Word Game

El Soneto

2–4 players60 minages 12medium difficulty

About the game

What is El Soneto

During the so called Spanish Golden Age, some of the most influential literary figures gather in Madrid. They are here to compete for acceptance amongst the general public and gain admiration and respect from fellow writers. Success within these circles requires extreme levels of merit, however Lope de Vega has organised a public competition, in honor of San Isidro, so that novice poets can rub shoulders with the greats and perhaps even earn a place amongst them.

In El Soneto players take the role of these novice poets who aspire to win Lope de Vega’s competition. In order to do this, each player must choose letter cards that are displayed within the famous gossip mills of Madrid, and with them they must create words for three rounds whilst respecting the grammatical rules that each of these rounds permits. Prestige will be given in a number of ways to players for their words: direct points for the number of letter cards used; favor of the benefactors if the word begins with one of the three letters that the benefactors have asked for; support of the writers if the word has employed one or more of the permitted literary devices; or they can advance on the Soneto marker if their words rhyme.

The literati and the benefactors that each player has earned throughout the game will be awarded additional prestige points at the end, in addition to the level reached on the rhyme marker. He who achieves the most prestige points is declared the winner of the competition.

Description in Spanish:

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