Just One

Version 1.0

Original © 2018 by Sombreros Production (Repos). Modified for PBM by Howard Bishop 2024.

This is an experimental set of PBM rules. There is no attempt to infringe the copyright.

Overview

PBM Just One is a cooperative game for 5 or 6 players. The players are trying to maximise their collective score.

The basic objective of the game is for a player to guess a hidden word via one-word clues provided by their teammates.

The twist is that duplicate clues are removed by the GM. The game is played over 6 rounds for 5 players and 5 rounds for 6 players.

For each word guessed correctly the players score one point. Each incorrect guess loses a point. The guesser can choose to pass which neither scores, nor loses a point. The team score is the aggregate of the 30 words and can therefore range from -30 to +30.

Turn Set-up

On each of the turns of the game, the GM randomly selects a word for each player (shown only to the other players). From the clues provided by the players in the previous postal turn, the GM removes any duplicate words from the clues provided and the remaining clues are shown to the guesser.

General Rule

Players should avoid using the internet, both when choosing a clue or when attempting to guess their word.

Orders (Clue Giving)

Players choose a one-word clue that they hope will allow the guesser to correctly identify the word in question. There are specific rules governing what are invalid clues.

• The Mystery word but written differently.
  Example: Shurt is not allowed when trying to make the player guess Shirt.
• The Mystery word written in a foreign language.
  Example: Buisson is not allowed if the word to be guessed is Shrub.
• A word from the same family as the Mystery word.
  Example: Princess is not allowed if the word to be guessed is Prince.
• An invented word.
  Example: Swee'ting is not allowed to try to help someone guess Cake.
• A word phonetically identical to the Mystery word, but the meaning of which is different.
  Example: Whether is not allowed to try to get someone to guess Weather.

Orders (Guessing)

• The guesser can choose to pass, or to attempt a guess at the word.
• If the guess is correct then 1 point is scored for the team.
• If the guess is incorrect then 1 point is deducted from the team's score.
• If the guesser passed, the score is unchanged.

Example: The target word is BARBECUE:
The five clues provided are GRILL, GRILLED, BURGER, CHARCOAL and ROBBIE
GRILL and GRILLED are considered to be the same word, so the guesser is provided with the last 3 words. The guesser might consider BURGER and CHARCOAL to point to the word GRILL, if they twig that ROBBIE refers to Margot Robbie, (i.e. Barbie), they might conceivably guess BARBECUE correctly. Most likely they will pass and score nothing for the word.

Game End

The players' final score is the total of all 30 words.