The Queen of Hearts, ruler of Wonderland, has invited you to a tea party at the palace gardens. Unfortunately, the Queen tends to make up strange laws.

Today, for example, she has outlawed certain letters of the alphabet! Anyone who says a word that contains them will be sent home. Will you be the last guest standing?

Alice in Wordland is a word party game for 3-8 players who assume the roles of Wonderland characters. Players take turns saying words relevant to the current discussion topic.

When a player says a word containing a forbidden letter or takes too long to speak, they are out for the round. The longer a player stays, the more points they gain. The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.

Components

• 1 Music-Playing plastic teapot timer
• 8 Character Cards
• 8 Scoring Cards
• 25 Forbidden Letter cards
• 60 Discussion Topics
• 42 VP Tokens
• 3 Time Tokens
• 1 Caterpillar Token 1 Rulebook

Setup

1. The youngest player puts the Queen of Hearts Character card face up in front of them. Each other player takes a random Character card and places it face up in front of them. Return all other Character cards to the box.

   Note: in games with three players, the Character cards "Caterpillar" and "Alice" cannot be used and must be returned to the box before the players take their Character cards.

2. Put the timer within reach of all players. Select your preferred time limit (10 or 15 seconds) and your preferred volume (normal or loud) under the base of the teapot.

3. Separate the letter Cards according to their back, shuffle each pile and place them on the table face down.

4. Shuffle the Discussion cards and place them on the table in a face down pile.

5. Place the VP tokens in a pile on the table.

Game Play

The game is played in as many rounds as there are players. Each round has three phases:

1. Preparation
2. Discussion
3. Cleanup

A. Preparation

1. 

   Stack the Scoring cards by the number on the pocket watch. The "1" card should be on top and the card whose number equals the number of players should be at the bottom.

   Make sure each card is on the correct side, according to the player count. Return all excess cards to the box. Put the pile of Scoring cards on the table, within reach of all players.

2. If the "Mad Hatter" character card is in the game, the player with that card takes one Time token (see the Characters section).

3. 

   If the "Caterpillar" character card is the game, the player with that card uses their Caterpillar token (see the Characters section).

4. If the "White Rabbit" character card is the game, the player with that card takes the top card of the purple letter pile (see the Characters section).

5. If the "Tweedie Twins" character is in the game, the player - with that card takes 2 Time tokens (see the Characters section).

6. 

   The player with the "Queen of Hearts" character card takes the top card of the red letter pile, keeping it secret from the other players.

   They then draw the top two cards of the Discussion pile, return one to the bottom of the pile and place the other on the table, in clear view of all players. This is the Discussion topic for the current round.

7. Draw three letter cards, one from each pile (blue, purple, green), and place them in a row face up on the table, in clear view of all players. These are the Forbidden Letters for the current round.

   
   
   

8. The player with the "Queen of Hearts" Character card presses the timer to start it and takes the first turn. Play continues clockwise.

B. Discussion

When a player takes their turn, they must say something related to the Discussion topic that does not contain any of the Forbidden Letters. They must then press the timer to reset it. The player to their left then takes their turn immediately.

When a player says a word containing any of the Forbidden Letters or does not say suitable word before their time runs out , they are out of the round and should flip their Character card face down to indicate

this. Players who are out of the round skip their turn and can no longer use any abilities of their Character card.

The first player to go out of a round takes the Scoring card pile and places its top card (showing one cup) in front of them. Until the end of the round, whenever another player goes out, they give them the top card of the Scoring pile.

Discussion Guidelines

• All words should be people, animals, plants, activities or things that you can see. All words should be closely related to the Discussion topic. For example, if the Discussion topic is "circus", acceptable words can be "clown" (person), "lion" (animal), "tent" (object), or "juggling" (activity).
  
  "Happiness" is not acceptable, as it does not belong in any of the categories above. "Teacher" is also not acceptable; while teachers are people that can go to the circus, that's neither what they nor the circus are known for!

• Usually, common sense should be enough to tell whether a word offered by a player is related to the topic. In case of severe doubt, the other players vote. If the majority votes against, the player is out of the round. On a tie, the word is accepted. Then, the next player presses the timer and takes their turn.

• A player may not say a word already offered by another player in the same round, or any of its derivatives. For example, if a player says "paint",, no other player can say "paints" or "painter". Compound words containing previously offered words, such as "paintbrush", are allowed.

• No words containing any of the Forbidden Letters in their spelling are allowed, even if those letters are silent (for example, you can't say "sign" if "G" is one of the forbidden letters).

• A player may say more than one word in their turn, as long as they are describing a single concept. For example, you are allowed to say "lion tamer" if the topic is "Circus", Be careful, however: the more you say, the more likely you will make a mistake!

• Foreign (non-English) words are allowed only if they have been incorporated into the English language. For example, "croissant" is acceptable, but "chien" (French for "dog") is not.

• Contracted words, i.e. words with apostrophes, are not allowed.

C. Cleanup

When all players except one are out of the round, the Discussion phase is over. The last player in the round takes the last remaining Scoring card.

1. Each player gains the points indicated on the Scoring card in front of them. Keep track of your points using the point tokens.

   Note: Some character cards may give bonus points to the players holding them (see the Characters section).

   If all players have used all the characters, the game is now over. Otherwise:

2. Shuffle all letter cards back in their respective piles and put the Discussion topic card at the bottom of the Topic card pile.

3. All players give their Character card to the player on their left.

4. Begin a new round with the Preparation phase.

End of the Game

The game ends when every player has used all the Characters. The player with the most points is the winner!

In case of a tie, you are all winners, having played a fun game with your friends, if you really want to have a winner though, it is the player with the highest numbered Scoring card in the final round.

But tea time never ends in Wonderland, you are now ready to play again!

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