
- BGG rating
- 6.3
You've Been Sentenced! Add-On Deck: Gourmet Cuisine
- 3–10 players
- 45 min
- 2008

2005
Rules assistance for You've Been Sentenced!
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

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Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
You've Been Sentenced! is a board game released in 2005 for 3–10 players, 30 minutes per game, and ages 8 and up. It was designed by Paul Edward Cooper and Donald McNeill and its main mechanics are Hand Management and Voting.
The multi award-winning You’ve been Sentenced! word game uses pentagon-shaped cards with conjugations of funny words, famous names, and familiar places. Each player uses his or her hand of 10 cards to build a grammatically correct sentence, racing the other players while also trying to score the most points per round. Sentences also have to be justifiable in meaning, making players use both creativity and common sense.
You've Been Sentenced! supports 3–10 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for You've Been Sentenced! is 30 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists You've Been Sentenced! for ages 8 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
You've Been Sentenced! has a complexity rating of 1.4 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
You've Been Sentenced! belongs to these categories: Card Game, Word Game, and Party Game. Its main mechanics are Hand Management and Voting. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of You've Been Sentenced! are: Paul Edward Cooper and Donald McNeill. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists You've Been Sentenced! as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.