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Rock the Beat

Slap, clap and throw gestures across the table in rhythm to a Queen classic, without losing the beat.

Forget board, dice and tokens: this one lives in your hands. Everybody slaps their thighs and claps along to the beat of Queen's We Will Rock You, and each player holds a card showing a gesture, such as deer antlers, a thumbs up or thumbing your nose. Once the beat is steady, the starting player swaps one clap for their own gesture, then for somebody else's. That person has to repeat their own gesture on the next clap and throw another player's gesture onwards. Miss the rhythm or your cue and you get a fresh gesture card, while the player who threw it at you takes your old one, which makes their life harder. Part coordination test, part silly dance, best with a loud room of seven to ten.

Rhythm game built on Queen's We Will Rock YouGesture cards like antlers, thumbs up and nose thumbingFumbles hand out new cards and pile up signals

Who it's for

You have a big, loud group of four or more who would rather clap and laugh than look at a board.

Not for you if…

You are a small or shy group, or anyone dislikes physical, performative games. Without a crowd and some noise it falls flat.

Vibe's take

Loud, physical and quickly ridiculous. The beat never stops, so your brain is juggling your own signal, the next target and the rhythm at once, and mistakes are the main source of laughs.

#5,267 on BGG

of over 30,000 ranked board games

Published 2008 · 18 years ago

older than 82% of games

In 3,025 collections

collected more than 41% of games

4–12 players · ages 6+

Best with 7 or 8 or 9 or 10 · publisher: 8+

about 30 min

shorter than 69% of games · typical 30–90 min

Complexity: light

Explained in 5 minutes · 1.1 out of 5 · lighter than 92%

Opinions: divided

Some love it, others really don’t

Language: little text

A few terms, easy to look up

Play style: competitive