SHH Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Setup
• Playing the Game
• Game Turn
• Valid Words
• Game End
• Final Scoring
• Tips
• Example
• Challenging Play
• Credits

Overview

2-4 players. Ages 10+. About 10 minutes. Watch and learn to play in 3 minutes at www.packogame.com/shh.

30 Cards:

• 5 Vowel Cards
• 21 Consonant Cards
• 4 Pass Cards

Setup

1. Choose a dealer to perform the remaining SETUP steps.
2. Separate the Vowel and Pass Cards from the Consonant Cards.
3. Create the VOWEL ROW by placing the Vowels (+1 side down) in alphabetical order near the center of the playing area.
4. Place Pass Cards equal to the number of players, in the VOWEL ROW after the "U". The Pass Cards should be placed with their "Available" side up (white text). (See SAMPLE SETUP below)
5. Finally, shuffle the Consonant Cards face down and deal 1 at a time to each player until all the cards have been dealt. Players keep their cards secret. Note: Total cards in each player's hand may vary.

SAMPLE SETUP FOR 3 PLAYERS

CONSONANT ROW (empty).

VOWEL ROW ("+1" Side Down): A, E, I, O, U, followed by 3 Pass Cards (1 per player).

ACTIVE WORD (empty).

Playing the Game

SHH is a challenging, cooperative game in which players compete against the game itself, to achieve the highest score possible. The main challenge of the game is that players may NEVER discuss which letters they have in their hand, or the potential words that could be spelled throughout the game.

Game Turn

On a player's turn, he must perform 1 of 3 Actions:

A. Add a letter by placing it at the end (right side) of the Active Word.

B. Start a new Active Word after initiating a vote to score the previous Active Word.

C. Pass by flipping over a Pass Card to its "Used" side up (red text).

The youngest player starts the first Active Word by putting a letter in the play area below the VOWEL ROW (See SAMPLE SETUP above); remaining players take turns in clockwise order. Once the Active Word is formed, the next player may add a letter to extend the word, pass, or start a new Active Word (see next paragraph). Cards may be added from either a player's hand (Consonant Cards) OR from the available Vowel Cards from the VOWEL ROW.

If a player chooses to start a new Active Word, he must first attempt to score the current Active Word by initiating a silent vote. First, he must give a 'Thumbs Up' or 'Thumbs Down' hand gesture. A 'Thumbs Up' gesture indicates that he believes the current Active Word is valid. A 'Thumbs Down' gesture indicates that the current Active Word should be checked for validity before continuing with the new word. Once the active player makes a gesture, a vote must occur and all other players immediately give a 'Thumbs Up' or 'Thumbs Down' gesture.

• If ALL players give a 'Thumbs Up' gesture, the word is scored.
• If ANY player gives a 'Thumbs Down' gesture, the validity of the current Active Word must be checked against the VALID WORD rules.
  • If the word is INVALID, the game ends. (See GAME END below).
  • If the word is VALID, it is scored. (See below).

SCORING A WORD: All Consonant Cards are placed in the CONSONANT ROW. All Vowel Cards are placed in the VOWEL ROW. If the scored word is AT LEAST 5 LETTERS in length, flip the Vowel Cards that were used to the "+1" SIDE UP. After scoring, play continues.

The active player starts a new Active Word using a Vowel or Consonant Card and play continues in clockwise direction.

There may only be 1 Active Word at a time. Consonant and Vowel Cards must always follow the previously played letter and may not be played in the middle or any other part of the word. Consonants in the CONSONANTS ROW are only for reference and scoring; they may not be used again. Vowel Cards flipped to the "+1" side may be used again to create new words and retain the '+1' value for the remainder of the game.

Valid Words

A valid word must have a length of at least 3 letters. It must be found in a dictionary and may not be an abbreviation or a proper noun (place name, person's name, company name, or brand). In most cases, it will be obvious that a word is valid. If at least 1 player votes 'Thumbs Down' during a validity vote, reference a dictionary.

Game End

The game ends immediately if after a vote:

1. A validity check determines that the completed word is INVALID.
2. All Consonant Cards have been played in VALID words.

The team calculates their score. (See Final Scoring below)

Final Scoring

The team calculates their score as follows:

1 point: for each Consonant Card in the CONSONANT ROW.

1 point: for each Vowel Card flipped to its "+1" side.

Pass Cards are not included in calculating scores.

Performance Rating:

• 0-10: Poor (1 star)
• 11-20: Proficient (2 stars)
• 21-25: Phenomenal (3 stars)
• 26: Perfect (4 stars)

Tips

• Be honest when voting. There is no penalty for discovering that a word is valid after checking a dictionary.
• Knowing when to use a Pass Card is essential. The number of cards in each player's hand will vary and become unbalanced. This is a part of the game's challenge and will require players to play or pass in an appropriate rhythm in order to earn more points.
• It's helpful to keep the CONSONANT and VOWEL ROWS in alphabetical order to reference which consonants have been used, and which vowels are available to use. No words with double consonants or double vowels are possible.
• Cooperative games are difficult in nature, so embrace the challenge and try to improve your score over many games!

Example

Rex wants to start a new Active Word so he initiates a vote, which determines that all players are confident that "EXIT" is a Valid Word. He will finish his turn by moving the "E" and the "I" back to the VOWEL ROW and the "X" and the "T" to the CONSONANT ROW, then sliding the "O" Card down to start a new Active Word. He could have chosen to start a new word using a Consonant from his hand. Or, he could have chosen to extend the Active Word by playing his "S" Card after the "T", which would have spelled, "EXITS" and provided a Bonus (+1) point for the "E" and "I" Vowels.

CONSONANT ROW: C, D, G, K, L, P, V, Y, Z.

VOWEL ROW: A, (2 cards in use), O, U, followed by 3 Pass Cards. The "O" was used in a 5 letter word and has been flipped to its "+1" side.

ACTIVE WORD: E, X, I, T, followed by 1 Unused Pass Card remaining.

Challenging Play

Increase the difficulty of play by using any combination of these gameplay variants:

• Reduce the number of Pass Cards to 1 less than the number of players. Or, remove the Pass Cards and Pass Action entirely.
• Increase the minimum valid word length to 4 or 5 letters.
• When scoring an Active Word, place the used Consonant Cards face down in the CONSONANT ROW.

Credits

Game Design and Graphic Design: Chris Handy

Additional Photography: Neil Kronberg

Thanks to Playtesters: Jenn Handy, Steve and Teri Sartain, The Widmans, Matt and Grace Paradis, Jenn Spankowski, Christian and Colleen Montague, John McCloud and Paul Butler.

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