How to run a game without a printer

This guide prevents a no-printer game from stalling when the host discovers that the rules depend on thirty handouts, private cards, or an answer key nobody can see. Rebuild the session around one shared display, reusable personal answer spaces, a spoken-plus-visible instruction loop, and a fallback that survives a dead screen.

1. Check the game for paper dependencies

List every item the original plan expected to print: prompts, private information, answer spaces, team labels, score sheet, instructions, answer key, and take-home material. Mark each item as shared, private, writable, or host-only.

Replace the function, not the sheet. A shared prompt can go on a board. A private role may need to be whispered by the host. A writable response can use a notebook or personal device where permitted. A host-only key can stay on the host’s screen.

If the game requires every player to hold different text at the same time and you have no reliable private channel, choose another format.

2. Pick one display route and one dead-screen route

Choose the primary route from equipment already in the room:

• whiteboard or chalkboard;
• projector or shared screen;
• host device shown to one team at a time;
• spoken prompt plus a short visible keyword.

Then choose a dead-screen route. Write the first 6 to 9 prompts and their answers in the host’s notebook, or store them on a charged device that does not need the venue network. If the primary display fails, announce the switch once and continue from the next prompt.

Do not make live internet access the only copy of the game.

3. Reduce instructions to one visible cycle

Put four verbs where everyone can see them: listen or read, choose, record, reveal. Add the time limit and pass rule underneath.

Demonstrate one complete turn with a neutral sample. Ask a player at the far side of the room to repeat the four verbs. If one is missing, revise the display or host position before beginning.

CAST’s UDL Guidelines recommend multiple media for communication and varied methods for response.¹ Use a spoken explanation plus visible action words, then permit response routes that keep the same game demand.

4. Give every player a reusable answer space

Use existing notebooks, scrap paper approved for reuse, mini whiteboards, a notes app where devices are permitted, or fingers for a small fixed choice. Assign one answer space per player before teams confer.

For written answers, require everyone to commit before the reveal. For a fixed choice, count down and reveal simultaneously. If fewer than half the players have a usable answer space, switch to one response per uneven pod and rotate the recorder every turn.

Do not ask players to write on furniture, walls, books, or personal items.

5. Make uneven pods from the room

For 23 players, use pods of 4, 5, 6, and 8. For 31, use 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9. Assign a first responder, recorder, checker, and prompt watcher; larger pods add a second responder or a score runner.

Rotate the first responder every turn and recorder every two turns. A late arrival joins the smallest pod and watches one turn before responding.

If one pod cannot see the display, move the prompt watcher rather than moving the whole pod into a route or sightline other people need. CAST’s guidance includes varied methods for navigation and communication.¹

6. Convert private cards into host-routed information

If a player needs a hidden word, role, or constraint, bring that player to the host point or show the host device with the rest of the screen covered. Give one item, confirm understanding with a nod or repeat-back, and close the source.

Keep waiting players on a visible task, such as choosing the next responder or recording the round number. If routing private information takes longer than the play it enables, stop after the current turn and switch to a version with shared prompts.

Never send a player a private link or ask for contact details merely to replace a card.

7. Keep the answer key under one owner

The host or named checker controls the source of accepted answers. For each prompt, prepare the answer, accepted alternatives, and one sentence that resolves the likely ambiguity.

Publish this dispute rule: a team may give one short reason; the checker accepts it, rejects it, or voids the prompt. If the decision takes more than 25 seconds, void the prompt for everyone and continue.

If the answer depends on a live fact that the host did not verify before the event, remove the prompt. Do not search the web while the room waits.

8. Run a no-score equipment test

Use one real prompt to test sightline, audibility, answer spaces, reveal timing, and score reporting. Ask the farthest pod’s checker to show whether each element worked.

Repair only the failed element:

• missed prompt: add visible keywords or relay through pod watchers;
• missed instruction: shorten the cycle and demonstrate again;
• unreadable display: enlarge and show fewer words;
• slow recording: change to a fixed choice or one pod response;
• conflicting scores: route all reports to one scorekeeper.

Repeat the test once. If two elements still fail, use the dead-screen route with the simplest response method.

9. Reveal and score through one rhythm

Use the same sequence each turn: prompt, thinking time, commitment, reveal, answer, score. Do not explain the next prompt while players are scoring the current one.

Show the round number on the board and have the scorekeeper read totals after every 3 to 5 prompts. If two totals conflict, pause before the next prompt and reconcile the official record with the pod recorder. Never carry a known score conflict into another round.

Stop a round early when two consecutive prompts require rule explanations or fewer than half the pods complete responses. Move to the prepared simpler finish.

10. End without producing a paper substitute

Close with one prompt per pod or one simultaneous choice from every player. State the final score only after the correction window ends.

Ask recorders to erase reusable boards, close notes, and return borrowed tools. Delete no player content from a personal device; tell its owner which temporary note is no longer needed and let that person manage it.

If the group wants the prompts afterward, provide the public source already approved for sharing or write the source location on the board. Do not collect email addresses, create a new download, or promise a handout you did not prepare.

Run a 24 to 35 minute version from one card

Say first: “Watch one complete turn. We will listen or read, choose, record and reveal. You may pass the response role. Hold every answer until the reveal signal. If a response is disputed, one checker decides from the prepared key or voids the prompt. We stop at [time].”

If a pod finishes early, it keeps its answer covered, checks that the current recorder used the right field and chooses the next responder. It receives no extra prompt. Announce before scoring that a tie is a shared result unless one prepared, offline tie prompt is named on the host card. Use that prompt once. If it also ties, share the result. The 25-second void rule in Step 7 controls every disputed answer, including the tie prompt.

Printable no-printer game checklist

• Every expected paper item has been listed by function.
• Shared, private, writable, and host-only items are marked.
• One existing display route is selected.
• A dead-screen route is ready without live internet.
• The first 6 to 9 prompts and answers are available offline.
• Listen or read, choose, record, and reveal are visible.
• The time limit and pass rule are visible.
• Every player or pod has a reusable answer space.
• Pod sizes are uneven and based on actual attendance.
• First responder and recorder rotations are written down.
• Private information has a host-routed delivery method.
• The answer key has one named owner.
• Accepted alternatives are prepared for ambiguous prompts.
• The 25-second void rule is announced.
• Early finish and tied-score rules are visible without a handout.
• One no-score equipment test is scheduled.
• The farthest pod will verify sightline and audibility.
• Score reports route to one scorekeeper.
• A simpler finish is ready for the early-stop rule.
• Borrowed tools have a return and reset action.

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