Overview
Use a phone without any of the pesky talking involved! Find out who your boyfriend is in this riveting game of dialing numbers on a phone.
Game type: Elimination Guessing, Phone (gimmick).
Number of players: 1-4
Suggested age: 9+
Game Pieces
6 picture frames with stand, 24 boy cards, 4 speaker phone cards, 4 share secret cards, 4 mom hang up cards, 4 address books, 1 pad of clue sheets, 1 plastic electronic cell phone (requires 3x AAA batteries)… 16 page instruction book.
Pregame Setup
Choose between 1 of the 3 game modes.
Dating line: Find out who wants to go on a date with you.
Mystery line: Use one of the three themes to find out who the mystery boy is. “Class president and how many votes, science contest and how much money, and captain of soccer team and how many points” are your 3 choices.
Party line: Be the first girl to get 6 boys to your party.
Also the game makers would like to caution you that this is not, in fact, a real phone as evidence by the fact that it has batteries and does not get its power from the phone company. AND. They cleverly point out that it has no on or off switch which also disqualifies it from being a real telephone.
Separate the 24 boy cards from the rest of the cards, shuffle them, and place them face down in the middle of the play area.
Each player takes an address book, clue sheet, and something to write with.
Place the picture frames in the middle of the play area.
Press * and # together on the phone to start a new game. The phone should say “welcome to mystery date.” If it does not then try checking the batteries. Follow the instructions given by the phone to select which game mode to play.
Choose a player to go first.
Give each player one “speakerphone”, “share a secret”, and “mom says hang up” card to each player and remove the rest from the game.
The first player deals 3 boy cards to each player.
Place the phone and its base in front of the first player.
Each player places their cards face up in front of them.
Note: the phone automatically shuts off after 5 minutes and if it does then it completely resets the game. Aren’t you glad it doesn’t have an on or off switch?
Playing the Game
There are three game modes (Mystery Boy, Mystery Line, Party Line). By now you’ve chosen one.
Game mode “Mystery Boy”
On your turn: decide which of your 3 boys to call and announce his name. Look up his number on your clue sheet. Use the play phone to call that number and listen to the clue yourself. Try not to let anyone else hear. Mark his clue off on your clue sheet after using the picture frames to find out what the clue meant. That boy will give the same clue to anyone that calls him for the remainder of the game. The mystery boy can also give you a clue.
If the boy you called does not give you an answer to a clue then your turn is over anyway.
Keep your discovery secret. Another player could glean a free clue from you if you are not careful. The boys you mark off are not the secret boy.
Discard the boy card that you just called and draw a new one. If there are no cards left then every player may now call any boy they wish.
“Speaker phone” cards allow every player to listen to the call and should be played before the end of the turn. Once a speaker card is played it is then removed from the game.
“Share secret” cards allow the player that played the card to listen on the clue the current player is listening to. This can be accomplished by listening to the call together while trying to keep it secret from the other players, or by allowing the player that played the card to redial the number and listen to the clue.
“Mom says hang up” is played against another player to end their turn instantly. No calls can be made, including guesses.
Turns pass to the left, place the phone in front of the next player.
If you do not have any friends that want to play this game with you then this game mode can be played alone. Simply remove the special cards from the game and play as you would normally. Calling boys and crossing off clues.
When you wish to make a guess as to who the mystery boy is, declare so at the beginning of your turn to the other players that you are making a guess. Do not tell them who. Someone may interrupt you before you call by playing a “Mom says hangup card” on you now.
“Mystery Line” game mode
Give 1 speakerphone and 1 share secret card to each player. Shuffle the 24 boy cards. Deal 3 boy cards to each player. Determine who goes first. Place the six picture frames in the middle of the play area. Each player places each of their cards face up in front of them so that each player can see what they have. Start a new game on the phone by pressing * and # together.
Once the correct game mode is selected then the phone will start speaking to all of the players. Those players are to mark off the “theme” indicated by the phone in the bottom right corner of their clue sheet, which will be one of three random objects.
During your turn call a boy on your list in an attempt to find the mystery boy’s unlisted number through his best friend. You must discover the last 4 digits and their order. The best friend will give you a numerical answer for the mystery boy that you’ll have to give him when he asks you a question about himself after you call him to win the game.
The bottom right section has the space for you to write your clues.
This game mode may be played by yourself, just play as normal but don’t bother dealing the 2 special cards to each player.
Party Line game mode:
Remove picture frames and mom says hang up, speakerphone, share a secret cards from the game. Shuffle the 24 boy cards and place them face down in a 4 x 5 grid in the middle of the play area. No one should know who is under what card at this time. You only need a clue sheet to look up phone numbers in this game mode. In this game mode, your goal is to become the most popular girl by getting 6 boys to come to your party.
On your turn you pick up one face-down card from the 4 x 5 grid, match the boy you just picked up with the number on the clue sheet, call and see if he says yes or no. If no, then leave the card on the grid and do not turn the card back over. If yes then you take the boy card from the grid, he is now one of the six coming to your totally awesome party. Your turn passes.
Sometimes one of the boys may decide to bring a friend, if they do then take both boys from the grid. The extra should always be face up so you shouldn’t need to look at any face-down cards to find him.
A player can also decide to call a boy already attending another players party. They must announce that they are doing so at the beginning of their turn to everyone and if the boy agrees to attend their party instead, then that player takes that card from the other player. A player may decide to do this instead of calling a boy from the grid. Either way, your turn is over.
The first player to get 6, or more, boy cards wins the game.
This game mode can also be played by yourself.
Additional information for any game mode:
Press G on the phone to indicate you are making a guess. Dial the boy’s number. Do not hold the phone up to your ear as his answer will be said out loud for everyone to hear. If you are correct then you will be invited to a date, which means you won. If he says no, then your turn is over. Apparently, this doesn’t remove you from the game as you may continue playing as normal. Everyone can now obviously cross this boy off the list on their own sheets as well because he will not give them a different answer should they call.
You may press the R key on the phone to redial the number and hear the clue again. Other players may not do this for calls they did not make. If you accidentally hit a different button, then press 0’s until the operator answers. Redial your call manually afterward.
Press “S” before the number to make it come through the speaker phone. You may also press “S” and “R” to redial and make it come through the speakerphone.
Clue Sheets have 3 sections:
The left most section shows the number of all of the boys (it seems you’ve been busy). You can check the boy’s from the list after you’ve received their clue. Each boy gives the same clue to each player until the game ends. It would be prudent to keep clues to yourself.
Bottom right section is for “Mystery date” only and has spaces for your to fill in the mystery boy friend’s number so that you can get the mystery boy’s number and then fill in that boys number.
Upper right section is for Mystery date and Dating line game modes and show the same information represented in the picture frames. In this space, you can cross out boys names as information is revealed to you that they are not “the one” that wins you the game.
The game makers also take this time to explain that these boys are, actually, in fact, fictional and they cannot be called on a real phone. Ladies, I’m sorry, as alluring as these boys may seem you’ll simply have to try to restrain yourselves because Dave’s not here, man.
Winning the Game
Dating Line: Guess the mystery boy correctly.
Mystery Line: Guess the boy and answer his numeric question correctly
Party Line: Get 6 boy cards.
