"Articulate" Description Game

This is an old game that has been marketed as a board game - see wikipedia.org/wiki/Articulate - but only really needs pen and paper and a phone for a timer. Here are the rules based on www.drumondpark.com/rules/articulate 

Preparation

Each player writes down 4 phrases or terms on separate cards (or pieces of paper) and puts them in a hat. The phrases or terms can be anything: “The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine”, “Google”, “Air”, “A rose by any other name”, “Ducks and drakes”, “Pivot table” – they can be nouns, verbs, abstract concepts, phrases of poems or sayings, etc.

Players divide into teams of two or more. The more players per team the better. If for example there are eight players two teams of four is better than four teams of two.

Each turn team members are nominated DESCRIBERS and GUESSERS. All players MUST take their turn at being describers. No matter how big the team, there are never more than two describers.

• Teams of 2 players have 1 describer and 1 guesser
• Teams of 3 players have 2 describers and 1 guesser
• Teams of 4 players have 2 describers and 2 guessers

Advanced players may wish to have only 1 describer per turn, whatever the team size. This should be decided at the start of the game.

Playing the Game

Play begins when the timer starts. The timer should be set for one minute. The describers take a card from the hat and describe the phrase or term.

When a team member shouts out the correct answer the describers quickly take another card and repeat the process. When the timer runs out, the turn is finished. The describers keep the number of cards that were correctly guessed and put the rest back in the hat.

Describers must be careful not to break any of the description rules. If they break one of these rules they forfeit the turn. The description rules are that you may not:

• Say what letter the word starts with, or how many letters it has.
• Say the word or any derivative eg. if the word is "post" you may not say "postage" or "postman"; for "swim" you may not say "swimmer" etc.
• Use "rhymes with" or "sounds like" type clues.

Describers may choose to pass over a card.

When all cards have been guessed, tally each team’s score and put the cards back in the hat.

In Round 2, using the same cards and different describers, the describers take a card from the hat and use mime to describe the phrase or term.

In Round 3, using the same cards, the describers take a card from the hat and must use only one single word (following the description rules above) as a clue to identify the phrase or term.

When all 3 rounds have finished, tally each team’s total score and the team with the most points is the winner.