Chattabox
Chattabox Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
50 Chattabox letter cards; score pad; pencil
Before You Start
The score pad is divided into nine pre-selected topics and six columns. Write each player's initials at the top of the columns. Use the back of the sheet if there are more than six players. Let the youngest player invent a tenth topic and write this topic in the space provided at the bottom of the score pad.
Playing the Game
Shuffle the deck of letter cards and deal, face down, five cards to each player. If playing with more than six players, deal out four cards to each player. Place the remaining letter cards to one side in a pile. Players must not look at their cards.
When everyone is ready, the player to the dealer's left starts the play by turning over his/her top card and placing it in the center of the playing area. This is the start of the discard pile. As the card is placed down, the player must name something from the first topic on the score pad that starts with the letter on his/her card.
For example, the first topic is "Pop Groups and Singers" so if the player turned over an "M" they might call out "Madonna" or "Michael Jackson" or maybe even "Mötley Crüe".
Play continues in a clockwise direction with each player in turn laying a letter card on the discard pile, and calling out a word associated with the topic that begins with the letter on the card. If, after three seconds, an example cannot be named, the player must take a card from the deck as a penalty, and add it face down to the bottom of his/her hand. The round resumes with the next player placing a letter card on the discard pile.
The round ends when one person plays out all of his/her cards. The other players must total the cards remaining in their hands and record the scores below their initials on the score pad. The winner of the round scores zero.
The player that won the round collects all the cards, shuffles them, and deals five new cards to each player. The round continues, as before, starting with the player to the left of the dealer. This time players are attempting to name examples from the second topic, which happens to be "Fruits and Vegetables".
Play continues in this manner until all ten topics have been played.
Additional Rules
(1) If a player uses a person's name, the letter on the card may match the first name or the last name (example: Elvis Presley can be used on an "E" card or on a "P" card).
(2) If the word is not a person's name, but has more than one word, the letter on the card must match the first letter of the first word only (example: Rolling Stones can be used on an "R" card but not on an "S" card).
(3) Players are not allowed to repeat any words that have already been called out.
(4) If the deck runs out, flip the discard pile over and use this pile to draw more cards.
(5) Because the "M" looks like a "W" when the card is looked at up-side-down, the "W" and the "M" can be used interchangeably. For example, if the topic was "Things Made of Metal" the player could call out "mailbox" or "wrench".
Winning the Game
Once all ten topics have been played, the scores are totaled. The player with the lowest score wins the game.