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Contrario
Cocktail GamesMatthieu d'Epenoux, Roberto Fraga…2001
- players
- 2–10
- minutes
- 30
- years
- 13+
In the box
Contrario game
Box details
- Designers
- Matthieu d'Epenoux, Roberto Fraga, Odet L'Homer
- Artwork
- Mathieu Beaulieu, Cyril Saint Blancat
- Publisher
- Cocktail Games
Where to buy it
Near you and online
In a shop
Within 50 km.
Online
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The basics
The aim is to find well-known phrases in which each word has been replaced by an opposite, a synonym or a word from the same group. Deal 5 cards per player up to 6 players, 3 beyond, and draw a number from 1 to 5 that applies for the whole game. The reader reads the twisted phrase with that number; everyone guesses as often as they like, and the reader reads the first then the second clue if nobody finds it. Whoever finds it wins the card and becomes reader; otherwise the card is set aside and the reader's left-hand neighbour takes over. When all the dealt cards have been played, whoever won the most wins.
Checked against the official rules · October 2026
The rules, step by step
Setup
3 to 10 players, 5 cards (3 to 6 players), Number 1 to 5 drawn
- 3 to 10 players, aged 12 and up; the rulebook also has a two-player variant and a team game.
- The box holds 100 cards. Each one shows five twisted phrases, numbered 1 to 5, each with two clues and its solution.
- With 3 to 6 players, everyone gets 5 cards; with 7 to 10, 3 cards. Each player stacks theirs face down in front of them.
- Draw a number from 1 to 5 at random: the whole game is played with the phrase bearing that number, on every card.
- The youngest player is the first reader.
How to play
Read the twisted phrase, 2 clues if needed, Find it, win the card
- The reader takes the top card of their stack and reads aloud the twisted phrase with the chosen number.
- Each word of the original phrase has been replaced by an opposite, a synonym or a word from the same group: "The Silence of the Lambs" becomes "The Noise of the Wolves".
- The others make as many guesses as they like; if none is right, the reader reads the first clue, then the second if needed.
- Whoever finds it wins the card, keeps it face up in front of them, and becomes the next reader.
- If nobody finds it after a time the table judges reasonable, the reader gives the solution, the card is set aside, and the reader's left-hand neighbour becomes the reader.
- A reader with no cards left picks someone else to read instead.
Scoring
1 point per card won, Card set aside: nothing
- Each card won is worth one point; a card set aside earns nothing for anyone.
- In Marquoir, each round is one card: enter 1 for whoever won it, 0 for the others, and 0 for everyone if it is set aside.
End of the game
All cards played, Most cards wins
- Once all the dealt cards have been played, won or set aside, the player who won the most of them wins.
- In case of a tie, a new twisted phrase is read to the tied players only, and the first to find it wins.
- In Marquoir, you end the game by hand once the last card has been played, tie-break included.
House rules and pitfalls
In teams, from 6 players: two or three teams, 10 cards per team, and the readers take turns within each team.
- In teams, from 6 players: two or three teams, 10 cards per team, and the readers take turns within each team.
- With two players, sitting side by side, you uncover each card bit by bit, sliding another card down over it: first the twisted phrase, then the clues.
- Just for fun, one person can also read twisted phrases to the whole table, without counting cards.
- In the previous edition, with 200 cards, you had to hit the buzzer before answering, otherwise the answer did not count.
- There is no sand timer in the box: the table decides when a card is lost.
Going further
Variants · Frequently asked questions · In the same family
Variants
Format
Every player for themselves
3 to 10 players: 5 cards each up to 6 players, 3 each beyond that.
Two players
Sitting side by side, you uncover each card together, the phrase first and then the clues.
Two teams
From 6 players: 10 cards per team, and the readers take turns within each team.
Three teams
From 6 players: 10 cards per team, and the readers take turns within each team.
choose them when you start a game: the scorer adapts
Frequently asked questions
What is the idea?
Find a well-known phrase disguised word by word: "Black Friday" becomes "White Thursday", and you have to find the original.
How does a turn work?
The reader reads the twisted phrase, then the clues if nobody finds it. The first to give the right answer wins the card and becomes the next reader.
Are all the phrases reversed word by word?
Not only into opposites: a word can be replaced by a synonym, or by another word from the same group, one colour for another for example. The rulebook also warns that a few traps, sound-alikes and sly associations of ideas, have slipped into the cards.
How do you score?
Each card won counts for one. A wrong answer costs nothing, and a card nobody finds is set aside.
How many cards are played?
Five per player with 3 to 6 players, three per player with 7 to 10, ten per team in the team game. The game ends when they have all been played.