Rules to Wits & Wagers: Second Edition

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Asking the Question: The Question Reader picks up the 1st Question Card from

the table, announces that it is Question #1, and reads Question #1 from the card.

Answering the Question: The Question Reader turns over the 30-second Sand

Timer. Players (or teams) have 30 seconds to write a guess on their Answer Card. Try

to come as close as possible to the correct answer, without going over. The answer

to every question will be a number, so you can always estimate a guess. Players

may answer in whole numbers or in decimals.

Questions 2 - 7: The Question Reader always reads the question that corresponds

to the question number being played. For the 2

question of the game, read

Question #2 on the 2nd Question Card drawn from the box. For the 7

and ﬁnal

question, read Question #7 on the 7th Question Card drawn from the box.

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When the Sand Timer runs out, place the Answer Cards face up on the Betting Mat.

Arrange the guesses in increasing order, from the smallest

guess to the largest guess, as directed by the arrows on the Betting Mat.

# Duplicate Guesses:

If multiple players wrote the same guess, place them in the same payout slot.

# Odd # of Unique Guesses:

The middle guess goes in the “Pays 2 to 1” payout slot.

# Even # of Unique Guesses:

The “Pays 2 to 1” payout slot is left open.

The two middle guesses go in the two “Pays 3 to 1” payout slots.

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Not a trivia buff? It doesn’t matter! Each player writes down a guess to the same

question and places it face-up on the betting mat. Think you know it?

Bet on your guess! Think you know who the expert is? Bet on them. The player with

the most points after 7 questions wins.

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Wits & Wagers is most fun with groups of 6 or more people. We recommend playing

at holiday parties, family reunions, or any large gathering of friends.

Be prepared for light-hearted banter, a little bravado, and a big dose of cheering!

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Wits & Wagers is a great team game. If you have a large group, we recommend

dividing into 7 teams. Each team can have 1 – 3 players. If playing with larger

teams, you may require extra time for answering questions and betting. Under these

conditions, wait an extra 10 – 20 seconds before turning over the sand timer.

Sometimes it is fun to have someone host Wits & Wagers in the style of a TV game

show. The Host should be both the Question Reader and the Banker. The Host may

also participate in the game if they wish.

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Each player (or team) starts with 1 Dry Erase Pen, 1 Answer Card, and 2

cardboard Betting Chips of the same color as their Answer Card. Give each

player a paper napkin or tissue to erase their Answer Card in between questions.

# Write your name (or a witty team name) on your Answer Card.

# Choose one player to be the Banker. Place the Poker Chips next to the Banker.

Choose one player to be the Question Reader. Place the Sand Timer next to the

Question Reader.

# The Question Reader should remove 7 Question Cards from the box and place

them on the table yellow-side-up. These are the 7 Question Cards that will be

used during the game.

Ages: 10 & up Players: 4 - 20

Teach Time: 2 minutes Playing Time: 25 minutes

7 Unique Guesses

Witless Wonders

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Duplicate Guesses

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6 Unique Guesses

4 Unique Guesses5 Unique Guesses

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The Question Reader turns over the 30-second Sand Timer once the guesses have been

sorted. Players (or teams) get 30 seconds to bet their two cardboard Betting Chips. The

goal is to bet on the guess that is closest to the correct answer, without going over.

Betting Options: Players can bet their two Betting Chips in one of the following ways:

# Bet both Betting Chips on the same payout slot.

# Split their Betting Chips between any two payout slots.

# You do not have to bet on your own guess.

# You may only bet on a payout slot that has a guess in it, unless it is the “All Guesses

Too High” slot.

Moving Your Bets: During the 30-second betting period, it is OK for players

to move their bets. However, players may not place a bet or move a bet after

the Sand Timer has run out.

Questions 2 - 7: Players will win red and blue Poker Chips for betting correctly. These

Poker Chips can be bet according to the following rules:

# Red Poker Chips are worth 1 point (just like a cardboard Betting Chip). Blue Poker

Chips are worth 5 points.

# Poker Chips must always be placed underneath a cardboard Betting Chip. This way

the Banker will know who placed each bet.

# Players may place any number of Poker Chips underneath each Betting Chip. There

is no limit as to how much players can bet.

# Players can still only place a maximum of two bets per question.

# Poker Chips are lost if they are bet on the wrong guess. Betting Chips are always

returned, even if they are bet on the wrong guess!

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The Question Reader ﬂips over the card and reads the answer.

Closest Guess Without Going Over: The winning payout slot will have the

guess that is closest to the correct answer, without going over.

Example #1: If the correct answer is 1991, “1989” is the winning guess

because “1992” is too high.

All Guesses Are Too High: If all of the guesses are higher than the correct

answer, then “All Guesses Too High” is the winning payout slot.

Example #2: If the correct answer is 1985, “All Guesses Too High” is the

winning payout slot.

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The Banker awards a bonus of 3 red poker chips to each player (or team)

who wrote a guess that was placed in the winning payout slot.

© 2007 North Star Games, LLC. Patents pending. All rights reserved. The following are trademarks of North Star Games, LLC: Wits & Wagers, “Games with Personality”, and “Brainless Trivia, Shameless Fun”.

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Losing Bets:

# The Banker collects the Betting Chips that are not on the winning payout slot and returns them to the appropriate players.

# The Banker collects the Poker Chips that are not on the winning payout slot and returns them to the bank.

Winning Bets:

# The Banker pays each player (or team) who bet on the winning payout slot (see examples below).

# The cardboard Betting Chips and the Red Poker Chips are worth 1 point. The Blue Poker Chips are worth 5 points.

If you bet the

following:

on this

payout slot:

The Banker gives

you back your bet

Plus the payout of the slot you bet upon

(1 point)

PAYS 2 TO 1

(1 point)

(2 points)

PAYS 3 TO 1

(2 points)

(6 points)

(2 points)

PAYS 4 TO 1

(2 points)

(8 points)

PAYS 5 TO 1

(8 points)

(40 points)

(2 points)

PAYS 6 TO 1

(2 points)

(12 points)

Next Question: Players take back their Answer Cards. The Question Reader places the used Question Card blue-side-up on the table next to the

remaining Question Cards. This way, they can count the blue-side-up Question Cards if players forget how many questions have been asked.

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The player (or team) with the most points at the end of the 7

question wins the game! In the case of a tie, the team with the youngest player wins.

The Question Reader should return the 7 used Question Cards to the back of the deck. When you start a new game, draw the 7 cards from the front of the deck.

This way, you won’t repeat a question until you have gone through all 700 questions!

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For variants (tournament play, secret betting, etc.), go to www.NorthStarGames.com and click on the Wits & Wagers “LEARN MORE” button.

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North Star Games would like to thank the devoted community at www.BoardGameGeek.com for their continual feedback and support. We would also like to thank Nate

Heasley, Steve Quade, Mary Halbe, Hajo & Mirta, Ritvik Purohit, Andy Harke, Lorena Diaz, Jason Strong, Tricia Wieber, Molly Hall, Matt Anderson, Peggy Ann Brown, Lou

Kesten, and Melanie Rigney for their contributions to the game and our company.