GAME RULES
FOR 2 TO 8 PLAYERS
OR MORE BY PLAYING IN TEAMS
OR MORE BY PLAYING IN TEAMS
WHAT IS CRACK LIST?
CRACK LIST is a brand-new take on Categories in an exciting card game format where everyone takes turns to play, like with Rummy, Whist or Bridge!
Object of the game: be the first player to get rid of all your cards.
How? Crack the category lists by finding answers for the chosen category that start with the letters in your hand. Think it sounds easy? Think again! Each time a new CRACK LIST card is played, a brand-new category gets chosen… And whenever an ACTION card is played, the whole game can get turned on its head, meaning the twists and turns just keep on coming until one of the players wins the round by cracking the category and playing their final card.
PLAYING THE GAME
The game contains 2 decks of 78 cards:
The BLUE deck: this is the GAME DECK, which includes Letter cards and Action cards.
The RED deck: these cards are the CATEGORY LISTS, with 3 different categories to choose from on each card.
Object of the game: be the first player to get rid of all your cards.
How? Crack the category lists by finding answers for the chosen category that start with the letters in your hand. Think it sounds easy? Think again! Each time a new CRACK LIST card is played, a brand-new category gets chosen… And whenever an ACTION card is played, the whole game can get turned on its head, meaning the twists and turns just keep on coming until one of the players wins the round by cracking the category and playing their final card.
PLAYING THE GAME
The game contains 2 decks of 78 cards:
The BLUE deck: this is the GAME DECK, which includes Letter cards and Action cards.
The RED deck: these cards are the CATEGORY LISTS, with 3 different categories to choose from on each card.
GETTING STARTED
The dealer deals 8 cards face down to each player from the BLUE deck, and then places the remaining cards face down in the middle of the table to form the DRAW PILE. The players all look at their cards.
The youngest player picks up the top card from the RED deck and chooses their favourite category from the three categories listed.
Play then moves around the table in a clockwise direction, with each player having 20 seconds to play one of the cards in their hand. They must find an answer for the category in play that starts with a letter in their hand.
For example, if the category is “Words that rhyme with haze”:
The first player plays their “A” card and says “Amaze”
The next player plays their “P” card and says “Phrase”
The following player plays their “D” card and says “Days”, and so on.
If a player gives a wrong answer or an answer that has already been given or if they run out of time, they must draw a card from the DRAW PILE.
The youngest player picks up the top card from the RED deck and chooses their favourite category from the three categories listed.
Play then moves around the table in a clockwise direction, with each player having 20 seconds to play one of the cards in their hand. They must find an answer for the category in play that starts with a letter in their hand.
For example, if the category is “Words that rhyme with haze”:
The first player plays their “A” card and says “Amaze”
The next player plays their “P” card and says “Phrase”
The following player plays their “D” card and says “Days”, and so on.
If a player gives a wrong answer or an answer that has already been given or if they run out of time, they must draw a card from the DRAW PILE.
WHAT ARE THE ACTION CARDS FOR?
On their turn, rather than playing a Letter card and giving an answer, players can choose to play an Action card instead:
CRACK LIST CARD
When a player plays a CRACK LIST card, they get to pick up a new card from the CATEGORY LISTS deck and choose a new category.
N.B. (1): play then passes immediately to the next player in the direction of play, who is the first to give an answer for the new category.
N.B. (2): you cannot end with a CRACK LIST card as your last card.
WHAT IS THE JOKER CARD?
Players who have this card in their hand have the luxury of being able to choose an answer that starts with any of the 26 letters of the alphabet.
Additional benefit: if the player finds an answer that starts with a + letter, they can choose to penalise one or several other players.
CRACK LIST CARD
When a player plays a CRACK LIST card, they get to pick up a new card from the CATEGORY LISTS deck and choose a new category.
N.B. (1): play then passes immediately to the next player in the direction of play, who is the first to give an answer for the new category.
N.B. (2): you cannot end with a CRACK LIST card as your last card.
WHAT IS THE JOKER CARD?
Players who have this card in their hand have the luxury of being able to choose an answer that starts with any of the 26 letters of the alphabet.
Additional benefit: if the player finds an answer that starts with a + letter, they can choose to penalise one or several other players.
ACTION CARDS (NEXT)
STOP CARD
When a player plays a STOP card, the next player misses a turn.
REVERSE CARD
When a player plays a REVERSE card, the direction of play is reversed (if play was moving in a clockwise direction, it switches to anti-clockwise, and vice versa).
SWAP CARD
When a player plays a SWAP CARD, they get to swap their entire hand or just one card of their choice with the player of their choice.
Warning: if a player ends with the SWAP card, they hand the other player victory on a plate instead of winning themselves. Not exactly to be advised ;)
When a player plays a STOP card, the next player misses a turn.
REVERSE CARD
When a player plays a REVERSE card, the direction of play is reversed (if play was moving in a clockwise direction, it switches to anti-clockwise, and vice versa).
SWAP CARD
When a player plays a SWAP CARD, they get to swap their entire hand or just one card of their choice with the player of their choice.
Warning: if a player ends with the SWAP card, they hand the other player victory on a plate instead of winning themselves. Not exactly to be advised ;)
WHAT ARE THE PENALTY CARDS FOR?
Some letters are trickier to play than others: these are the Letter cards marked +1, +2 and +3.
By playing one of these cards, the player can penalise one or several other players by forcing them to pick up 1, 2 or 3 cards from the DRAW PILE.
+1 LETTER CARDS:
When a player gives an answer that starts with an F, G, L or N, they draw 1 penalty card from the DRAW PILE and hand it to the player of their choice.
+2 LETTER CARDS:
When a player gives an answer that starts with a J, K, V or W, they draw 2 penalty cards from the DRAW PILE and hand them to either 1 or 2 players of their choice (giving both cards to 1 player or 1 card to each of the 2 players)
+3 LETTER CARDS:
When a player gives an answer that starts with a Q, X, Y or Z, they draw 3 penalty cards from the DRAW PILE and hand them to the player(s) of their choice, sharing the 3 cards out between either 1, 2, or 3 players.
By playing one of these cards, the player can penalise one or several other players by forcing them to pick up 1, 2 or 3 cards from the DRAW PILE.
+1 LETTER CARDS:
When a player gives an answer that starts with an F, G, L or N, they draw 1 penalty card from the DRAW PILE and hand it to the player of their choice.
+2 LETTER CARDS:
When a player gives an answer that starts with a J, K, V or W, they draw 2 penalty cards from the DRAW PILE and hand them to either 1 or 2 players of their choice (giving both cards to 1 player or 1 card to each of the 2 players)
+3 LETTER CARDS:
When a player gives an answer that starts with a Q, X, Y or Z, they draw 3 penalty cards from the DRAW PILE and hand them to the player(s) of their choice, sharing the 3 cards out between either 1, 2, or 3 players.
Continuation of the game
EVERYONE’S STUCK? THEN CRACK OUT A NEW CATEGORY LIST CARD
If all players are unable to provide an answer and have had to pick up a card, the category is abandoned. The game is paused, a new category is chosen by the same player who chose the last one, and then the game resumes
ANSWERS WITH A DEFINITE OR INDEFINITE ARTICLE
Answers that are proper nouns that start with a definite or indefinite article can have 2 correct answers.
For example, in the Films category, the answer “The Godfather” is valid with both the T card and the G card.
HOW DOES THE ROUND END?
The first person to play their last card has officially cracked the category and wins the round.
That person then picks up a new Category List card and chooses the first category for the following round.
WINNING THE GAME
The game is played in 3 rounds.
At the end of the 3rd round, the player who has won the most rounds wins the game.
If all players are unable to provide an answer and have had to pick up a card, the category is abandoned. The game is paused, a new category is chosen by the same player who chose the last one, and then the game resumes
ANSWERS WITH A DEFINITE OR INDEFINITE ARTICLE
Answers that are proper nouns that start with a definite or indefinite article can have 2 correct answers.
For example, in the Films category, the answer “The Godfather” is valid with both the T card and the G card.
HOW DOES THE ROUND END?
The first person to play their last card has officially cracked the category and wins the round.
That person then picks up a new Category List card and chooses the first category for the following round.
WINNING THE GAME
The game is played in 3 rounds.
At the end of the 3rd round, the player who has won the most rounds wins the game.
CHALLENGES
CHALLENGING A VERIFIABLE ANSWER
One or several other players can challenge a verifiable answer. A web search should then be used to determine whether or not the answer is accepted.
CHALLENGING AN UNVERIFIABLE ANSWER
When an answer cannot be verified or is deemed subjective, players raise their hands to vote on whether or not it should be accepted. Majority rules!
TIME CHALLENGE
If the other players think that a player is taking too long to give an answer, they can launch into a countdown by yelling 5, 4, 3, 2, 1: Crack On!, forcing the player to pick up a card from the DRAW PILE if they fail to give an answer
One or several other players can challenge a verifiable answer. A web search should then be used to determine whether or not the answer is accepted.
CHALLENGING AN UNVERIFIABLE ANSWER
When an answer cannot be verified or is deemed subjective, players raise their hands to vote on whether or not it should be accepted. Majority rules!
TIME CHALLENGE
If the other players think that a player is taking too long to give an answer, they can launch into a countdown by yelling 5, 4, 3, 2, 1: Crack On!, forcing the player to pick up a card from the DRAW PILE if they fail to give an answer
PLAYING CRACK LIST WITH JUST TWO PLAYERS
It’s totally possible to have fun cracking the categories with just one other player, and the rules remain unchanged.
The game becomes a trivia battle, with the player who wins the most rounds ultimately becoming the CRACK LIST champion!
It’s the perfect way of honing your CRACK LIST skills before challenging your friends or throwing down the gauntlet during get-togethers with all your long-lost cousins.
The best categories to try and crack:
- British culinary specialities
- Cities or towns on the English Channel
- Things that are yellow
- Words that rhyme with “haze”
- 4-letter first names
- Swear words
etc.
Order the game
The game becomes a trivia battle, with the player who wins the most rounds ultimately becoming the CRACK LIST champion!
It’s the perfect way of honing your CRACK LIST skills before challenging your friends or throwing down the gauntlet during get-togethers with all your long-lost cousins.
The best categories to try and crack:
- British culinary specialities
- Cities or towns on the English Channel
- Things that are yellow
- Words that rhyme with “haze”
- 4-letter first names
- Swear words
etc.
PLAYING AS A TEAM
Playing CRACK LIST in teams of 2 or 3 is also highly recommended, and allows up to twenty players to all play the game at once! Each player is able to bring their specialised subject knowledge to the table, be that Greek mythology, swear words, the weather, social media, history, sport or even foreign cuisine!
It’s the perfect way of challenging or bonding with family and friends of all ages!
It’s the perfect way of challenging or bonding with family and friends of all ages!
Hundreds of new categories
THE CRACK LIST PARTY APP
Vous avez joué, rejoué, re rejoué avec les cartes listes et vous souhaitez pimenter vos parties avec plus de 1000 nouvelles listes ?
L'application Crack List Party est faite pour vous !