The Scrambled States of America - Board game Gamewright - Free user manual and instructions

USER MANUAL The Scrambled States of America Gamewright

Based on the book, The Scrambled States of America, by Laurie Keller

the SCRAMILED STATES of AMERICA GAME The W

Rules of Play

Hi There,

I'm Sam. I'm assuming since you opened this box that you're in the mood to play a game. Well, you're in luck because I have a game for you. It's a game about this fine country of ours.

I'll bet you've probably played a zillion games, but this one's a little different. Before you get started, I'd better do some explaining...

No, no, you two- I told you already, this is my part! Now get back in your places, the game is about to begin.

Hi Ther I'm Sam. I'm a box that you' Well, you're i you. It' a gam I'll bet you've but this one's started, I'd be

Cartoon illustration of a man wearing a top hat and striped tie, with a star and decorative border (no text or symbols)

One day all of the 50 United States threw a party and decided to switch places so that each could see another part of the country. But after the states were jumbled up for a while, things turned crazy...

Florida is freezing up north, and the Atlantic Ocean is getting Arizona all wet! The states need your help to find their way home.

Contents

50 State Cards (blue) 50 Scramble Cards (red) 4 U.S. maps

Object

The object of the game is to send the most states home by correctly matching State Cards to Scramble Cards. The player who collects the most State Cards wins.

Setup

Give each player a U.S. map for reference. Separate the cards into blue (State) and red (Scramble) decks, then shuffle and put both decks face down in the center of the playing area.

Red (Scramble) deck Blue (State) deck

Deal five State Cards to each player. Place your cards face up in a row in front of you to form your "States Line." Take some time to become familiar with your cards, referring to the map to find each state's location. Also notice that each card has a state name, state picture, capital city and nickname.

graph TD
    A["Name of State"] --> B["Massachusetts"]
    C["Picture of State"] --> B
    D["The Capital for that State"] --> B
    E["Capital: Boston\nNickname: "Bay State""] --> B
    F["The Nickname for the State"] --> B

Let's Play!

When all players are ready, the player to the left of the dealer turns over the top card of the Scramble Deck, places it face-up next to the deck, and reads it aloud. There are two types of cards in the Scramble Deck: Find-It and "Go the Distance!"

Find-It Cards

These cards have various challenges on them relating to the states. They could be as simple as matching colors or as complex as finding

hidden words. When a Find-It Card is revealed, all players race to match one of their State Cards to this card. Whoever is the first player to slap and announce the name of the matching state out loud, gets to collect that card. The winner puts the state card in a "Home Pile" off to the side (Each player has her own Home Pile.) and draws a new card from the top of the state deck to build her States Line back up to five cards.

Feeling confused? Here are some examples: If the Find-It Card says "Capital has a person's first name hidden in it," and you have Kentucky (whose capital city is Frankfort, with the name Frank in it), in your States Line, slap it and yell out, "Kentucky!" Or if he Find-It card says "Is Orange," and you have Vermont (which is the color orange on the card and map), slap it and announce, "Vermont!" If you're the first player to slap and announce your state, you win the round.

If more than one player has a match ... The first player to slap and say the name of a matching state wins that round and gets to send her state home. But if two or more players slap and announce matching states at the same time, they both/all send their states home and take new cards from the top of the State Deck to build their States Lines back up to five cards.

If no player has a match ... If no player has a state that matches, everyone passes one of their State Cards to the player on their left and puts their new card in their States Line. The last round's winner turns over a new card from the top of the Scramble Deck and play proceeds as normal.

Slip Slaps

If you forget to say the name of your state out loud when you slap it or you slap a State Card that does not match the Find-It card, you've made a slip slap. As a penalty, take one of your State Cards from your Home Pile and put it at the bottom of the State Deck. Remember — accuracy is more important than speed!

WISCONSIN HOW EXCELING!

Go the Distance! Cards

When one of these yellow cards is revealed, turn over the top card from the State Deck and place it face up on top of the deck.

Then, using the map, scan your states and try to find the one that is the closest neighbor (the shortest distance away) to the State Card that was turned over. When you locate a state, pull that card

(State Deck)

(Scramble Deck)

forward out of your States Line so that all players can see. The player whose state is the closest wins the round and sends both her state and thestate from the top of the State Deck to her Home Pile.

If multiple players' states seem equally close, whoever was first to pull out her state wins the round. (If it's difficult to tell which state is closest, use the ruler on the "Go the Distance!" card to measure between state borders on the map.)

The winner of each round turns over and reads the next card from the Scramble Deck to begin the next round.

Ending the Game

When the State Deck is depleted, all players count the states in their Home Piles. Whoever has the most State Cards wins. (Cards left in the States Line don't count.)

Rules for Young Players & Early Readers

Set-up: Deal five State Cards to each player as usual. But if in a four-player game, deal only four State Cards to each person.

In this version, it is not a race to be the first player to slap a card when a Find-It Card is revealed. Instead, all players that can make a match get to send a State Card home and draw a new one from the State Deck. You may only match one state per round, so even if there is more than one match in your States Line, just pick one to send home. All other rules remain the same as above.

House Rules

Here are some ideas in case you want to try different variations of this game:

Home State Advantage If one of the cards in your States Line shows the state where you live, announce "I live here!" and send that state home.

New and Improved When you get a card with "New" in its state name, you can switch that card with another player's card of your choice.

Multiple Match

If you have more than one card that matches a Find-It card, you can send multiple states home.

A Word from Gamewright

Whoever said that learning about U.S. geography had to be boring must not have read The Scrambled States of America. We fell head-over-heels for Laurie Keller's hilarious story and knew that it had the making for a great game. As with her book, we hope our game provides a fun way to enrich basic knowledge of U.S. geography. Players learn the names, capitals, nicknames, shapes and positions of the states through a myriad of visual teasers, language riddles and geography challenges. After playing, you'll see that there's more to the 50 States than meets the eye!

In all our rules, we use either "he" or "she" to include everyone!

Yada, Panush, dy,

Game by Gamebird, LLC Game Development: Alison Yada, Jason Schneider, Jonathan Panush, Mike Corcoran, Jackie Grandy, Christine Myung, Philip Thornton

Text and Illustrations from The Scrambled States of America by Laurie Keller. Used by arrangement with Henry Holt and Company, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Made in the USA

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Do you have any 3's? GO FISH!

the SCRAMPLEd STATES of AMERICA GAME