GeoPlunge Combo 1
Cards: The cards used in Combo 1:
- 50 GeoPlunge cards
- 15 Power cards
- 50 Map cards
- 1 answer key card showing the postal code (i.e., state abbreviation) for each state on one side and a map of the U.S. on the other side
Format: A Combo 1 tournament is played a round at a time, and participating teams should
have 3 players. In each round, each team plays another team in a head-to-head match. Each
team plays four matches in the morning in rounds that last 20 minutes each, and four matches
in the afternoon in rounds that last 12 minutes each. Teams switch who they play after each
round. After each team plays eight matches (i.e., one per round), the championship match is
played between the top two teams to determine the champion. Use the rules for Level 1 games.
Shuffling and Scoring: Shuffle the decks as needed during a match. Scoring is the same for
each match: teams earn a win, loss or tie for each game played. Whichever team wins more
games during a match wins that match.
Morning Rounds (20 minutes each): A match during a morning round is played a game at a
time in the order listed below. After playing all of the games once during a morning round, if time
permits, the teams continue playing the games in the same order again until the round ends.
● Game 1: Border-Up™
● Game 2: State IQ™
● Game 3: Dashing States™
● Game 4: Play the Ranks TM
Afternoon rounds (12 minutes each): At the beginning of each afternoon round, each team
picks a GeoPlunge card and whichever team picks the card with a Statehood rank closer to 1
gets to choose a game it wants to play during the match in that round. The other team then
chooses a different game that it wants to play during the match in that round so that there are
two different games being played during the match. After playing both of the selected games in
the order they were chosen, if time permits, the teams continue playing the games in the same
order until the round ends.
Championship match: After 8 rounds, the two teams that have won the most matches
advance to the championship match to determine the champion. If a tie needs to be broken to
determine which teams advance to the championship match, those tied teams participate in a
playoff game, Border-Up, to determine which team advances to the championship match.
In a championship match, the teams play all four games once, and whichever team wins the
most games wins the championship. If after playing all four games each team has won the
same number of games, the teams participate in a tie-breaker game, Border-Up, to determine
the champion. If one team wins the first three games of a championship match, or two of the
first three games and the third game ends in a tie, that team wins the championship and the
remaining game is not played.
Game 1: Border-Up™: Level 1
Cards Used: GeoPlunge cards
Objective: This game is a race! Each team tries to find winning groups of cards as fast as it can. The border states of each state determine the winning groups, as described below.
Step 1: Deal each team 18 GeoPlunge cards face-down. Teams do NOT turn over or look at their cards until the dealer says, “Ready, Set, GeoPlunge! ”
Step 2: The teams then turn over their cards and the race begins. Each team tries to create 2 winning groups from the cards it was dealt. A winning group of cards consists of 3 cards where one state in the group borders both of the other states in the group. (For example, the states Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina are one group because Virginia borders both Maryland and North Carolina.) A team cannot use the same card in more than one group.
Step 3: A team shouts “GeoPlunge” as soon as it finds 2 winning groups.
Determining Who Wins this Game: If the first team to shout GeoPlunge immediately shows its 2 winning groups of cards, it wins this game. Otherwise, the other team wins this game. If both teams shout at the same time, the game is a tie unless only one team immediately shows its 2 winning groups.
Game 2: State IQ™: Level 1
Cards Used: GeoPlunge cards, Power cards
Objective: Each team has up to 3 guesses to guess the state held by its opponent. Each team gets at least one new clue before each guess, unless otherwise stated .
Determining Who Guesses First: In this game, the first guessing team will be the team that just won Border-Up™. If Border-Up™ was a tie, each team picks a GeoPlunge card without looking at that card in advance. Whichever team’s card has a statehood ranking closer to 1 is the first guessing team.
Step 1: Deal each team 1 GeoPlunge card face-down. Each team looks at its card.
Step 2: The dealer then turns the top Power card in the deck face-up. Teams use the order of the letters A, B, and C in the upper right corner of that card to give clues.
A – first letter of Abbreviation (Postal Code)
B – 1 Border State (determined by clue-giving team)
C – first letter of state Capital
For example, if the Power card turned face-up has BAC in the upper right corner (see example), when a team is the clue-giving team, it will provide the name of one Border state of its state as the first clue. Then, if necessary, the second clue would be the first letter of the state Abbreviation (i.e., first letter of the postal code) of its state, and then, if necessary, the third clue would be the first letter of the name of the state Capital for its state. For each clue-giving team, if the Power card shows:
AAA: The first clue is the first letter of the state A bbreviation (i.e., the first letter of the postal code) of its state, the second clue, if necessary, is the second letter of the state abbreviation (i.e., the second letter of the postal code) of its state, and no further clue is provided but the guessing team, if necessary, receives a third guess.
BBB: The first clue is the name of one of the B order states of its state. The second clue, if necessary, is the name of a second border state of its state. The third clue, if necessary, is the name of a third border state of its state.
CCC: The first clue is the first letter of the name of the state C apital of its state. The second clue, if necessary, is the second letter of the name of the state capital. The third clue, if necessary, is the third letter of the name of the state capital. Step 3: The first guessing team has up to 3 guesses to try to guess the state of the GeoPlunge card in the other team’s hand.
Step 4 : After the first guessing team correctly guesses the name of the state held by its opponent or has made 3 incorrect guesses, the teams switch roles with the first guessing team then providing clues regarding its state. Use the same Power card for both teams. The second guessing team does not continue to guess once it has won or lost even if it has not made all three guesses.
Determining Who Wins this Game: Whichever team guesses the state of the GeoPlunge card in the other team’s hand in fewer guesses wins this game. The game ends in a tie if neither team guesses correctly or each team guesses correctly using the same number of guesses.
Game 3: Dashing States™: Level 1
Cards Used: Map cards
Objective: Dashing States™ is a race! As quickly as it can, each team tries to identify the states in red on 4 of its 5 Map cards so that it can sort those cards in alphabetical order by state name, and also announce the state names and state capitals of those states. There is only one state in red on each Map card.
Step 1: Deal each team 5 Map cards face-down. Teams do NOT turn over or look at their cards until the dealer says, “Ready, Set, GeoPlunge! ”
Step 2 : The teams then turn over their cards and the race begins. Each team tries place 4 of its 5 states in alphabetical order by state name, and then shout “ GeoPlunge! ” The unused card must be turned face-down before†shouting GeoPlunge. The first team to shout GeoPlunge then announces the names of its 4 states and the capitals of those states.
Determining Who Wins this Game: If the first team to shout GeoPlunge has by then correctly placed its 4 states in alphabetical order, turned its unused card face-down before shouting, and then after shouting GeoPlunge correctly announces the names of its 4 states and the capitals of those states, it wins the game. Otherwise, the other team wins the game. If both teams shout GeoPlunge at the same time, it is a tie unless only one team successfully completes step 2.
Game 4: Play the Ranks™: Level 1
Cards Used: GeoPlunge cards
Objective: A “trick” consists of two cards, one from each team. Each team tries to win as many tricks as it can. For each trick, the state rankings of the cards played in the selected category determines who wins the trick. The selected category for a trick will be either size, statehood, or population.
Determining the Lead Team for the First Trick: In this game, the lead team (i.e., the team that plays the first card) for the first trick is the team that just won Dashing States™. If Dashing States™ was a tie, each team picks a GeoPlunge card without looking at it in advance and whichever team’s card has a statehood ranking closer to 1 is the lead team for the first trick.
Step 1: Deal 9 GeoPlunge cards to each team face-down. After looking at its cards, each team discards 1 card from its hand, face-down, so that each team has 8 cards.
Step 2: The teams then play 8 tricks, one at a time. Whichever team wins a trick is the lead team for the next trick.
- For each trick, the lead team team decides which category will be used for that trick. To start a trick, the lead team plays one card face-up and announces both (1) the name of the state that it is playing, and (2) the category of either size, statehood, or population. The other team then plays a card face-up. Whichever team plays the card that has the better ranking in the category chosen by the lead team wins the trick.
- For the first four tricks, 1st is the best ranking, followed by 2nd, followed by 3rd, followed by 4th, etc.
- For the last four tricks, 50th is the best ranking, followed by 49th, followed by 48th, followed by 47th, etc.
- If a team wins 6 tricks before all the tricks have been played, the game ends early, and there is no need to play the final tricks.
Examples: If at any time during the first 4 tricks, the lead team plays a card and announces “Population,” the team playing the card with the population ranking closer to 1 wins that trick. In the example, the team playing New York wins the trick because its population ranking is closer to 1 than Colorado’s. If at any time during the last 4 tricks, the lead team plays a card and announces “Statehood,” the team playing the card with the statehood ranking closer to 50 wins that trick. In the example, the team playing Colorado wins the trick because its statehood ranking is closer to 50 than New York’s.
Determining Who Wins This Game: Whichever team wins at least 5 tricks wins this game. If both teams win 4 tricks, whichever team wins the last trick wins this game.