Game Objective

Hey everyone! Ready for a word challenge that will test your group's telepathy? In Just One, you are a team of brilliant minds with a single objective: guess as many Secret words as possible! The trick is to cooperate, but with a touch of mystery. Each of you will come up with a clue for the active player, but without talking, and most importantly: identical clues are canceled out! In the end, your score will be the number of Secret words you managed to decipher. Get ready for laughs and maybe some "huh?" faces.

Setup

Let's set up the table for the fun to begin!

1. First, take the 110 cards and give them a good shuffle. Then, separate 13 cards to form a face-down deck in the center of the table. The rest of the cards go back in the box; they won't be used in this game.
2. Now, each player takes a plastic easel and a dry-erase marker. Everyone equipped? Great!
3. To decide who starts, randomly choose a player to be the first active player. It can be the birthday person, whoever saw the last movie, or good old "rock, paper, scissors"!

Variant for 3 players: If there are only three of you, each player takes two easels and, during the clue selection phase, will write two clues instead of one. The rest of the rules follow the standard!

The Game Turn

The game unfolds in a series of rounds, and each round is divided into 4 phases. The fun only stops when the card deck is empty!

1. Choosing the Secret Word

The active player, without looking, draws the top card from the deck and places it on their easel, so that all other players can see the 5 words on it. Then, the active player chooses a number from 1 to 5 to indicate which of the words on the card will be the Secret word that the team needs to guess. If by chance the chosen word is too difficult or unknown to the group, the other players can ask the active player to choose a different number.

Examples of words that may appear on the cards:

• Europe
• Circus
• Virus
• Crocodile
• Mustard

2. Clue Selection

This is the time for creativity! Each player (except the active one) will write ONE clue on their easel. Remember: no interacting or showing anyone! The clue must consist of a single word. Yes, a digit, a number, an acronym, an onomatopoeia, or a special character count as a word! Think of something original so you don't give the same clue as someone else.

Examples of valid clues:

• For the word "Agent", the clue "007" is allowed.
• For the word "Telephone", "Ringggg" or "SMS" are allowed.
• For the word "Money", "$" is allowed.

Invalid clues (and which will be canceled!):

• The Secret word written differently (e.g., "Fourth" for "Room").
• The Secret word in another language (e.g., "House" for "Casa").
• A word from the same family as the Secret word (e.g., "Princess" for "Prince").
• An invented word (e.g., "Stoner" for "Stone").
• A phonetically identical word, but with a different meaning (e.g., "Session" for "Section").

3. Comparing Clues

When everyone has written their clues, the active player closes their eyes. Now, the other players turn over their easels and compare the clues. All identical or invalid clues must be canceled out. To cancel, simply turn the easel face down.

What counts as identical clues?

• Two exactly identical words (e.g., "Mouse" and "Mouse").
• Variants of the same family (e.g., "Prince" and "Princess").
• Variants of the same word, such as plurals, gender differentiations, and even spelling errors (e.g., "Actor" and "Actress", "House" and "Houses").

Attention: If, by chance, all clues are canceled, the Secret word card goes back into the box and you skip directly to the End of the Round. No guess!

4. Guess

With the identical or invalid clues already canceled, the active player can open their eyes and try to guess the Secret word with the remaining clues. They have ONLY ONE GUESS! If the guess has the same pronunciation as the Secret word, it is considered valid.

Guess results:

• Success: If the active player guesses the Secret word correctly, the card is placed face up next to the deck. Point for the team!
• Failure: If the active player guesses incorrectly, the Secret word card AND the top card of the deck are returned to the game box. What a shame!
• Pass: If the active player prefers not to risk it and passes their turn, the Secret word card is returned to the game box.

Important note: If the player makes a wrong guess in the final round, a card that had already been guessed correctly is also removed. Heartbreaking, right?

End of the Round

After the guess (or lack thereof), the player to the left of the active player becomes the new active player. Remember to erase the clues from the easels for the next round! A new round begins, and the search for words continues!

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends when there are no more cards in the deck. To find out how well you did, it's time to count the correctly guessed cards. Compare the total with the table below and see your team's level of mastery!

• 13 Cards Guessed: Perfect! Can you repeat this feat?
• 12 Cards Guessed: Incredible! You must be impressed.
• 11 Cards Guessed: Great! This result deserves to be celebrated.
• 9-10 Cards Guessed: Wow! Not bad, huh?
• 7-8 Cards Guessed: Neither good nor bad. How about improving?
• 4-6 Cards Guessed: It's a good start, try again!
• 0-3 Cards Guessed: Try again, and again, and again.

Tips for Winning

1. Be Original, but Clear: The rule of canceling identical clues is the heart of Just One. Think of clues that are unique, but still direct the active player to the Secret word. Avoid the obvious if you suspect others will too. A little creativity can be key!
2. Think like the Active Player: When creating your clue, try to put yourself in the active player's shoes. What clues might they already have in mind? What word would be most useful to them, considering what others might be writing? A clue that seems "far-fetched" can be perfect if the obvious ones are canceled.
3. Know the Invalid Clues: Keep an eye on the invalid clue rules! There's no point in being creative if your clue is canceled for being from the same family as the Secret word or for being a variation of it. A silly mistake can cost a card!