Section 6: Scoring
In the standard points game, the active team earns one point when it identifies the complete prompt within the turn limit. An unsuccessful turn earns no point. There are no partial points for identifying only part of a phrase unless the group adopted a partial-credit variation before play.
Accepted Answers
An answer is correct when it communicates the same word or phrase shown on the card. Harmless grammatical differences may be accepted, but a broader related concept is not enough. For example, if the prompt is “running shoe,” the answer “shoe” identifies only part of the prompt and does not score.
Winning the Game
The usual winning target is 10 points. Reaching the target does not always end play immediately: every team must receive the same number of ordinary turns. If one team alone has the highest score after those turns are equalized, that team wins.
Ties
If two or more teams are tied for the lead, play sudden-death rounds among the tied teams. Each tied team receives one turn per round. Continue until, after an equal number of turns, one team has earned more additional points than every other tied team.
Alternative Scoring
- Timed match: Play for a fixed number of rounds; the highest score wins.
- Speed bonus: Award two points if a prompt is solved within the first half of the turn and one point thereafter.
- Difficulty levels: Award one point for easy prompts, two for medium prompts, and three for difficult prompts.
- All-play scoring: Award one point only to the first team that provides the correct answer.
Alternative scoring must be announced before the game and applied equally to every team.