House RULEs
We get it; you came here because you’re a stickler for rules. Well we’ve got some detailed play recommendations below. What we’ve heard from players, though, is that they like to put some fun twists on these rules to make it their own. So feel free to go crazy!
Separate into 2 teams of at least 2 people on each team. Pick a clue giver (we call them the Biter) from each team to play the first round.
Shuffle and deal out 4 Bite Cards to each clue giver - they can look at their cards, but shouldn’t share with anyone else.
Shuffle and stack the Tongue Cards into a pile.
The youngest clue giver goes first and picks a Tongue card from the top of the pile. They should not show the Tongue card to anyone.
The clue giver has 1 minute to pick their best Bite Card to play from their hand in order to help their team guess the Tongue Card they just picked up.
The 1 minute timer starts when the clue giver has placed down their Bite Card (face up) and said the the number of words on the Tongue card. For example, the clue giver would place down a Mute Bite Card and say “two words” for their Tongue Card “Apple iPhone”.
If the team guesses the Tongue card in 1 minute, both the Bite and Tongue cards can be discarded. If the team doesn’t guess the Tongue Card, they must play it again and again until they get rid of it - but they can switch up to another Bite Card each turn.
HOW TO WIN: First clue giver to get rid of all their Bite Cards wins the round. We suggest best of 3 rounds for a full game.
Meet the Bite Cards - a.k.a, what you can and can’t say.
Letterhead: You can only give clues that start with the letter on the card. Only your team can guess.
Mute: Do anything except say words or make noises. We typically recommend charades type play, but you can make it interesting with drawing or clay as well. Only your team can guess.
Three’s a Crowd: Say two words and only your team can guess. If you opt for a third word, the other team can also guess.
Free for All: Say anything, but the other team can guess. You may want to be crafty with inside jokes or targeted clues the other team won’t get.
Ok, so let’s say the other team guesses your card because it’s either a Free for All or Three’s a Crowd situation. House rules say that the other team can get rid of one of their Bite Cards (any they choose) and you have to keep playing your Bite Card. It can really swing a game.
Another variation of play is that you simply have to go again if the other team guess your card - they aren’t able to also discard one of their cards. It’s basically just a missed turn.
Optional Rule: Discarding. We typically allow people to only discard 1 card (either Bite or Tongue) on their turn. When they discard, they lose their turn and pick up a replacement card.
You can also ban discarding altogether if you like. Make people feel the heat of a tough card.
The really finer details. Ok, if you made it this far, you’re either 1) a lawyer or accountant or 2) arguing with someone right now about the rules of the game. So here are a few obvious rules, but figured we’d mention anyway:
No, you can’t say words or portions of words on the card in your clues. If it’s anything like that, it’s not allowed.
No cheesy play like rhymes with, spelling out words in the sky, or other things that show you’re “that person” when games are played.
Teams should generally be even to allow for equal brainpower.