The rules, step by step
- Everyone starts with the same ten cards: five plain letters and five wilds.
- Tap cards to spell a word. A wild can be any letter you like.
- The word earns the cents printed on the cards you used. Some cards do more than that.
- Spend it on ONE card from the offer — a better letter, or Fame.
- Everything you played goes to your discard pile and you draw five fresh cards.
- Fame is the score, and it is also a wild — so it still spells, it just never earns.
- When a Fame pile runs out the round is finished and the most Fame wins.
Scoring and the fiddly bits
The starting ten
Five one-cent letters — R, S, T, L and N — and five wilds, which are also your first five Fame. Everybody begins with the same deck.
What a word earns
The cents printed on the cards you used, after powers resolve. Length earns nothing on its own, and a word has to be at least two letters.
The three powers
Bonus adds a cent, and double doubles its own card and nothing else. Draw deals you an extra card into next turn’s hand.
One purchase a turn
One card from the five face-up in the offer, or one Fame card, or nothing. Whatever you earned and did not spend is gone.
The ending
When any Fame tier empties, the round is finished so that everyone has had the same number of turns. Most Fame wins.
Questions about Paper Novel
Is Paper Novel free?
Yes. Every game on Table Party is free, with no accounts, no adverts and nothing to buy.
How many people do you need for Paper Novel?
Between 2 and 5. Below 2 there are not enough of you for the game to work.
Do we need to download anything?
No. One person opens the site and starts a room; everybody else joins by typing the room code on their own phone. Nothing to install, nothing to sign up for.
Can we play Paper Novel over a video call?
Yes. Share the room code in the chat and play with the call running — everything private stays on each player’s own phone.
Play Paper Novel online
Free, in the browser, with everyone on their own phone.