Buzzword Frenzy Rules

Rules by gametype:

Hot Potato Rules

Sprint Rules

Time Trial Rules

Tutorial - the end of a round (hot potato)

A couple details that should be clarified around the steps following a round of hot potato:

At the end of a round of hot potato, the team who won that round has 10 seconds to steal the last word.  The team should discuss what they want to submit as their one guess and then tell person with the device.  Because of this, players must resist the urge to react when their teammates don’t guess a word and yell out “NOoooo… it was COWBOY HAT!!!” when time runs out so that they don’t ruin the other team’s chances to steal.

Important: the next round should start with the same player that the last round ended with (last player on the losing team).

Tutorial - Playing with teams of different skill levels

If one team turns out to be much better than another team, try playing sprint or time trial and setting a handicap for the better team by giving that team less time or more words.

Tutorial - Playing with only 2 or 3 people

Buzzword Frenzy can be fun with as little as 2 or 3 people.  Set Time Trial or Sprint to the “Best Overall” mode and play as one team trying to better your score every time.

Hot Potato - Handoff!

In the Options screen for Hot Potato, you have the option of allowing up to 3 handoffs per team. The handoff feature gives you the opportunity to pass the word to a person on your team who you think would do a better job of describing. If a word comes up that you are having trouble with, you can press the handoff button and pass it to any person on your team.

Note: Two handoffs cannot occur in a row. If a word has been handed off and passed to you, you cannot hand it off to someone else!

Time Trial - Scoring

• In “Round by Round” mode, the team with the fastest time at the end of each round scores a point. The team with the most points wins!
• In “Best Overal” mode after all rounds are played, the team with the fastest time in any one round wins!
• If during the round any rules are (i.e. saying all or part of the word), the game can be paused and the round ended in disqualification.

Time Trial - Gameplay

1. Each team takes turns trying to guess the pre-selected number of words as fast as possible
2. The player holding the game must get his teammates to guess his word without saying all or part of the word, spelling, or refering to rhyming words.
3. Once someone guesses the word correctly, the player presses the center button and passes to the player next to him.
4. After finishing the round, the other team circles up and takes their turn.

Time Trial - Setup

1. First organize two teams. The numbers for the two teams do not have to be even.
2. Choose the word categories for the game.
3. Select gameplay options. Here you have the ability to change the number of words to clear per round, the number of rounds, the scoring format, and sound (on/off).
4. Next, Team 1 forms a circle while Team 2 watches and waits for their turn.
5. Hand the device to a player from Team 1 and begin!

Sprint - Scoring

• In “Round by Round” mode, the team with the most words guessed at the end of each round scores a point. The team with the most points wins!
• In “Best Overal” mode after all rounds are played, the team with the most number of words guessed in any one round wins!
• If during the round any rules are (i.e. saying all or part of the word), the game can be paused and the round ended in disqualification.