Word Rush
Word Rush Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the Game
Think fast and engage your grey cells! Try to name words that fit a given category and begin with the letters laid out on the board, flipping the hourglass after each word. The faster you find an answer, the less thinking time your rivals are left with!
Box Contents
- Results board in the shape of an hourglass
- Game board
- 50 double-sided category cards
- 100 letter cards
- Hourglass timer
- 6 pawns
Preparation for the Game
- Place the game board on the table where all players can reach it.
- Place the pawns on the results board in the "Start" zone.
- Separate the category cards from the letter cards. Place the letter cards in a face-down stack ("back side up"). Place both stacks next to the game board.
- Category cards are double-sided, so players always see the top category. When you reveal a new category, turn the card over to the side that was not visible to the players before!
How to Play
The player with the most letters in their name starts the round. Turns pass clockwise. If two or more players have the same number of letters, the oldest of them starts.
- The first player turns the hourglass so the sand begins to run.
- The first player quickly lays out 9 letter cards (2a) on the game board, and places a category card (2b) in its place on the board for this round.
- The first player must now name a word that fits the category and begins with one of the 9 letters. As soon as the word is named, the player turns the hourglass again and sets it on the letter card with which their word began. The faster you name a word, the less time remains for the next player to think! The longer you think, the more time they can spend searching for the next word!
- The next player must name a word from this category that begins with one of the eight free letters on the board. They name the word, turn the hourglass, and set it on that letter.
The round continues until all of the sand has run out. The player whose turn it was when the sand ran out loses the round and moves their pawn one step forward on the results board.
At the end of each round, all letter cards are removed from the board, and the next round begins with new cards as described above. The player who lost the round always starts the next round first.
If you have run out of letter cards, shuffle the stack of letter cards already played and use them again.
Please Note: During a Round
- You may not touch the hourglass until a word has been named. (The printed sheet reads "поки на назвали слово", evidently a typo for "поки ви не назвали слово", "until you have named a word".)
- You may use the same letters several times, but you may not name words that have already been said in this round.
- You may not use adjectives (for example, saying "blue car" when you need a word starting with C).
- If you need to determine whether a word named by a player is accepted, lay the hourglass horizontally on the board. Turn it back upright once the question is resolved!
Scoring and Winner #1
If the sand in the hourglass ran out during your round, you lost the round. In this case, move your pawn one step on the results board:
- After your first loss, you are on the blue space.
- The next loss sends you to the red space.
- Then to the black space.
When your pawn is on the black space (that is, you have lost 3 rounds), you leave the game. The game continues until only one player remains who has not reached the black space. That player becomes the winner!
Illustration caption for this variant: "End of game (variant 1) – the yellow player wins."
Scoring and Winner #2 (Quick Variant)
If the sand in the hourglass ran out during your round, you lost the round. In this case, move your pawn one step on the results board:
- After your first loss, you are on the blue space.
- The next loss sends you to the red space.
- Then to the black space.
When your pawn is on the black space (that is, you have lost 3 rounds), you leave the game. If at that moment one player is the leader, the game ends with that player's victory. In case of a tie, the players continue to play until one winner emerges! (The printed sheet does not define how the leader is determined.)
Illustration caption for this variant: "End of game (variant 2) – the yellow player wins."