Word Porters Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents of the Game
• Game Setup
• Flow of the Game
  • 1. Round Setup
  • 2. Hint!
  • 3. Vote!
  • 4. Score!
  • 5. Round End
• Game End and Winning the Game
• Children's Rules

Contents of the Game

• 150 Word Cards: There are words written on both the front and back of the cards. The cards with the Chick symbol are meant for the Children's version.
• 53 Hint Cards: Some of these have a Chick symbol: these are meant for the Children's version.
• 10 Identity Cards
• 2 Guide Cards
• 1 Start Player Card
• 1 Scoreboard
• 6 Player Tiles (1 each in 6 colours)
• 60 Voting Tiles (10 each in 6 colours)
• 18 Voter Tokens (3 each in 6 colours)
• 6 Score Discs (1 each in 6 colours)

Game Setup

1. In the center of the playing area, leave enough room to display the Word cards (5 by 2) and the Hint cards (5 by 2).

2. Place the Scoreboard at the side of the playing area in view of all players.

3. Each player chooses 1 colour, and receives the following components in their colour:

   • Player Board (Place this in front of them)
   • Voting Tiles (Place all of these face down in front of them on top of the Player Board)
   • Porter Token (Place this in front of them)
   • Score Disc (Place this on the Scoreboard on the 0 space)

4. Shuffle the Word cards well face-down and form a Word card deck. It does not matter which side the cards are facing.

   Gameplay Tip: There are words on both sides of the Word cards, and it is recommended that you mix the fronts and backs for a different game each time.

5. Shuffle the Hint cards well face-down and form a Hint card deck. It does not matter which side the cards are facing.

6. Shuffle the Identity cards face-down well and form an Identification card deck. It does not matter which side the cards are facing.

7. Place the two Guide cards in the center of the playing area next to each other, with the 6-10 card just below the 1-5 card.

8. The youngest player receives the Start Player card and becomes the Start Player.

The setup is now complete!

Flow of the Game

There are 4 rounds in total during the course of this game. The game ends once these 4 rounds are over.

Each round consists of steps in the following sequence:

1. Round Setup
2. Hint!
3. Vote!
4. Score!
5. Round End

1. Round Setup

The setup is carried out by the start player.

From the Word deck, draw 10 Word cards and place them in 2 rows of 5 cards each in the middle of the playing area, using the Guide cards as a guideline.

Draw a number of Hint cards from the Hint deck according to the number of players and place them in the middle of the playing area. Leave a small space in between each card. Use the following table as a guide:

Players	3	4	5	6
Hints	9	10	11	12

If the Hint deck runs out, immediately shuffle the discards and form a new deck.

The following shows the setup for 4 players (diagram in the rulebook): the Word cards are laid out in two rows of five (Word Card 1 to Word Card 5 in the top row, Word Card 6 to Word Card 10 in the bottom row), with the Guide cards to the left of them, and two rows of five Hint cards below. Player 1 and Player 2 sit at the top of the diagram, Player 3 and Player 4 at the bottom.

Deal 1 Identity card to each player. Each player looks at their Identity card in secret. The number on the Identity card tells each player which Word card is their 'identity'.

Important: Players must never show, tell, or hint to any other player the contents of their Identity card during the game.

Each player receives 3 Porter tokens. The round setup is now complete!

2. Hint!

In this phase, players will place their Porter tokens as hints on the Hint cards.

Turns proceed in a clockwise direction from the start player. On a player's turn, they try to place their Porter tokens on Hint words on Hint cards so that other players may guess their Word. They place 1 Porter token on 1 Hint word on their turn.

Hint card illustration: the card shows a Category (labelled "Not a Hint word") at the top, and the Hint words below it.

When you place a Porter token, if there are no other Porter tokens present, place your smallest number (from 1 to 3) on the Hint word. If there is a Porter token already present on the card, place your smallest number AND your number 3 token on the Hint word. Place your number 3 token underneath your smallest token. You may not place a Porter token on a Hint card that already contains one of your Porter tokens.

Important: On your turn, if there is an empty Hint word to place your Porter token, you have to place it. If there are no empty Hint words, then you may pass.

After you place or pass, play passes to the left until all players have passed or placed their Porter tokens.

If you were unable to place Porter tokens due to all of the Hint words being occupied, place your unused Porter tokens in front of you.

3. Vote!

In this phase, players will try to guess which Word belongs to the other players by voting using their Voting tiles.

Each player holds all of their Voting tiles (1-10) in their hand in front of them, and places these Voting tiles face-down to their Player Board corresponding to the colour of the player (A-F) that they think matches the best.

Illustration: a player's Player Board shows the six player colours A to F. The player holds Voting tiles numbered 1 to 10 and places one face-down under each player's colour. Example thought: "I think that F's word is probably 9..."

Each player has to place a Voting tile for all players. For example, if players A, B, C and D are playing, Player A has to place 1 Voting tile for players B, C and D.

Once all players have placed their Voting tiles, proceed to the Score! phase.

4. Score!

In this phase, players will reveal their secret Word and points will be scored. Begin with the Start player and proceed clockwise.

First, the Start player turns their Identity Card face-up, revealing which Word was theirs. Other players now turn their Voting tile (that they chose for this player) face-up. If the number on the Voting tile matches the number on the Identity card, they raise their hands.

• The Start player scores 1 point for every player that chose their Word correctly.
• All players who chose the Start player's Word correctly score 1 point.

Move the Score disc on the Scoreboard to reflect the scores. If a player's score goes past 20, they flip their token to the +20 side and restarts from 0. Continue scoring all players in this fashion until all players have scored.

5. Round End

This phase is applicable only to the end of Rounds 1-3. At the end of Round 4, go directly to End of Game.

Take back all Voting tiles and Porter tokens into your hand. Discard all used Word cards and Hint cards into a discard pile. Take all Identity cards from all players and shuffle them face-down. The player with the lowest score becomes the Start player and receives the Start player card. If scores are equal, give the Start player card to a player closest clockwise from the Start player (do not give it to the existing Start player). Now, you may start the new round!

Game End and Winning the Game

After 4 rounds, the game ends and the player with the most points wins the game! In the case of a tie, all tied players are winners!

Children's Rules

These rules are recommended for kids to enjoy the game. All the rules are the same except for the following:

• Use Hint cards with the Chick symbol. Return Hint cards without the Chick symbol to the box.
• Use Word cards with the Chick symbol side up.
• When you have to place a Porter token, you may choose not to place one if you please.