The game contains two decks of vowel cards, one for long vowel sounds and one for short vowel sounds. Only one of the decks is used during each game, as chosen by the players. There is also a gameboard consisting of spaces with the vowel letters a, e, i, o, and u.
On each turn, the player draws a card from the deck of vowel cards. The player says the name of the object on the card, then advances to the first space that matches the vowel on the card. To stay there, the player must say another object with the same vowel sound. Other players may give hints if the player cannot think of one. If they fail to name another object with the same vowel sound, the player must move back one space. The vowel deck also contains advance or penalty cards that move a player forward or backward along the gameboard. A player does not need to say an object when landing on a space due to one of these cards.
The first player to reach the treasure chest by advancing along the path and drawing a vowel card with an o sound (the letter shown on the treasure chest) wins the game.
An alternate rule set allows for team play using the same gameplay, but no hints are allowed in this version.