FARRAGO: (/fə-rä′gō, -rā′-/), noun - a mass composed of various materials confusedly mixed; a medley; a hodgepodge.
Farrago is a word game of quick thinking and trivia, creating a hodgepodge of answers, and driving your scribe crazy as they write it all down! Each turn you have 60 seconds to come up with one answer for each of the lettered dice that fits the assigned topic. If you don't manage to get answers for all eight dice, the other team gets a chance to steal points by coming up with answers for those dice in the same topic. The team with the highest score after five rounds wins!
Contents:
- 36 Topic Cards containing 5 topics each
- 8 12-sided, lettered dice
- Dice bag
- 60 second timer
- 30 second timer
- Rule Booklet
How to Play
You can play Farrago as a group (1-3 players), or you can play on two teams. When playing on teams, a turn looks like this:
- Team 1 takes the dice and assigns a scribe for that turn (someone to write down the words and score them). They shake the dice in the bag and pour them onto the table.
- Team 2 takes a topic cards and reads the topic for the current round (the topic with a "1" for the first round, "2" for the second, etc.). Once the topic is read, Team 2 starts the 60 second timer.
- Team 1's players call out answers that match the dice letters, while their scribe writes down the answers. They can move the dice that they've used to the side to help them keep track - careful not to change the letter! While there needs to be eight different answers (one for each letter), answer words that use multiple letters are worth more points. If Team 1 manages to get answers for all eight dice, they can change their answers for better points.
- If any dice remain after the timer is up, Team 1 starts the 30s timer, and Team 2 gets a chance to give answers for those dice. Not only does Team 2 get to score the answers they make for those dice, Team 1 won't be able to use those dice when scoring their answers, essentially stealing points from their turn!
- Once the second timer is done, both teams will correct their spelling and then score their answers.
Now it's Team 2's turn, with Team 1 drawing a new card and reading the topic for the current round. Once both teams have had a turn, the round is over, and you move on to the second round.
Group Play: When playing as a group, you all work together to get the best score in five rounds. Dice without answers are omitted when scoring, or for a challenge can count as negative points.
Party Play: Lots of people? Use a white board and write the rolled letters on there first. The scribe will write the answers next to the letters. The opposing team can use a different colored marker for their answers, or they can circle the letters they use (to help track for scoring).
Scoring
Each valid answer starts as 1 point. The points for an answer increase based on the number of unique dice letters found in the answer’s word. The team only gets to count dice they had answers for, and any dice not stolen by the other team. The stealing team only get points using stolen dice (see Example Turn below), or dice not used by either team. Letters can only be counted more than once if more than one die has that letter.
Ex: We have the dice C, E, E, and S. The topic is “Dairy Items.” Team 1 chooses the word “CHEESE” which starts with C, and uses two E and S. When scoring, underline “CHEESE.” That’s four unique dice letters found, making this word worth 5 points.
Example Turn
On the first round, Team 1 takes the dice and assigns a scribe. Team 2 takes a card and reads the topic with the number 1: “Countries.” Team 1 shakes the dice, pours them out, and gets:
D R S A T U E O
👉HINT: Team 1 can reposition the dice so they’re easier to see but CANNOT change them.
Team 2 starts the 60s timer. Team 1 comes up with the following answers:
SPAIN
RWANDA
ESTONIA
DENMARK
THAILAND
The timer runs out, leaving O, A, and U for Team 2. Team 1 starts the 30 second timer. Team 2 comes up with:
OMAN
UGANDA
When the timer ends, both teams check their spelling and score their answers. Team 1 scores:
SPAIN: 2 points
RWANDA: 3 points
ESTONIA: 8 points
DENMARK: 5 points
THAILAND: 3 points
... for a total of 19 points. They still get points for A’s even though they didn’t have an answer for that die, because Team 2 didn’t steal it. However, they don’t get points for O’s or U’s, because Team 2 did steal those.
Team 2 scores:
OMAN: 2 points
UGANDA: 2 points
... for a total of 4 points. They still get points for A’s even though they didn’t have an answer for that die because Team 1 didn’t use it. However, they don’t get points for the D in “Uganda” because Team 1 had an answer for it.
The scores are record, and now Team 2 takes their turn for Round 1.