How to play Poetry for Neanderthals

Learn the rules to the board game Poetry for Neanderthals quickly and concisely - This video has no distractions, just the rules.Show more

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RULES:
The object of the game is for your team to score the most points. Divide into 2 teams of equal size. One team is called team glad the other is called team mad. If you have an odd number of players, the extra player is the permanent judge. Sit around the table alternating positions between teams. Team glad goes first and that team picks a player to be their first poet, who places the poet point slate in front of them. The other team picks one player to be the judge if you aren’t playing with a permanent judge. The judge always stands next to the active poet with the “no!” stick to enforce the rules.

Set out the cards on the table and the first poet picks a side of the cards, either gray or orange, that will be used for the entire game. Set out the timer and team point slate. The opposing team starts the timer and the poet takes the top card of the deck and tries to get their team to guess either word on it by only saying words that have 1 syllable. The easier word on the card is worth 1 point while the harder phrase is worth 3 points. If your team guesses the 1-point word, you say “yes”, then you may place the word in the 1-point space on the poet point slate or you may try to get your team to guess the 3-point phrase. If they guess that correctly then you place the card in the 3 point space. If you skipped the 1 point word and started the guessing with the 3 points word and your team guesses the 1 point word, then you are allowed to place the card down in the one point spot if you want, you are not committed to the 3 point word. You can skip a card by placing it in the minus 1 point spot.

You are not allowed to say any word, or part of any word, or any form of a word that is on the poetry card, but you are allowed to say any word on your card after a guesser has already said that word. You can’t use gestures or charades. You can’t use sounds like or rhymes with or initials or abbreviations. You can’t use other languages.

If you break a rule, then the other team’s judge hits you with the “no!” stick. You must then place the current card in the minus 1 point spot on the poet point slate. If a player feels they were penalized incorrectly, they shout “wait” then the timer is turned on its side and the poet can make an argument. The group then decides what to do with the card.

Once the timer runs out, the poets turn ends and no more guesses may be counted. If a card had already been guessed with at least its 1 point word, then that card still scores. An unguessed card is discarded. Move all the cards on the poet point slate to their corresponding spots on the team point slate.

Once everyone has been the poet once, the game ends and each team calculates their score by adding together their points on the team point slate. The team with the most points wins. An optional activity after the end of the game is for the winning team to pick their 3 favorite cards they won then to draw 1 random “Grok’s words of love and sad” card. They pick the order of the 3 cards and read the poem inserting either word or phrase on each card into each blank.