Sequitur
Sequitur Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
5 racks, 1 letter bag, 72 letter balls, 25 Sequitur Cards, 72 Goal Cards, 1 rulebook
Objective
The object of the game is to collect Goal Cards by spelling words that meet the goals they describe. Red Goal Cards are worth 3 points, yellow are worth 2 points, and green are worth 1 point. Each round, you'll get one secret goal that only you can claim. There will also be public goals that anyone can claim. Keep a stack of the Goal Cards you've claimed throughout the game. At the end of 3 rounds, the player with the most total points from Goal Cards in their stack wins the game.
Goal Cards
The rulebook labels the parts of a Goal Card as follows: Points, Examples, Description, Goal, and Minimum word length (shown as dots on the card).
The example card in the rulebook is labelled with these parts: Points 3; Examples THREAT and DUMPS; Description "The word has 3 consonants in a row (Y not included)."; Goal "3 consonants in a row"; Minimum word length shown as four dots.
Setup
Each player collects a rack and the five Sequitur Cards that match it. Separate the Goal Cards into three decks by color. Shuffle each deck and place them all face down in the center of the play area. Put all letters in the letter bag and mix them.
Spelling a Word
At the end of each round, you will spell a single word. To spell a word, discard any number of letters from your rack. You may not rearrange any letters when spelling, but you may turn your rack 180 degrees at any point during the game. Words must be at least 3 letters long.
Word Score
The score of a word is the length of the word plus the sum of the word's skill points. Skill points are the small numbers that appear on some letter balls. Spelling higher-scoring words will give you priority in claiming goals, but word scores do not directly count towards winning the game.
Example of spelling a word: from the rack H (1), W (3), F (3), O, R, G (1), D (1), E, discard H, F, G and E to spell WORD.
Score: 4 + 3 + 1 = 8
- 4 is the length of the word (WORD).
- 3 is the skill points of W (3).
- 1 is the skill points of D (1).
Actions
Each round, you will be able to play three of your five Sequitur Cards to take actions before spelling a word. Once you play a Sequitur Card, you cannot play it again until the next round. If the action includes discarding letters, they must be put back in the letter bag before drawing new letters (you may mix the letter bag).
The rack's end balls are called the outside balls, and the balls between them are the inside balls. For example, on a rack of H, W, F, O, R, G, D, E, the outside balls are H and E, and the inside balls are W, F, O, R, G and D.
The rulebook shows one example Sequitur Card, "Move inside," whose action reads: "Move an outside ball anywhere inside."
Tip: You may use a dictionary at any point in the game. We recommend not allowing names, slang, or abbreviations.
Playing the Game
Sequitur is played in 3 rounds, with each round consisting of the steps below. Except for Step 7, all players may play each step at the same time. Proceed to the next step when everyone is finished.
- Take your Sequitur Cards into your hand. Draw 5 letters, placing them on your rack in the order drawn. Draw one Goal Card of any color, and add it to your hand. This will be your secret goal for the round. Draw 3 letters, one at a time, placing each on either end of your rack before drawing the next.
- Draw one red goal. Either discard it or make it a public goal by placing it face down in the play area. Once everyone has done this, turn all Goal Cards in the play area face up.
- Take one action by playing a Sequitur Card, or pass.
- Repeat steps 2 and 3, but drawing yellow Goal Cards.
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 again, but drawing green Goal Cards.
- Spell a word by discarding unwanted letters. If the word fulfills your secret goal, add the card to your stack; otherwise, discard your secret goal.
- Take turns claiming public goals fulfilled, starting with the player with the highest-scoring word and working down to the lowest. On your turn, claim at most one goal. If players have the same word score, they each draw a letter and the lowest alphabetically goes first. Continue taking turns in the same order until no more public goals can be claimed.
- Discard any unclaimed public goals. Return all letters to the letter bag.
At the end of 3 rounds, the player with the most total points from Goal Cards in their stack wins the game.
Special Balls
The blank ball may be used as any letter, but doesn't gain that letter's skill points. You state which letter when you spell a word, and it stays the same while claiming goals.
The Q ball can be used as just "Q" to gain its 7 skill points or as "Qu" to count as two letters but with no skill points. You state which way you are using it when you spell a word, and it stays the same while claiming goals.
Letter Counts
(plus one blank ball)
| Letter | Count | Skill points | Letter | Count | Skill points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 5 | - | N | 5 | - |
| B | 1 | 2 | O | 5 | - |
| C | 3 | 2 | P | 2 | 2 |
| D | 3 | 1 | Q | 1 | 7 |
| E |
Solo Play
To play Sequitur solo, follow the same instructions, except each time you draw a Goal Card, draw two of the same color instead of one. Choose one to play as a public goal and discard the other. The object is to get as many points from Goal Cards as possible in 3 rounds.
Score guide: 5: Good start · 10: Moving up · 15: Getting good · 20: Impressive · 25: Sequitur master