Shapemash
Shapemash Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
What's in the Box
- 100 word cards
- 40 double-sided shapes
- 1 sand timer (2 minutes)
- 2 canvases
- 20 tokens
Rules on Building a Pictogram
- You may use any of the 40 double-sided Shapes.
- You may remove and swap shapes during the round. There may never be more than 5 on the Canvas at any time.
- Shapes can overlap, be placed side by side or separately.
- You may not "animate" pictograms by moving the Shapes. You are not allowed to make any sound effects. The only way you can provide hints is by using the Shapes provided.
- You may rebuild your pictogram mid-round to give better hints.
Example: First, build a tree, then replace it with a figure, then add an axe. These clues together lead players to the word Lumberjack. (1: A tree! 2: A hunter! 3: A lumberjack!)
Shapes
Each Shape is double-sided: black on one side, white on the other.
The white side can be used in two ways:
- A. As a second color.
- B. To "erase" part of a black shape.
Regardless of what side you use, either side counts toward the 5-shape limit.
Example: Susie creates a moon. She uses 1 black circle and 1 white circle to cut out the moon Shape. She now has 3 more Shapes to use before reaching the Shape limit.
Team vs. Team Mode (4-8 players)
Setup
- Split your group into two teams.
- Shuffle all the Word Cards into a deck and place it face down in the center of the table.
- Spread all the Shapes on the table around the deck so they are visible and easy to reach. It does not matter which colour is facing up.
- Place all the Tokens to the side.
- Each Team chooses a Pictogram Builder. Give them each a Canvas and place the Sand Timer between the two teams.
How to Play
Goal: Be the first team to earn 10 Points. In this mode, tokens represent Points. You earn a point each time you guess a Pictogram correctly.
Each Round lasts 2 minutes. Both teams play simultaneously. If you guess your team's pictogram correctly, you can start guessing the other Team's.
Start of a Round. If you are the Pictogram Builder: Draw the top Word Card from the deck. Secretly choose one of the 3 words on it. Flip the Sand Timer when you are ready.
During a Round. Start building your Pictogram, following the Rules on Building a Pictogram. As soon as you start building, anyone on your team can try to guess your Pictogram. If they guess correctly, your team (including the pictogram builder) can start guessing the opposite team's pictogram.
End of a Round. The round ends when both teams' pictograms have been guessed correctly, or when the timer runs out.
Give each team 1 Point Token for each correct guess within the time limit.
Note: Teams must guess their own Pictogram first before attempting to guess their opponent's.
Let the timer run out. Then pass the Canvas clockwise to the next player in the team and start a new round.
End of a Game. The first team to reach 10 points wins!
Cooperative Mode (2-8 players)
Setup
- Shuffle all the Word Cards into a deck and place it face down in the center of the table.
- Spread all the Shapes on the table around the deck so they are visible and easy to reach. It does not matter which colour is facing up.
- Place a number of Tokens to the side according to your chosen difficulty: 3 for Easy, 2 for Medium, 1 for Hard. First time playing, we recommend starting on Easy!
- Choose a starting player. Give them a Canvas and the Sand Timer. They are the Pictogram Builder.
How to Play
Goal: Correctly guess 10 Word Cards before your team runs out of lives. In this mode, tokens represent lives.
Each Round lasts 2 minutes. If you fail to guess the Pictogram correctly within the time limit, you lose a life.
Start of a Round. If you are the Pictogram Builder: Draw the top Word Card from the deck. Secretly choose one of the 3 words on it. Flip the Sand Timer when you are ready.
During a Round. Start building your Pictogram, following the Rules on Building a Pictogram. As soon as you start building, anyone can try to guess the Pictogram.
End of a Round. If someone guesses correctly, set the Word Card aside in a Score Pile. If no one guesses correctly before the sand timer runs out, remove one life.
In either case, let the timer run out. Then pass the Canvas and the Sand Timer clockwise to the next player and start a new round.
End of a Game. You lose if you have lost all your lives. You win if you correctly guess 10 Word cards before running out of lives.