All Rise
All Rise Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
Decide on a Defending Attorney, a Prosecuting Attorney, and a Judge. All other players will form the Jury, and should sit together.
Hand out scorecards to each member of the Jury. These may be filled out privately throughout the trial to help you keep track of the debate. Each member of the Jury draws 2 Surprise Witness cards, keeping them hidden from the Prosecuting Attorney and Defending Attorney.
Both the Prosecuting Attorney and Defending Attorney draw 5 Evidence Cards. Each Attorney may look at her Evidence Cards, but should keep them private from the other players. Both the Prosecuting Attorney and Defending Attorney should take their corresponding Objection Cards.
Note: Either Attorney may play an Objection Card during rounds 2, 3 or 4.
All Rise: The Call to Order
The Judge draws 1 Case Card, reads it aloud, and then places it in the middle of the courtroom for all to see. (The Defending Attorney will be representing the client written in blue on the Case Card, and the Prosecuting Attorney representing the client in red.)
Note: If there is no client written in red, just assume you are a random state or federal prosecutor.
The Judge may then set the rules of her courtroom. (YES, you CAN change or get rid of EVERY and ANY rule below.)
Tip! Judge's rules: This is an opportunity to implement some fun house rules! The Judge might specify that she won't allow the Attorneys to make direct eye contact, or maybe she can suggest that she will show favor to anyone who's willing to compliment her exceptionally fresh breath. It's up to you how ridiculous you want to get with this...
The trial will take place over 5 rounds, each broken up into two turns of equal time - one for each Attorney.
Tip! Interrupting your friends: The Judge is welcome to ask the Attorneys or Surprise Witnesses questions at any time during the rounds. This is a great opportunity to call them on their BS, or help them out if they're struggling.
Round 1: Opening Statements
Both the Prosecuting Attorney and Defending Attorney will be given 1 minute to present an Opening Statement to the Judge and Jury. They won't present evidence here, rather they will provide a vague overview of what they plan to prove in court, hinting at the evidence they have.
Tip! Opening Statements: Take a look at your Evidence Cards to get an idea of the story that you want to present to the Jury! For example: If you are the Defending Attorney and you have the GPS device Evidence Card in your hand, perhaps you might announce that you can prove that your client was not at the scene of the crime! Later on, you can prove this by dramatically revealing your evidence cards in Rounds 2 or 3.
Round 2: The Prosecution Presents its Case
The Prosecuting Attorney will be given 1 minute to play between 1-4 pieces of evidence from her hand. This evidence will be used to tell a story that proves the Defendant guilty of whatever the Prosecuting Attorney is accusing them of (Manslaughter, Murder, Criminal Neglect, Theft, Vandalism, Public Nuisance, etc...).
Tip! Attorney's Arguments: Remember that you can be as creative as you need to be with the Evidence Cards. Say, you have an object like the Bloody Shoe... You get to specify its size, where it was found, even what color the blood was!
The Defending Attorney is given 1 minute to refute any claims of the Prosecuting Attorney, by playing 1-4 pieces of evidence of her own.
Tip! As the Defending Attorney, this is your opportunity to poke holes in the Prosecution's argument, not necessarily tell your own version of the story, you'll get a chance for that in Round 3.
Round 3: The Defense's... Defense
The Defending Attorney will be given 1 minute to play between 1-4 pieces of evidence from her hand. This evidence will be used to tell a story that proves the Defendant innocent of whatever the Prosecuting Attorney is accusing them of, in relation to the case.
The Prosecuting Attorney is then given 1 minute to refute any claims of the Defending Attorney, playing 1-4 pieces of evidence of her own.
Tip! As the Prosecution, this is your opportunity to poke holes in the Defense's argument, referring back to your case as needed.
Round 4: The Witnesses Take a Stand
Jury members will choose 1 of their Surprise Witness cards to hand over to The Judge. The Judge shuffles them and hands them to the Prosecuting Attorney and the Defending Attorney for them both to review.
The Prosecuting Attorney selects a Surprise Witness to call to the stand for questioning. For the remainder of this round only, the chosen Juror will assume the role of the character on the card.
Prosecuting Attorney: "The Prosecution hereby calls __________ to the stand!"
Tip! Playing the Surprise Witness: As a Witness, it's your job to answer the questions that the Attorneys ask. It's generally recommended that you play along with the story that they've told so far and help out the Attorney who called you to the stand... HOWEVER... it's also well within your power to derail everything and be a total jerk....
Tip! Questioning the Surprise Witness: For the Attorneys, the Witness is a great chance to strengthen the story that has been told so far by getting someone to corroborate it. Don't be afraid to lead the witness!
Beginning with the Prosecution, the Attorneys will question the selected Witness for 2 minutes each.
After each Attorney has questioned the first Witness, the Defending Attorney will call her chosen Witness to the stand. Beginning with the Defense, the Attorneys will question the selected Witness for 2 minutes each.
Note: The same Surprise Witness cannot be selected to speak more than once.
Round 5: Closing Arguments
Each Attorney is given 1 minute to conclude her case by summarizing all revelations made during the trial.
Tip! Closing Arguments: It's time to go out with a BANG! The goal of the closing argument is to recap the entire story that you've told today. Make it emotional. Leave no doubt in the Jury's mind who won this case HANDS DOWN... In other words, fake it 'til you make it.
Verdict
After all rounds are finished, the Judge calls for a vote:
Judge: "To conclude the court proceedings, the Jury will declare their verdict!"
The Judge dramatically points to each member of the Jury one by one to get their declaration of finding the Defendant "Guilty" or "Not Guilty."
Note: In the case of a tie, the Judge casts the tie-breaking vote!
If a Guilty Verdict is reached, the Judge may sentence the Defendant as she sees fit.
Judge: "I sentence the defendant to a lifetime of watching movies with oversalted popcorn with no soda to go with it!"
To conclude the game, the Judge should bang their gavel really hard and announce:
"This court is hereby adjourned!"
A Few Things About Objection Cards
Each Attorney begins the game with an Objection Card. This card can be played in rounds 2, 3, and 4 in an attempt to confuse, fluster, or amuse the opposing Attorney by forcing the opponent to retract her last statement or question if SUSTAINED. The Objecting Attorney must give a reason for her Objection to the Judge.
Tip! Objecting: Objection Cards are best used when the opponent is making a really good argument, because you get to force them to retract their previous statement! Your reasoning can be as logical or as ridiculous as you like... but remember, if the Judge overrules your Objection, you lose that card for the rest of the game!
The Judge has 2 options:
SUSTAIN the Objection - The Objecting Attorney's opponent must immediately retract their previous statement or question. The Objection Card is given back to the Attorney who played it.
OVERRULE the Objection - The Objection Card is discarded for the rest of the Trial, and the opponent resumes her statement or question.
Memo: Variants and Suggested House Rules
4 Player Variant
- For Round 4: the Judge will call the Surprise Witness to the stand. She will be questioned by the Prosecution and then the Defense.
- Winner decided by sole member of Jury.
3 Player Variant
- Ignore Jury Setup instructions. Skip all of Round 4. Ignore all Surprise Witness instructions.
- Winner decided by Judge.
Suggested House Rules
This game was pretty much made for house rules. Any and all time limits, card limits, and even the number of Attorneys can be altered as you see fit. We've included a few of the more popular house rules our glorious playtesters have come up with during their time spent with the game.
- Altered time limits: If you're playing with a group that loves to talk, you should consider increasing the time limits beyond what we recommended in the setup.
- Representing yourself: If at anytime a defending attorney wants to directly assume the role of the defendant and try to represent themselves as their own legal council, let them go for it. It's usually pretty funny.
- Attorney teams: If you're playing with a group where more than 2 people want to be Attorneys in a given trial, consider allowing multiple people to play on a team. They can take turns speaking, or even speak all at once.
- Many Witnesses: If you have many people on the Jury expressing interest in being a Surprise Witness in a single game, simply repeat the process of Round 4 as many times as needed for everyone to get a turn.