YBS is a GAME SYSTEM!

There are many different ways to play “You’ve been Sentenced!” Here are a few variations we like. Use one at a time, several, or all at once for a truly insane game.

Casual: A good way to play the first couple of games. Instead of using the sand timer, the first player to form a sentence knocks on the table. Once a player “knocks”, they cannot change their sentence. This process continues until all players have knocked the table, signaling that they too are ready for sentence presentation and judgment. The first player that knocked presents first. All other rules remain the same.

Move On!: If players are taking too long to debate a sentence, any player may start the sand timer. Sentences may be discussed only until timer runs out. When the time is up, the Jury must cast a vote.

Team: If you have a large number of players, divide up into teams. Each team draws 10 cards and makes/defends their sentences together.

Popular Vote: After all sentences are judged, players take a vote to determine who had the “best” sentence this round. Everyone gets one vote. The winner gets a 10-point bonus. In the event of ties, no one gets the bonus.

Not-So-Casual: Same as Casual, except the last person who knocks gets ZERO POINTS for the round.

Card Discard: After the deal, but before making sentences, a player has 30 seconds to discard and re-draw 1, 2, or 3 cards from the Word Pool. A player can only redraw once per round. Since you will likely end up with larger sentences, we suggest playing to 300 points.

Lightning: After the cards have been drawn, and everyone is ready, start the timer and turn your cards face-up. Everyone has until the sand runs out (90 seconds) to make a sentence.

Longer/Shorter: Play to fewer (100, 150) or a greater number of points (300, 400, 500). You can also play a set number of rounds (3, 5, 10, etc.) and the highest score at that point wins.

Wild: Every player gets, at the start of the game, 1 “wild card” to keep. Players draw 9 cards per round, using the wild card as the 10th card. When you discard, keep a wild card and draw 9 cards for all subsequent rounds.