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Players in The Game try to discard all 98 cards in the deck onto four discard piles in order to win, but they need to do so in the right ways.
Each player starts with 6-8 cards in their hand depending on the number of players, and four discard pile prompt cards are on the table: two showing "1" and an up arrow and two showing "100" and a down arrow. On a turn, a player must discard at least two cards from their hand onto one or more discard piles, with cards on the 1 piles being placed in ascending order and cards on the 100 piles being placed in descending order. One tricky aspect of the game is that you can play a card exactly 10 higher/lower than the top card of a discard pile even when you would normally have to play in a descending/ascending order, e.g., if a 100 discard pile is topped with an 87, you can play any card lower than 87 or you can play the 97.
After a player finishes their turn, they refill their hand from the deck. During play, players cannot reveal exact numbers in their hands, but they can warn others not to play on certain discard piles or otherwise make play suggestions.
Once the deck is emptied, players are required only to play at least one card on a turn. If you play all 98 cards, you win! If you get good, the rules suggest that you play at least three cards a turn to increase the challenge.
- Unspecified
- Unspecified
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card dealing / hand setup — Each player receives a card and uses it to perform actions.
- Goal-based scoring — Players aim to complete goals to earn points.
- prop-based interaction — Thematic props (cat toy, cat treat) are used as part of play actions.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- to play the CET game in 30 seconds or less
References (from this video)
- tight, approachable cooperative puzzle
- high replayability at two players and beyond
- box packaging described as weak; durability is an issue
- some players find the cognitive load high for new players
- working through a deck via ascending and descending piles
- cooperative card puzzle
- spare, puzzle-driven
- The Mind
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card_management — two piles are increasing, two piles are decreasing; decisions hinge on card values and order
- cooperative_play — all players work together to play cards in ascending/descending piles until the deck is exhausted
- limited_communication — players cannot reveal exact cards; hints are allowed but not explicit hand content
- pacing_control — the pace must be carefully managed to avoid over-pushing one pile to failure
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's basically it's an auction tiling game
- it's a classic Euro but with fresh mechanics that you don't really see in newer games
- the best scoring that you can get is one building amongst all these things is is four points
- I really liked it I think the very first uh work that I scored I took it all as money and I thought like this is great I'm gonna have so much money for the rest of the game but I think that hurt me in the end
- it's mean that it was comical
- it's a very silly game
- it's a strong mix of chaos and strategy
- it's better with higher player counts
- it's one of those games where there's very limited communication; it's fully cooperative
References (from this video)
- Accessible entry point to cooperative/deduction games
- Short playtime with meaningful decisions
- Some may find the mechanics abstract
- Limited variety after many plays
- Cooperation, deduction
- An abstract, cooperative card game where players discard cards to finish the deck.
- minimalist, puzzle-like
- Arboretum
- Alchemists
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card drafting/hand management — Players manage a hand of cards and play them to meet discard requirements.
- cooperative play — All players work together to discard their decks and finish the game.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- There's Nostalgia to it
- Kanban EV is prettier definitely
- the end game sneaks up on you a little bit faster than you're ready for
- we've traveled with this game for about five six years