Invisible Ink
Invisible Ink Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 6 pairs of special glasses
- 200 double-sided cards with phrases in Polish and English (100 blue, 100 black)
- 2 code cards
- 1 hourglass (40 seconds)
- 1 die
- 60 microfilm tokens (victory points)
- 1 yellow marker (if it stops working, you may use a yellow highlighter)
- 6 player briefcases
You will also need normal (uncoated) white sheets of paper.
Goal of the Game
One of the players draws a secret phrase, and the others try to guess it. It will not be that simple, because some players (or even all of them) will look through special glasses through which the drawing cannot be seen. Players must closely follow the movement of the marker and, based on that, guess the solution. Points are awarded for correctly guessed words.
Beware of forbidden words! Saying one causes a loss of points.
The player with the most points at the end wins.
Setup
The game has 2 kinds of cards: easier blue cards and more difficult black cards. Before the game, decide which cards you will use.
Shuffle the chosen cards and form a deck from them. Place the code card in the matching colour on top of the deck. It serves only to cover the top card of the deck. Next to the deck, place the hourglass and the die.
Each player receives a pair of glasses and a briefcase, which they place in front of themselves. Players will store the microfilms they collect (victory points) in their briefcase.
In the middle of the table, place the microfilm tokens – 10 tokens per player (e.g. in a 4-player game, 40 tokens). Return the remaining tokens to the box; they are not needed in play.
Within reach, place the yellow marker and the sheets of paper.
Now you can start playing!
Gameplay
The first drawing player is chosen at random, or is the player who most recently wore a head covering. The other players will guess the phrase.
The drawing player rolls the die to determine who puts on glasses in this round. There are three possible results:
- Only the drawing player puts on glasses (the guessers do not). This means that only the drawing player cannot see the drawing.
- All guessers put on glasses (the drawing player does not). This means that only the drawing player can see the drawing.
- All players put on glasses. This means that nobody can see the drawing.
The indicated players put on their glasses. The drawing player takes the top card from the deck, from under the code card. They turn it over and secretly read the phrase they are to draw. They may think for a moment, then turn the hourglass over and start drawing.
While the drawing is being made, the other players guess as quickly as possible what the picture shows. They call out their ideas until the time runs out or the correct green phrase appears. Each guessing player may give any number of answers.
Card Phrases
The phrases on the cards are in two languages – Polish and English. Decide among yourselves which language you will use.
Each card has 2 phrases. The first phrase is always in green – this is the phrase the drawing player must draw and the others must guess. The second phrase is in blue or black (depending on which cards you are playing with).
Blue Cards
The phrases are in green and blue. Both phrases may be guessed, or only one of them. The drawing player decides for themselves the order in which they will draw them.
- If the green phrase is guessed first, the round ends and the blue phrase can no longer be guessed.
- If the blue phrase is guessed first, the round continues and the green phrase can still be guessed.
Black Cards
The phrases are in green and black. The black phrase is a forbidden word. If it is said, the drawing player must immediately signal this.
Both the drawing player and the player who said it lose 1 point. The player who said the forbidden word may not guess any more in this round. The other players may still guess the green phrase (within the time set by the hourglass).
Scoring
If time runs out and nobody guesses the phrase, nobody receives points (microfilms).
- For guessing the green phrase, the drawing player and the player who guessed it each receive 2 microfilms.
- For guessing the blue phrase, the drawing player and the player who guessed it each receive 1 microfilm.
- This means that if the blue phrase is guessed first and then the green one, the drawing player receives 3 microfilms. The players who guessed the phrases receive 1 or 2 microfilms for them (or 3, if the same player guessed both). If the green phrase is guessed first, the blue one can no longer be guessed.
- For guessing a black phrase, the drawing player and the player who said it each lose 1 microfilm. They return 1 microfilm from their briefcase to the general supply before the players take their points for guessing the green phrase (this order matters for the end of the game). If a player has no microfilm, they lose nothing.
The points summary printed in the rulebook:
- blue = 1 point
- green = 2 points
- blue + green = 3 points
- black = -1 point
New Round
The next player clockwise becomes the new drawing player. They roll the die and a new round begins.
End of the Game
The game ends if the microfilms in the middle of the table run out. If there are not enough microfilms left to award to the players, the players add the missing ones in their heads to those they have already collected. The player with the most microfilms wins. In the event of a tie, the players share the victory.
Other Rules
- Blue and green phrases must be spoken exactly as written on the card. (For example, for the Polish word "ząb" [tooth], you may not substitute "zęby" [teeth] or "ból zęba" [toothache].)
- Letters and numbers may not be drawn.
- Black phrases may not appear within derived words either. (For example, if "klucz" [key] is forbidden, you may not say "klucznik" [keeper] either.)
- The drawing player may speak in only one situation – when one of the phrases from the card is said. In every other case, they may only draw (and gesture to signal to the other players whether they are close to the solution).
- When playing with black cards, you may appoint the player sitting to the right of the drawing player as the supervisor. The supervisor does not take part in guessing the phrase. When the drawing player starts drawing, the supervisor takes the active card and checks that the other agents do not use the forbidden word.