In this game two players compete to deduce each other's scoring criteria, and the one who is able to do so first, wins.
More specifically, each player has a set of nine strips of paper; three each in three colors, with each color having one strip of A's, B's, and C's (or dots, lines, and waves in the second edition). Each player takes three scoring chips at random from a selection of twelve and assigns them point values of +2, +1, or -1. These criteria will look at the number of intersections of certain combinations, such as A strips crossing B strips, or red strips crossing other red strips.
The first player begins by playing one of their strips. The second player continues, placing a strip such that it intersects the first strip. Each player will then place one additional strip in turn, which must cross at least one strip, and may not make an intersection of more than 2 strips.
Once this is complete, each player calculates their sore. They then communicate to their opponent how many times in total their three criteria were triggered, and how many total points were earned. They only report these 2 numbers in total, and not broken down by each of the three criteria.
A three-minute deduction phase of the game then begins, as the players try to deduce which three scoring criteria the other player has in which slot. If a player attempts a guess and is wrong, their opponent secretly looks at one of the unused criteria.
If neither player guesses correctly, the crossing pattern and scoring results remain, and the players play additional rounds as necessary (up to 4 total rounds) with the same scoring criteria and their remaining strips, until one player wins or the game ends in a draw.