14. Starts With…

 

Game 1: Starts With - Find The Word That Starts With…

 

Number of players

2 to 26 players

Suitable Ages

4 years and older

Playing Time

5 to 10 minutes

Introduction

Your friend is desperate to tell you something but he or she can’t remember one word. Help your friend to find that word.

What do you need?

A Black and or White Multiplaying Card Deck

Set up

Use the cards 1 – 55 and randomly choose a dealer. The Dealer shuffles all cards and makes a draw pile in the center of the table.

Basic Rules

The goal of the game is to come up with a word in a specific category and starting with a specific letter as fast as you can.

The dealer starts the game by drawing the first card, placing it on the table and reading out loud what that card says in field 14. This field represents a category, like: a type of bird, a color, a country, and so on. After reading what it says, the dealer draws another card from the draw pile, puts it next to the first card on the table and reads out loud what it says in field 4. This field contains the letter with which the word must start.

An example: The dealer draws a card and reads the category, in this case “At the supermarket”. He announces to the rest of the group that he or she is looking for a word of something that can be found at the supermarket. Next, the dealer draws the second card and states the starting letter, in this case the letter “M”. Now, all players have to think of something that can be found at the supermarket, starting with the letter “M” as fast as they can. Whoever comes up with a correct word first, wins this round and receives all cards on the table.

If a player gets it wrong, the rest of the players keep playing. The player who gave the wrong answer may not play for the rest of this round. If a successful answer is given, that player takes the cards. If none of the players can think of a word, the round ends without a winner. The cards stay where they are and new cards are drawn and placed on top of them.

When there are no more cards in the draw pile the game ends. All players count their cards. The player with the most cards is the winner.

Variations

- The dealer can think of a specific word first, after which the other players need to guess that word. In this variation, a player who guesses wrong may keep playing.
- You can combine this game with other games on the Multi Playing Cards.

We wish you a lot of word-guessing fun. Good luck!

Game 2: Starts With - The Storyline

Number of Players

2 to 20 Players

Suitable Ages

6 years and older

Playing Time

40 to 60 minutes

Introduction

A big-shot movie director in Hollywood is looking for a new movie to direct. He only works with the very best writers, but his usual team has come down with a nasty flu and can’t work. So, to fill this gap, he decides to hire two new teams. You are a part of one of these teams and your task is to come up with basic storylines for the upcoming movie. Because time is money in Hollywood, the shortest story is the one that is chosen to be produced. Maybe this will be your big break-through in the magical world of moving pictures!

What do you need?

A Black and or White Multiplaying Card Deck

Set up

Use the cards 1 – 55, form two teams and choose a dealer.

Basic Rules

Playing clockwise. Both teams settle on one them, like: Comedy, Western, Science-Fiction and so on.

The dealer draws three cards from the draw pile and puts them face up on the table. Team one tries to come up with a story, using the information that is provided in field 14 of each card. When they come up with a story, they tell it to the other team, which will then count the words in that story. Try to keep your story as succinct as possible, because the fewer words you use, the better it is. After scoring the story, the teams switch roles. Now, team 2 will have to come up with a story and team 1 will count the words. The team with the shortest story wins the round and collects the cards.

An example: The chosen category is Science-Fiction. The dealer draws 3 cards, which read: “On the world”, “Family” and “Toy”. Team one comes up with the following story: “On the world, there is a family that wants a new toy” (12 words). Then, team two comes up with another story “A family wants to unleash a toy on the world” (10 words). In this round, team 2 used the lowest number of words and receives the cards that are on the table. One card amounts to one point.

The words on the cards must be used in the story, exactly as they are formulated in field 14 of the Multiplaying cards. The second team may not take team 1’s story and simply leave out a word, they must come up with a brand new story. For instance, in our example, team 2 may not come up with “On the world, there is a family that wants a toy” (exactly the same sentence, only leaving out the word “new”.

Furthermore, if a team forgets to incorporate any of the three cards in their story pitch, or does not use every word on said cards exactly as they are written, the other team automatically becomes the winner of that round. If both teams manage to foul up their answer, then neither team wins and the cards are put aside.

The game ends when there are no more cards left in the draw pile. When this happens, both teams count their respective cards. The team with the highest number of cards wins and is on their way to Hollywood!

Variations:
- Use more or less cards to create a story line.
- All members of a team take turns telling the story. The first person starts off with the first word in the sentence, the next player tells the next word, and so on. Keep alternating between team members for as long as it takes to complete the story.
- You can combine this game with other games on the Multi Playing Cards.

We wish you a lot of movie-writing fun. Good luck!