That's Not a Hat: Pop Culture
That's Not a Hat: Pop Culture Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objective
Players give gifts to each other while trying to remember who gave what and which gift they have in front of them. If they can't remember, they have to bluff to avoid a penalty point. Whoever has the lowest score at the end wins!
Have you played THAT'S NOT A HAT before? Then you only need to read the new rules for the special cards on page 10 (see Special Cards, below). Everyone else should continue reading here:
Setup
Before your first game, separate the 30 special cards from the other cards. They have different backs featuring arrows pointing in different directions (and not only to the left or to the right).
Shuffle the gift cards and deal each player a card. Players place the card face up in front of them. Place the rest of the cards face up in a draw pile in the middle of the table to form the gift shop. Pay attention to which gift is in front of each player.
How to Play
The player who last received a gift begins the game.
To start the game, this player draws a new gift from the gift shop by taking the top card from the face up draw pile in the middle of the table. The player shows the card (the gift) to everyone, then places it face down in front of them. The card back has an arrow that indicates which direction the player must pass the gift (to the right or to the left). As the player passes the gift, they identify the gift out loud, saying "I have a nice __ for you."
The player receiving the gift now has two options – they can either accept the gift or they can refuse it.
Accept a Gift
If the player receiving a gift believes the card actually has the gift identified by the giver, they should accept the gift. To accept, the player says "thank you" and places the card face down above their original ('old') gift card in front of them.
Now the player has 2 gifts in front of them, so it's their turn to give a gift. However, it would be rude to re-gift a new gift! Players give their 'old' gift (the card closest to them) and leave the 'new' gift in front of them. (If this is the first time they give a gift in the game, they will need to flip their 'old' gift card over so it's face down before gifting it.)
They give the 'old' gift to the person on their right or their left, following the direction indicated by the arrow on the card back.
Tip: Don't forget to identify the gift out loud when giving it away!
The player who receives the gift then has the choice to accept or refuse the gift, following this same pattern. Play continues until a player refuses a gift.
Note: Once a gift card is flipped over so it's face down, no player can take a peek. But it's not a problem to remember a few cards, right?
Refuse a Gift
When a player believes the gift they are given was not correctly identified by the giver, they should refuse the gift by saying "That's not a ___." (Players do not have to correctly identify the gift after refusing it.)
Next, the player flips the card over and reveals the gift. Whichever player is wrong (the giver or the receiver) takes the card and places it face up in their personal discard pile as a penalty point.
The player who receives a penalty point must draw a new gift from the gift shop. They draw the new gift, show the card to all players, then give the gift to the appropriate player, following the direction indicated by the arrow on the card back. The game continues from this point.
Note: New gifts drawn from the gift shop are always gifted immediately. They are never placed in front of the player as a 'new' gift.
Example 1 – Accepting a Gift
Tom has just received a piano (face down) from Anna and placed it above his 'old' gift, the e-guitar. Now Tom has 2 gifts in front of him. He must pass on his 'old' gift, the e-guitar, so he flips the card over.
The arrow on the card back tells Tom that he needs to pass the gift on to Anna. While placing the card above Anna's cupcake card, Tom says, "Anna, I have a nice e-guitar for you."
Anna just saw the e-guitar before Tom flipped the card over, so she's confident he's not bluffing. Anna accepts the gift saying "thank you." Now Anna has 2 gifts in front of her, so she has to flip over her 'old' gift, the cupcake, and give it away.
Example 2 – Refusing a Gift
Marlene just received a gift, and is now giving Anna her 'old' gift, saying, "Anna, I have a nice hat for you."
But Anna doesn't think the gift is really a hat, so she refuses the gift by saying "That's not a hat!" Anna reveals the gift card - and she's right, it's not a hat, it's the carrot!
Marlene was wrong about the gift, so she takes the carrot and places it face up in her personal discard pile as a penalty point. Since she received a penalty point, she has to get a new gift from the gift shop, so she draws a new card (a book) from the face up pile in the middle of the table. Since the book is a new gift from the gift shop, Marlene has to give it away (instead of placing it above her 'old' gift in front of her).
Marlene flips the book card over so it is face down. The arrow on the card back indicates that she needs to give the gift to the player on her left, so Marlene says to Anna "I have a nice book for you." Anna accepts the gift and places the card above her 'old' gift, and then continues to play by giving her 'old' gift to Tom, following the rules for gift giving.
Special Cards
If you're playing with the special cards, put all 110 cards together and shuffle them well before you begin playing. The game setup and gameplay are the same otherwise.
The special cards feature arrows on the backs pointing in different directions. If you have to pass a special card on, then you may give it to anyone. You may not give it to yourself though!
Special cards can be accepted like the other gifts. You can of course refuse them if you think that the gift card you just received does not match the item mentioned.
Example 3 – Special Cards
Andrea has just received a gift from Robin, so she must now turn her 'old' gift over.
Since it is a special card, she may pass it in any direction.
She passes the gift to Charlotte and says: "Charlotte, I have a nice bendy pen for you here." Charlotte accepts the gift, having just seen the pen turned face up. Charlotte then turns her 'old' gift over (the glasses), gives it away, and the game continues.
How to Win
The game ends when one player reaches 3 penalty points (cards in their personal discard pile). All players total the number of cards in their personal discard piles; every card counts as 1 penalty point. Whoever has the lowest score wins the game.
Players can also decide before the game to play multiple rounds (as many rounds as there are players). After each round, record each player's score. After all rounds are completed, total all scores. The player with the fewest penalty points overall wins the game.
Tips
Pro Tip: If you forget what gift you have in front of you, don't let it show! Think of an item and try to bluff your way through!
Special Pro Tip: If you are sure you know the item on your gift card, pretend you're unsure and try to get the other players to refuse the gift so they'll get a penalty point when it turns out you were right!
Super Special Pro Tip: If you're not sure what's under the gift card, use a double bluff: pretend you're just trying to sound uncertain to confuse everyone else!
Too Simple?
To make the game more challenging, sort the cards into 2 piles according to the color of the arrow on the card back (black or white). Then play with only one set (black arrows or white arrows).
Still Too Easy? Only Two Players?
To make the game even more challenging, or to play in pairs, start with 2 gift cards in a column in front of each player. All other rules remain the same.
Remember: 'New' gifts are placed above 'old' gifts. The card at the bottom of the column is always the one that is passed on.
Credits
- Author: Kasper Lapp
- Design: Jake Breish / Julia Simon
- Illustrations: Easy Draws It
- Editor: Matthias Karl
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