The Game (card game)

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The Game
Game data
author Steffen Benndorf
graphic Oliver Freudenreich ,
Sandra Freudenreich
publishing company Nürnberger-Spielkarten-Verlag
Publishing year 2015
Art Card game
Teammates 1 to 5
Duration about 20 minutes
Age from 8 years

Awards

The Game with the subtitle "Spiel ... as long as you can" is a cooperative card game by Steffen Benndorf , which was published in 2015 by Nürnberger-Spielkarten-Verlag . The game was nominated for Game of the Year 2015 as one of three games. In the same year it was also nominated for the à la carte card game award and came second after Machi Koro .

Style of play

The game is based on a classic solitaire and is played as a cooperative card game by one to five players. As with solitaire, the aim is to place all the cards in the game in a display determined by the game until the end of the game. The game consists of four row cards (starting cards), each numbered twice with 1 and 100, as well as 98 number cards with the number values ​​2 to 99.

Game flow

To prepare for the game, the four row cards are laid out in the middle of the table. The well-mixed number cards are dealt face down to the other players. In a game with three, four and five people, each player receives 6 cards and with two players each receives 7 cards. In the solo game, the player receives 8 cards. The remaining number cards are placed on the table as a face-down draw pile ( talon ).

The task of the players is to collectively (cooperatively) place all number cards in the storage area. With the row cards with the 1 ascending rows of numbers, i.e. rows with cards with increasing numerical values, and with those with the 100 descending rows should arise. The cards are placed on top of one another and thus cover the cards that have already been placed; the distances between the cards can be as large as you want. An exception to the discard order can be achieved by the "backward trick", if a player can jump exactly 10 points on a stack in the opposite direction to the discarding direction. To do this, he must place a card in the ascending pile that is exactly 10 points below the previous one, and in the descending pile a card that is exactly 10 points higher. The "backward trick" can also be used several times in one move.

In a first step, the players agree on a starting player after all players have looked at their cards. The players play clockwise and each player must discard at least two cards from their hand in their turn, but can also place more suitable cards on the discard pile. Then the player refills his hand of cards and it is the next player's turn. Since this is a cooperative game, communication between the players is allowed, but no specific numerical values ​​may be given. Reservations for a deck of cards or warnings about jumps that are too big can make sense. When the draw pile is completely used up, you continue to discard, but the players only have to discard one card per turn.

The game ends when all cards have been discarded or a player cannot discard any more suitable cards despite having cards. If the players manage to discard all cards in accordance with the rules, they have won together; if it does not succeed and there are cards left over, they have lost together.

Game variants

In order to make the game a little more difficult for more experienced players, the basic rule of the game specifies a game variant according to which three cards must be played per turn instead of two. Another way to make the game more difficult is to reduce the number of cards in hand by one card.

The Game on Fire

In 2015 the mini-supplement The Game on Fire was released , which consists of six cards with the values ​​22, 33, 44, 55, 66 and 77. For The Game on Fire, the cards of the same value in the base game are replaced by cards with a different color, which after being played must always be covered with a follow-up card from another player in order not to lose the game. The six cards were added to the base game as part of the game in later editions.

The Game: Extreme

In 2016, the stand-alone game The Game: Extreme was released , which builds on The Game and integrates commands for the game on 28 playing cards. Nothing changes in the course of the game or the aim of the game, but the order cards influence the course of the game. There are seven different commands that appear on four cards and must be followed when playing. A player may play one or more commands during his turn, which must be obeyed, and communication via the command cards as long as no specific numerical values ​​are given.

The following commands appear in the game:

Symbol types Surname property
Lightning symbols:

Must be executed immediately and apply to the active player

STOP The active player's action ends immediately. The STOP card can also be played as the first card to limit a move to one card.
Skull The active player must cover the card in the same turn, at the end of the turn no skull card may remain visible on a pile. This also applies to the end of the game when all number cards have been placed.
3! The active player must play exactly 3 cards in his turn. It is allowed to play a STOP card as a third card.
Infinity symbol:

Cards with the infinity symbol are valid for all players and all stacks as long as they are visible on a stack.

no communication The players are no longer allowed to communicate with each other about the game, i.e. neither speak nor give each other any signs.
no backwards trick The active player may no longer use a backward trick.
Limited to one batch The active player must play all cards that he plays in his turn on a single pile.
Restriction to one card The active player may only draw one card after completing his action, regardless of the number of cards discarded. If the card is covered, the active player may draw back to the original number of cards after his action.

The Game: Face to Face

In 2017 the competitive card game The Game: Face to Face was published by Nürnberger-Spielkarten-Verlag GmbH . It was developed by Steffen Benndorf and Reinhard Staupe , illustrated by Sandra Freudenreich and Oliver Freudenreich . In The Game: Face to Face is card game for two people. Each person receives 60 cards in one color, including 58 numbers and 2 row cards. The aim of the game is to be the first to discard all of your cards.

The number cards are shuffled well and everyone draws 6 from their own pile into their hand. It is played alternately. Each player has two of his own discard piles, whereby the cards must be discarded on one pile in ascending order (1 to 59) and on the other in descending order (60 to 2). The active player must discard at least two of his hand cards according to the known rules on his own discard piles. As in the basic game, the backward trick is also allowed.

Instead of laying it down with himself, the active player may put exactly one card on a pile of the other player. However, he has to help him with the card placed there - in other words, improve his stack at will. If you have decided to only put cards on your own pile, at the end of your turn you draw two cards from the draw pile, regardless of how many cards you put down on yourself. However, if you have decided to put a card on one of the opposing decks, then at the end of your turn you can draw as many cards from the draw pile that you have 6 cards in hand again.

The first person to discard all 58 number cards wins the game.

The Game: Quick & Easy

The Game: Quick & Easy was published by Nürnberger-Spielkarten-Verlag GmbH in January 2020 . It was developed by Steffen Benndorf , illustrated by Sandra Freudenreich and Oliver Freudenreich . Together, the players try to put all cards on two stacks, one in ascending order (1 to 10) and the other in descending order (10 to 1). There are number cards with values ​​from 1 to 10 in five different colors.

Each player receives 2 cards in hand. The active player must in his turn at least one of the two cards according to of the known rules. Then he draws cards until he has two cards in hand again. The colors of the cards are not important in the regular lead, but they are needed in The Game: Quick & Easy for the backward trick:

If a card of one color is placed on a pile on which the same color is on top, then the discarded card may have any value - in this case it may be discarded explicitly contrary to the actual discarding rules.

The players win together if they manage to discard all cards on the two discard piles. You lose as soon as a player cannot discard a card in accordance with the rules on his turn.

Expenses and reception

The card game The Game was developed by Steffen Benndorf and published by Nürnberger-Spielkarten-Verlag in February 2015 as a new release for the Nuremberg Toy Fair . The card and game design with a red and black basic color with an implied skull on the number cards comes from the game illustrators Oliver and Sandra Freudenreich . In the year of its appearance, The Game was nominated for Game of the Year 2015 as one of three games alongside the three-dimensional board game Colt Express and the card game Machi Koro , but could not prevail against Colt Express . The nomination was justified with the following words:

“This minimalism inspires! With around 100 cards and a few rules, the author Steffen Benndorf creates a tense atmosphere that doesn't let anyone wander. On the contrary: The constraints of discarding the cards send the players into a rollercoaster of emotions. Despair, anger, joy, triumphant jubilation - everything is included. But above all the restrictions in communication make "The Game" a challenge that never gets boring. "

- Jury Game of the Year 2015

In the same year it was also nominated for the à la carte card game award and came second after Machi Koro . Due to its success, the game was released in 2015 as a licensed game by various publishers in an English, a Dutch, a French, a Czech / Polish and a Swiss version in German, Italian and French.

In 2016, The Game: Extreme was released, a game based on The Game , which Benndorf developed together with Reinhard Staupe .

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b The Game on the website of the Spiel des Jahres eV ; accessed on February 26, 2017.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h Official rules of the game for The Game
  3. ↑ a b Official game rules for The Game: Extreme
  4. ↑ Official game rules for The Game: Face to Face
  5. ↑ Official game rules for The Game: Quick & Easy
  6. ↑ Versions of The Game in the BoardGameGeek database; accessed on February 26, 2017.

Web links