Group GeoChallenge:  7 To 60 Players

What You Should Know Before You Play

The object of the game is for your students to be on the team that uses what it knows (or learns) of U.S. geography to win by guessing the states of the GeoPlunge cards its opponents have.  Your students will get clues about their opponents’ cards before they have to guess. Which clues are given will depend on what GeoChallenge cards are picked.  Some GeoChallenge cards will indicate exactly what clue to give, and some give either the team guessing, or the team giving the clue, some choice as to what the clue will be.  

The teacher should divide the students into as few as 2 teams or as many as 5 teams, depending upon what the teacher believes will work best for the class.  Teammates should sit or stand next to each other and can talk to each other.  Throughout this game, if teammates cannot decide who will act on behalf of the team at any time, the team captain or teacher will decide.

Play one round at a time until one team gets 50 points (or the class period ends, in which case the team with the most points at the end of class wins).  Use the GeoPlunge and GeoChallenge cards (shuffle the decks after each round, and put the GeoChallenge cards at the bottom of the deck after they are used).

Getting Started

To start a round, deal each team 3 GeoPlunge cards.  A round ends when only 1 team has cards left.  They are the winners of the round.

Playing the Game

What to Do When it’s Your Team’s Turn to Guess

§         Each time it’s your team’s turn to guess, your team makes only 1 guess.   During that turn, your team gets to guess at only 1 opponent’s card. 

§         Before your team guesses, a player on your team picks the top card in the GeoChallenge card deck and reads it out loud.  Based on what that GeoChallenge card says, the team whose card you are trying to guess gives you a clue about one of its cards.  Then your team makes its guess.

§         However, if there are 3 or more teams, unless your team is sitting to the immediate left of the clue-giver, your team does not pick a GeoChallenge card before guessing.  In that case, your team has to make its guess based on whatever clues your opponent has already given.   

What to Do When it’s Your Team’s Turn to Give a Clue

¨      Each time it’s your team’s turn to give a clue, give only 1 clue.  The clue you give will be for only one of your cards. 

¨      The first time during a round your team gives a clue, your team decides which of its cards to give the clue about after your opponent picks and reads out loud the top GeoChallenge card in the deck.

¨      During a round, never give a clue about another card your team has until an opponent correctly guesses the state of the card your team has already given clues about.  So if your opponents keep guessing wrong, your team still keeps giving clues about that same card when it’s your team’s turn to give a clue.

¨      When the GeoChallenge card your opponent picks starts with the words, “Opponent Chooses”, your team has some choice as to what clue to give.  When that happens, if you can, your team must give a clue other than one it has already given about that card during that round.

Determining Whose Turn it is to Give Clues and Guess

o       Each round, the teacher selects which team will first give a clue about a card.  Play proceeds in clockwise order around the class. So the team to that team’s left is the next team to give a clue about a card.

o       With 2 teams, the teams take turns guessing (taking one guess per turn).

o       With 3 or more teams, each team gets to guess (until each team guesses once or someone guesses right).  The team to the left of the clue-giver guesses first and picks the GeoChallenge card.  No other team gets to pick a GeoChallenge card before guessing.   

Keeping Score

Your team get 20 points for winning the round. Your team gets 10 bonus points if it wins the round and has at least 2 cards left at the end of the round.