Thematik Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Object of the Game
• Setup
• Playing the Game
  • Example
• Clarifications
• End of the Game
• Theme Cards

Components

• 13 Letter cards (cartes Lettre)
• 20 Points cards (cartes Points)
• 12 Theme cards (cartes Thème)
• 3 Rule cards (cartes Règle)

The Points cards are numbered 1 to 4, four per row. The Letter cards show single letters. The rulebook illustrates the letters P, C, A, B and L in its setup grid, and C, E and M on the cover; it does not print a full list of the 13 letters.

The Theme cards are described in the section "Theme Cards" below.

Object of the Game

Win the most rounds by finding words that start with certain letters within a given theme.

Setup

In the middle of the table, place the 20 Points cards in a grid, as shown in the diagram. Each of the five rows has four Points cards, valued 1, 2, 3 and 4 from left to right.

Shuffle the Letter cards and the Theme cards separately.

Playing the Game

A game consists of 5 rounds. Each round proceeds as follows:

1. Draw 5 Letter cards and place them to the left of each of the 5 rows of Points cards (see the diagram above).
2. The youngest player draws a Theme card and reads aloud the theme of their choice.
3. From this moment, everyone plays at the same time. Players must call out words that match the theme and begin with one of the letters in play. For each word called, the player takes a Points card from the row of the letter used, starting from the right. If the "4 points" card has just been taken, the player takes the "3 points" card, and so on.

Example

The theme is "Vegetables" (Légumes). Sylvette says "potiron" (pumpkin) and takes 4 points. Mélissandre then says "chou" (cabbage) and takes 4 points. She follows with "poivron" (pepper) and takes 3 points. Sylvette then announces "poireau" (leek) and "pomme de terre" (potato); she therefore takes 2 points and 1 point from the row of the letter P.

The players are responsible for listening to each other and, if necessary, challenging a word that has been called. Any ambiguous word is accepted only if half of the players at the table agree.

4. The round ends:

   • with fewer than 5 players, as soon as one row of Points cards is empty;
   • with 5 players or more, as soon as 2 rows of Points cards are empty.

   The player or players who have collected the most points win the round.

5. New round: The players put the Points cards back on the table. The 5 Letter cards are turned over or replaced. When all the Letter cards have been used, shuffle them all together and draw 5 new ones. The player who has the fewest points draws the next Theme card. The new round may begin.

Clarifications

• A player may call out several words in a row, even if they begin with the same letter.
• Do not count articles (le, la, une, ...) for themes such as "Book titles" (Titres de livres) or "Film titles" (Titres de films).
• If, during a round, you fail to empty row(s), simply stop the round after about 2 minutes. Count the points anyway.

End of the Game

The game ends after the 5th round. The player who has won the most rounds wins the game! In case of a tie, play one more round and count the points gained during that round to break the tie.

Theme Cards

The 12 Theme cards each list eight themes, numbered 1 to 8. The rulebook illustrates four of the Theme cards, numbered 1, 2, 5 and 10. Their printed contents are transcribed here. The other eight Theme cards are not shown in the rulebook and are not transcribed.

Theme card 1

1. Dog breeds (Races de chiens)
2. Well-known sportspeople (Sportifs connus)
3. Vegetables (Légumes)
4. Fruits
5. At an amusement park (Dans un parc d'attractions)
6. Cheeses (Fromages)
7. Book titles (Titres de livres)
8. Things with holes (Choses avec des trous)

Theme card 2

1. Proverbs, expressions and sayings (Proverbes, expressions et dictons)
2. Things done with the mouth (Choses faites avec la bouche)
3. At the circus (Au cirque)
4. Things that float (Choses qui flottent)
5. Things that fly (Choses qui volent)
6. Things found in a box (Choses se trouvant dans une boîte)
7. Players' activities and hobbies at the table (Activités/passions des joueurs à la table)
8. Weapons (Armes)

Theme card 5

1. TV programmes (Émissions de TV)
2. Islands (Îles)
3. Kings, queens, emperors and empresses (Rois/reines et empereurs/impératrices)
4. Things made of plastic (Choses en plastique)
5. Things smaller than a matchbox (Choses plus petites qu'une boîte d'allumettes)
6. Things bigger than a human being (Choses plus grandes qu'un être humain)
7. Comic book characters (Personnages de BD)
8. Round or spherical things (Choses rondes ou sphériques)

Theme card 10

1. Colours (Couleurs)
2. Things that stick (Choses qui collent)
3. Things that prick or sting (Choses qui piquent)
4. Something done today by one of the players (A été fait aujourd'hui par l'un des joueurs)
5. Things that can be cooked on a barbecue (Peuvent se cuire au barbecue)
6. Things that fold (Choses qui se plient)
7. Places to hide money (Endroits où cacher de l'argent)
8. Parts of a car (Parties d'une voiture)