Hot Words Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• First Time Here?
• Starters
• Choose Your Heat Level
• The Main Course
• Satisfying Scoring
• Finger Lickin' Notes
• Ghost Pepper Tie-Breaker
• Dessert

Contents

• 1 Gameboard
• 50 Jalapeño Cards
• 4 Hot Sauce Bottles
• 4 Team Tasting Boards
• 150 Word Cards
• 1 Sticker Sheet
• 1 Dinner Bell
• 1 90-second Sand Timer

First Time Here?

Gather the Team Tasting Boards, the plastic Hot Sauce Bottles and the Sticker Sheet.

Using the colors on each Tasting Board, place the corresponding team sticker on each individual Hot Sauce Bottle.

Starters

• Form 2-4 teams of 2 or more players each and take a Team Tasting Board. It doesn't matter how many people are on each team, but you can't be alone!
• Place the Gameboard in the middle of the table.
• Separate the Jalapeño Cards by heat level, shuffle each deck, and place them face down on their designated spot on the Gameboard.
• Shuffle all Word Cards and place them face down in a pile near the Gameboard, Dinner Bell and Sand Timer.
• Take your team's Hot Sauce Bottle and place it on the Gameboard start space.
• Place your Team Tasting Board in front of someone on your team.
• Whoever has eaten hot sauce most recently chooses which team goes first.

Choose Your Heat Level

All teams take 1 Jalapeño Card from one of the three Jalapeño heat levels. Place it on the current course (round) on your Team Tasting Board.

Choose your Jalapeño Cards wisely!

• This is a 4-course game. You'll choose another Jalapeño Card each course, from any heat level.
• All the Jalapeño Cards on your Tasting Board must be followed and can't be replaced, so the meal will get hotter (and harder) as it goes on!

Heat levels:

• HOT Jalapeños will get you the most points but they're notoriously unforgiving when paired with other Hot Jalapeño cards.
• MEDIUM Jalapeños are the middle of the pack, but watch out because they still pack a lot of heat!
• MILD Jalapeños are easiest. They'll earn you less points over this 4-course game.

The Main Course

• On your team's turn, choose one person to be the speaker. Everyone else on your team will have 90 seconds to guess the word(s) the speaker is describing.
  • The Word Cards have a section for each course. ONLY describe the words on the course you're currently playing!
• Flip over the 90-second Sand Timer and grab a Word Card.
  • You may say anything you wish except any permutation of the word itself.
  • You must convey the clues using only words! That means no charades, no hand movements, no portions of the word on the Word Card, and no random sounds!
• As soon as your team yells out the correct word, place the Word Card face up in front of you and grab another Word Card. Continue grabbing and describing Word Cards until the timer runs out.
• If you say one of the Hot Words or sounds on the Jalapeño Card(s) on your Team Tasting Board, anyone from any team can ring the Dinner Bell and force you to discard the Word Card face down. Draw another Word Card immediately and continue playing.

If you say a Hot Word but no one catches you, you're safe! Keep playing like nothing happened... their loss!

Satisfying Scoring

• At the end of the 90 seconds, count the Word Cards guessed correctly and move your team's Hot Sauce Bottle forward that many spaces on the board.
• If your team guessed at least 2 Word Cards correctly, your team also scores bonus heat points! Advance 3 spaces per Mild Jalapeño on your Team Tasting Board, 4 spaces per Medium Jalapeño Card, and advance 5 spaces per Hot Jalapeño Card.
• After moving your hot sauce bottle on the gameboard, the next team clockwise goes.
• Once all teams have completed their course, each team chooses another Jalapeño Card and the next course begins.

Finger Lickin' Notes

• Jalapeño Cards are cumulative – DO NOT remove previous Jalapeño Cards.
• Guessers can use Hot Words without any penalty.
• If your team completes a full loop around the board, just continue moving forward.
• As soon as the speaker says their first clue for a new Word Card, that card has begun. The previous Word Card can no longer be debated, even if a Hot Word was used.
• If the dinner bell is rung by mistake, we'll let you decide how to handle it.

Ghost Pepper Tie-Breaker

You want more heat, do ya? We've got something special for you... Only teams that are tied for first place play this round.

Clear your Team Tasting Boards and only apply the Ghost Pepper Jalapeño pictured here.

Both teams will play at the same time and all other teams and players are in charge of ringing the bell. The first team to score 3 Word Cards wins the game.

Only use words from the Second Course.

(Callout printed on the sheet: "Words Containing "E"".)

Dessert

The team furthest around the Gameboard at the end of the meal wins!

The winners will be named the Hot Words Champions!