Show Me The Kwan Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Components
• Goal
• Setup
• Course of Play
• Example of a Round
• End of the Game
• Variants

Game Components

• 12 coloured letter dice
• 1 special die (white)
• 1 hourglass (sand timer)
• 56 topic cards
• Paper and pencil

Goal

Score 50 points by calling out words.

Setup

Shuffle the deck thoroughly. Place it face down in the centre of the table. Take all the letter dice and the hourglass and place them beside the deck. You will also need paper and a pencil.

Course of Play

The game is played over several rounds. In each round, the players do the following:

1. Turn over 1 card and place it in the centre of the table so that everyone can see it.
2. Roll the 12 coloured letter dice. Each side of a die shows a letter that must appear in the words the players call out. The dice also show numbers, which give the number of points a player receives for the word called.
3. Roll the special die. This die shows which position the letter must occupy in the words called. If "1" is rolled, the letter must be the first letter of the word called in this round. If "2" is rolled, it must be the second. If "П" (P) is rolled, the letter must be the last letter of the word.
4. Turn the hourglass over. Time starts running as soon as the hourglass is turned over. The round ends as soon as the time runs out.
5. Call out a word. While the sand runs through the hourglass, any player must call out a word on a topic from the open card and take the die showing the letter used in that word. The word must meet two conditions: (1) it must fit one of the topics shown on the open card in this round; (2) the letter shown on the die must be in the word in the position shown by the special die.
6. Score points. When the time is up, the round ends. The players count their points. Each player receives the number of points shown on each die they took, for the letter shown. In addition, if "2" was rolled on the special die this round, each player gets 1 extra point for each letter die they took. Or, if "П" was rolled on the special die this round, each player gets an extra 2 points for each letter die they took. A player who takes the last of the 12 letter dice receives an extra 3 points. Once all points have been counted, write down each player's points.

The next round then begins in the same order.

Example of a Round

1. The players turn over a card. It reads: "In a backpack", "Fragile" and "Nut".
2. Twelve dice are rolled and show the letters: "Ы", "Д", "Р", "Б", "И", "О", "О", "Х", "Ж", "Н", "К", "Э".
3. The white die is rolled and shows "2". So the players must call out words in which the letters showing on the dice are second in order.
4. The players turn the hourglass over.
5. The players begin calling out words that fit one of the topics and whose second letters are the letters rolled on the dice. One player says "fragile" — "бОкал" (a glass) — and takes the die showing "O". Another player says "in a backpack" — "дЫра" (a hole) — and takes the die showing "Ы". Then this player says "in a backpack" — "нОски" (socks) — and takes the die showing "О".
6. The round is over. The player who took the letter "О" receives 1 point for the letter itself (as shown on the die), and an additional 1 point, because in this round the white die showed "2" and all players were calling words in which the letters rolled were second. So this player writes down 2 points. The other player, who took the letters "Ы" and "О", receives 4 points for the letter "Ы", 1 point for the letter "О", and 2 (1+1) points for the letters in this round because of the special die. So this player writes down 7 points.

End of the Game

The game ends as soon as, when points are counted, it turns out that one of the players has scored 50 points. If several players score 50 or more points, the player with the most points wins.

Variants

Before the game, you may agree with all the participants to simplify or complicate the game. The variants are listed below.

1. Without the special die. In this variant the special die is not used. In this case all rounds are played as if "1" had been rolled on the special die. That is, the letter showing on the dice must be the first letter of the words called.
2. Simplified "2". In this variant, when "2" is rolled, the players must call words in which the letter on the dice is in the middle of the word. (The first and last positions are not allowed.) In this variant you cannot do without the special die.
3. Different point total. You may agree to play to a different number of points. For example, for the "Without the special die" variant, it is recommended to choose a lower total for determining the winner: 30 points.
4. Fixed topic. This variant is for advanced players. Determine the first player. In the first round this player will turn over the card. Before turning it over, the player names a number from 1 to 3. The player then turns over the card and, according to the number named, announces a topic for the whole round. In the next round, the player sitting to the left of the first player names a number from 1 to 3 and turns over a card, and so on.
5. Children's variant. In this variant you do not need the topic cards. Words may be called on any topic. This variant excludes the "Fixed topic" variant, but you can easily combine it with the "Without the special die" variant. (The printed text says "без белого кубика", "without the white die"; the white die is the special die.)