Detailed Game Instructions

Introduction

List, Rank, 'n Roll is a trivia game designed for the nontrivial gamer. This game challenges players to not only answer trivia questions across various categories but to also rank their answers in order. Ideal for ages 12 and older, this game blends knowledge, quick thinking, gut instinct, and a little bit of luck.

Game Objective

Players try to score the most points by correctly answering trivia questions and successfully ranking the correct answers. The game is played over a series of 8 or 9 questions, depending on the number of teams.

Contents

Each game box includes one booklet of scoresheets, two dice, two-minute sand timer, and six boxes of trivia cards (16 cards each) covering the following 6 categories:

Sports & Spectacles: This category encompasses questions about sports records, famous athletes, major sporting events, and sports history.

Entertainment & Pop Culture: This category is dedicated to Music, TV, Movies, Theater and Entertainment. It's the go-to for questions about famous songs, iconic movies, television series, and notable personalities in these fields.

Science & Technology: This category includes questions on Science and Technology, focusing on discoveries, technological advancements, and famous scientists and inventors.

History & Geography: Merging History and Geography, this category focuses on significant historical events and figures, landscapes and population. It's a good fit for questions that require a look back through the ages.

Economy & Politics: Combining Politics and Economics, this category covers poverty and wealth, production of goods both globally and domestically, political ideologies, and important economic events.

Potpourri: This category blends elements of literature, culture, trends and a smattering of questions that just don’t fit well into the other categories.

Note: Each card contains an interesting “factoid” which is not part of the scoring. It’s just for fun.

Setup

Determine if you want to play in teams or as individuals (team of 1). Roll the die to determine the playing order, with the lowest number going first. (The team going first will be “Team 1”) Play proceeds clockwise.
Each team receives a scoresheet and will need a writing implement.
The team to the right of Team 1 becomes the “Reader” for the first question and takes possession of the trivia cards and timer.
Each team appoints a spokesperson to represent the team’s final answers.

Gameplay

Category Selection: Team 1 rolls both dice to determine the category from which to choose a question. Rolling doubles allows the team to determine the category.

Example 1: Team 1 rolls a 1 and a 3. Team 1 may choose a question from Sports & Spectacles (1) OR Science & Technology (3).
Example 2: Team 1 rolls a 4 and a 4. Rolling doubles is team choice and can choose any category.

Each question consists of 2 rounds.

Round 1 - The “List” Round: The Reader reads aloud a question from the “List” side of the trivia card from Team 1’s chosen category, and immediately sets the 2-minute sand timer. All teams have two minutes to write down their top 5 answers.

When time is up, the Reader asks Team 1 to list all five of their answers. The Reader will compare Team 1’s answers to the correct answers listed on the trivia card (which are listed alphabetically) and say “yes” or “no” after each answer is provided. All teams circle any correct answers on their own list, cross out any incorrect answers and add additional answers provided by other teams or the Reader in the 2nd column.

Once Team 1 finishes providing their answers, Team 2 shares answers from their list that were not offered by Team 1 (assuming Team 1 did not provide all 5 correct answers). This process continues until all 5 answers are achieved or until all teams have had an opportunity to provide their answers.

Each team earns 1 point for each correct answer on their list. If the correct list is not complete after all teams have had an opportunity to contribute from their lists, the Reader then provides the remaining correct answers.

All teams record their points for the list round on their scoresheet and write down any correct answers needed to complete their list in the right column.

Round 2: The “Rank” Round: After the correct list is established, Team 1 rolls a die for the ranking round. Numbers 1, 2 and 3 correspond to the number of answers from the list to be ranked while numbers 4, 5 and 6 is “Team Choice”. For Team Choice, the team may choose to rank anywhere between 1 and 5 answers but once chosen, the teams must rank the list correctly. Otherwise, they get 0 points. All teams participate in the rank round.

Example 1: Team 1 rolls a 3. All teams must now rank the top 3 answers in the correct order. Each team with the correct ranking receives 3 points. No partial credit.
Example 2: Team 1 rolls a 5 which is Team Choice. Team 1 chooses to rank 4 answers. Any team who gets the top 4 answers ranked in correct order receives 4 points. No partial credit.

The timer is set and teams record their rankings in the boxes to the right of the 2nd column on their scoresheets. When time is up, the Reader asks each team for their ranking before reading the correctly ranked list from the “rank” side of the trivia card. Teams with the correct rankings receive the number of points equal to the number of items ranked. All teams record their points for the “rank” round as well as their total points on their scoresheets.

Continuing Play: After the first question is complete, Team 3 (assuming there are 3 or more teams) becomes the Reader and play begins with Team 2 rolling the dice to determine the category for the next question. This procedure continues for the remainder of the game. If only two teams are playing, teams alternate reading.

Winning the Game

The game concludes after playing a pre-established number of questions:

2 or 4 teams – 8 total questions
3 teams – 9 total questions
The number of questions per game should be a multiple of the number of teams to ensure everyone has had equal opportunity.

The team with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.

Notes

A non-playing individual can serve as the permanent Reader/Timer for the game.
The Reader can read the question while the card is still in the box without seeing the answers, which allows the reader to participate in the game.
The questions for List, Rank, 'n Roll were developed in 2024. When possible, multiple sources were used to vet answers.
Need more time to answer the questions? Don’t use the sand timer. But it’s there in case you need it.