Looking for specific On a Scale of One to T-Rex rules? | Setup | Playing the Game | Matching Cards | Scoring | Swap Cards | Winning the Game | Two Players |
Setup
- Separate the Action Cards (square) by their colors into three different facedown piles.
- Turn over the top card from each pile and place them in the Play Area. It is recommended for your first game to place the “Be a T-Rex”, “Flex Your Muscles”, and “Draw a Circle in the Air” cards in the Play Area.
- Shuffle the Number Cards (rectangular). Deal one card facedown to each player. Place the remaining cards facedown on the table to form the Draw Pile.
- Grab a number of Good Tokens and Bad Tokens depending on the number of players, and place them in the middle of the table.
| # of Players | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| Good Tokens | 15 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 28 | 32 | 36 |
| Bad Tokens | 0 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 |
- Keep any extra tokens in the bottom of the box. Place the top of the box in the middle of the table.
How to Play On a Scale of One to T-Rex
In the Play Area there are three Action Cards. These are the actions that players will perform during the game.
Each player also has a Number Card in their hand that they keep secret from the other players. Every Number Card has its own color. Each color corresponds to one of the three Action Cards. The color indicates which of the three actions that you will have to perform. If you receive a Swap Card to start the game, shuffle it back into the deck and draw a new card.
The value on your Number Card indicates the intensity at which you will perform the action. For example if you have a one, you will perform the action, but subtlety. If your card as a ten on it, you will perform the action enthusiastically. How you interpret your number and action is up to you.
All of the players will perform their actions at the same time. There are not many restrictions on what you can do while acting. You can talk, sing, dance, and move. The only restrictions revolve around revealing the number on your Number Card. You cannot say the number on your card, or say something like half or any other word that gives a clue about what number is on your card. Basically the game says if it feels like you are cheating, you are cheating.
If you don’t want to perform your action or you don’t think you can find a match, you can discard your Number Card to the box. You will then draw a new Number Card. There is no penalty for discarding a Number Card. You can discard as many Number Cards as you want. You are wasting time discarding and drawing new cards though, so you don’t want to constantly discard cards.
Matching Cards
While performing your action, you want to pay attention to the other players. You are looking for a player that you think is performing their action at the same level as you are performing your action. Basically you are looking for a player that you think has the same number on their card as you have on your card. The actions the other players are performing don’t matter. You can perform a different action than another player, and still think you match their number.
When you think your number matches another player, you will present your card to them. You will pass the card facedown to them so they can’t see the number on your card. The other player watches your acting to see if they agree with your assessment. If they agree, they will pass their card facedown to you. Both players will then turn over the card passed to them at the same time. Players will then determine if their numbers matched. See the Scoring section below for more details.
If you are passed a card from a player that you don’t think has the same number as you, you can deny the card and continue playing.
Only two players can try to match their cards. If there are three players that think they have the same number, only two of the players can attempt a match.
Scoring
When two players reveal their cards, they will compare the numbers present on both of their cards. They will receive tokens depending on whether they were correct or not.
If both numbers are exactly the same, the players have completed an exact match. Both players take two Good Tokens.
If the two numbers are within one of each other (4 and 5, 2 and 3, etc), the players have completed a near match. Both players take one Good Token.
Should there be a gap of more than one between the numbers, the players did not match. Both players take a Bad Token.
No matter if the players matched or didn’t, both Number Cards are placed in the box in the middle of the table. Both players then draw a new Number Card and continue playing the game. If the Draw Pile ever runs out of cards, you will take the cards out of the box and shuffle them to form a new Draw Pile.
Swap Cards
Among the Number Cards are a series of Swap Cards.
If you receive one of these cards to start the game, you shuffle it back into the deck and draw a new card.
Should you draw the card at any other time, you will look at the color on the card. You will find the corresponding Action Card from the Play Area and discard it to the box in the middle of the table. You will announce which color you got rid of, and then draw a new card of the same color and place it face up in the Play Area. This is the new action players will perform if their Number Card is the corresponding color. Finally discard the Swap Card to the box, and draw a new Number Card. You will then continue playing the game normally.
If an Action Card is swapped out while you are performing the action; you can continue acting out what you were doing, or you can switch to the new action.
Winning the Game
The game ends when either all of the Good or Bad Tokens are taken from the table. If the final match requires additional Good/Bad Tokens, you will take the necessary tokens from the box.
Each player counts up the Good and Bad Tokens they collected during the game. Each Good Token is worth one point, while each Bad Token is worth negative one point. The player that scores the most points, wins On a Scale of One to T-Rex.
If two players tie for the most points, all of the players not tied for the lead choose two Action Cards. The tied players have to perform both actions at the same time at a level of ten. The non-tied players then decide who they thought gave the best performance. That player wins the game.
Two Players
If there are only two players, the rules are tweaked. The two players are playing cooperatively. Fifteen Good Tokens are placed on the table. The goal of the game is to move all of the Tokens from the table to the box. The setup and gameplay are mostly the same as the normal game.
Both players still perform their actions at the same time. The players then decide whether they think their numbers match, or don’t match. When both players have agreed on whether they match or don’t match, both Number Cards are flipped over.
If the players thought they matched and both numbers are the same, two tokens are moved from the table to the box.
When the players think they match and their numbers are within one of each other, one token is moved from the table to the box.
If the players don’t think they matched and their numbers are more than one apart, you will move one of the tokens from the table to the box.
Should the two players be wrong about matching/not matching, the players immediately lose the game. For example the players thought their numbers matched, but their numbers were more than one apart. Or they thought their numbers didn’t match, but they were the same number or one apart.
As long as the game isn’t over, the players will discard their current Number Cards and draw a new card. You are not allowed to skip cards. For each card you must decide if it matches or doesn’t match the other player’s card.
If you draw a Swap card, you will swap out one of the Action Cards like the normal game.
To win the game you have to successfully move all fifteen tokens from the table to the box.
Components
- 60 Action Cards (20 of each color)
- 79 Number Cards
- 40 Good Tokens
- 18 Bad Tokens
- Instructions
Year: 2019 | Publisher: Exploding Kittens | Designer: Wolfgang Warsch | Artist: Wolfgang Warsch
Genres: Family, Party
Ages: 7+ | Number of Players: 2-8 | Length of Game: 15-20 minutes
Difficulty: Light | Strategy: Light | Luck: Moderate-High
For more board and card game rules/how to plays, check out our complete alphabetical list of card and board game rules posts.