Nonchalant

Included in the December 2018 installment of the Button Shy Board Game of the Month Club.


A press-your-luck word game.

nonchalant
: having an air of easy unconcern or indifference
: a word-based trivia game where you come up with an answer, but keep your cool while the pool of letters gets smaller and smaller.


Components

9 letter/list cards


Players must provide:

25 letter tokens (pennies work just fine)
Pen and Paper to keep score


Setup
Choose a starting player to shuffle the cards and deal one card with the list side face up. Place a token on the number 1 to show which round it is. Place the remaining cards onto the table, letters side up in alphabetical order. The #1 item on the list card is the first category.

Gameplay
Players have 30 seconds to think of words that fit the category. Do not say yours aloud! Then the starting player will take their turn and play clockwise.

On Your Turn, you must do one of the following:

1. Place a token on top of a letter on a card, you will place that card in front of you until the end of the round. It may help you gain points, or cause you to lose points, depending on the outcome of the round.

2. Challenge the last player to say their word.

The player must state their word out loud.

If the word fits the category AND only uses letters that are still available, they will receive points equal to the total value on all cards in front of them.

If their word doesn't fit the category OR uses letters that are no longer available, the challenger receives points equal to the value on their own cards.

If the winner of the challenge does not have a card in front of them, they will receive points equal to the round number. Round 1 is 1 point. Round 9 is 9 points.

At the end of the round, tally up points, and the winner of the challenge starts the next round by flipping over the card of their choice, and flipping back the previous list card. They will start the next round using the #2 item on the new list card.

End of the Game
After 9 rounds, the game ends. The player with the most points wins! In the event of a tie, the player with the most points in a single round wins.

- For name categories, use last names only
- if there is a debate on whether a word fits a category, players should vote on it.