Our step-by-step guide to the rules of how to play Wits and Wagers board game. This is one of those titles that seems so obvious that you are surprised no one thought of it sooner. This is the perfect trivia game for those that like it but are intiminated by it. This offers both a scale answer system, which helps with confidence because all can do it, and opportunities to spread your success out on other things besides just your skill in one area. The game is for 3 – 7 players at ages 10+. The rules for how to play Wits and Wagers, like most party games, are incredibly easy.
FOR MORE: Wits and Wagers Page | Games Like Wits and Wagers | Buy Wits and Wagers on Amazon
HOW TO PLAY WITS AND WAGERS – WHAT IS IT?
Not a trivia buff? It doesn’t matter! Each player writes down a guess to the same question and places it face-up on the betting mat. Feeling confident? Bet on your guess! Think a friend knows better? Bet on their guess! The player with the most points after 7 questions wins.
Wits & Wagers is most fun with groups of 6 or more people. We recommend playing at holiday parties, family reunions, or any large gathering of friends. Be prepared for light-hearted banter, a little bravado, and a big dose of cheering!
HOW TO PLAY WITS AND WAGERS – STEP BY STEP
Time Needed: Approximately 25 minutes.
This is a step by step guide for how to play Wits and Wagers the popular party trivia board game. Additional notions and special rules can be found below the list. These will be referenced for your convenience.
1. SETUP | Give Each Player 2 Wager Chips
To kick off how to play Wits and Wagers setup you need to give out the tokens players will use to bet with. These come in colored sets of two, give a set to each player.
2. SETUP | Give Out Mini Whiteboards & Markers
The size of a playing card, in colors that match the chips, are the white boards that people will write their answers on throughout the game. Give the matching color card to players, as well as, one of the dry erase markers.
3. SETUP | Put Out Value Chip Stacks
The red chips are worth one point, blue is worth five points and the green ones are worth twenty-five. Place these in a central area, players will need to collect these throughout the game as they gain points.
4. SETUP | Put Out Playmat
Take the green felt player maps with the different white bordered columns and roll it out over the center of the play area. This is where the action happens.
5. SETUP | Put Out Question Cards
Take out the question cards and put them in a face up stack. Be careful not to reveal that back because that is the answer it is.
6. GAMEPLAY | Read a Question
One of the players reads the #1 question on the top card for all to hear without reveling the back. This is the question that all players will need to write a number answer for (all questions ask for a number in a range so you will always be able to guess).
7. GAMEPLAY | Write An Answer Secretly
After hearing the question, flip over the 30 timer hour glass. Each player uses their dry erase board marker to write an answer on their mini shite board in that time.
8. GAMEPLAY | Flip Over Answers & Arrange
Flip over the answers and arrange them on the play board in order from lowest to highest. You build out from the middle, so if you have a 3 player game, one goes in the dead center (2 to 1 space) and one goes to either side of that number. With an even number of players, you skip the middle space and play around it.
9. GAMEPLAY | Place Betting Chips
After the answers have been placed, flip the 30 second timer again. Players have this period of time to place their wager. Each player starts with 2 wager chips and each round they use them to bet on the answer (or answers) that they think are right. You do not have to bet on your own answer and you can either split these up or put them on the same space. You can move these around you just have to be finalized once the timer stops.
10. GAMEPLAY | Reveal The Final Answer
After all bets have been made, flip over the question card to reveal the top answer. Whoever is the closest without going over is the winner. That person gets 3 points (3x red chips) for having the correct answer. This is always 3 points, regardless of the board space you are on.
11. GAMEPLAY | Pay Out Winning Wages
In addition to the winning answer, correct bets also get payed. Multiple the number of chips there times the payout. If you have 2 wager chips on a 3 to 1 space and it wins, you get 6 chips total.
12. GAMEPLAY | Repeat Question Ask
The above completes a full round. There are seven of these and they correspond to the question number. Each new round you read a new question number, so from a new card, in the second round you are now reading the second question. You know when you are reading the seventh question, that is the final round.
13. GAMEPLAY | Betting Chips From a Previous Round
Player always get back their original two wager chips each round for new betting, but players can also bet with chips earned in previous rounds. You can only add them to your wager chip bets but any chips you put on a square that is correct, also get paid out, and any extra chips played on an incorrect space, are lost forever.
14. WINNING | Most Points After 7 Questions
After you have completed seven rounds and questions, the player who has the most total points is the winner of the game. As you can see, learning how to play Wits and Wagers is incredibly easy.
HOW TO PLAY WITS AND WAGERS – KEY INFORMATION
SMALLER BET
For your bet you can always take the “Smaller” space which is a bet saying the actual answer will be lower than everyone else’s answers. This space pays 6 to 1 because the odds are not great, but do not be afraid to use it if it feels right.
GAME CONTENTS
- 1x Player Board
- 7x Mini White Boards
- 7x Felt Tip Markers
- 14x Waging Chips (2 of each color)
- 1 point, 5 point and 25 point chips
- 1x Sand Timer
- 1x Rulebook
- Stack of Trivia Questions
HOW TO PLAY WITS AND WAGERS – IN CLOSING
We hope you can now say you know how to play Wits and Wagers. It is best at a larger player count because it is a lively party game that has you speculating on what everyone else is doing. For people who like the idea of trivia but might not have all the necessary information to compete. These bring an interesting range and betting system to the genre that gives it new dimensionality. Learning how to play Wits and Wagers is easy, it is figuring out who to lean on that is difficult.
