Pantone: The Game
Pantone: The Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 180 Character Cards Including 6 Blank Cards to Create Your Own
- 60 Swatch Cards in 15 Colors
- Swatch Card Tray
- These Rules with Art Board on back
Overview
In Pantone™: The Game, you'll use colors to create representations of Characters from pop culture and beyond. The colors are inspired by Pantone™, the world's leading color expert.
When you are the Artist, you'll choose one of your Character Cards and then design a representation of that Character using only three (3) color swatches that are placed on the Art Board on the back of these rules. Arrange your Swatch Cards in a way that will make it easy for other players to identify the Character. When someone guesses your creation, you both score points!
Play occurs over three phases, each one more challenging for the Artist. Once everyone has been the Artist three times, the player with the highest score wins!
Identification Through Colors
Did you know that humans are able to identify things by color faster than by shape? They can even recognize people by abstract representations faster than by photographs! Amazing! So, even if you aren't artistically inclined, using the correct colors will often be the most important factor. Here is an example:
Do you recognize this brown blob? If not, here's a hint: "Toy." Character Cards have hints on them that the Artist will give to players if no one guesses correctly. Even if you don't think the colors look like anything, someone still might identify it with a single clue. Still don't have it? Hint #2 is "Detachable." Hopefully, that's enough to figure it out! (Answer: Mr. Potato Head.)
Setup
First Game Setup: Place all four (4) copies of a Swatch Card of a particular color in a single slot in the Swatch Card Tray. Repeat this for each different set of colored Swatch Cards (15 colors total) until each slot in the Swatch Card Tray has four (4) Swatch Cards of the same color in it. Pretty, isn't it? There is even a place to put all the Character Cards.
Every Game Setup: The player who has most recently painted is the first Artist. That player shuffles the Characters Cards and deals four (4) to each player, including themselves. Discard one (1) of these cards—either a Character you might not know or one that you think is too hard to represent—and place the remaining three (3) cards in your hand. You may look at them, but keep them hidden from the other players in the game!
Note: Track points with a sheet of paper and pencil or you can use some sort of tokens, such as loose change. You can track the time using a one-minute sand timer or a watch (not included).
Basic Rules of Play
Pantone™: The Game is played over three phases. As the game progresses, Character creation gets more challenging!
- In the First Phase, the Artist can use ALL of the Swatch Cards to create their Character.
- In the Second Phase, the Artist can only use one (1) of each Swatch Card color to create their Character.
- In the Third Phase, the Artist can only use three (3) Swatch Cards TOTAL, regardless of color.
Step 1: The Artist chooses one (1) of the three (3) Character Cards in their hand and places the other two (2) Character Cards to the side face down, as they will not be used during this phase. The chosen Character Card is kept secret from the other players, placed face down in front of them. The Artist can reference this Character Card at any time.
Step 2: The Artist starts a one (1) minute timer and uses Swatch Cards to create a representation of the chosen Character on the Art Board on the back of these rules. You may stop before the time is up, but must stop after one (1) minute.
Note: After time has expired or the Artist has finished creating the representation of the Character out of Swatch Cards, they cannot change it in any way. They also may not speak or give any hints to the other players.
Step 3: Each other player gets one (1) guess. Starting with the player to the left of the Artist, each player gets five (5) seconds to try to guess the Character. If that player cannot guess the Character the Artist created, or incorrectly guesses, the next player to their left gets a turn to guess. The Artist is allowed to turn the Art Board to help the players see their creation in the correct orientation.
Note: There is no penalty for a wrong guess on your turn, so guess away! It is also acceptable to say "pass" if you are stumped.
This continues in clockwise fashion until each non-Artist player has had one (1) chance to guess the Character.
Warning: If you make a guess while it is not your turn, you immediately lose one (1) point. If your guess is correct, the Artist still scores their points.
If none of the players correctly guess the Character during the No Hint round, the Artist gives the first hint on their Character Card. After the Artist provides Hint #1, each other player gets another five (5) second turn to try to guess the Character.
This continues until a player correctly guesses the Character or the players fail to guess the Character even after the Artist gives the fourth and final hint on their Character Card.
Points: BOTH the Artist and the player who correctly guesses the Character receive points based on which round it is. If no one guesses correctly, no points are scored by any player, including the Artist.
Note: In a 2-player game, only the player who correctly guesses scores points.
End of Artist's Turn: After points are scored, the Artist places the Character Card they just used back into the box, so it isn't used again this game. If you are the Artist, pick up your two (2) unused Character Cards and choose one (1) for the next phase (when you will be the Artist again).
The player to the left of the previous Artist becomes the new Artist and receives the Swatch Card Tray and the Art Board. The previous phase's Artist becomes a regular player and guesses on other Artists' creations until they become the Artist again.
Once every player has had a chance to be the Artist, it's on to the next phase!
Remember: The Character creation requirements for the Artist change every phase, as the difficulty gradually increases.
The game ends when every player has created a Character three times.
Winning the Game
The player who has the highest score after all players have been the Artist three times is the winner!
Team Rules
Split the players into two equal teams. You win or lose as a team. A single Artist is chosen randomly at the beginning of the game and they receive the Swatch Card Tray and Art Board as normal.
Step 1 and 2 remain the same during each phase, but Step 3 changes slightly from the Basic Rules of Play. A team gets only one guess each round. The players on the Artist's team try to guess the Artist's Character Card first. If their single guess is wrong, the opposing team has a chance to make a single guess. If the opposing team does not guess the Character correctly, the game proceeds to the Hint #1 round.
Guesses and hints continue in this pattern until one team guesses correctly or both teams are unable to guess the Character during the Hint #4 round. The team that correctly guesses the Character first scores all of the points. The Artist never scores points individually; it's all about teams!
Advanced Play Modes
Try these advanced modes for a more challenging game!
- Speed Painter: Reduce the time the Artist has to make their creation to 30 seconds.
- Minimalist: The Artist may ONLY use three (3) total Swatch Cards in each phase.
- Abstract: The Artist may use all Swatch Cards to make a Character in each phase, but the cards may not touch each other.
- Renaissance: Play until a set number of points has been earned. We suggest 20 for this mode, but you can set the goal score as high as you'd like!
Credits
Game Design: Scott Rogers
Playtesters: Evelyn Rogers, Marlin Deckert, Annie Deckert, Jeff DeWoray, Mike Hill, Kathyrn Hymes, Michael Floyd, Kim Floyd, Drew Floyd, Brianna Floyd, Rebecca Keszilicki, Rachael Prewett, Charlie Schildt, Lev Stefanovich, Brenda Lee Rogers, Jack Rogers, Diana Wilson, Chris Wilson
Cryptozoic Entertainment:
- CEO & Founder: John Sepenuk
- Founder: John Nee
- Founder: Cory Jones
- VP of Marketing & Product Development: Jamie Kiskis
- VP of Creative: Adam Sblendorio
- Graphic Design: Larry Renac & John Vineyard
- Editing: Shahriar Fouladi
- Product Manager, Games: Dekan Wheeler
- Additional Game Development: Cory Jones, Adam Sblendorio, Matt Hyra, Matt Dunn, Dekan Wheeler
© 2018 Cryptozoic Entertainment. 25351 Commercentre Dr. Suite 250 Lake Forest, CA 92630. All rights reserved. Manufacturer: Cryptozoic Entertainment. www.cryptozoic.com. Made in China at Liya International, LianFengLuoShi Industrial Center, Building 2, Level 4, Unit C, No. 1 BeiAn Road, HuangJian Town, Dongguan City, Guangdong, China. Date of Production and Lot Number: 04/19-02. Pantone LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of X-Rite, Inc. © Pantone LLC, 2018. All rights reserved. Authenticated Representative, Emergo Europe, Prinsessegracht 20, 2514 AP The Hague.