Pentacular Word Circus

Pentacular Word Circus is a cooperative and chaotic real-time word game that rejects the competition and seriousness of games like Scrabble. Instead, it turns spelling into a silly yet strategic 20-minute party game where everyone wins (or loses) together.

Choose asymmetric roles like Acrobat, Magician, or Quick-Change Artist. Then work together with the rest of the company to wow the audience with your amazing Feats (5-letter word challenges)!

• Manage a hand of Letter cards.
• Play cards into any of 3 Rings.
• Earn Applause when you spell a word.
• Spend Applause to unlock unique circus performer abilities.

Score as many 5-letter words and Feats as you can before the musical timer ends. To win, score 55 points over three 5-minute rounds.

Once you know the game, it takes 5 minutes to set up, and 5 minutes to teach.

1. Set the stage. Place each of the 3 Rings on the table, with its matching 5 Balloon tokens. Place the Balloon Stand nearby. Scatter the Applause tokens around the Rings where players can reach them.
2. Choose roles. Deal each player 2 Role cards. (They select 1 and discard the other.)
3. Prepare the letters. Shuffle the Letter deck. Deal 1 starting Letter to the center of each Ring, and 7 Letters to each player. Place the remaining Letters in a draw deck.
4. Reveal your Feats. Deal 10 Feat cards, challenge side up, outside the Rings.
5. Set the timer. (Musical video timers are available to download on our website, or stream on our YouTube channel.)

Turns are fast! Play 1 card into any ring (you may also rearrange the Letters in that ring.) AND/OR use your ability (pay Applause tokens to manipulate Letter cards). Then, draw 1 card. Then pass your turn to the left.

Making words is the way to unlock special abilities ans score points.

• If you make ANY word, collect 1 Applause token.
• If you complete a 5-letter word, discard those Letters and move 1 Balloon from that Ring to the Balloon Stand. You'll score 1 point per balloon, and 5-point bonuses for sets.
• If your 5-letter word completes a Feat, flip over the Feat card for 5 game-end points.

Pentacular Word Circus works with any 5-minute timer, but it's most fun with the official Pentacular Word Circus timers here. You can stream all three timers on YouTube:

Or, download timers from www.smallfurrygames.com/pentacular

(To play without the stress of a timer, simply play through the entire deck of letter cards and try to reach 55 points by the time the cards run out.)

Pentacular Word Circus is a fast-paced filler game that introduces families and casual gamers to the concepts of cooperative play, asymmetrical player powers, and shared objectives.

The approachable theme will bring them in, but a variety of goals, roles, and difficulty levels will keep them coming back for more!

Word games can be polarizing. So we've taken extra steps to ensure that Pentacular Word Circus is as approachable and accessible to as many players as possible. This includes accommodations for players with hearing or visual impairments, color blindness, and those who sometimes struggle with adding up scores. (Scoring in this game is counted by 1s and 5s only.) See the rulebook for details.

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GAME DESIGN BY EMILY WILLIX • ROLE ART BY TINCHO SCHMIDT

EMILY WILLIX is a game designer who loves creating fun, thinky games in small packages. She signed her first game, Battle Dentale, with Bright Eye Games in the UK in 2021. That same game was a finalist in the BGDL Solo Duo Challenge, and a finalist for the 2021 Cardboard Edison Award. Emily is always on the lookout for ways to make games more earth-friendly, and operates her company, Small Furry Games, from a solar- and wind-powered sailboat currently located in the Dominican Republic. When she’s not designing games, Emily is probably proofreading another game designer’s rulebook. Or playing a game. Or thinking about games. But when she’s not doing anything game-related, she spends her time making YouTube videos, maintaining an old boat, and playing music with friends. Learn more about her current projects at www.SmallFurryGames.com.

TINCHO SCHMIDT is an Argentinean illustrator and graphic designer. As an illustrator, he specializes in vintage, retro style, corporate and original character creation. As a designer, he works in branding, commercial, social media, and web design. See his work on his website, Instagram and Fiverr.