Overview

Encore (The Song-Titled Sing-Off Game) is a party game where teams compete by singing songs that contain a specific word from a drawn card. Teams take turns singing snippets of songs that include the challenge word. A team that cannot come up with a new song loses the round. The game features Player vs. Player and Team vs. Team modes, culminating in a Grand Finale sing-off.

Components

• Category/Word cards (deck)
• Game board / track (for scoring)
• Timer (30-second)
• Playing pieces / tokens for teams
• Instructions

Setup

1. Divide players into two teams (or settle into pairs for Player vs. Player).
2. Place the game board and give each team/player a token on the START space.
3. Shuffle the Category/Word cards and place them face-down as a draw pile.

Turn Structure

Player vs. Player

Each team selects its best player to go head-to-head against the opponent, and the card is drawn.

Team vs. Team

Each team competes as a unit. The team that wins the round advances on the track.

Gameplay

1. The starting team rolls the die (or draws the card) – however the direction on the rules indicates, the team that goes first, top for one team, bottom for the other. In all cases, do the procedure for:
2. Draw a Word or Category card.
3. The team that drew the card now – continuing from the card – must wait 30 seconds to think of a song, its lyrics or singing in that category.
4. The team must sing from the same category – but in a different song.
5. Play goes back and forth, with teams singing the same Word or the same Category, until one side cannot come up with a song within the 30-second time limit.
6. The team that stumps the other team wins the round. That team advances along the track.

Note: If the team that is supposed to sing can’t think of a song, the opposing team gets to challenge them. If the challenge is correct, the team that failed to sing loses the round.

The Grand Finale

A team need not have won by exact count. Once here, you play a Grand Finale.

To play the Grand Finale, the opposing team draws a card. They choose which Word or Category on the card (Category is the same as in the regular game – Word is the same as in the regular game). Singing begins and proceeds as before – the Category on each card until one team is stumped.

However, if the team that is trying for the win is stuck for a song about 1 word of a song, that team must call out a different Category. So, if a losing team fails to sing a word, both teams are singing at the same time. The game with both teams working on the same thing – both teams can put in a challenge on three spaces at the same time, battling it out for the win.

Actions

Singing Rules

• Teams must sing at least 8 words of a song that contains the challenge Word.
• The song must be recognizable – humming or making up lyrics does not count.
• A song may only be used once per round.
• Both teams keep track of songs already used.

Special Cards

• Category cards present a broader topic (e.g., “songs about love,” “songs with a color”).
• Word cards require a specific word to appear in the song’s lyrics.

Using the Timer

Each team has 30 seconds to begin singing a valid song. If no valid song is produced within 30 seconds, the opposing team wins that round.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Winning

The first team to reach the Grand Finale space on the track and win the Grand Finale sing-off wins the game.

Advancing

Winners of each round move forward on the track. The number of spaces advanced may vary by the rules printed on the track or cards.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Songs must contain the actual word(s) from the card – close synonyms or related words do not count.
• A team cannot repeat a song that has already been sung in the same round.
• Both players/teams should agree on what constitutes a “real” song before starting.
• The game can be played with any number of players divided into two teams.
• Hum a few bars if you know the tune but not all the words – as long as you sing the challenge word clearly.

Player Reference

Round: Draw card > Teams alternate singing songs with the challenge word > Team that can’t sing loses the round

Timer: 30 seconds per turn to sing

Singing requirement: At least 8 words of a real, recognizable song containing the challenge word

Grand Finale: Special final round – losing team can force a category change

Win condition: First team to reach the Grand Finale space and win the final sing-off