Before the first clue
Set up the room
- 1
Form your teams
Players gather in as many as 10 animal teams. The host activates the teams that are playing tonight. New arrivals can join a newly activated team at any time.
- 2
Face the Player Display
The big screen is the public game board. The Mac screen is the host’s private console, so please don’t peek.
- 3
Choose a spokesperson—or don’t
Talk quietly with your table, then raise a hand when your team is ready. Any teammate may answer unless your group decides otherwise.
The main game
Play the Hootenanny board
The team named as the chooser selects an available category tile. Each tile displays its exact point value. Question files still use familiar 100–500 levels, but the board gives every tile a playful value within that level—such as 124, 238, or 547.
Earn—or lose—points
Your team gains the value shown on the tile and usually chooses the next tile.
Your team loses that tile’s value. The host keeps control of play and may call another team as appropriate.
Teams may be added or removed during play. A team joining late begins with 0 points.
Exactly once per game
Barnyard Hoot & Howl
Exactly once per game, after the board is more than halfway complete, a selected tile becomes a Barnyard Hoot & Howl. The game randomly chooses an active team. The host privately previews a challenge, may skip unsuitable choices, and then presents one to the room.
Give the challenge a genuine try within your own comfort and ability. The host—not the other teams—makes the decision. A genuine attempt earns the tile’s points; refusing or making no attempt earns no points. Talent and perfection are never required.
No game moment is more important than a person’s safety, mobility, dignity, or choice to pass. The host can skip a challenge or return the tile to the board.
Exactly once per game
Barnyard Boondoggle
Exactly once per game, after the board is more than halfway complete, the game interrupts at a random moment and the leading team faces a playful point transfer to another team. It is scheduled well apart from the Hoot & Howl so the game has room to breathe. The leaders may accept the Boondoggle—or try to stop it by choosing one of three hay bales in Find the Golden Horseshoe.
Find the hidden horseshoe and no points move. Miss it, and the announced transfer takes place. The host controls when every result appears on the big screen.
The last showdown
Final Challenge
The host reveals the final category and eligible teams decide whether to freeze their score or make a private bid. Teams submit an answer and bid card. The host scores each team privately, then reveals the final totals and winner celebration.
Hosting tonight? Read the Host Guide