Are you looking for specific Stuff You Should Know rules? | Setup | Playing the Game | Lifelines | Winning the Game |
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Setup
- Punch out all of the tokens and dividers if they haven’t been punched out yet.
- Separate the cards by their types. Use the dividers to separate the different categories of cards.
- Flip all of the lifeline tokens so the black side (Stuff Someone Else Should Know) is visible. Shuffle up the tokens.
- Each player takes a category board and three of the lifeline tokens. Place the tokens on the spaces on the right side of your category board. You should make sure the black side of the tokens are still faceup. You cannot look at the other side of the lifeline tokens.
- Return the remaining lifeline tokens to the box.
- Place the category tokens in the middle of the table.
- The player who has listened to the most SYSK episodes starts the game. Play moves clockwise throughout the game.
How to Play Stuff You Should Know
To begin each of your turns you should look at your category board. Pick a category that you don’t already own a category token for. The categories in Stuff You Should Know are as follows:
- History
- Pop Culture
- Myths, Legends, and Conspiracies
- Science and Tech
- Humans
- SYSK Selects (random topics)
The player to your left draws the card in front of the section that matches the category that you chose. They will read off the episode title at the top of the card along with the question. They should hold the card so players can’t see the question on the back of the card.
After hearing the question you will try to provide the correct answer. If you are unsure, you can choose to use one of your lifelines (see below).
After you have submitted your answer, the player with the card confirms whether you gave the correct answer. If you guessed correctly, take a category token matching the category of the card. Place the category token on the corresponding section of your category board.
If you did not provide the correct answer, you do not get to take a token.
The reader places the card in the back of the corresponding section of the box. Play then passes to the next player in clockwise direction.
Using a Lifeline
If you are unsure of the answer for the current question, you can choose to use a lifeline token in order to get some help. To begin the game you will receive three lifeline tokens. You can only use one lifeline each turn.
There are a number of different lifeline tokens which give you help in different ways.
Stuff Someone Else Should Know
When you choose to use a Stuff Someone Else Should Know token, choose one of the other players. You can’t choose the reader. The other players should try to get the current player to pick them if they know the answer. They don’t lose anything if they are wrong, but can receive a reward if they are correct.
After a player is chosen they have to give their best answer. They have to give only one answer. You can’t give an answer like I think it is A or C. You have to give a specific answer. For example they can say I think the answer is A.
The current player then has to decide whether they will go with the answer provided by the player they chose, or if they want to come up with their own answer.
The results then depend on whether you got the answer correct and whether you used the other player’s answer.
Correct Answer
If you correctly guessed the answer, you will take a category token matching the card.
When you use the answer provided by the chosen player, you will give them the Stuff Someone Else Should Know token you used. They will flip over the token. They can use that lifeline on one of their future turns. On the other side of the token will be one of the lifeline tokens detailed below.
If you chose to use an answer other than the one picked by the player you chose, the other player gets nothing. You will discard the Stuff Someone Else Should Know token you used.
Incorrect Answer
Should you provide an incorrect answer, you do not receive any tokens on your turn.
If you used the answer provided by the chosen player, they don’t receive anything. Discard the Stuff Someone Else Should Know lifeline token.
If you chose a different answer but the chosen player was correct, they get to take the Stuff Someone Else Should Know token that you used. They will flip it to the other side. They can use the corresponding lifeline on one of their future turns.
50/50
You can only use the 50/50 lifeline on a multiple choice question. When you use the lifeline the current reader chooses two of the incorrect answers to eliminate. They can pick which incorrect answers to eliminate. You now have two answers to choose from.
Discard the lifeline token after you use it.
Stuff You Should Skip
When you use this lifeline, you will skip the current question. The reader draws a new card. You will try to answer the next question.
Discard the lifeline token after you use it.
Stuff You Should Research
The Stuff You Should Research token allows you a chance to look up the answer. You have 15 seconds to use the search engine of your choice to try and find the answer. One of the other players uses a timer to keep track of time. The timer starts as soon as you start typing.
After the time runs out you must immediately give an answer.
Discard the lifeline token after you use it.
Swap A Token
When you use this lifeline token you have a choice to make.
First you can choose one of your category tokens and swap it with one in front of another player. You may want to do this if you have a category token you know well, and another player has a token for a category you don’t know well. The two tokens are swapped.
Otherwise you can pick two category tokens in front of other players. You will swap the two tokens.
When swapping tokens you must make sure that no player has two tokens from the same category. You cannot swap a token if it would give a player two tokens from the same category.
Discard the lifeline token after you use it.
Steal A Token
Choose a category token from in front of another player. You will take the token and place it on your own category board. You do not give anything to the player that you stole the token from.
Discard the lifeline token after you use it.
Winning Stuff You Should Know
The first player to place a category token on each of the six spaces on their category board, wins the game. All of the players should get the same number of turns. If a player completes their board and another player is only one token away and has not taken as many turns, they get to take another turn to try and tie the game.
If two or more players fill their boards in the same number of turns, the tied players compare the number of lifelines they have left. Whichever tied player has the most lifelines left, wins the game.
Components
- 300 cards
- 6 Category Boards
- 36 Category Tokens
- 18 Lifeline Tokens
- 6 Deck Dividers
- Instructions
Year: 2021 | Publisher: Hasbro | Designer: Joe Bradford
Genres: Party, Trivia
Ages: 16+ | Number of Players: 3-6 | Length of Game: 20-60 minutes
Difficulty: Light | Strategy: Light | Luck: Moderate
For more board and card game rules/how to plays, check out our complete alphabetical list of card and board game rules posts.