Prompt Quest Say exactly what you mean. The robot does exactly what you say.

1. Quick start — read this, start playing

   • Deal 9 Things face-up in a 3x3 room. Turn the last one sideways: that's WANTED. Flip one Quirk card — it says how the robot reads.
   • Deal 5 Word cards each. On your turn, draw 1 Word card.
   • Then PROMPT (play 1–4 Words in a row), REFINE (add or swap one Word in the prompt on the table), or PASS (discard 1).
   • The robot fetches every Thing that matches every word. Exactly the Wanted thing? You win it as a trophy. Otherwise the prompt stays for the next player to fix.
   • That is the whole game. Everything below is here for when a question comes up.

2. Setup

   • Shuffle the 18 Things. Deal 9 face-up in a 3x3 grid — the room. Turn the 9th card sideways: that is WANTED.
   • Shuffle the 27 Word cards and deal 5 to each player. Hands stay secret.
   • Shuffle the Quirk cards and flip the top one face-up next to the room. That is how the robot reads prompts right now.
   • The youngest player goes first. Play goes left.

3. Your turn

   • Draw 1 Word card.
   • PROMPT — play 1 to 4 Word cards face-up in a row, left to right. Any old prompt on the table goes to the discard first.
   • REFINE — change the prompt already on the table: add one Word from your hand anywhere in the row (4 max), or swap one of its Words for one from your hand (the swapped-out card is discarded).
   • PASS — discard 1 Word card. Nothing else happens.
   • Out of Word cards to draw? Shuffle the discard into a new Word deck.

4. Run the robot

   • After a PROMPT or REFINE, run the robot. Read the prompt left to right, then point at every Thing in the room that matches every word.
   • NOT flips the very next word: NOT Red means "not red." A NOT with no word after it does nothing.
   • Then apply the Quirk card. It changes how the robot reads — never argue with it.
   • GOT IT — exactly the Wanted thing and nothing else. Take the Wanted card as a trophy.
   • TOO MUCH, NOTHING, or WRONG THING — the prompt stays on the table. The next player may REFINE it.

5. New quest

   • After a GOT IT, discard the prompt. Deal a new Thing into the empty spot, turned sideways: the new WANTED.
   • Put the old Quirk at the bottom of the Quirk deck and flip a new one.
   • Stuck? If every player PASSES in a row, flip a new Quirk — sometimes you need a different robot.

6. Winning

   • First player to 3 trophies wins.
   • If the Thing deck runs out, the player with the most trophies wins. Ties share the win.
   • Example: Room has a Big Red Ball and a Small Red Ball, Wanted is the small one. "Red Ball" is TOO MUCH. Refine to "Small Red Ball" — GOT IT.

7. What the cards teach

   • Word — a prompt is just words. The robot can't read your mind, only the cards.
   • TOO MUCH — vague prompts match more than you meant. Add a word.
   • NOTHING — over-specific or contradictory prompts match nothing. Take a word away.
   • Quirk — every AI has limits: short memory, missing senses, bad labels, trouble with NOT.
   • Refine — good prompters change one thing at a time and try again.

8. Variants

   • 2 players — same rules. First to 4 trophies.
   • Solo — deal yourself 5 Words and play normal turns. Count your turns until each GOT IT. Finish 5 quests in 15 turns or fewer to win.
   • Plain mode (ages 8–9) — leave the Quirks in the box. The robot is always plain.
   • Classroom — after each GOT IT, the winner says: "The robot needed __ because __."

Downloads

• Instruction sheet

  Plain paper · 1 page · 8.5 × 11

  One 8.5 × 11 page for the table — quick start, setup, turns, and scoring.

  Open Download

• Full rules

  Plain paper · duplex · 2 pages

  Same game, longer type — plus what the cards teach and the variants.

  Open Download

• Things + Quirks (Avery 5388)

  Avery 5388 · 9 sheets

  18 Things for the room and 9 Quirks that change how the robot reads.

  Open Download

• Word cards (Avery 5388)

  Avery 5388 · 9 sheets

  27 Words — colors, kinds, sizes, and NOT.

  Open Download