Tadaaam!
Tadaaam! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the game
Your goal is to make the other players guess what your final drawing represents to win points! The player with the most points after 5 game turns wins.
Contents
- 9 shuttered boards to draw on;
- 9 dry erase markers;
- 110 suggestion cards;
- 9 small boards to write words;
- 9 small score-keeping boards;
- 1 difficulty wheel (with its spinning arrow);
- 1 rule book.
Assembly
For your first game, gently remove the plastic arrow from its axle and place it on the perforated cardboard, with the arrow on the side of the wheel and the axle underneath. A click sound will let you know that the arrow has been properly mounted and that you will no longer have to break it down in the future.
Game setup
Each player takes a drawing board and a marker. The players agree on the difficulty of the game: use words in green for an easy game, words in orange for a normal game and words in red or characters in blue for a difficult game.
Game turn
Each game turn is divided into 2 drawing phases (right shutter then left shutter) followed by a Tadaaam! phase.
Right shutter phase
Each player draws a card, chooses a word corresponding to the agreed-upon difficulty and writes down the number for the word he or she wishes to draw in the lower left corner of his or her board.
When all players are ready, they close the left side of their boards and draw HALF of the chosen word in the right side of the board. All players draw simultaneously. As soon as a player has finished drawing, he or she closes the right shutter (hiding what has just been drawn) and opens the left shutter.
- If you are playing with children, we suggest you give players as much time as they need to finish their drawings.
- Otherwise, as soon as all but two players are done, the remaining players must stop drawing. The other players yell Stop! and make sure they've finished drawing.
Left shutter phase
Each player gives his left neighbor his or her board with the left shutter (blank side) open as well as his or her suggestion card. Players identify what they must now draw using the written number and the suggestion card.
When all players are ready, they can begin to draw HALF of the word chosen by their neighbor on the left side of the board. When a player has finished drawing, he or she closes the left shutter of his or her board.
As soon as all players but 2 have finished drawing or as soon as all players are done (depending on the rule used for the right shutter), the game moves on to the Tadaaam! phase.
Tadaaam! phase
Each player (one at a time) will unveil to the other players the communal work created with his or her neighbor. To do so, the player turns his or her board towards the other players and opens both shutters at the same time while shouting "Tadaaam!".
Players who have not participated in the creation of the drawing can offer ONE shouted guess what the picture shows. The first player to make a good guess scores 2 points and both artists score 1 point each. Nobody else can score for this drawing anymore. Note down the points on your score-keeping boards.
NOTE: each player can only make A SINGLE guess.
If one of the artists gives the answer by mistake (and yes, it happens), he or she receives a warning and everybody else take one point.
If no one finds the answer, the artists give the right answer and attempt to explain their masterpiece. Move on to the next drawing afterwards.
When all drawings have been shown, the boards are wiped clean and a new turn begins.
Game end
The game ends after 5 turns. The player(s) with the best score(s) win(s) the game.
Drawing rules
- Half: You can only draw half of the word! For example, if you've chosen a cow, you can only draw: the head and the forward legs or the hind legs and the tail, or even just half a cow as seen from in front. If you are drawing an earring, you cannot draw half a head and a full earring! The earring must be split in half.
- Characters must be split in half vertically – players only draw one eye, one arm, one leg and one half of a mouth.
- Exterior elements are allowed – you can draw a full milk bottle next to half your cow. You can draw a guitar, a cigar, whatever you want in addition to your character or the word you are drawing.
- Arrows are allowed – you are allowed to put emphasis on part of your drawing with arrows. Be careful: the word must never be drawn entirely.
- Letters and numbers are FORBIDDEN. It is also forbidden to write.
The difficulty wheel
Once you are familiar with the game, you can make it even wilder and funnier by using the wheel. At the beginning of each turn, it will give you a constraint that each player will have to follow while drawing.
- Opposite hand: right-handed people draw with their left hand and vice-versa for left-handed people.
- Blind: drawing is done under the table, without looking at the board.
- Inverted drawing: the drawing must be made upside-down (head downwards in the case of a character). The inverse direction is kept during the Tadaaam! phase, of course.
- Elbow-style: drawing is done with the marker held by the inside of the elbow.
- Thumbless: drawing is done without using thumbs (hold the marker in your fist or between the palms of your hands).
- Ear to the table: drawing is done with the head resting sideways on the table.
Free word variant
There are 9 smaller blank boards, which, once you are used to playing, you can use to write down what you'll be drawing each turn. Give the small board to your neighbor instead of the suggestion card.
Sombrero variant
In this variant it is allowed to give warnings to players when they make too strange a drawing, choose overly complex (or overly simple) free words or even when they do something stupid during the game.
These warnings are, of course, subject to the vote of the other players. This must remain fun and within the spirit of the game! If the group agrees to warn somebody, everybody else receives a point.
Young children precaution
If you play with young children, make sure they understand the chosen word. You may also decide to let them see the half drawn by their partner.
Cleanup precaution
Do not leave a drawing on the boards when putting the game away – you might have trouble cleaning it off the board during your next game.