For 2 to 6 players
Rules by Mike Petty
You need a Yaddy-Yadda Deck and chips to play this game.
Names or Stuff?
First of all, decide which version of the game you're playing. If playing Names, a legal "word" will be the name of a person who's first and last initials are visible on the cards in the playing area. (Ex.: "Willie Nelson" would require a "W" and a "N")
If playing Stuff, a legal word will be an item whose first and last letter are visible on the cards in the playing area. (Ex.: "Lifeboat" would require an "L" and a "T". Also, two words might count as a "word". So "central park" would require a "C" and a "K".) in this version, it's not legal to call out the plural form of a word just to use an "S". So, "Pants" is legal, but "Shirts" is not.
In either case, the names and items must be in a category specified by the players at the start of the game.
Setting Up
Remove both X's and Z's from the deck. They won't be used in this game. Shuffle the remainder of the deck and divide it up, roughly evenly, between the players. Players are not allowed to look at the cards in their stack until they are revealed.
Before play may begin, players must determine the category for the current game. If playing Names, players may choose the category of "authors" or "actors", for example. If playing Stuff, they may choose "things associated with vehicles" or "stuff you'd find in a hospital".
Playing the game
One player will be the caller. He will set the pace for the game by calling "Ready, Flip" as a signal for each player to turn the top card of their stacks face up and place them near the center of the table so they are visible to everyone. This amusing activity is repeated until someone calls a legal word (as determined by the category and version of the game players have agreed upon).
Anytime after the cards are revealed, a player may call out a legal word that uses any of the visible letters on the table (including those from previous "flips"). Words cannot be used twice during the same game. Also, see below for challenges. If no one disputes the word, the player who called it takes a chip (one point). The visible cards on the table are pushed aside and turned face down.
This continues until a player reaches 10 points (or some other agreed upon amount).
Dealing with Challenges
A player's word may be challenged for the following reasons:
In the first case, players should determine if the word is spelled right and if the correct two letters are on the table. If they are, the player gets the point for the play and the challenger loses a point, if he has one. If the player who called the word is wrong, he loses a point if he has one.
For the second challenge, players may have more of a dispute. Some words may not be closely associated with the category, but a player could argue they are related. In these cases it must be put to a majority vote among all players. Remember, words should be clearly and specifically related to the category. The player who loses the vote (either the challenger or the one who called the word) must lose two points. Because of this challenge process, this won't make a very good two player game if the players are trying to push the boundaries on legal words. Ultimately, the game is about quick thinking and word association, not about stretching the rules.
Scoring Variation
In this version, players get more points if fewer cards are on the table. It's easier if players keep the cards they've flipped close together in this variation, so it's very easy to see how many "flips" have taken place. When a word is called out, count the number of flips that were called and subtract that from 5. That's the number of points the player gets. So, the most points a player could earn in one round is 4, for calling a word as soon as the first flip was done. When playing this version, clear the cards if no one can call a word after 4 flips, then start the process over.
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Rules copyright 2002 by Michael Petty