How to Play That's Not a Hat

Game Objective

In That's Not a Hat, players exchange gifts with each other and must remember which gift is in front of them. If you don't know exactly which gift you have, you'll have to bluff convincingly. Otherwise, you'll receive negative points. The player with the fewest negative points at the end of the game wins!

Setup

1. Shuffle the gift cards well.
2. Give one gift card to each player. This is your first gift, and you place it with the symbol side up in front of you.
3. The remaining gift cards are placed face up in a pile in the middle of the table. This pile is the gift shop.

Gameplay Flow

The last person to receive a gift starts the game.

At the beginning of the game, the current player can take a new gift from the gift shop. To do this:

1. Take the top card from the gift shop pile in the middle of the table.
2. Show it to all other players.
3. Flip the card. The back of the card indicates whether you should pass the gift card to the right or to the left.
4. When passing the card to the person next to you, name the gift, saying: “I have a lovely XYZ here for you.”

The person who receives the gift now has two options: accept the gift or refuse it. The game continues until a gift card is refused by the person receiving the gift.

Important: gifts that have already been flipped cannot be seen again.

Actions and How to Play

Taking a New Gift from the Gift Shop

At the beginning of the game, or when you get a negative point, you take a new gift from the gift shop. You take the top card from the pile, show it to everyone, flip it with the back side up, and pass the gift card to the corresponding person, following the direction of the arrow. New gifts from the gift shop are always given immediately to other players, without being placed in your own pile.

Accepting a Gift

If you believe that the mentioned gift is actually hidden under the card, you must accept the gift. In this case, you thank for the gift and keep the card you just received. You always place the “new” gift card face down on top of the “old” gift card that is already in front of you.

Now you will have 2 gifts in front of you, but you are only allowed to have 1 gift at a time. Therefore, it is your turn to give a gift to someone else. It would be impolite to give the gift you just received. Thus, you hand over your “old” gift card that is still visible and give your gift to the person to your left or right, according to the direction of the arrow on the back of the card. Don't forget to say aloud what beautiful gift you have there.

The person you gave the gift to now also passes their “oldest” gift, even if the gift card has already been flipped in a previous round. This continues until a gift card is refused.

Refusing a Gift

If you think that the gift card you just received does not match the object mentioned, you can refuse the gift. To do this, simply say: “That's not an XYZ.” It is not necessary to name the correct object.

In this case, you flip the respective gift card and reveal what is hidden behind it. The person who was wrong (who gave the gift) places the gift card face up as a negative point in their personal discard pile. All other negative points you receive during the game also go into your personal discard pile.

When you get a negative point, you will have to receive a new gift from the gift shop. To do this, draw a new card from the pile, show it to everyone, flip it with the back side up, and pass the gift card to the corresponding person, according to the direction of the arrow. After that, the game continues as described above.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends as soon as someone has 3 gift cards in their personal discard pile. Each gift card in your pile counts as a negative point. Whoever has accumulated the fewest negative points wins.

Alternatively, you can decide before the game that you will play a number of rounds equal to the number of players seated at the table. Write down the points after each game and add them up at the end. Whoever has accumulated the fewest negative points by then wins.

Tips for Winning

• If you forget what gift you have in front of you, don't let it show! Think of an object and try to trick other players, through bluffing, into accepting the gift card.
• If you are sure what is behind the gift card, pretend you don't know. This way, you might get your colleagues to flip the card and collect negative points.
• If you are unsure what is actually under the gift card, pretend you are just trying to appear insecure and confuse your fellow players with this double bluff.