Whatzit? Board Game: Rules for How to Play

Objective

The objective of Whatzit? is to be the first player to reach the Winner’s Circle by solving puzzles.

Set Up

Place the gameboard in the middle of the table.
Each player chooses a pawn and places it on the Starting Space.
Place the dice, box of cards, and timer near the gameboard.
All of the players take a turn rolling the white die. The player that rolls the highest number starts the game. Play moves clockwise/left throughout the game.

How to Play Whatzit?

You will begin each of your turns rolling both of the dice.

Rolling the dice — This player rolled a three on the white die and a 1 on the black die.

First you will look at the number you rolled on the white die. Move your pawn forward as many spaces as you rolled on the die. You will count occupied spaces when moving and you can land on a space that is occupied by another player.

Movement in Whatzit? — Since they rolled a three on the white die, the blue player moves their playing piece forward three spaces.

After you have finished moving your pawn, look at the space your pawn is on. The space determines what type of card you will play on your turn. If your pawn is on a white ? space, you will play a regular Whatzit? card. If your pawn is on a yellow ? space, you will use a Wicked Whatzit? card.

Pawn on a yellow space — The blue pawn is on a yellow space. This means that they will use a Wicked Whatzit? card for their turn.

Solving the Puzzle

The player to the right of the current player is the Moderator for the current round. They will draw a card corresponding to the space that the player landed on. They will look at the answer, and be responsible for keeping track if anyone provides the correct answer.

Before the Moderator shows the puzzle side to the players, you need to look at what was rolled on the black die. This determines how many players can try to solve the puzzle. See the corresponding section below for details on how to play with each number of players.

Once the Moderator reveals the puzzle on the card, they will flip over the timer. The current player and any other players that will compete in the round, try to figure out the secret phrase pictured on the card. Any player who is playing can yell out as many answers as they want. There is no penalty for incorrect guesses.

Front of a puzzle card in Whatzit? — For this round the player(s) have to try and solve this puzzle card within the time limit.

Solution to a puzzle — The solution to the previous puzzle card is “Head and shoulders above the rest.”

The Moderator has some leeway on deciding whether a player provided the correct answer. If the answer is close to the solution and has basically the same meaning but phrased differently, the Moderator can decide that the answer was correct. Some puzzles also could have a second solution that makes sense. In this case the Moderator can also accept another solution that works.

Should two players answer at the same time, the Moderator determines who answered first. If they both answered at the same time, another card will be played to break the tiebreaker. If one player figures out part of the solution and another finishes it, the Moderator decides who deserves credit for solving the puzzle.

1 Solo

The current player is the only player allowed to guess the solution to the puzzle while the timer is running.

If the current player guesses the correct answer, they will move their pawn forward a number of spaces equal to the number they rolled on the white die.

Moving three after solving a puzzle — The yellow player solved the last puzzle. They will move their playing piece forward three spaces.

Should they be unable to solve the puzzle before time runs out, the player on their left gets to make one guess. This continues with the rest of the players (except for the Moderator) getting one guess. The first player to guess correctly gets to move their pawn forward spaces equal to the number rolled on the white die.

If none of the players guess the correct solution, no one gets to move their pawn. The Moderator reveals the answer to the puzzle.

No matter what happens, the current player’s turn ends. Play passes to the player on their left. The card used in the round is returned to the back of its corresponding section of the card box.

All Play

When you roll All, all of the players except for the Moderator get to try and solve the puzzle at the same time. All of the players can make as many guesses as they want. The round lasts until a player guesses the correct answer or the timer runs out.

The first player to provide the correct answer gets to move their pawn forward spaces equal to the number rolled on the white die.

Should no one guess correctly, no one gets to move their pawn. The Moderator reveals the solution and the card is returned to the back of its corresponding section in the card box.

In either case, the current player’s turn ends. Play passes to the player on their left.

1:1 Challenge

Should the current player roll 1:1 on the black die, they will choose another player to challenge. They can pick any player including the player that would normally be the Moderator. If they pick the player that would normally be the Moderator, another player becomes the Moderator for the round.

Once the card is revealed the current player and the player they challenged both try to solve the puzzle. You can make as many guesses as you want. The round ends when either time runs out or one of the players provide the correct solution.

Should someone find the solution, they can choose one of two actions.

First they can move forward the number of spaces rolled on the white die.

Otherwise they can swap the position of their pawn with the player they competed against. The two pawns swap positions.

Winning a challenge in Whatzit? — The green player beat the blue player in a challenge. The green player can either move forward the number of spaces rolled on the white die, or they can swap positions with the blue player. They likely will want to swap positions.

If no one guesses the solution, nothing happens.

The current player’s turn then ends. Play passes to the player on their left. The card is returned to the back of its corresponding section in the card box.

Wicked Whatzit Cards

Should you ever solve a Wicked Whatzit while you are on a yellow ? space, you can use the shortcut attached to the space. You will move your pawn to the white ? space on the other side of the shortcut.

Using a shortcut after solving a Wicked Whatzit? card — The blue player successfully solved a Wicked Whatzit? card. Since they were on a yellow space, they can move their pawn along the attached shortcut.

You cannot use the shortcut if you land or switch to a yellow ? after you solve the Wicked Whatzit card. You can only use the shortcut if you land on the space after you move your pawn at the beginning of your turn.

Winner’s Circle

The goal is to reach the Winner’s Circle space. You do not have to land on the Winner’s Circle space by exact count.

There are a couple different ways that you can end up on the Winner’s Circle space.

If you move to the space with your initial movement, you can immediately play a round to try and win the game.
Should you move to the space after solving a puzzle, you have to wait until your next turn to try and win the game.
If your pawn is switched to the space, you will wait until your next turn to try and win the game.

Whenever you start one of your turns on the Winner’s Circle space, you will still roll both dice to determine who can try to solve the puzzle and what the reward for another player is if they solve the puzzle.

On your turn you will use a Wicked Whatzit card. If you are the player that solves the puzzle, you win the game. Should another player solve the puzzle, they get to move their pawn forward using the number you rolled on the white die. If you lost a 1:1 round, the other player can swap positions with your pawn.

You can also win the game on another player’s turn. Should you ever solve another player’s puzzle while you are on the Winner’s Circle space, you win the game. You can win on a regular or Wicked Whatzit card.

Whatzit? FAQ

If you have any questions about how to play the game, leave a comment below on this post. I will try to answer any questions asked as best and as quickly as possible.

Components

1987 Edition

Gameboard
576 Cards
6 Pawns
Timer
White Die (1-6)
Black Die
Instructions

Year: 1987 | Publisher: Milton Bradley, RoseArt, Warren Industries, Waddingtons | Designer: Michel Laclos, Liliane Laclos, Paul Sellers

Genres: Family, Puzzle, Trivia

Ages: 12+ | Number of Players: 3-6 | Length of Game: 30-60 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.

Written By:

Eric Mortensen

Eric Mortensen is an owner and head writer on Geeky Hobbies since 2014. He is an avid board game player and collector with over 3,000 board and card games in his collection. Since 2014 he has written more than 1,100 board game how to play guides.