Round & Revel / Anonymous definition bluffing
The Unlikely Appendix
Make an invented footnote sound as though it belonged there all along.
Original authored print-and-play game. Time is a planning estimate; this edition has not had a live group playtest.
Good for: Friends who enjoy plausible nonsense and short, low-pressure writing.
What you need
- All 16 public entry cards, cut apart, and the separate private definition guide
- Identical answer slips, pens and concealed ballot slips
- A score sheet with one row per player
How to play
Choose a reader rotation
Sit in a fixed order. Play exactly one round per person, moving the reader job clockwise after each round. The reader administers that round and earns no points. Everyone therefore has the same number of scoring rounds. Shuffle the entry cards and keep them face down. The reader draws one and privately finds its matching definition in the guide. Read the term and its short context aloud; leave the public card visible.
A fictional catalogue
Every term, town and supplied definition is invented for this game. The catalogue’s definition is the answer because it is the printed entry, not because it is a real-world fact or the only logical interpretation. Your job is to sound plausible within the stated context and read the other writers. No research or specialist knowledge is useful. Avoid real people, private stories, insults and material anyone would rather skip.
Write one decoy each
Every player except the reader writes one definition of 8–16 space-separated words on an identical slip. An apostrophe or hyphen inside a word does not create another word. The definition may be a phrase rather than a sentence. Keep its author hidden from other players, but add your initials on the folded reverse for the reader. Do not show reactions or read suggestions aloud. Allow about two minutes, extending for anyone who needs it. A player may dictate privately to a neutral scribe.
Prepare anonymous choices
The reader checks word counts before seeing votes and quietly returns an out-of-range decoy once for correction. Copy the supplied definition onto a matching slip. Rewrite all entries in one hand if handwriting would reveal authorship, or read them without displaying the originals. Shuffle them and assign numbers. Read every entry twice in number order, using the same neutral tone. Repetitions requested by anyone must be available to everybody.
Duplicates and a known answer
If two decoys are identical word for word after ignoring case and punctuation, merge them into one numbered choice and record both authors. Similar ideas with different wording stay separate. If a decoy exactly matches the supplied definition, void the round before voting and use a new entry with the same reader. The voided round earns no points; score the replacement round normally. Anyone recognizing an entry from an earlier session must request a replacement before writing. Do not intentionally submit a remembered definition.
Vote privately
Each non-reader writes one numbered choice and locks it before any votes are revealed. You cannot vote for your own decoy, including a merged choice containing it. A blank, multiple numbers, nonexistent number or own-decoy vote is invalid and earns no correct-answer point. It also awards no decoy point to anyone. Nobody campaigns, asks authors to explain an entry, or changes a ballot after locking. The reader checks all ballots together.
Award two kinds of points
A valid vote for the supplied definition earns its voter 1 point. Each valid vote for a decoy earns that decoy’s author 1 point. A merged decoy awards 1 point per valid vote to every recorded author. These are separate awards: you can identify the supplied answer and also attract votes to your invention. The reader earns 0. Reveal the supplied definition and all authors only after counting ballots; then record totals and enjoy the rejected possibilities.
Manage accidental clues
If the reader exposes the supplied definition or identifies its number before ballots lock, replace the round with an unused entry. Deliberately announcing authorship ends the competitive round without a score; continue unscored only if the whole table agrees. A surprising but legal decoy is not an error. If writing is difficult, allow a private scribe or typed slips with authorship concealed. Use an untimed writing period whenever helpful; speed has no value.
Finish fairly
After everybody has read once, total the points. Highest total wins; tied leaders share the win. Do not add a sudden-death round that gives one tied player the reader disadvantage. The sixteen cards provide at least two full four-to-eight-player sessions if replacements are not needed. Keep used IDs apart, and stop without a competitive winner if replacements leave the required equal reader rotation impossible.
A worked example
With five players, one reads and four vote. Bea’s decoy receives two valid votes, so Bea earns 2 points. Bea herself votes for the supplied entry and earns 1 more, for 3 this round. Another voter who also found the supplied entry earns 1. The reader earns 0 and will compete in the other four rounds.
Printable materials
Print the public entry cards for play; their supplied definitions are deliberately absent. Keep the definition guide separate and covered, accessible only to the current reader. Use matching blank slips so the printed answer does not have a distinctive appearance.
Rain receipt
A small item used by the fictional town’s umbrella makers. Invent an 8–16-word definition. Everything in this catalogue is fictional.
Door orchard
An expression used by the fictional town’s locksmiths. Invent an 8–16-word definition. Everything in this catalogue is fictional.
Quiet spoon
An object listed in the fictional town’s café catalogue. Invent an 8–16-word definition. Everything in this catalogue is fictional.
Lantern debt
A term found in the fictional town’s festival ledger. Invent an 8–16-word definition. Everything in this catalogue is fictional.
Pocket weather
A product offered by the fictional town’s travelling stationer. Invent an 8–16-word definition. Everything in this catalogue is fictional.
Stair picnic
An occasion named in the fictional town’s boarding-house notices. Invent an 8–16-word definition. Everything in this catalogue is fictional.
Window jury
A group mentioned in the fictional town’s flower-show rules. Invent an 8–16-word definition. Everything in this catalogue is fictional.
Monday ribbon
An item from the fictional town’s bakery supply list. Invent an 8–16-word definition. Everything in this catalogue is fictional.
Clock nest
An object described in the fictional town’s repair-shop inventory. Invent an 8–16-word definition. Everything in this catalogue is fictional.
Paper harbour
A place named in the fictional town’s printworks handbook. Invent an 8–16-word definition. Everything in this catalogue is fictional.
Hat tide
An expression used at the fictional town’s riverside cloakroom. Invent an 8–16-word definition. Everything in this catalogue is fictional.
Second sunrise
An event on the fictional town’s theatre schedule. Invent an 8–16-word definition. Everything in this catalogue is fictional.
Garden comma
An object in the fictional town’s allotment catalogue. Invent an 8–16-word definition. Everything in this catalogue is fictional.
Roof invitation
A notice required by the fictional town’s chimney-sweep guild. Invent an 8–16-word definition. Everything in this catalogue is fictional.
Biscuit compass
An object named in the fictional town’s tea-room instructions. Invent an 8–16-word definition. Everything in this catalogue is fictional.
Last echo
A job described in the fictional town’s lost-property office. Invent an 8–16-word definition. Everything in this catalogue is fictional.
Host material: Open the separate The Unlikely Appendix answer notes. Contains solutions. Keep this guide away from players.
Round & Revel. First edition, October 2026. Uses only the listed printable materials and ordinary supplies.