Paperback: 10th Anniversary Edition Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setting Up the Game
  • The Offer
  • Common Card
  • Players' Decks
  • Unlockable Cards
• Turn Sequence
  • Create a Word
  • Check the Word Length
  • Score Word
  • Buy Cards
  • Discard and Draw Next Hand
• End of the Game
• Key Words
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Changes from Earlier Editions of Paperback
  • Card Changes
  • Rule Changes
  • Starting Deck Changes
• Typos Module
• Genres Module
• Deadline Variant (drafting / simultaneous)
• Solo Variant: Spy Novel
  • Setup
  • Objectives
  • Gameplay Sequence
  • Player's Turn
  • Buying Fame Cards
  • Enemy's Turn
  • Upgrades
  • Action Clarifications
• Classic Variant
• Optional Rule: Bounty
• Optional Rule: Discount
• Game Mode: Cooperative
• Additional Card Types
  • Spacebar
  • Dyslexic
  • Attacks
  • Player Powers
  • Award Cards
  • Theme Cards

Components

The core Paperback game contains:

• 16 wood cubes
• 14 dividers
• 66 Letter cards
• 8 2¢ Vowel cards
• 20 Two-Letter cards
• 11 Attack cards
• 5 Player Power cards
• 50 Starting Deck cards
• 28 Wild Fame cards
• 6 Common Cards
• 6 Theme Cards
• 4 Award Cards

The 10th Anniversary Edition adds the components used by the new modules and variants: Typo cards, Genre cards with their Rules cards, the classic card pack, sealed unlockable letter cards, and — for the solo variant — the Spy Novel game board, the enemy card deck, the hero and enemy spy meeples, the X token, and a die.

Setting Up the Game

The Offer

Create 4 Fame piles for the different ranks of Fame cards, according to the chart on the length track.

In the 10th Anniversary Edition some of the offer decks have been combined, to lower the amount of shuffling and setup needed:

• The 2¢ offer cards remain the same and are not combined.
• The 3¢ and 4¢ offer cards are now combined into one deck.
• The 5¢ and 6¢ offer cards are combined into another deck.
• The 7¢ and 8/9/10¢ offer cards are combined into another deck.

The cards' colour backgrounds remain distinct, so that you can still play with the classic offer setup (see Classic Variant).

Shuffle each of these decks and place them face up in the centre of the table. Instead of taking a single card from each deck and placing it below the deck to form the offer, take 2 cards and place them both below the deck. Now, including the 2¢ cards, there should always be 10 options available in the offer.

Common Card

Shuffle the Common cards, deal 4 face down, and set the pile face-up near the Offer, on top of the length track. Only 4 Common cards are used each game.

Players' Decks

The 10th Anniversary Edition updates the player starting decks to provide a stronger, more interesting, and more varied start to the game.

The base starting letters — R, T, S, L, N — remain the same, but one of those letters (different for each deck) will have the "+1 draw next hand" power if you can use that letter again in the word.

Each starting deck now has 4 wilds, and one of 5 random consonants: G, H, M, P, C. Each consonant has the same ability, +1¢ if you use all the cards in your hand.

When assembling your deck, make sure you have no duplicates of the starting letters (RTSLN) and that one of the letters is the upgraded version. Then include 4 starting wilds and randomly include one of the GHMPC cards (10 cards total).

Each player shuffles her deck and draws 5 cards.

Unlockable Cards

The box includes unlockable cards hidden in an envelope. The unlockable cards are all letter cards and have the unlockable icon in the bottom right corner. Completing achievements and playing games of Paperback will unlock these cards bit by bit. The unlocked letter cards are added to their respective offer decks before any game of Paperback.

Turn Sequence

After randomly choosing a starting player, take turns in clockwise order. A turn consists of the following:

• Create a word. The common card can also be used.
• Score the word. The word is scored by adding up the score for each letter (upper left).
• Buy cards. Using the ¢ cost in the lower left, purchase cards from the Offer up to your word score.
• Discard all cards and purchased card(s). Do not keep any unused cards in your hand.
• Draw 5 cards.

Create a Word

Form a word using the cards you have in your hand and, if you wish, the common card. Like most word games, no proper nouns, names or places allowed. The cards used to form the word activate their ability text. The text on unused cards is not activated. Some abilities only activate if a condition is met. If an ability says that you "may" do something, it's optional. Otherwise, you have to use the ability if it's in your word.

Check the Word Length

After playing a word using the cards in your hand, count up the number of letters in your word (Wild cards count too). If the word is longer than the highest number showing on the length track, that player gains the common card to have in her deck. This reveals the next common card for everyone to use. If there are no more common cards, the game is over.

Score Word

Add up all the scores from the letters in your word. Make sure to count the common card, if you used it. Apply score bonuses from the card abilities in the word. Make note of abilities that give you extra cards next turn.

Buy Cards

Using your score, purchase from visible cards in the Offer. Multiple cards can be purchased, but their total cost must be the word score or lower. Any abilities that change the Offer can be used now. Purchased cards are placed in your discard pile. After each purchase, replace a purchased offer card with the top card of the corresponding pile, so that the offer stays full. Remember, while purchasing letters will increase your ability to form longer and better words, purchasing Fame cards is crucial for winning the game, as the player at the end of the game with the most Fame points is the winner.

Discard and Draw Next Hand

Discard all the cards from your word and hand. Draw 5 cards, plus any additional cards from abilities in your last word. If you run out of cards, shuffle your discard pile to create a new draw pile.

End of the Game

The game ends when any two of the Wild piles are empty OR there are no more Common Cards.

When this happens, each player adds up the Fame points on the cards in her deck (includes hand and discard). The player with the most Fame wins the game. Ties are broken by the player with the most common cards.

Key Words

• Hand — This means the cards left in your hand that you didn't use in your word. They are still discarded before your next hand is drawn.
• Trash — This means to remove a card from the game. It's helpful to make a pile for players to put their trashed cards. Trashing is very useful for getting rid of weaker letters or 1 Fame Wild cards, thus increasing your chances of getting more powerful cards when you draw. (In this edition, Trash cards also allow trashing from the discard pile.)
• Gain — This means to acquire a card and put it in your discard pile.
• Attack — This means when you play this in a word, it stays in play until your next turn. It only affects other players for the turn and limits them in different ways. At the start of your next turn it is discarded.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Some cards have two letters on them. Both letters are used when making words, and their order cannot be reversed. These cards count as 2 toward your word length.
• Common card can only be used once per word.
• If you copy the "Double Word Score" ability, it triples the word damage (not 4x).
• Wild cannot be copied as an ability.
• There are two sets of covers for each wild pile. They function the same, just look different.
• You can't save money between rounds, use it or lose it.

Changes from Earlier Editions of Paperback

Card Changes

There have been some minor changes to the offer cards to benefit the game's balance. The most noticeable change from the previous editions of Paperback is a redistribution and rebalancing of the 3¢ and 4¢ bigram cards. Trash cards now allow trashing from the discard pile.

Rule Changes

To lower the amount of shuffling and setup needed, some of the offer decks have been combined (see The Offer, above), and the offer shows 2 cards below each combined deck instead of 1, for 10 options in total.

Starting Deck Changes

The starting decks now contain an upgraded RTSLN letter, 4 wilds and one random consonant from G, H, M, P, C (see Players' Decks, above).

Typos Module

The 10th Anniversary Edition includes a couple of modules that can be included in or left out of any game of Paperback you play.

When playing with the Typos Module, shuffle all the typo cards into a facedown deck, and place that deck near the Offer. Each turn, a player may elect to gain a typo in order to gain 1¢ for that turn. Players can only do this once on their turn.

When a player gains a typo, they draw a typo from the top of the deck and place it in their discard pile — they may look at the card they draw.

Typos provide no Letter Score, and are worth negative Fame Points if left in the deck at the end of the game. If a typo is used in a player's word, it is returned back to the bottom of the Typos deck.

Genres Module

Genres provide more asymmetric gameplay in the form of a set of 4 cards — separate from your deck — that give you an additional letter(s) to work with and powerful one-time or ongoing bonuses if you use those letters. For experienced players, genres present new strategies to explore, and for newer players genres provide some structure on how to approach the game.

When playing with this module, each player will need a genre. They can either be picked randomly or chosen from the start. The Rules card for each genre will tell you a bit about how the genre plays.

Once a genre is picked, that player takes the Rules card and the 4 Genre cards associated with that genre. Place the genre cards face up near your playing space — they will never go into your hand, deck, or discard, but you can pick them up and use them to plan out your word.

There is a roman numeral in the bottom right corner of each genre card, called its order number. A card with an order number of "I" is active from the start of the game. A card with "II" needs all cards with "I" to be completed and flipped over in order for the "II" card to be active. A card with an order number of "III" or "IV" needs all cards with lower order numbers to be completed and flipped before it is active. Some genres will have multiple cards active at once.

If a genre card is active, you can use its letter once during your turn as you spell a word. Some genre cards might have an additional requirement, such as a minimum word length, which will be listed directly to the left of the letter. If the requirement isn't met, you can't use that genre card as part of your word.

If you successfully use a genre card in your word, place a cube on one of the empty spaces on that card. Once all spaces are filled, you may complete that genre card. When you complete a card, take all cubes off of it, perform the listed effect (if applicable), and flip it over. It is no longer active.

Some cards have an immediate effect, while other cards might have an ongoing bonus called a Passive effect or give you additional Fame Points at the end of the game. There will be a reminder on the flipped side of the card for passive effects and fame point effects.

Unless a card says otherwise, you don't get the listed effect when putting a cube down on the card, only when you complete the card. There is no penalty for failing to fulfill a genre card by the end of the game — you just miss out on its effect. If a genre card gives you Fame Points, you don't get those points unless the card is completed.

When you flip all four of your genre cards, you get a prize of extra Fame Points. Use cubes to help you remember those extra fame points. The first player to flip all four cards gets 5 Fame Points. The second player gets 3 Fame Points. And any other players to flip all four cards get 1 Fame Point. (Note: the Science Fiction genre does not allow you to flip all of your cards over, which means that the science fiction player cannot earn these extra Fame Points for flipping all 4 cards.)

Some genre cards have 2 or 3 letters on the card — just like letter cards in Paperback, those letters must be used together and in the same order when making words, and each letter counts as separate letters for determining word length.

The Genres Module is fully compatible with the Typos Module, and the following genres require the Typos Module to be in play: Time Travel, Horror, Romance, and Science Fiction.

Deadline Variant (drafting / simultaneous)

Play Paperback at a quicker pace! First, this variant gives you a hard deadline on the game: 12 rounds. Additionally, everyone plays simultaneously, using a drafting system to buy new cards instead of a shared offer.

All offer cards are shuffled together at the start of the game and 12 cards are dealt out to each player. Then shuffle the common vowel cards and deal 1 to each player. These 13 cards are not considered part of the player's hand, and are instead considered the player's personal offer. The rest of setup is completed as normal.

Players all take their turns at the same time, and otherwise play Paperback in much the same way, except when it comes to purchasing from the offer. At the end of their turn, they choose one card from their dealt offer cards. They can either purchase and place the chosen card in their discard pile (as long as they generated enough score), or they can save it to purchase on a future turn. There is no limit on how many cards can be saved for future purchase.

The common vowel in each player's personal offer cannot be purchased or saved for a future turn. However, players can use that letter to help build their word, and it still counts as a letter in the word and provides score, just like standard Paperback.

Fame cards can be purchased in the same way as the standard game. If a certain cost of fame card runs out during a round, no players gain the fame cards of that cost this round: remove those cards from the game. Each player takes note of the number of fame points earned from the removed fame cards for tallying their final score. (Use cubes to track those fame points, or just record them on a piece of paper or your phone.)

The remaining offer cards (plus common vowel) are passed to the player on their right. Once all players are done with their turn, everyone draws their next hand and play proceeds to the next round. As the game goes on, fewer and fewer offer cards will be passed around. When the last card is taken by all players, the game is over and Fame is totaled by all players to determine the winner.

Solo Variant: Spy Novel

Play out a classic spy novel in a thrilling solo variant for Paperback. You will try and build your deck up to a point where you can get to your top secret info, but an opposing, automated spy will be moving from location to location creating pressure that you'll need to take care of if you don't want to lose your cover and lose the game.

Setup

After setting up a standard game of Paperback, take the Spy Novel game board, cubes, and the die and keep them in reach. Place one 17¢, four 11¢, and four 8¢ Fame cards in the pattern shown on the board, with the innermost cards resting underneath the cards to the outside. Remove any other fame cards from the game.

Next, take the enemy spy meeple and place it on the 8¢ card at the top of the circle. Then take the hero meeple and place it on the 8¢ card at the bottom of the circle.

Take the 9 standard enemy cards, and add a single special enemy card. The special enemy cards are ranked from level 1 to level 4, with level 4 being the hardest enemy to face. Once you have 10 enemy cards, shuffle those cards and place them face down, forming the enemy deck.

Objectives

To win, you need to buy the fame card at the very centre of the circle. That card costs 40¢ at the start of the game, but every time you reveal one of that card's corners (by buying the card on top of it) the cost is reduced by 10¢ for the rest of the game. If you manage to reveal all four of its corners, meaning you bought every other fame card, you also win the game.

The enemy spy moves around the different fame cards, leaving pressure cubes on fame cards. If at any point a fame card has 4 pressure cubes, you immediately lose.

Gameplay Sequence

1. Draw an enemy card and place the X token when applicable.
2. Play a turn like standard Paperback.
3. Choose 1 hero action as part of your turn.
   • You can't choose a hero action with the X token on it.
4. Do the enemy action that has the die on it.

Player's Turn

The Spy Novel player board has four different sections at the bottom, which represent your available hero actions. At the start of each turn, draw an enemy card from the enemy deck. Remove or place the X token as indicated by the card, but do not perform any of the card's other actions (those trigger at the end of the turn).

The player then plays a normal turn of Paperback, spelling a word, executing card abilities, and buying cards. At any point during the player's turn, they can use any one of the hero actions on the game board unless the X token is on that action. The player cannot use multiple hero actions in a single turn.

Most hero actions allow the player to move at least 1 space, which means to move to an adjacent fame card. The player can move to any card that is directly connected to their current card (meaning it must be touching).

Buying Fame Cards

The player can only buy a fame card if the following 2 conditions are met:

1. The hero meeple is currently on that card (or adjacent to that card, if the player upgrades the On the Move action).
2. The fame card has no other cards on top of it.

These conditions do not apply to the fame card in the very centre of the circle — refer to the rules for that card in the Objectives section.

When a fame card is bought, it goes into the player's discard pile (just like a standard game). Any pressure cubes on the card are discarded. If either meeple is on that card, move the meeple to an adjacent card of your choice. (The enemy meeple can never be on the 17¢ centre card.)

Enemy's Turn

The last part of the turn is to execute any enemy actions listed on the enemy card. Because you take your turn first, that means you can plan around what the enemy will do.

The enemy will usually move at least 1 space as part of their action. When moving the enemy spy, always follow these 2 rules:

1. The enemy spy always moves clockwise in a circle, moving to the nearest 8¢ or 11¢ card in its path. (That card doesn't have to be touching the card the enemy is currently on.)
2. The enemy spy can never be on the centre card, and always ignores it when moving (this rule does not extend to placing pressure cubes — only for movement).

Along with moving, execute the other parts of the enemy action. The enemy always executes their full action. After the enemy actions are complete, place that enemy card in a discard pile next to the enemy deck. If the X token is on a hero action, remove it at the end of the turn.

Upgrades

The player can upgrade their hero actions during the game. Whenever you obtain a common vowel (by reaching the word length requirement) you immediately upgrade one of your un-upgraded actions. That action stays upgraded throughout the course of the game. Tokens are provided to indicate that an action is upgraded.

Action Clarifications

• On the Move — Remember that you can only buy the fame card your hero meeple is on, unless you upgrade this action. You still cannot buy the card if it has another card on top of it.
• Infiltration — Adjacent spaces means cards that are directly touching the card your hero meeple is on. Remember that this action does not allow you to move.
• Counterintel — You can remove a pressure cube from any fame card, no matter where your hero meeple is, and place it on one of the four empty squares next to this action. If all four squares already have a cube, you cannot take this action. When you upgrade this action, discard any cubes on those four squares, and for each cube discarded from this action, you also get to discard a pressure cube from a card in play.
• Honey Trap — Remove/trash all available offer cards. Take a typo from the typo deck, but it goes straight to the top of your deck.
• Cloak & Dagger — All adjacent spaces means cards that are directly touching the card the enemy spy meeple is on (even though the enemy spy can skip empty card slots when it moves).
• Evade a Tail — If the enemy spy has less than 3 cards to move to, they still move 3 times, and place a cube each time they move.
• On the Offensive — After placing a cube on the enemy spy meeple's current space, you place a cube on one of the four empty squares next to this action. If all four squares have a cube, you place another cube on the enemy spy meeple's current space.
• Strategic Withdrawal — The enemy moves backwards (counterclockwise) 1 space. Take a typo from the typo deck, but it goes straight to the top of your deck. This card — and any other card with the reshuffle symbol — has you shuffle any discarded enemy cards back into the enemy deck. Place the card with the reshuffle symbol face down on the bottom of that deck (so it's the last card).

Classic Variant

Want to play Paperback the same way you always have? The Classic Variant rules will let you do that.

Take the classic card pack, consisting of 10 cards: a starting R, T, S, L, N, and 5 starting wilds. Then form a starting deck for each player matching the 10 cards in the classic card pack. This means that no deck will have the upgraded R, T, S, L, or N, and no deck will have the random G, H, M, P, or C consonants.

When creating the offer decks for the game, separate the offer cards by colour/cost and create 7 decks instead of the standard 4 decks (2¢, 3/4¢, 5/6¢, and 7/8+¢). Sort the Letter and Two-Letter cards by price (2¢–10¢), combining the 8¢, 9¢ and 10¢ piles. Shuffle each of the seven piles and place them face up in the centre of the table. Take the top card off each pile and place it next to the pile. These are the Alternate Cards; both sets of cards are available for purchase. NOTE: The 2¢ pile doesn't get an Alternate.

Optional Rule: Bounty

Get some tokens (coins, candy, etc.). If you are having a hard time forming a word, you can reveal your hand and say that you're offering a bounty in exchange for some help. Other players can now suggest words for you to use. If you use a word that someone suggested, the player that suggested the word receives a token. Players can cash in a token on their turn for a one-time +1 to their word score.

Optional Rule: Discount

Get some tokens (coins, candy, etc.). When a card is purchased off the top of a pile in the offer, that pile's corresponding Alternate Card gets a token. For each token on top of the Alternate Card, its price is reduced by 1. Remove the tokens when the Alternate card is purchased.

Game Mode: Cooperative

In this mode, the players work together to win. The goal is to buy all the Fame cards before any card gets four tokens on it. The cards start in a pyramid pattern. Players can only buy cards that are uncovered. Each turn, if a player doesn't buy a Fame, she must put a token on an uncovered card. If any card gets 4 tokens on it, all the players lose! For an extra challenge, have players lose if 3 tokens are on a card. Also, try different Fame card layouts for a new challenge.

Additional Card Types

Spacebar

If this is the common vowel, you can create two words. If you do, score +1¢. Cards can't be used in both words. If you gain this card, you can play it to make two words for +1¢ when it comes up.

Dyslexic

If this is the common vowel, you may use your two-letter cards in reverse to form words. If you do, score +1¢. If you gain this card, you can play it to reverse a two-letter card for +1¢ when it comes up.

Attacks

If you want a more direct conflict game, you can add the attack cards to the offer piles when you're setting up the game.

Player Powers

To play with these, shuffle them and deal one to each player at the start of the game. Each one gives a player a power he can use each turn to get out of tough situations.

Award Cards

To play with an Award, shuffle them and reveal one in the middle. This card is awarded at the end of the game based on the conditions listed on the card.

Theme Cards

To play with a Theme, shuffle them and reveal one in the middle. This card is given to the player that forms one of the words on the card for one of their turns. They don't put it in their deck, but keep it and count it toward their final Fame total. If later in the game another player forms a word on the card, they take the card (and points) from the first player.