Alan and Bobby's Block and Guess Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Content
• Setup
• How to play the 4 player game
  • 1 - Preparation phase
  • 2 - First building phase
  • 3 - First guessing phase
  • 4 - Second building phase
  • 5 - Second guessing phase
  • Starting a new round
  • End of the game
• Playing with 6
• Playing with 5-8 Players
• Playing with 3
• Construction Cards

Content

• 14 number cards (7 purple + 7 orange)
• 36 clue cards
• 11 construction cards
• 15 wooden blocks of various shapes and colours
• 46 scoring tokens
• 1 first player token

Setup

1. Place all the wooden blocks in a group in the middle of the table.
2. Shuffle the number cards and place them face down in two piles, one for each team.
3. Shuffle the clue cards and place them face down in a pile.
4. Give a player the first player token at random (they will be a builder in the first round).

How to play the 4 player game

Players will be playing in two teams of two players. Teammates should sit directly across the table from each other. Each round, one person from each team will be building an object. These two players are the "builders." The other two people are the guessers. They will be trying to identify their teammates' objects.

Each round has five phases.

1 - Preparation phase

To start a round, flip over the first clue card so every player can see it. The clue card lists 7 possible things that can be built.

Each builder should shuffle his set of number cards. Each builder then draws the top card of his number deck, looks at it, and then shows it to the other builder. The builders should be careful not to show the cards to the guessers. The builders then place their number cards face down on the table.

Each builder must build the object on the clue card that matches the number card they drew. The builders will know what object the other is trying to build. If they drew the same number card, they will be building the same object.

2 - First building phase

During a Building Phase, there must be no communication between the builders and the guessers about the objects being built.

Starting with the first builder (the player with the First Player Token), each builder in turn selects one of the 15 blocks and gives it to the other builder, until each builder has 3 blocks.

Now the builders must build their objects within the following rules.

• Each builder must use all of their blocks.
• Each of their blocks must touch at least one other block.
• The object must be able to stand freely of its own accord.
• Nothing but the 3 blocks can be used to make the object.

The Building Phase is not timed but should not take longer than a minute or so.

Note: It is probably not a good idea to hand your opponent any blocks that will be helpful for them!

The printed example shows Team 1 with number 3 (Trumpet) and Team 2 with number 4 (Fountain), using the clue card list.

3 - First guessing phase

When both builders have completed their objects, the guessers must try to figure out what their teammates have built. Each guesser gets only one guess. If the guess is correct, their team receives two points. If the guess is incorrect, their team will proceed to the Second Building Phase.

Important: The builder may not use sound effects, hand motions, eye movements, etc., to try to help the guesser identify the object. A guesser may ask "Which side is the front?" to orient what has been built, but that is all.

If both guesses are correct, the players start another round.

4 - Second building phase

The Second Building Phase is the very similar to the First Building Phase. If both teams are still involved, starting with the first builder, each builder in turn selects one of the remaining blocks and gives it to the other builder, until each builder has 3 new blocks and a total of 6 blocks.

If only one team is building, the builder for the uninvolved team gives the builder of the involved team 3 new blocks so he has a total of 6 blocks.

The builder or builders must now construct their objects within the following rules.

• All 6 blocks must be used.
• Each of their blocks must touch at least one other block.
• The object must be able to stand freely of its own accord.
• Nothing but the 3 blocks can be used to make the object.
• A builder may start from scratch with their 6 blocks or simply add the 3 new blocks to their existing build.

5 - Second guessing phase

This is the same as the First Guessing Phase for each team that is still involved. The guesser again gets only one guess. If the guess is correct, their team receives one point. If the guess is incorrect, their team will not score any points this round. In either case, the players start another round.

Starting a new round

At the start of the second round, the builders and guessers swap roles. The player with the Starting Player Token should give it to the new builder on the other team.

At the start of the third round, the builders and guessers again swap roles. But the First Player Token is given to the player who has not already been the starting player. Same for the fourth round.

End of the game

The game ends after 4 rounds. Each player should have been a builder twice and a guesser twice.

The team with the most points wins. If the teams are tied, play another round, until one team scores more points than the other.

Playing with 6

This is the same as playing with 4 players, except there are two teams of 3 players each. Ideally, players should play 6 rounds, with each player getting to be a builder once. The starting player each round should be the builder whose team was not the starting player in the previous round.

Each team will have one builder and two guessers each round. As the guessers must only present a single guess between themselves in each guessing phase, they should openly discuss what they think their guess should be before one of them makes the guess on behalf of both of them.

Playing with 5-8 Players

The game can be played with 6 or 8 players. Simply divide the players into equal teams and give each player a change to be the builder. Be aware that games with more players will take longer.

The game can also be played with 5 or 7 players. Just divide the players into teams as equally as possible. Some players may be the builder once and some twice

Playing with 3

A three player game works a little differently. In a 3 player game, each player plays on their own team, however each round there will be two builders (as in the team game), both building their construction for the non-building player to guess. The non-building player each round therefore has two constructions to guess the identity of each round.

At the start of the game, give the starting player token to a player randomly. That player, and the player on their left will be a builder in the first round. The third player will be the guesser.

If the guesser correctly labels a construction in the first guessing phase, the guesser and the builder both gain 2 point tokens. If the guesser correctly guesses a construction in the second guessing phase, both the guesser and builder score 1 point. If the guesser has not guessed one or both construction at the end of the second guessing phase, no points are awarded for it.

After a round, the starting player token moves to the player on the left of the starting player from the previous round. Every round 2 players build and 1 guess, until each player has been the guesser twice and a winner is determined.

Construction Cards

Shuffle the Construction Cards and place the deck face down in the middle of the table. At the start of each round, one of the builders should draw the top card and place it face up on the table. This card gives the builders one extra rule that they must follow during the Building Phases.

The 11 construction cards are:

1. All blocks must touch the table. They cannot be stacked.
2. No block can touch any other block.
3. Build the structure with one hand over one eye.
4. Build the structure without using your thumbs.
5. Different colored blocks may not touch each other.
6. Each builder chooses his own first block instead of giving it to the other builder.
7. Only one block can touch the table. All others must be stacked.
8. Blocks of the same color must touch. If a builder has more than two blocks of the same color, all of these blocks must touch at least one block of the same color.
9. Each builder receives two blocks instead of the usual three.
10. After you receive your three blocks, you must build only with your non-dominant hand.
11. After you receive your three blocks, you must build with your eyes closed.