your goal is to gather as many points as possible by collecting names during three different rounds.

We will play the game by using a deck of name cards that are chosen randomly. Each team will have 30 seconds to guess as many names as they can. One player from the team will give clues to their teammates. To make the game more interesting, players are allowed to use sound effects and pantomime. However, as the game goes on, the rules become stricter and players have less freedom to use words:

• Round 1: You can say anything.
• Round 2: You can say only one word.
• Round 3: You can’t say anything.

Each round ends when all names in the Deck of Fame have been guessed. All names go back into the Deck for the next round. The team with the highest score after the third round wins.

Here’s what you need to do to get started:

Step 1: Divide into teams. Each team should have two players sitting across from each other. It’s best to play with teams of two (for example, three teams of two is better than two teams of three). If there are more than ten players, you’ll need to have larger teams.

Step 2: Decide whether you’ll use the YELLOW or the BLUE names. It’s important that everyone knows which color you’ll be using. Don’t mix colors within the same game.

Let’s get started by dealing 40 cards evenly among all players (if you want a longer game, deal out more cards). After that, distribute two additional cards to each player. The rest of the deck can be put back in the box since we won’t be using it.

Take a moment to look at your cards and choose two to discard. Remember not to show your cards to the other players. Once you’ve made your choice, shuffle all the remaining cards and stack them face down in the middle of the table. This stack will be known as the Deck of Fame.

Now it’s time to choose a starting team to take control of the Deck. The team sitting clockwise from the starting team will hold the timer and use it to keep track of the other team’s turn.

Game Play

Round 1

When we play this game, we can give clues in many different ways, but we can’t pass our turn. Each team takes turns, and during each turn, a player from the team is assigned to be the Cluegiver, while the rest are Guessers. The Cluegiver changes with each turn, so everyone gets a chance to be the clue-giving hero!

The Cluegiver picks up the Deck, which is a stack of cards, and pulls out the top card. They then look at the name written in YELLOW or BLUE, depending on the color that the teams agreed on at the beginning of the game. Once the Cluegiver has read the name on the card, the opposing team says, “Go!” and starts the timer.

Now it’s time for the Cluegiver to shine! They start giving clues to their teammates in any way they want. They can sing, hum, point, act out, or even describe the person in detail – the possibilities are endless!

However, there are a few rules that the Cluegiver must follow:

• You can’t use any part or variation of the name in the clue. For example, you can’t use “Willy” or “Bill” to get the person to say “William”.
• Clues that rhyme with the name are acceptable, as long as the clue-giver doesn’t actually say the rhyming word. For example, saying “Sounds like the animal that oinks” would be okay, but saying “Sounds like pig” would not.
• You can’t spell out the name or give away specific letters of the name in the clue, unless the name uses initials. In that case, the clue-giver can give the initials, but can’t say them outright. For example, “H.G. Wells” would be allowed, but the clue-giver couldn’t say “H” or “G” directly.

When we play the game of Guessers, our task is to try and figure out the name on the Cluegiver’s card. We can make as many guesses as we want, without any penalty for getting it wrong. It’s important for us to say the full name exactly as it appears on the card. Sometimes, there are words in parentheses, but we don’t have to say those.

For example, if the card says RICHARD NIXON, just saying “Nixon” won’t be enough. We have to say the full name. But if the card says (PIERRE AUGUSTE) RENOIR, saying “Renoir” would be sufficient. Once we guess the correct name, the Cluegiver puts that card aside and draws a new one from the Deck to give us clues for.

The Cluegiver can’t move on to a new name until we Guessers get the name right. So if the Cluegiver doesn’t know the name he draws, he’ll have to be clever with the clues he gives us.

In the game of Cluegiver, if you mess up and give an illegal clue, your turn is immediately over and the card you messed up on goes back into the Deck.

When the time runs out, the Cluegiver takes the card they were working on and shuffles it back into the Deck. They keep the cards that were guessed correctly in a pile next to them. Pass the Deck to the team clockwise from you, and they pass the timer to the team clockwise from them.

Remember: If time runs out before a name is guessed, players are NOT allowed to discuss the name with each other. The Cluegiver can’t give any hints about who they were trying to convey, and players on other teams who think they know the answer can’t share their guesses with each other. A card might come up multiple times before it is guessed correctly.

The round will end when we guess all the names and the deck is empty. If this happens, we need to pause the timer right away. Our team will go first in the next round, but we can only use the remaining time on the timer.

If we don’t have enough time left, we can pass to the next team. They will start the round with a fresh 30 seconds on the timer.

Now it’s time to add up all the cards we collected. Each card is worth 1 point. Our scorekeeper will keep track of the score.

When we’re done scoring, we need to read out all the names we have. This will help us remember which names are in the game. If there are any names we’re not familiar with, we can check the Glossary for a quick description.

When the moment comes to bring a close to the game and all names have been called, it’s time to gather up all the cards and return them to the Deck. Before moving on, be sure to give the Deck a thorough shuffle to mix things up for the next round.

Round 2

Just one word per clue, one guess per name, you can pass. Round 2 is similar to Round 1, but there are a few changes: The Cluegiver can’t use more than one word to describe each name on the cards.

You can repeat the same word as many times as you want, but once you say a word, you can only use non-verbal clues. If the Cluegiver accidentally uses more than one word, they have to put the card aside, pick a new one from the deck, and continue with the new name.

Each team can only make one guess for each card. If the guess is wrong, the Cluegiver has to put the card aside, draw a new one, and continue with the new name.

You can choose to skip your turn as the Cluegiver in this round. All you have to do is say “Pass”, put the card face-down, and pick a new one from the Deck to continue with a different name. Remember, Guessers are never allowed to pass.

When the turn ends, any cards that were set aside because of passes, clue mistakes, or incorrect guesses are mixed back into the Deck. There is no penalty for these cards.

If you go through the entire Deck during your turn, your turn is over. You can’t go back to the cards you set aside earlier due to incorrect guesses, passes, and so on.

Once the round is finished, there’s no need to read all the names out loud again. By now, everyone should already be familiar with them. Just shuffle all the cards back into the Deck, like you did before.

Round 3: Pantomime and Sounds, 1 Guess Only, Passing Allowed

Welcome to Round 3! This round is similar to Round 2, but with one exciting twist: the Cluegiver can’t use any words! Instead, they must rely on sounds and pantomime to convey the clues.

End of the Game

Now, let’s talk about how the game ends. After all three rounds, the team with the highest score will be crowned the winner!

Tips to Help You Win

• If you’re not sure about a name you draw, try breaking it into parts. Maybe someone else has the same first or last name? For example, you could say, “He’s got the same first name as the first President of the United States.”
• Another approach is to use “sounds like” clues. Just make sure you don’t actually say the word the name sounds like! For ROGER MOORE, you could say, “His last name is the opposite of ‘less'”.
• Lastly, you can give clues for each syllable of a name. Get creative and have fun!
• When it’s my turn in rounds 2 and 3, if I get a name I don’t know how to act out, I won’t waste time trying to figure it out. Instead, I’ll pass quickly and start thinking about how to do it while I wait for my next turn. That way, I’ll be ready if I get the same name again.
• Round 3 is the most exciting, but it can also be the trickiest. If I include gestures in my clues during the first two rounds, difficult names become much easier. For example, if I pretend to hold a telescope when giving a clue for CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS in the early rounds, that gesture will represent Columbus in the last round.