How to Play BHASADD
The official rules of BHASADD, India's first improv party card game. Teams take turns acting out a Drama Card while slipping in three secret Keywords. Midway through, the other team throws in a surprise Twist. When the scene ends, the other team has to expose the keywords.
At a glance: 5 to 50 players, ages 14+. Teams of 2-5 players plus one Dealer. Each round: 20 seconds to prepare, a 1:30 scene (the Twist lands at 1:00), then 30 seconds to expose the keywords.
What's in the box
That's 210 cards in all. You'll also need a timer - any phone works.
Teams and the Dealer
BHASADD is played in teams of 2 to 5 people, with one person as the Dealer who runs every round. With 5 players, for example, you'd have 2 players in Team A, 2 players in Team B and 1 Dealer.
In each round, one team is the Playing Team and the other is the Opponent Team.
How a round works
Choose a Drama
The Dealer shuffles the Drama Cards and the Playing Team picks one. The Drama Card sets the scene and gives two mandatory characters. If the team has more than 2 players, they can add extra characters to fit the scene.
Pick three Keywords
The Dealer shuffles the Keyword Cards and the Playing Team picks 3. During the scene, they have to:
- use all 3 keywords at least once, and
- use any 1 keyword at least twice.
The exact word has to be used.
Quick prep - 20 seconds
The Dealer starts a 20 second timer and the Playing Team quietly plans their scene. Meanwhile, the Opponent Team picks 1 Twist Card, discusses it and keeps it hidden.
The scene - 1 minute 30 seconds
The Dealer starts a 1:30 timer and announces the Drama to everyone. The Playing Team verbally acts out the scene, slipping in their keywords.
The Twist - at the 1 minute mark
At 1:00 the Dealer shouts "TWIST!" and the Opponent Team announces their Twist Card. The Playing Team must work it into the scene straight away, for the remaining 30 seconds. The timer doesn't stop.
Expose - 30 seconds
When the 1:30 scene ends, the Dealer shouts "EXPOSE!". The Opponent Team gets 2 chances to guess the keywords, and each chance means guessing all three keywords together in one go. The Dealer confirms which guessed words are correct. Guesses only count during the expose time.
Scoring
| Keywords the Opponent Team guesses | Points |
|---|---|
| All 3 | Opponent Team gets 50 |
| 2 | Opponent Team gets 30 |
| 0 or 1 | Playing Team gets 50 |
Bonus chance
The Opponent Team gets 1 extra chance to guess all three keywords, but only if the Playing Team missed a mandatory character, the Twist Card, or any of the keyword rules.
The Dealer's job
- Hands the Drama Cards and Keywords to the Playing Team.
- Keeps time for every part of the round.
- Judges character breaks, whether the Twist was used, and keyword usage.
- Calls the win or loss for each round.
The Dealer's decision is final. No arguments.
Playing with more than two teams
With 3 or more teams, the round setup stays the same, with these changes:
- One team performs and all other teams are Opponent Teams.
- Choosing the Twist Card rotates between the opponent teams, round by round.
- During Expose, opponent teams raise hands or shout to guess, and the Dealer decides who goes first. Only one team guesses at a time.
- While a team is guessing, the Dealer can say whether any of the guesses are correct, but not which ones. If a team doesn't get it in 2 chances, the next team gets a go.
Multi-team scoring
- If any opponent team exposes all 3 keywords, that team gets 50 points.
- If no team exposes all 3, the Playing Team gets 50 points.
- There's no partial scoring in multi-team play.
Get playing
Play and tag us @bhasaddthegame.