MindMatch
MindMatch Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 6 Guess sheets (Ratetafeln)
- 5 Term sheets (Begriffstafeln)
- 1 Score sheet (Punktetafel)
- 50 Term cards (printed on both sides). The terms on a card differ in difficulty: the upper terms are somewhat easier, the lower terms somewhat harder.
- 6 wipe-off markers
- Paper towels for wiping (not included in the game)
Setup
Shuffle all 50 term cards and make a face-down stack, which you place in the middle of the table. Place the score sheet next to it. Write your names on it, one in the first field of each row.
Each player takes 1 guess sheet and 1 marker.
Have paper towels ready for wiping off (not included in the game).
Agree on a difficulty level. In your first game we recommend the easier terms. Whoever has the next birthday becomes the MEDIUM for the first round.
Gameplay
You play as many playthroughs as there are players, so that each person has been the MEDIUM once. One playthrough consists of 4 rounds. In each playthrough, the MEDIUM forms a chain of associations across the 4 rounds, i.e. a row of terms that are connected to one another. The RECEIVERS try to guess the MEDIUM's term for each round. They receive points for terms guessed correctly. What matters is how many terms they wrote down. Only a player who achieves a Match (English for "agreement") with a single term receives the full point value.
Round 1
As MEDIUM, take the 5 term sheets and set your guess sheet aside. Then draw 1 term card and pick 1 of the terms of the chosen difficulty level. Write it on the first term sheet, as legibly as possible, and place it face up in the middle of the table.
Now think of another term that has a connection to the first one. This can be a synonym or a property, an association that comes to mind immediately, or an opposite term. You are barely restricted here (but see INVALID TERMS on page 4). Write this term on the term sheet for Round 1 and keep it face down in front of you. Make sure nobody sees your term!
All other players are RECEIVERS in this round. As a RECEIVER, you try to guess the MEDIUM's term. You may write up to 4 terms in the matching fields of your guess sheet. Then keep your guess sheet face down in front of you.
Once all RECEIVERS are finished, you all reveal your sheets (including the MEDIUM). Now check who wrote the MEDIUM's term on their guess sheet in the current round. Whoever wrote the sought term circles the point value above the current round on their guess sheet. In addition, you also circle the point of every empty field in the current round of your guess sheet. So you get more points the fewer terms you needed to reach a match. But you only receive points at all if you wrote the sought term.
Note: Only the terms of the current round count. If you have already written the term of the current round in an earlier round, this does not count as a match.
As MEDIUM, you determine how many RECEIVERS wrote your term. Mark the point value directly on the term sheet: if only 1 RECEIVER has the term, circle the left point value; with 2 RECEIVERS, the middle point value; and with 3 or more RECEIVERS holding the correct term, the right point value. If no RECEIVER found the term, you receive no points!
Round 2
Now, as MEDIUM, write the next term. The starting point is the term of the previous round, i.e. the term you wrote on the term sheet for Round 1. Again, look for a term that you connect with it. Of course, you may not choose a term that already lies on a term sheet of an earlier round. Terms that appear on the RECEIVERS' guess sheets may be used. Keep your term sheet for Round 2 face down again until all RECEIVERS have written their terms.
Proceed exactly as in Round 1: as RECEIVER you write down terms, and then check whether you have written the sought term.
Round 3
Play Round 3 as you did the two rounds before. The most recently written term is always the starting point for the MEDIUM's term. Only in the Final Round, the 4th round of the playthrough, does something change:
As MEDIUM, you now look for a term that fits all 4 terms lying on the term sheets.
Accordingly, as RECEIVERS you also write corresponding terms. Of course, you still may not name a term that is already on one of the term sheets. You may, however, write terms that you have already noted on your guess sheet in earlier rounds again.
Scoring at the End of a Playthrough
After the Final Round, determine your points for this playthrough:
- As RECEIVERS, each of you counts the circled points on your guess sheet and writes them on the score sheet next to your name.
- As MEDIUM, you add up the circled points on the term sheets and write the result on the score sheet in the same way.
Wipe clean your guess sheets and the term sheets, and pass the term sheets to the player to the left of the previous MEDIUM. That player is the MEDIUM in the next playthrough.
End of the Game
Play as many playthroughs as there are players. The player with the most points then wins MINDMATCH. In the event of a tie, the tied players share the victory.
Invalid Terms
In principle you may write almost any term: nouns, adjectives or verbs alike. However, you should limit yourselves to words that appear in the Duden (the standard German dictionary). Proper nouns are also permitted; terms of 2 words are allowed if the words belong together (example: New York). Not permitted are words with the same word stem, or translations.
Examples from the rulebook:
- Starting term "Regenbogen" (rainbow) and the term "biegen" (to bend) are not allowed: same word stem.
- Starting term "Regenbogen" (rainbow) and the term "Rainbow" are not allowed: translation.
When in doubt, do not be too pedantic. In the end, having fun is what matters.
Variants
Without Term Cards
You may also play without the term cards and think up a starting term yourselves. It can be very appealing to write down a person as the starting term if everyone knows that person.
Secret Playthrough
Play this variant by the usual rules, with the following changes:
RECEIVERS reveal their guess sheets only at the end of the complete playthrough. Accordingly, you score the individual rounds only after the Final Round. The MEDIUM, of course, must reveal their term after every round.