SETUP. Everyone is dealt five letter cards. Players should look at BOTH sides of their letter cards, and can either hold their cards in their hands or lay them out on the table.

Place the stack of ITZI cards in the center of the table.

1. One player flips over the top ITZI card and puts it in the center for all to read --or someone can read it out loud.
2. Players quickly look at their letter cards (both front and back) and call out a word that answers the ITZI card and that starts with one of their letters. For example, let’s say the ITZI card reads, “It’z an animal.” If a player has a letter card with a “K” on it, they could call out “kangaroo” and at the same time smack down that letter card on top of the ITZI card. (They also could have used the other letters on the card and said, “Tiger!” or “Iguana!” or “Newt!”.)
3. The first player to call out a correct answer and smack down their letter card gets to discard it.
4. A new ITZI card is flipped over and play continues.
5. The first player to get rid of all five of his/her letter cards wins the game!

BY THE WAY…

The letter you use must be the first letter of your answer. For example, if the ITZI card reads, “It’z a breed of dog” and you answer “Golden Retriever” you must slap down the letter “G” (not “R”). Or if the card reads, “It’z a drink with bubbles” and you answer “Root Beer” you must slap down an “R.”

If a player calls out a wrong answer, they have to take back their letter card, and they also have to take an additional letter card as a penalty.

One option is to play where the winner of the previous game gets to read the ITZI cards for the next game. (That person is not an active player when they are the reader.)