3–7 people · no timer One host who doesn’t compete · everyone else plays individually
Card exampleCard example
The Play Guide
Find what you need
The quick version
01 /
Choose a host
The host reveals cards and checks songs; they don’t compete. Everyone else plays individually. Put a pretend mic within reach — use a remote control or something soft, like a small cushion.
02 /
Flip the word
The host reveals a card where everyone can read it.
03 /
Grab and sing
Be first to grab the mic and sing two lines of a song containing the word. Get it wrong or freeze? Return the mic: you’re out for that card, but everyone else can still try.
04 /
Collect the card
A correct song wins the card. Play through the deck; most cards wins.
Who does what?
See a turn
Sit around a table with the pretend mic in the middle, within everyone’s reach. The host shows the word; the first player to grab the mic sings two lines of a song containing it. The host checks the song.
A remote or rolled-up newspaper secured with a rubber band can be your mic. It is not included. If you freeze or sing the wrong song, put it back: the other players can still try.
Most cards after all 80 cards wins.
Ready for the details?
The full rules
Set up, race for the mic, and sing to win.
What the cards look like
Each card has one word on each side. You play one side in your first game and the other side in your second.
Set up
Move the chai. People are about to lunge at the middle of the table.
Sit in a close circle, everyone the same distance from the middle.
Put the “mic” in the middle.
Choose a host to hold the deck and reveal the cards. The host does not compete for cards or grab the “mic”.
The host keeps the deck in hand, with upcoming words out of view. Leave a space for the current card where everyone can read it, away from the “microphone” and the grabbing area.
Your turn
The host places one card face down in the space away from the “microphone,” then flips it over. Leave it face up so everyone can read the word.
The competing players race for the “mic”. The host stays out of the race.
Whoever gets it sings two lines of a song with the word in it. Any form of the word counts: aankh, aankhein, aankhon.
Humming doesn't count. Just saying the words doesn't count. If nobody else in the room knows the song, it doesn't count, the card is open again, and you're out for that card.
Sing two lines of a song containing the word correctly, and keep the card. Each card is one point.
If something goes wrong
Grab the “mic” and get it wrong? If your song doesn’t contain the word on the card (or an accepted form of it), you can’t switch to another song. Put the “mic” back in the middle—you’re out for that card. Everyone else can still grab it and try!
Small lyric slips are okay if the song is recognizable and includes the required word. You still need to sing two lines.
Grab and freeze. Let go of the “mic”. The card is open again for everyone else. You're out for that card.
Nobody's got one. Skip it. The host sets the card aside and nobody scores it.
Two people get there at once. Whoever's hand is underneath wins it.
Sing a song that's already been sung this game. Once a song is sung, it's used up. Nobody can sing it again until the next game.
Winning
The game ends when all 80 cards have been played. Count the cards you won—the player with the most cards wins.
Tied? The host takes any card and reveals the other side to the tied players. First of the tied players to sing two lines containing the word wins.
Next game: gather every card, flip the whole deck over, and play the other side. Eighty words nobody's seen yet.
