The Match Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• The "Team" Game for 6 or 7 Players, as Seen on T.V.
• The Singles Game for 3 to 6 Players
• Rules Governing the Play of Both Games
• How to Make the Most of the Question Cards
• Transcription Notes

The "Team" Game for 6 or 7 Players, as Seen on T.V.

1. There are two teams of 3 players and an MC (Master of Ceremonies). If there are only 6 players, one of the team members also acts as MC. He gives each player a vinyl Scribble Board, a Crayon and a piece of the Wipe-Off Paper. He also shuffles the Question Cards and keeps score, using the Scoreboard and Pegs.

2. The players sit as teams, 3 on a side, placed so that they cannot see what their team mates are writing.

THE OBJECT OF THIS GAME is to be the first team to score 100 points. Points are scored when players write answers that match their team mates.

3. When all are ready, the MC takes the top card from the pack and reads a question from it. All 6 players SECRETLY (without talking) write down their individual answers on their Scribble Boards with the crayon.

4. As each player finishes writing, he turns his board over, and raises his hand to signal that he is ready. When all hands are up, the MC asks the players, by Teams, what they have written. Each, in turn, reads his answer and holds up his Scribble Board to show it.

5. Scoring in this home game is done similarly to the TV game, EXCEPT that the points scored are different.

6. If two members on a Team have ANSWERS THAT MATCH, their Team scores 10 POINTS. If all 3 members on a Team have MATCHING ANSWERS, their Team scores 20 POINTS. For example: The question is — "Name an animal that lives in a tree." The following examples show how this question might be answered.

   a. TEAM 1: John — Squirrel; Mary — Monkey; Dick — Dish. No score. TEAM 3: Helen — Squirrel; Jim — Squirrel; Dorothy — Monkey. 10 points scored.

   b. TEAM 1: John — Squirrel; Mary — Monkey; Dick — Monkey. 10 points scored. TEAM 3: Helen — Squirrel; Jim — Squirrel; Dorothy — Squirrel. 20 points scored.

   After each question is answered, the Scribble Board is wiped clean.

7. The MC, using a different color for each team, moves the Pegs along the holes in the Scoreboard, adding the points as they are scored.

   THE FIRST TEAM TO SCORE 100 POINTS (OR MORE) WINS THE GAME.

   If both Teams have a total of 90 and on a following question, one Team scores 10 points, making 100, and the other Team 20 points, making 110, the Team having 110 points wins.

   If both Teams total exactly 100 points or more on the same question, the game continues until the scores DIFFER. The Team then having the most points wins.

The Singles Game for 3 to 6 Players

1. Each player is given 35 units of CHIPS. The WHITE CHIPS count 1, the RED CHIPS count 5, the BLUE CHIPS count 10 units each. He also uses a SCRIBBLE BOARD and CRAYON.

   THE OBJECT OF THIS GAME is to win the most Chips by writing answers that match the majority of the other players.

2. One player reads a question. Everyone SECRETLY writes an answer on his SCRIBBLE BOARD and raises his hand when ready.

3. When all hands are up, they show their boards.

4. Only the MAJORITY of players whose answers MATCH collect one chip from each of the remaining players. (Except as in Example "d" below.)

   Read from "a" to "g" aloud to the players before starting a game. In the following examples, only the words underlined collect chips.

   With 6 players, the question is "Name a Flower."

   a. 5 players answer "Rose", one player answers "Daisy". He pays 5 chips, one to each "Rose" player.

   b. 4 players answer "Rose", 2 players answer "Daisy". These two "Daisy" players, fewer though they match, each pay 4 chips, one to each "Rose" player.

   c. 3 players answer "Rose", 2 players answer "Daisy", one player answers "Lily". The two "Daisy" and the "Lily" player each pay 3 chips, one to each "Rose" player.

   d. 2 players answer "Rose", 2 players answer "Daisy", one player answers "Lily", and one player answers "Violet". The "Lily" and "Violet" players each pay 4 chips, one to each "Rose" and "Daisy" player. This is the exception to the MAJORITY rule.

   e. 3 players answer "Rose", and 3 players answer "Daisy". This is a "Wash Out" — no one pays or collects.

   f. 2 players answer "Rose", 2 players answer "Daisy", and 2 players answer "Lily", again no one pays or collects.

   g. If all players' answers are different, no one pays or collects.

5. When one player runs out of chips the game ends. The players count their chips. The one with the most WINS THE GAME.

Rules Governing the Play of Both Games

1. The QUESTIONS on the cards are in two forms.

   a. "Name a Flower." This question requires a variety of a flower for an answer, as Rose, Peony, Poppy, etc. Points are scored when the answers match.

   b. Fill in Blank, "BIG ________." This form requires one or more words to fill in the blank, as "BIG BOY", "BIG BUSINESS", "BIG HEARTED", etc. Points are scored when the words used to fill in the BLANK match.

2. A Player should have only ONE ANSWER on his SCRIBBLE BOARD.

3. Misspelling of matching words does not matter.

4. Different words that mean the same DO NOT MATCH. For example, "POTATOES" and "SPUDS" DO NOT MATCH.

5. Plurals or different forms of the same Word, however, DO MATCH. For example: for card FILL IN BLANK "________ CREAM" answers "WHIP", "WHIPPING" and "WHIPPED" would MATCH.

6. If one or more players cannot think of an answer within a reasonable time, (about a minute), the MC says "Time's Up" and the players without answers DO NOT MATCH anyone.

7. Answers need not necessarily be correct. If one player's answer is the same as another's, it is a match, i.e. when asked for the name of a Jazz composer — two or more players reply "Beethoven" — it is an acceptable match.

How to Make the Most of the Question Cards

THE MATCH GAME can be played over and over again, by using the QUESTION CARDS as follows:

1. The MC should shuffle them well before each game.

2. He may read all questions on each card in rotation, or vary them by using 1 or 2 questions from a card.

3. If, after using a question a number of times, the players keep writing the same word for an answer, write this word on the line below that question. Now include this extra word with the question each time it is read. For example: if, after the question "Name a Flower", everyone answers "Rose", write the word "Rose" on the dotted line below the question on that card. The question then becomes "Name a Flower other than a Rose" when it is used again. This greatly extends the use of the cards and makes the game a lot more interesting to play!

New editions of THE MATCH GAME, with all new questions, will appear periodically. Watch for them.

Transcription Notes

• The rules sit on page 2 of the scan (the box inner flap) and nothing else in the scan is rules text. The copyright line and the page number on that flap were left out as boilerplate.
• In the Singles examples the source underlines the words that collect chips. Those underlines are not reliably legible at this scan resolution, so the examples above state the chip flow in words rather than marking underlines.
• Team example 7a, Team 1, reads "Dick — Dish" in the scan. Transcribed as printed; it may be a misreading of a different word.
• Team example 7b, Team 3, the score is read as 20 points, which matches the all-three-match rule in step 7. The scan's numeral is hard to read.
• Singles step 3 reads "they show their boards"; this word was read from a low-resolution scan.