Time’s Up!

01Discover the game

It's time! Party makes the same characters come back for three innings. At first, you can describe them with several words. Then, only one word is enough, because the teams started to memorize the package. Finally, you have to mimic and use sounds without talking. The memories of the first inning become shortcuts for the next.

This chapter follows the French notice Party released by Repos Production in 2021, with a package prepared of 40 cards. It is neither Family, nor Kids, nor a rule that changes characters between the rounds. The overall difficulty is Average: memory, communication and choice of clues count more than just the reading of the rules. Four to twelve players form teams of at least two; take about 40 minutes.

02Equipment

The reference Party box has 220 cards double-sided, a hourglass, a score book, a storage bag and the rule. The two sides of each card present different proposals. The hourglass is that of the game; do not apply the duration of an electronic edition to a hourglass of another draw. A pencil is used to record the scores.

Only 40 cards are used in one game. All teams play the same side, yellow or blue. It takes enough space to distinguish the package still to be guessed, the cards won by each team and the cards temporarily spread during a spin. The other cards remain in the box.

03The goal

Let his team guess the largest number of cards on all three rounds. Each recognized card brings one point to the relevant round, so the same card can bring one point to a team in the first round and then another in the second or third round.

An answer must identify the requested proposal, not only its occupation or a close word. Before you start, agree to accept the usual forms of a name without turning an incomplete answer into an automatic victory. The rule of number of proposals depends on the handle: it is one of the essential constraints.

04Prepare teams and 40 cards

Make up teams of at least two players and sit down to make the teams alternate. An odd number of people does not prevent you from playing: the teams may have different sizes. Be sure that they pass in succession. Each member of a team will have to guess in turn; the package is not always entrusted to the most comfortable person.

Choose the card side. Distribute 40 cards among participants. Each person secretly reads his proposals and exchanges a card that he feels is unknown or too difficult for a new one. Then gather the cards kept to reform the 40 package, then mix. The protocol chosen is that of the French PDF; we do not use a commercial presentation offering another number of cards to distribute at the beginning.

Identify a first team and his first person who will guess. Place the hourglass so that everyone can watch the time. The other cards of the team must not become visible during the explanation. We start the first round with the 40 cards prepared, not with the 220 of the box.

05The three rounds and the passage of the package

First round: describe with words

Return the hourglass. The active person takes the first card and freely describes it to his or her partners. He or she cannot voluntarily pass this card, say a word from the same family as the answer, use a homophone, translate the proposal into another language or spell the letters of the alphabet. Gestures and noises are prohibited during this handle.

The partners can offer as many answers as they wish. As soon as the right answer is given, put the card won in front of the team and move on to the next one. When the time ends, stop: the card not found remains to be guessed by the next team. Other teams do not intervene to provide an answer.

Continue until the 40 cards are won. Count each team's cards and record their score. The team that follows the one that finished the round starts the next one. Take back all the cards won and mix them: the content of the package does not change.

Second round: one word

The person who makes the guess can only pronounce one word per card. He cannot complete it with a second clue, a sentence or a gesture. Partners are entitled only to one collective proposition: the first answer given counts. If another partner then gives the correct answer, it is too late for this card.

One can now pass. A past or missed card is discarded for the rest of the round; it does not come back when the turn Stock is empty. At the end of the hourglass, gather the current card, the unfinished cards, the past cards and the errors with the remaining package, then mix for the next team. The cards already won remain in front of their teams until the end of the round.

Third round: mime and sounds

Reform the same 40 card pack again. Second-hand rules remain in place for answers and passes, but the active person no longer speaks. She can mimic, hum and make noises. A sound must not become a way to discreetly pronounce the name to be guessed.

The first proposal of the partners is always the only one that counts for a card. Past or missed cards remain excluded until the end of the round. Recognition thanks to a mime preview in the first round does not allow to reintroduce them before the next mix.

Errors and rotation

A card associated with a prohibited action is not won; the leaflet makes it join the underside of the package and the time continues. In rounds two and three, keep it with the cards not available for this round until the end mixture. Do not add a penalty in invented points. Change a person responsible for the clues in each team as he turns.

Variant Expert at five or seven

The booklet also offers a mode without fixed teams. Each one makes guess to his left neighbour; the successful cards remain between these two people. At the end of the time, the package passes to the left neighbour of the person who guessed. The individual score is the sum of the cards to his left and right. This variant replaces the organization by teams, but retains the constraints of the three innings; do not count both individual points and fixed team points.

06An example on the three rounds

Let's take an invented exercise card: "an astronaut." In the first run, Alice could say: "This person travels in space with a combination." His partners try "pilot", then "astronaut": multiple proposals are allowed, and the card is won.

In the second round, Alice can choose "space". If her team answers first "role", the card is missed for this round, even if someone shouts the right answer immediately. She can be found during a next round after mixing. In the third round, Alice can mimic a step in weightlessness; she does not pronounce "space", but a non-verbal noise is allowed.

Example of a team score: 12 cards in the first round, 16 in the second and 9 in the third round give 37 points. Each round distributes a total of 40 points between the teams; the three rounds thus total 120 points cards, even if the winners of each card change.

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07Count and Victory

Add the three results of each team. The largest total wins. The chosen record does not require a detailed separation: for this table, share a tie or agree before the game of a new full game, without adding a bonus to the preferred mime after all.

We have to wait until all the cards are won to close a round. The end of a hourglass closes only one round. A team does not lose its already recognized cards because the time ends during the next index. On the other hand, an answer that arrives after the end of time does not win the current card.

08Frequent errors

• Replace the characters between the rounds and remove the interest of memory.
• Make a gesture or noise during one of the first two runs.
• Allow multiple responses in rounds two and three.
• Take back a card passed during the same round.
• Freely pass a card in the first run.
• Always let the same person get guessed in a team.

09Tips for starting

Also listen to the cards of the other teams: they will come back. Holding a fun clue, an association or a mime facilitates the next round. A clear first round is more useful than very long descriptions.

In the second round, prepare your word before saying it and let your partners think about their first answer. In the third, make the mime visible to the entire team. Keep the piles separate: the best memory does not compensate for a package containing by mistake already won cards.