I’m writing this rule set because I want to prototype this idea first instead of my other rule set I posted two weeks ago. I’m just very curious how a traditional matching game would work with different languages and how peoples memories are affected when it’s unfamiliar words rather than pictures.
Players 2-5
SET UP: Pick the stack that you want to play with and shuffle them with the language NOT in English face up. Lay out all 50 cards in a grid face up
Gameplay:
This is a pretty traditional matching game but obviously instead of remembering where pictures are, you are trying to remember the translation of the words that you are gradually learning throughout the game.
Each turn players attempt to make matches. Every turn, the player flips over two cards.
On their turn, a player flips over a card and reads the translation. They then pick up their second card by trying to find the match to the English word on the back. If the second card does not match the first card THEY PUT BOTH CARDS BACK WHERE THEY ORGINALLY WERE with the NON-English word face up.
FOR EXAMPLE – player 1 flips a card that says “perro” on it. The back reads “dog”. The player then scans the grid trying to see EITHER if they know another word for dog or if a previous player had flipped over the word “dog” before and they remember where it is.
Players take turn attempting to make matches until the grid has been completely matched.
HOW TO WIN:
Players with the most matches wins.
Congrats! You either already know another language or are good at memorizing places on a game board!
possible ALTERNATIVE PLAY:
1. If a matching game seems too boring, here’s another idea to spice it up a little bit.
Instead of taking a turn by trying to find a match by flipping over two cards, there will be an extra “hard” section of words above the matching grid that IF YOU KNOW OR CAN GUESS THE WORD counts as an additional match in your hand. However, guessing wrong does not remove the card from the game but you must reveal your guess and put it back above the grid if you guess incorrectly. The potential then is that other players have the opportunity to steal these bonus cards, narrowing down the meaning.
2. If there is a tie OR just if you want to keep the matches with the NON English words face up and shuffle the card and whoever remembers the most meanings gets an extra point or the number of points for that number of cards guessed right (by the players discretion)