[1] The game involves having to write fake, but plausible, opening (or closing) sentences of genuine books in an attempt to fool fellow players into believing your words are the authentic first (or last) lines of a given book.
In each round, a different player takes the role of reader and reads aloud the title, author and plot summary.
The other players are then required to write plausible first or last sentences for the book, handing their efforts over to the reader, who has meanwhile copied the correct line onto a similar piece of paper, which they shuffle amongst the 'fake' scripts.
The reader then reads aloud all the sentences, taking care to disguise the genuine.
Currently endorsed by Oxford University's Bodleian Library and the British Library (London), which both receive a royalty for each game sold, Ex Libris has been described as "fantastically tricky"[2] and "boring-sounding (but actually extremely entertaining)".