Official Last Word Rules
How To Play Last Word
2 - 8
Players
18+
Ages
30 MIN
Play Time
$19
Price
In Last Word, players are racing against the random interval timer and everyone else to make connections between subjects and letters. This fast-paced party game for two to eight players takes a bit of time, but pretty short, to keep an exciting session going.
It's planned in a way that players have to rack their brains for the right words concerning the subject and letter as the timer goes off, sometimes unpredictably. Last Word indeed has pretty simple rules, yet it's very competitive; thus, it gained several awards and became very popular among adult players.
If you're looking for a game that promises fun, excitement, and plenty of laughs, Last Word is definitely worth your while. See the formal rules at, and let us know what you think of it after playing it in the comment section. We are pretty sure you'll go all the way and ask for more.
It's planned in a way that players have to rack their brains for the right words concerning the subject and letter as the timer goes off, sometimes unpredictably. Last Word indeed has pretty simple rules, yet it's very competitive; thus, it gained several awards and became very popular among adult players.
If you're looking for a game that promises fun, excitement, and plenty of laughs, Last Word is definitely worth your while. See the formal rules at, and let us know what you think of it after playing it in the comment section. We are pretty sure you'll go all the way and ask for more.
- 2008 Teachers Choice Award for the Family, Learning Magazine
- 2007 iParenting Media Award - Outstanding Product
- 2007 National Parenting Center Seal of Approval
- 2006 Games 100 - Traditional
- 2005 Creative Child Seal of Excellence
- 2005 Parents' Choice Approved Award
- 2005 Major Fun Award
- 2005 Games Magazine Top 100
- 2005 Toy of the Week: Playthings Magazine - April 4th
- Scoring Gameboard
- Card Stacking Gameboard
- 230 Subject Cards
- 56 Letter Cards
- 8 Colored Pawns
- Electronic Random-Interval Timer
- Official Last Word Game Rules And Instructions
You need to be the first player to get to the final square while trying to connect subjects and letters. To win you'll also find need to find a way to beat the random interval timer and other players.
Perparation: Place the two gameboards and timer in the middle of the playing area, well within reach of all players. To activate it, turn the timer to the "ON" position, which is located on the bottom of the unit. Each player selects a colored pawn and places it on the Start space of the Scoring Gameboard.
Separate the Letter and Subject Cards into two piles, shuffle each separately, then place them face-down in their respective areas of the Card Stacking Gameboard. These will be the Letter draw pile and Subject draw pile. Each player draws a card from the top of the Subject Card draw pile. Players read their card silently and not show their card to any other players.
Game Play: In order to start any round, one of the players needs to flip over the top Letter Card, read it aloud, and place it face-up in the provided space. If it is a HOT POTATO card, then follow special instructions for those rounds.
Now, the players think about a word that starts with the letter on the card and goes into the category on their Subject Card.
The first player to lay down their Subject Card face-up onto the Card Stacking Gameboard reads it aloud and says a word that would cover both the letter and the subject. He then immediately activates the random-interval timer by pressing the button.
There are no turns, and everybody, including the player who pressed the timer, starts calling out words that begin with the current letter and that relate to the subject.
Players continue calling out the words until the timer buzzes. Repeated words do not count.
The last person to say a valid word before the buzzer gets him wins the round, moving one space further up on the board. If, when the timer goes off, someone happens to be right in the middle of a word, that doesn't count-the previous valid word counts.
The player who played their Subject Card draws a replacement.
A new round starts when a player reveals the next Letter Card. If the Letter Card draw pile runs out, take all the face-up Letter Cards, shuffle them and form a new pile. The first player to land on the Finish space wins the game!
When the draw of a round is a HOT POTATO Letter Card, the rules for that round change. When a HOT POTATO Letter Card is flipped, all players still try to play the Subject Card they are holding, as in a normal round. The first player to place his or her Subject Card face-up on the Card Stacking Gameboard calls out a word that fits the current letter and subject, and then turns on the random-interval timer immediately to begin the HOT POTATO round!
Now players begin to take turns in a clockwise direction. The player to the left of whoever began the round quickly says a valid word that fits the letter and subject. Continuing clockwise, play keeps going until the timer buzzes.
When the timer goes off, the player whose turn it was loses the round and moves their pawn back one space toward Start. Players cannot move past the Start space. 5. The game resumes normally when the next Letter Card is drawn, unless it's another HOT POTATO card.
Think a player has given an incorrect answer? Challenge them! From a bogus word to an unfit Subject Card, the group votes on the validity of the response. If the last word is challenged and deemed invalid, the last valid answer wins the round.
No strategy here! With the unpredictable Last Word timer, you can't afford to wait for the right time to blurt. Just keep 'em comin' and hope you're the last one left!
If a player is really struggling with the Subject Card and can't think of anything for several rounds, then they can ask to draw a new Subject Card. If a majority agrees, then the player may swap their card for another one.
Please keep in mind that the official Last Word PDF rules listed below could be different depending on the version you have. They should be an exact copy of what came in your original packaging. Download them to view now or print them for later use.
Separate the Letter and Subject Cards into two piles, shuffle each separately, then place them face-down in their respective areas of the Card Stacking Gameboard. These will be the Letter draw pile and Subject draw pile. Each player draws a card from the top of the Subject Card draw pile. Players read their card silently and not show their card to any other players.
Game Play: In order to start any round, one of the players needs to flip over the top Letter Card, read it aloud, and place it face-up in the provided space. If it is a HOT POTATO card, then follow special instructions for those rounds.
Now, the players think about a word that starts with the letter on the card and goes into the category on their Subject Card.
The first player to lay down their Subject Card face-up onto the Card Stacking Gameboard reads it aloud and says a word that would cover both the letter and the subject. He then immediately activates the random-interval timer by pressing the button.
There are no turns, and everybody, including the player who pressed the timer, starts calling out words that begin with the current letter and that relate to the subject.
Players continue calling out the words until the timer buzzes. Repeated words do not count.
The last person to say a valid word before the buzzer gets him wins the round, moving one space further up on the board. If, when the timer goes off, someone happens to be right in the middle of a word, that doesn't count-the previous valid word counts.
The player who played their Subject Card draws a replacement.
A new round starts when a player reveals the next Letter Card. If the Letter Card draw pile runs out, take all the face-up Letter Cards, shuffle them and form a new pile. The first player to land on the Finish space wins the game!
When the draw of a round is a HOT POTATO Letter Card, the rules for that round change. When a HOT POTATO Letter Card is flipped, all players still try to play the Subject Card they are holding, as in a normal round. The first player to place his or her Subject Card face-up on the Card Stacking Gameboard calls out a word that fits the current letter and subject, and then turns on the random-interval timer immediately to begin the HOT POTATO round!
Now players begin to take turns in a clockwise direction. The player to the left of whoever began the round quickly says a valid word that fits the letter and subject. Continuing clockwise, play keeps going until the timer buzzes.
When the timer goes off, the player whose turn it was loses the round and moves their pawn back one space toward Start. Players cannot move past the Start space. 5. The game resumes normally when the next Letter Card is drawn, unless it's another HOT POTATO card.
Think a player has given an incorrect answer? Challenge them! From a bogus word to an unfit Subject Card, the group votes on the validity of the response. If the last word is challenged and deemed invalid, the last valid answer wins the round.
No strategy here! With the unpredictable Last Word timer, you can't afford to wait for the right time to blurt. Just keep 'em comin' and hope you're the last one left!
If a player is really struggling with the Subject Card and can't think of anything for several rounds, then they can ask to draw a new Subject Card. If a majority agrees, then the player may swap their card for another one.
Please keep in mind that the official Last Word PDF rules listed below could be different depending on the version you have. They should be an exact copy of what came in your original packaging. Download them to view now or print them for later use.
Share with us your comments, funny stories, tips, advice, strategies, creative ways to play, questions about playing, problems with the directions, etc. All submissions will be reviewed within 24 hours.
Nengah says:
Odd, I was sure I'd left a comment here.Anyway, I reemmber seeing these when I was a kid, but never bothered to get them-- any money I had which might have gone towards them seemed better spent on more NES games, or Ninja Turtles figures, or other stuff in general.Still, I'm glad to see what I missed out on at the time. Truth be told, I'd like a copy of the Super Mario Bros. one, if only because it has "official" art of Peach in the same colors as the original game, before she went "all pink, all the time."
01-10-2013
Odd, I was sure I'd left a comment here.Anyway, I reemmber seeing these when I was a kid, but never bothered to get them-- any money I had which might have gone towards them seemed better spent on more NES games, or Ninja Turtles figures, or other stuff in general.Still, I'm glad to see what I missed out on at the time. Truth be told, I'd like a copy of the Super Mario Bros. one, if only because it has "official" art of Peach in the same colors as the original game, before she went "all pink, all the time."
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