Who? What? Wherewolf!

  Not so long ago, English professor Harry Howell matched on a dating site with a witch named Glinda Goode. They met for coffee and conversation, but it did not go well. Harry had been known to be a compulsive complainer when it came to others’ grammatical skills, and this date was no exception. His corrections of Glinda’s grammar were too much for her to swallow, so she decided to make Harry eat his words. When he went to the counter to berate the barista about the disorder of the sweetener packets, the witch went into action. Glinda poured a portion of a potion into his latte, and headed for the door. Now, anytime there’s a full moon, Harry literally transforms into a literary beast. That’s where you come in.

  You are part of a society of sleuths that search for the supernatural, and have heard the tale of a hirsute scholar that roams the area at night. Unfortunately, your car has broken down seemingly in the middle of nowhere, and cell reception is non-existent. There is only one house within walking distance, but as fate would have it, it’s Harry’s home. Your ringing of his doorbell brings the professor out into the moonlight, where he mutates into a monster and gives chase. But, luckily enough, you possess a survival guide for this very situation, and know just what to do. To keep Harry at bay, you must feed him sentences, before he feeds on you. Can you quell his cravings with creative conversation that satisfies the rules? Can you hold off Harry until the sun supplants the moon? Follow these instructions, and you may live to see another day. Don’t and you’ll find yourself muttering, “Who? What? Wherewolf!”

 

Players: 2-10          Ages: 14+          Time: 30-45 minutes

 

Object: To create sentences in the time allowed using words that begin with letters from flipped cards; and score enough points to keep you safely away from the Wherewolf.

 

Contents: 1 Game Mat, 1 deck of 40 Letter Cards, 8 Sentence Part Guides, 12 Helper Tokens, 1Team marker, and 1 Wherewolf marker.

 

Before Play: Shuffle the Letter Cards and divide them evenly into two piles. Place the piles on the designated spots signifying which letter is first and which is second. Next, place three Helper Tokens in the first designated spot, two in the second, and one in the third. Decide who will be going first, and distribute the Sentence Part guides in this order: Who, What, Where, and When. Place the pieces so that the team starts on the arrow stone, and the Wherewolf begins on the house. Finally, set a timer for 45 seconds.

 

Play: The game takes place over the four sections of the map with each section made up of sixteen steps, leading away from the house at midnight and returning at daylight. Four players take turns creating a sentence using the flipped letters for their individual Sentence Parts. If there are only 3 players, the Who player will also complete the When part. If there are only 2 players, they will alternate completing Sentence Parts.

  If there are more than 4 players, it is suggested that players divide into 2 teams. When playing with 2 teams the second team should play as the Wherewolf, with teams racing in opposite directions and starting on the first step of their respective sides. The time allowed and helper tokens will now decrease after 8 steps instead of 16 like in a single-team game. The teams will try to pass the midway line directly across from the house to be declared the winner; but if both teams cross the line on the same turn, the timer should be decreased by 5 seconds and each team plays another round. Continue this way, decreasing the time, until 1 team earns more steps than the other on a turn. If there are 5 players, an alternative to splitting into 2 teams would be for the 5th player to play as the Designated Helper, with that responsibility rotating along with the Sentence Parts.

  When ready, any player turns over 1 Letter card from each pile, revealing 2 Letters; and the timer is started. The player in the Who position starts the sentence by saying two words that match the letters in order. Players can decide how lenient they want to be, but here is a guide to give a basic idea of how the Sentence Parts should work:

 

Who: A character that the sentence will be about. A descriptor may be used as well.

Example: The Letters drawn are T and C. The Who player might say, Tom Cruise, or possibly A Tall Chap.

 

What: The action that the Who is doing, has done, or will do.

Example: Immediately following Who, the second player that has What would continue the sentence with Tom Cruise teaches calligraphy, or A tall chap telephones celebrities.

 

Where: The location where the What takes place.

Example: The Where player would follow with something like Tom Cruise teaches calligraphy in Torrance, California, or A tall chap telephones celebrities in Taxi Cabs.

 

When: The point in time when the What is, has, or will be taking place.

Example: Finally, the player with When takes their turn and says, Tom Cruise teaches calligraphy in Torrance, California at Ten Central time, or A tall chap telephones celebrities in taxi cabs during Traffic Congestion.

 

As you will note, it is perfectly acceptable to add words before or after the two key words of your part. However, you may only insert words between the two key words by using a Helper Token. Once a Helper Token has been used, it is out of play for the rest of the game. The Helper Token may also be used in a situation where a player is stumped, and needs assistance from another player. The current player has to ask for help, and only one other player may offer up a suggestion. There will be one less Helper Token available for each successive section of the map.

 

After time has run out, move the markers the appropriate number of steps and rotate the Sentence Part guides clockwise.

 

Scoring - Team:

The team moves around the map in the same way for all four sections. A successful Who gets 1 step. What equals a 2nd step. Where brings in a 3rd step, and When will earn the team the full 4 steps. In addition, if all four Sentence Parts are completed in time, teams may receive a bonus for using some of the more difficult letters (J, K, Q, V, Y, and Z). However, if a Helper Token is used to complete the sentence, no bonus steps will be taken. Note: For the full 4 steps, the When player must recite the entire sentence before time runs out. If the Wherewolf catches you, the game is OVER. However, if there are any unused Helper tokens when a team is caught by the Wherewolf, they may be traded in to gain steps. 1 Helper token equals 1 step.

 

Scoring - Wherewolf: 

The Wherewolf moves 1 step for each part of a sentence that the team fails to complete in the first section. His steps double in the second section, triple in the third, and quadruple in the last section. Also, once the team has reached the second section, the Wherewolf will advance 1 step when the team completes a sentence. He’ll gain 2 steps in the third section, and 3 steps in the fourth section. Note: The starting point for the round is what determines the number of steps for the Wherewolf. If there are 2 teams playing, the Wherewolf team will score just like the other team.

 

Timing:

In the first section, teams will have 45 seconds to complete the sentence. In section two, the time drops to 40 seconds. The time decreases again to 35 seconds for the third section, and down to 30 seconds for the final section.

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Good luck, have fun, and don’t get eaten.