Brilliant Or BS? Trivia Party Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • You Can Say Things Like
  • You Cannot Say Things Like
  • You Also Can't
• Judging
• Scoring
• Ending Your Turn
• Winning
• Tiebreaker

Goal

Score the most points by convincing other players that you know the correct answers to trivia questions.

Setup

• Designate a scorekeeper. This person will also be playing.
• Each player receives a set of white ABC answer cards.
• The player who suggested playing Brilliant or BS? is the first Judge. This person receives the black Brilliant and BS cards.
• Shuffle the yellow trivia questions and place them face down in a pile.

Gameplay

The Judge draws a trivia question and reads it out loud along with the three multiple-choice options.

The other players secretly choose their answer using the ABC answer cards.

Starting with the player to the Judge's left and going clockwise, each person explains why they know the correct answer without saying or showing their chosen option. If you don't know the answer, fake it!

You Can Say Things Like

• "I learned about this place in school..."
• "I'm a big fan of this show..."
• "This person was in the news recently..."

You Cannot Say Things Like

• "I know the answer is A..."
• "I didn't choose C because..."
• "I chose the answer with the highest number..."

You Also Can't

• Use props, visual or audio aids to prove your point.
• Use your phone to look up answers.

Judging

The Judge interrogates each player to figure out who knows the correct answer and who's only pretending to know. After everyone gives an explanation, the Judge makes their "Decisions" by giving out the Brilliant and BS cards.

Each card represents a Decision.

• The Brilliant card goes to 1 player you believe chose the right answer.
• The BS card goes to 1 player you believe chose the wrong answer.

You must give out at least 1 card but you can choose to give out both.

Scoring

The Judge reads the correct answer. Players who did NOT get a Brilliant or BS card flip their answer first, followed by the BS Card holder. The Brilliant Card holder reveals last.

• The Brilliant card holder earns 1 point.
• Players who answer the trivia question correctly earn 1 point.
• The Judge earns 1 point for each correct Decision.
• Players who accidentally say or hint at the answers during their explanation lose 1 point.

Announce points after each round. If you need help keeping track of the score, download a scorecard from the FAQ page of brilliantorbs.com. (The rules card refers to an example scorecard on its reverse side; that example is not reproduced here.)

Ending Your Turn

The scorekeeper announces the points. The player to the Judge's left reads a new trivia question to become the next Judge.

Winning

Play continues until each player has two turns as the Judge. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.

Tiebreaker

Take turns reading trivia questions. Each correct answer earns 1 point until the tie is broken and a winner is declared.