The Headlines Game (1989)

In this party game, players try to create headlines for a newspaper. They are given 4 letters, a theme and about 3 minutes to make as many headlines as they want. The words in the headlines need to start with the 4 given letters in the given order and the headline needs to fit into the given theme.

Example:

• Letters: S, B, N, R
• Theme: Society

Headlines created by the participants:

• Suegra Busca Nuera Rica
• Submarinista Bucea Nueve Rios
• Sin Botella Ni Ron

After the 3 minutes, the game is stopped and every player shares his/her headlines with the rest. Every round, one player is the 'Editor' and chooses the best headline and awards this player one token. The Editor must take into account the adequacy of the headline to the theme and its originality. The winning player receives a token and becomes the next turn's Editor. The player that reaches first 5 tokens, wins the game. If a player didn't present any headline or makes a mistake (e.g. wrong order, wrong letters), he or she is disqualified from the next round.

The theme cards are divided into 4 categories:

• Regular Theme: Sports, Society, Politics, etc.
• Prefixes: Players need to complete a given sentence, such as "Every 9 out of 10...", or "The majority of women prefer...", etc.
• Tongue Twisters: Only one letter is given and all 4 words of the headline need to start with this letter.
• Editor's Choice: The Editor chooses the theme as he likes.

There are some variations given in the rules:

• 5 Word Headlines: choose 1 more letter card.
• 2 Players: First one to find a headline in the theme wins. Play to 10 points instead of 5.
• Team Play: Players work in teams to create the best headlines.

The content of the box:

• 55 theme cards
• 55 letter cards
• card support (to show the 4 letter cards and the theme card)
• sand clock (3 minutes)
• 4 note pads
• tokens
• rules in the form of a small 4 page newspaper