DIVIDE INTO TEAMS WITH TEAM MEMBERS SITTING ACROSS FROM EACH OTHER. Time's Up! works best when played in teams of two players each. (Three teams of two, for example, is better than two teams of three.) Choose a player to keep score.
DECIDE WHETHER YOU'LL BE USING THE YELLOW OR THE BLUE NAMES. Do not mix colors within the same game, only use one color per game.
DEAL OUT 40 CARDS EVENLY AMONG ALL PLAYERS (for a longer game, deal out more cards). Then deal two more cards to each player. The rest of the deck won't be used and should be put back in the box. Each player may look at their cards and discard two of them. (Players should not reveal their cards to each other.) All remaining cards are then shuffled together and stacked face down in the center of the table. This stack is the Deck of Fame.
CHOOSE A STARTING TEAM TO TAKE THE DECK. The next team clockwise from the starting team sets their phone timer to 30 seconds.
How to Play
Round 1 - Almost Anything Goes With Cluegiving But Passing Is Not Allowed
On each team's turn, one member of the team is the Cluegiver and the rest are the Guessers. (On successive turns, the Cluegiver will be a different member of the team.) The Cluegiver takes the Deck, draws the top card from it, and looks at the YELLOW or BLUE name depending on which color everyone agreed upon at the start. Once the Cluegiver has looked at the name, the next team says, "Go!" and starts the timer. The Cluegiver begins giving clues to his teammate(s). The Cluegiver can say or do almost anything: sing, hum, point, charade, give full descriptions of the person, etc.
The only restrictions are:
No part or variant of the name can be used in the clue. Ex: You can't use "Willy" or "Bill" to get the Guesser to say WILLIAM.
No spelling of the name is allowed, nor can you say any letter specifically.
THE GUESSERS TRY TO GUESS THE NAME ON THE CLUEGIVER'S CARD. The Guessers can make as many guesses as they wish; there is no penalty for a wrong answer. Guessers must say the full name as printed on the card. For example, "Nixon" would not be sufficient for RICHARD NIXON. If the Guessers call out the correct name, the Cluegiver sets the card aside, draws a new card from the Deck, and begins giving clues for the name on that card.
THE CLUEGIVER CANNOT PASS AND MOVE ON TO A NEW NAME UNTIL THE GUESSERS CALL OUT THE CORRECT NAME. If the Cluegiver gives an illegal clue, his turn ends. Return that card to the Deck.
WHEN TIME EXPIRES, the Cluegiver shuffles the card he was working on back into the Deck. He keeps each card that was guessed correctly in a pile near him. Pass the Deck to the next team clockwise, who in turn pass the timer to the next team clockwise from them.
IMPORTANT: If time runs out before a name is guessed, players may NOT discuss the name with each other. The Cluegiver can't reveal who he was trying to convey, and players on other teams who think they figured it out can't tell their guesses to each other. A card may come up multiple times before it is guessed correctly.
THE ROUND ENDS WHEN ALL NAMES HAVE BEEN GUESSED and the Deck is empty. Pause the timer immediately by hitting stop. The current team will take the first turn in the next round, using only the remaining time on the timer. If there is not enough time left to use, or time was up, pass the deck to the next team. Reset the timer back to 30 seconds.
Each team now adds up all the cards they collected and score 1 point for each card. The scorekeeper tallies the score. After scoring, each team reads aloud all the names from their pile of cards to refresh everyone's memory about which names are in the game (if necessary, check the Glossary for a brief description of any unfamiliar names). When all names have been read, put all the cards back into the Deck and shuffle them well. The team after the last team to play starts the next round.
Round 2 - No More Than 1 Word Can Be Used In Each Clue, 1 Guess Only, Passing Allowed
Round 2 plays just like Round 1, with the following changes: The Cluegiver may not use more than one word per card to describe each name. The same word may be repeated as often as desired, but once a word is said only non-verbal clues may be added. If the Cluegiver accidentally uses more than one word he must set the card aside face down, draw a new one from the Deck and continue with the new name.
EACH TEAM MAY MAKE ONLY 1 GUESS PER CARD. If the guess is incorrect, the Cluegiver sets that card aside, draws a new one and continues.
THE CLUEGIVER MAY PASS DURING THIS ROUND. To do so, simply say "Pass", set the card aside face-down, draw a new one from the Deck and continue with the new name. At no point are Guessers allowed to Pass.
At the end of the turn, any cards set aside due to passes, clue goofs, or incorrect guesses are shuffled back into the Deck. There is no penalty for such cards.
If a Cluegiver reaches the end of the deck during his turn, their turn is over. They may not revisit cards that they set aside due to incorrect guesses, passes, etc.
At the end of the round, don't bother reading all the names aloud again; everyone knows them by now. Shuffle the cards back into the Deck again as before.
Round 3 - Only Pantomime and Sounds, 1 Guess Only, Passing Allowed
Round 3 plays just like Round 2, with one change: The Cluegiver may not use any words at all. Only sounds and pantomime.
Winning
Highest scoring team after 3 rounds wins.
Key to Time's Up Cards
A - artist, C - contemporary
E - entertainer, F - fictional
H - historical, M - musician
S - sports, W - writer
Glossary
Names are listed as printed on the sheet, including its spellings.
A$AP ROCKY – American hip hop recording artist, member of the A$AP mob
ABBY WAMBACH – American soccer player, most international goals in history
ADAM LEVINE – Lead singer of Maroon Five, judge on the Voice
ADELE – Soulful English singer/songwriter, 'Hello', 'Rolling in the Deep'
ALICIA KEYS – Singer, 'Fallin' and 'No One'
AMY POEHLER – Actress and comedian, on TV's SNL and star of 'Parks and Recreation'
ANDY WARHOL – Artist, leader of Pop Art movement, Campbell's Soup Can paintings
ANGELA MERKEL – German politician, current chancellor of Germany
ANNA PAQUIN – Actress, youngest Oscar winner, 'Piano', Sookie in 'True Blood' series
ARIANA GRANDE – Singer and actress, Cat Valentine in 'Victorious' TV show
AZIZ ANSARI – American actor and comedian, starred in 'Parks and Recreation'
BEELZEBUB – The devil himself, one of the seven princes of hell
BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH – English actor, voiced Smaug, PBS's 'Sherlock'
BERNIE SANDERS – Senator from Vermont, longest serving Independent in Congress
BEYONCE' – Singer, entertainer, sang, 'Single Ladies', 'Crazy in Love'
BLAKE SHELTON – American country music artist, also a judge on the Voice
BRADLEY COOPER – American actor, starred in 'American Sniper' and 'Burnt'
BRUNO MARS – American singer/songwriter, sang 'Uptown Funk', 'Gorilla'
CAITLYN JENNER – Formerly Bruce Jenner, Olympic gold winning decathalete
CAM NEWTON – Carolina Panthers QB
CARLY RAE JEPSON – Canadian singer songwriter, sang 'Call Me Maybe'
CHANNING TATUM – American actor, model starred in 'Magic Mike' and '21 Jump Street'
