Debatable
Debatable Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Setup
- Spread out all strategy cards face down on the table, making a big mess, and shuffle them thoroughly. This is important so the cards are randomly rotated. When done, create a neat face-down pile.
- Shuffle all the topic cards in any way you like to create another face-down pile.
NOTE: If you run out of any type of card during the game, simply reshuffle the discarded cards.
- Give each player a Vote Yes and a Vote No card that they will keep face down in front of them.
- The player the group believes is least likely to win the game receives the Moderator card and the Yes, and No cards. This player will be the Moderator for the first round.
Starting a Game Round
The Moderator draws a topic card and selects 1 of the five topics on the card and reads it aloud. The Moderator now selects any two players they want to see debate the chosen topic and hands out the Yes and No cards to whoever they feel should be for and against the topic.
Debate Strategies
Now, the debating players must draw 2 strategy cards each, without showing anyone else. The strategies at the top of their cards become the two strategies that they MUST follow during the debate. When a player has turned over their cards and looked at them, they are NOT allowed to rotate them and change strategies.
So, if you pick up your cards like in the image to the right, your two strategies become "Resort to personal attacks" and "Deny everything". Ignore the other strategies on your cards for this round.
NOTE: Players MUST use BOTH their strategies at some point during the debate, but they decide when and how often and may otherwise argue freely.
Debating
The Yes player begins by making a short opening statement, followed by a short opening statement by the No player. The Moderator then turns over the sand timer (2 min) and the debate starts.
The Moderator has the important task of making sure both debating players get more or less the same amount of time to speak, and the debating players must always respect the Moderator.
When the time is up, the Yes player is allowed one short closing statement, followed by a closing statement by the No player.
Revealing Strategies
When the debate is over, both players must reveal their strategies. If it's discovered that someone completely ignored one or both of their strategies, the Moderator can disqualify them from the round, meaning the other player automatically wins. If both players cheated, they both lose.
Voting
Now all players, including the Moderator (but not the debating players of course), select one of their two voting cards and place it face down in front of them. When everyone has made their choice, the cards are revealed one by one.
IMPORTANT: All players must swear to always vote on the player they truly feel made the best arguments for their side. They should not let their personal opinion of the topic stand in the way of their decision, and voting tactically is of course not okay, either.
Ending a Game Round
The player with the most votes is safe, while the losing player receives an Under Pressure card, which means they can't afford to lose another debate.
The losing player also receives the Moderator card and the Yes and No cards. Now a new round starts, and the new Moderator selects a new topic and two players to debate it.
If It's a Draw
If the voting ends in a draw, a tie-breaker is needed, so the two debating players will each quickly come up with a short campaign slogan for their side of the argument. The Moderator will then forget everything about the preceding debate and simply decide which slogan is the best one. The player with the best slogan wins the debate.
Who Wins the Game?
When a player who already has an Under Pressure card loses a debate, they need to turn over their card, which now shows "Okay, Okay, I'm out!", meaning they can no longer participate in debates.
But being out is also kind of fun, because as soon as someone is eliminated, that person becomes the PERMANENT Moderator from now on. This lasts until more players are eliminated; then the Moderator role will pass between the eliminated players in clockwise order.
NOTE: All eliminated players are of course still required to vote.
Eventually there will only be one player left standing, and he or she will be declared the Debate King or Queen, meaning all other players must give them a bow of respect. If you play another game, the winner's reward is to be the Moderator for the first round in the new game.
Cards with Missing Words
If you draw a topic or strategy card with a blank ____ space, the person who reads the card fills in the blank with anything they want.
Special Rules for 3 Players
In a game with three players, there is no elimination and, rather than putting it to a vote, the Moderator decides who wins a debate. The winning player receives the current topic card as their prize AND also becomes the new Moderator. Keep going until one player reaches 3 won topic cards.
Special Rules for 9-16 Players
If you are more than eight players, Debatable turns into a team vs team game. Split into teams of two and play the game as you normally would, except the debating players only draw 1 strategy card each, and they are also allowed to show the card to their teammate. During debates, EACH player in a team makes both an opening and a closing statement, and during the debate you work together. Note that you debate, win, lose, and VOTE as a team.
If you're an uneven number of players, someone has to volunteer to play alone, and that player of course needs to draw 2 strategy cards to make things even.
Rule Variations
Debatable was made to be played in many different ways. Here are some ideas to keep things interesting and new:
But seriously
For a more serious game, play without using the strategy cards and make sure to always select a serious debate topic.
Just let me choose
Draw only 1 strategy card and SELECT 1 strategy on the card to use during the debate.
No-elimination marathon
No player is eliminated. Instead, the winner of a debate wins the topic card. The first to collect 3 topic cards wins.
But what about...?
After a debate, but before revealing strategies, all players in the game have the option to ask the debating players 1 question each.