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Monikers

GETTING STARTED

Monikers only takes about 5-10 minutes to learn. Start
by dividing your group into 2 teams.
Deal 8 cards to each person. Everyone secretly
chooses 5 that they like. Shuffle all the cards people
chose into one deck, which will be used by both
teams for the entire game. Put the other cards back in
the box.
You want to aim for using around 40-50 cards in the
deck, so deal fewer and choose fewer playing with a
big group, and deal more and choose more with a
small group.
The team with the best story about meeting someone
famous goes first. Or totally random. Up to you.


HOW TO PLAY

A person from the starting team has 60 seconds to
get their team to guess as many names as possible
from the deck by giving clues about the person’s
identity. (If you’re playing with more than 10 people,
30-45 seconds is probably better.) There’s no limit to
the number of guesses.
Skipping is allowed and highly encouraged in all
rounds.
Teams keep the cards they guessed correctly for
scoring. Reshuffle skipped cards into the deck after
each turn.
Teams take turns giving clues. Each player should
take a turn giving clues before any teammates repeat.
Go in clockwise order or feel free to use some other
system.
A round ends when all cards from the deck have
been guessed correctly. When that happens, teams
add the point values from each card they correctly
guessed. Write those numbers down somewhere, then
shufe all the cards back together into one deck.
The team with the lowest score begins the next round.


RULES FOR EACH ROUND

Monikers has 3 rounds. Each has a restriction on how
players are allowed to give clues:

ROUND 1 You can use any words, sounds, or
gestures except the name itself, including the clue
text on the card. If you say any part of the name, you
have to skip that card this turn.

ROUND 2 Use only one word, which can be
anything except the name itself. You can repeat that
word as many times as you like, but no sounds or
gestures.

ROUND 3 Just charades. No words. Sound effects
are OK.
[I'd suggest using the drawing tool for pictionary instead. Or just use Skype. - Duke]


ENDING THE GAME

The team with the highest total score after 3 rounds
wins. But feel free not to keep score at all. It’s fun to
play competitively, but not necessary with the right
group.
That’s it, really. For clarifications and some different
ways to play, see the reverse side of this sheet. If you
have any unanswered questions, contact us or just go
with whatever works best for your group. Having fun
is more important than getting it perfect.