Ex Libris

About this board game

Ex Libris is a literary bluffing game for 4–8 players, lasting around 30 minutes, in which players create and identify plausible first or last lines from genuine English novels.

Each round, one player becomes the reader and selects a card, reading its prompt aloud. The other players write a convincing fake opening or closing sentence, while the reader records the authentic line found on the card.

All the submissions are shuffled together and read aloud. Everyone then votes for the sentence they believe is genuine, rewarding both sharp literary judgment and the ability to mislead fellow players with a believable invention.

• Guess the authentic first or last line.
• Write a plausible fake line that sounds genuine.
• Earn points when other players vote for your entry.
• Gain further points for identifying the real sentence.
• Give the reader a point when nobody finds the authentic line.

The game features 100 authors representing widely varied writing styles, ranging from Charles Dickens and Jane Austen to Harold Robbins and Barbara Cartland. The included literary works span celebrated and diverse titles such as Moby Dick, Pride and Prejudice, Jude the Obscure, Zuleika Dobson, The Spy Who Loved Me, and The House at Pooh Corner.

First devised and published by Oxford Games in 1991, Ex Libris challenges your literary acumen and writing skills without requiring you to know every answer. Success comes from balancing recognition with style: identify the line that rings true, or craft a sentence persuasive enough to fool the table.