The rules of
SLOVARIЦA

01

Quick Overview

Slovarica is a musical board game built around the human voice.

The goal of Slovarica is to create and maintain an evolving musical improvisation together with other players as long as possible. Participants explore the map, learn different vocal techniques and sing together. Moving their tokens across the map, from one tile to another, they sound out each tile as they go.

A session ends when all players agree it has reached a natural conclusion, or after a pre-agreed number of rounds. The game does not end with a winner. It ends with a silence.

There are no winners and no losers — only the challenging goal to make music together without a prior plan. Each session is unrepeatable. Each player contributes to a shared sonic landscape that dissolves when the game ends.

02

Setup

Place the map on a smooth, flat surface. Prepare tokens and Hint cards. Each participant should choose a personal token and place it on any of the blank tiles on the map. Multiple players may start from the same blank tile at the same time. Take a moment to embrace the silence and make the first move.

03

Safety Measures

Although Slovarica favours exploratory spirit and thrives on enthusiasm, your voice is a physical instrument. Handle it with care! A few precautions will keep your performance safe and enjoyable.

04

Gameplay

Represented by their tokens, players travel across the map and make sounds that they discover on the tiles along the way. Each tile bears a letter or symbol indicating the sound that players should make while standing on it. Having moved to another tile, a player should change the sound according to the new tile.

All players make sounds together at the same time as an ensemble. Hence, players become a group of singers who explore and learn various sounds to create an evolving composition of noises, melodies and rhythms.

Players need to listen carefully to other participants and try to merge their singing with the rest of the group to enrich the shared experience. Making sounds is only allowed while occupying a particular tile on the game map and within the range of the given sound.

One game session may last from five minutes to an unlimited period of time, provided the participants commit to it.

05

The Map

The game map represents the landscape of the northern Balkan region, along with some neighbouring territories. Check the list of featured Landmarks below

It is a grid of 248 hexagonal tiles arranged in a comb pattern.

Each tile displays letters and symbols that refer to specific sounds. Find more about Sounds below.

• 248 hex tiles across four terrain zones
• Each tile carries one letter or symbol of a particular corresponding sound
• Tile colours indicate terrain type
• Tokens mark your position on the map

06

Terrain Types

The map contains four terrain types. Each terrain has its own movement restrictions and its own sonic character. Learning the terrain is not necessary at the beginning.

07

Landmarks

The map represents the landscape of the northern Balkan region and some neighbouring territories. The following locations are featured across the map:

• River Danube
• Lake Balaton
• Tyrrhenian Sea
• Adriatic Sea
• Black Sea
• Alps
• Carpathians
• Vienna
• Warsaw
• Bratislava
• Venice
• Budapest
• Belgrade
• Bucharest
• Sofia

08

Movement

Players may move their tokens across the map in any direction and in any order, unless a specific game mode instructs otherwise. In a single move, a player can cross up to 3 green tiles, up to 6 blue tiles, and just 1 tile when moving through red tiles.

Red tiles rise across 3 levels which creates obstacles to direct movement. Players cannot jump from non-mountain terrain to an upper mountain level, nor skip over it. Players need to start low and ascend through each level step by step.

City tiles function as teleporters, letting players instantly travel between them and continue their journey from another part of the map. Keep in mind that only one player can occupy each tile at a time.

• Green — up to 3 tiles in a single move
• Blue — up to 6 tiles in a single move
• Red — only 1 tile at a time, ascending level by level
• Yellow — city tiles teleport: travel instantly between them
• Blank tiles are designed for pauses

09

Personal Tokens

Each player needs a personal token to represent them on the map. Coins, pebbles, gems, bottle caps, corks, toy figures and similar objects - anything clean and small that fits within a tile and does not damage the map.

• Tokens have no effect on gameplay.
• Tokens simply mark the position of a player as they move across the map.

10

The Sounds

Sounds are an essential part of Slovarica and serve as basic material for improvisation. Think of them as a colour palette: each sound features different qualities and significantly influences the musical result. Sounds of the game can be divided into two groups: speech sounds and non-speech sounds.

There are three ways to learn the sounds of the Slovarica game:

• Learn from more experienced players
• Learn by reading the Sound Descriptions in the Guidebook
• Learn by interacting with a digital copy of the Slovarica map (follow the link in the Guidebook)

Although most sounds in Slovarica are elementary and suitable for everyone, some tiles carry sounds that may strain your voice if performed carelessly (refer to Safety Measures).

I. Speech Sounds

These sounds, called phonemes, are drawn from various languages spoken in the Balkan region, neighbouring areas, and beyond. They are marked by letters of the local alphabets. If you are not familiar with a particular letter, try to approximate it (e.g. Ä = A).

II. Non-Speech Sounds

These sounds are made up of vocal noises, also known as extended vocal techniques (e.g. hissing, whistling, buzzing, etc.), and body percussion sounds. They are marked by unique symbols.

Both sound groups welcome all possible interpretations, nuances, and variations within the proposed way of articulation.

11

Pauses

Pausing is a good opportunity to listen to other players. Blank tiles with no symbol on them allow for a pause to rest, without withdrawing from the game completely.

When occupying a blank tile, a player should not make any sound.

12

Duration

The duration of one game session is not limited. It can last from whatever it takes to cross a couple of tiles up until the stars fall from the sky. The session ends with general silence when all players agree the gameplay has reached a natural conclusion.

The recommended duration of one game session for beginners is 30 minutes. After that, there may be a brief feedback session, a little break, or another session immediately. However, longer sessions (up to 3–5 hours) have been known to yield deep, transformative experiences.

13

Recommendations

• Play in quiet spaces with favourable acoustics where every sound can be heard clearly and distinctly
• Move across the map at an unhurried pace, lingering on each tile and listening closely, giving full attention to the evolving soundscape
• Close your eyes and let yourself go — let rhythm guide you, draw on familiar melodies, and bring in the tunes you love
• Variations in sound and personal interpretation are encouraged — find your own way of performing each technique and adjust it to the overall ambiance
• Pay attention to how your sound blends with others, balancing loudness and softness to serve the whole group
• Aim to create a musical atmosphere that feels connected and unified, one that encourages and supports every other player
• Share your impression with others when the game session is over — feedback is an important part of Slovarica

Wishing you a pleasant sonic journey!

14

Solo Mode

In solo mode, Slovarica becomes a personal instrument and reference tool. There are no turns, no opponents, no structure imposed from outside. You move at your own pace across the map, activating tiles, building and dissolving textures.

Solo play is how most people first encounter the game. It is also the mode used for practice, for learning the sounds, and for using the map as a warm-up tool before group sessions.

The online solo sampler (248 tiles) is available free at any time. No account required.

15

Multiplayer Mode

In multiplayer mode, up to twenty players share the same map in real time. Each player controls their own token and activates tiles independently — but everyone hears the full result of all active tiles simultaneously.

• Up to 20 players per session
• All players share the same map in real time
• Each player activates tiles independently
• The combined result is the composition — unplanned, unrepeatable

16

Modes

Each mode offers a different way to experience Slovarica and influences the game flow, player behaviour, and rules. There are 9 various modes that participants may select from before the game begins.

To select from the list of modes, read their descriptions and discuss what fits the group of participants best. All participants must agree on one mode and follow its rules throughout the game session.

Slovarica was originally designed for the Wanderer mode.

17

Sound Descriptions

The complete list of symbols, vocal techniques and phonemes is included in the Guidebook and available within the full game bundle or as a PDF file. Alternatively, all the sounds of Slovarica may be learnt online while strolling around one of the Digital Maps.