Monikers: Family Edition
Monikers: Family Edition Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Getting Started
Monikers: Family Edition is entirely cooperative. You win or lose together! Not that winning is all that important in Monikers.
To start, everyone is going to pick cards to create a roughly 25-card deck, then add some random cards no one has seen to round it up to a 30-card deck. Grab a pile of cards from the box and deal the number below to each person. They secretly choose the amount listed to include in the deck.
| Players | Deal | Pick | Add randoms |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 15 | 8 | 6 |
| 4 | 12 | 6 | 6 |
| 5 | 10 | 5 | 5 |
People should choose the cards they think are funny or interesting or weird. If people don't know the names on a lot of the cards they were dealt, just deal more cards to them to choose from. It's not a huge decision, so you don't have to think too hard about it.
Now collect ALL the cards people chose and shuffle them into ONE deck. Put the cards people didn't choose back in the box. This deck will be used for the entire game. Be careful not to mix up the discards and the included cards!
If you have 6 or more people playing, or are just feeling competitive, split into teams! See the Team Mode rules below.
The most famous person goes first.
How to Play
Monikers is played in 3 rounds. Players alternate taking 60-second turns standing in front of the group, drawing cards from the deck, and giving clues to get the group to guess as many names as possible before time runs out. Assign someone to be the "timer person" who will start a 60-second timer on their phone and say "3, 2, 1, go!" Once they do, the clue giver flips over the entire deck to the side with names and starts giving clues. If you're playing with people who need more time, set the timer to 90 seconds.
There's no limit to the number of guesses people can make, and the clue giver is encouraged to skip cards they're having difficulty with. When you skip a card, just put it on the bottom of the deck. When you get one right, quickly put it aside somewhere. Go around and around, taking turns in clockwise order.
Close Enough Is Good Enough
If someone says part of the name, or gets part of the name wrong, that counts. For example:
- Foam finger = foam hand
- PE = phys ed
- Vampire is not equal to Dracula
- Pancakes is not equal to waffles
Where you draw the line is up to your group, but we always err on the side of fun.
If you accidentally cheat while you're giving a clue, like by saying part of the name, just put that card aside and add it back in for the next player's turn.
At the end of a turn, set aside the correctly guessed cards. These will be scored at the end of the round. Put any skipped cards on the bottom of the deck.
A round ends when ALL cards from the deck have been guessed correctly. When that happens, write down (or just remember) how many 60-second turns it took you. So if 4 people took a turn giving clues, write down 4 for this round's score. For scoring, even a short turn counts! Then shuffle all the cards back together into one deck for the next round. You'll be playing the game with the exact same cards.
Finally, if someone ended the round with an extremely short turn, like if there were only one or two cards left in the deck, we like to give them a full turn the next round.
Rules for Each Round
Each round of Monikers has different rules for how players are allowed to give clues.
Round 1: Say Anything
You can do anything except say the name itself, using any words, sounds, or gestures you can think of. Reading the clue text is allowed.
Round 2: One Word
Use only one word. It can be anything except the name itself. You can repeat the word as much as you want, using different intonations if you like, but no sounds or gestures. If you encounter a card you skipped earlier in your turn, you have to use the same word!
Round 3: Charades
Just charades. No words. Sound effects are OK, within reason.
Ending the Game
Count up how many turns it took you to finish the game and consult your fortune!
- 6 turns or less: Incredible job. You will all grow three feet taller.
- 7 turns: Incredible job. You will all grow two feet taller.
- 8 turns: Everyone gets to stay up as late as they want tonight. And maybe tomorrow night too.
- 9 turns: Your picture's going up on the wall here at Monikers HQ, and we're saluting it every morning.
- 10 turns: You will meet a herd of gentle beautiful horses who will become your lifelong companions. You will meet them TOMORROW.
- 11 turns: A huge amount of soda is in your future. Wayyyyy too much soda. Hope you like soda.
- 12 turns: Tonight, there will be a sweet plump grape waiting under your pillows for you.
- 13 turns: Tonight, there will be a bowl of cold chowder waiting under your pillows for you.
- 14 turns: Oh no! You've been trapped in a one day time loop trying to beat this score. Keep trying!
- 15 turns or more: No more screen time for anyone. Only Monikers training from here on out.
Team Mode
Divide into two teams of roughly the same size and experience level. If one team has an extra person, that's OK.
Now you're all going to pick cards like in the cooperative mode, but deal and choose this many:
| Players | Deal | Pick |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | 14 | 7 |
| 7 | 12 | 6 |
| 8 | 10 | 5 |
| 9 | 10 | 5 |
| 10+ | 8 | 4 |
How to Play (Teams)
Everyone will take 60-second turns like normal, but teams take turns giving clues. Each person should take a turn giving clues to their team before anyone repeats being the clue giver. Going in clockwise order usually helps to remember.
At the end of a turn, teams keep the cards they guessed correctly. These will be scored at the end of the round. Reshuffle any skipped cards back into the deck.
When the round ends, teams count each card they correctly guessed. Write those numbers down somewhere (or as a shorthand, just remember that e.g. "Team B is up one on Team A"), then shuffle all the cards back together into one deck for the next round.
The team with the lowest score starts the next round, even if they just went.
If someone ended the round with an extremely short turn, like if there were only one or two cards left in the deck, we like to give them a full turn the next round.
Ending the Game (Teams)
The team in the lead after 3 rounds wins!
If there's a tie, or if you just want to keep going, roll a die and play one of the ridiculous 4th rounds:
- Get a bed sheet. Now do charades UNDER it.
- Get behind a large object. Now stick out your arms. You can only use them to gesture, plus sound effects.
- Two players alternate saying a single word. They have to form a roughly grammatical sentence.
- Charades, but another person on your team has to stand behind the clue giver and pose them.
- Get behind a large object. Now stick your head out. You can only use head movements and sound effects.
- Reverse charades! Everyone on the team does charades, except one lucky person who has to guess.