🧠

The Mind

Play in order. Say nothing.

Everyone needs their own phone. The Mind has no turns and nobody may see anybody else's cards, so there is no way to share one screen. 2–4 players, one phone each.

How are you playing?

The Mind needs a phone each — your cards stay yours, and there are no turns to pass a phone between.

How to play(shown for 3 players)

What you are trying to do

The deck is one card each of every number from 1 to 100.
Together you must play your cards onto one pile in ascending order — lowest first, all the way up.
You have 10 levels to get through. In level 1 everybody holds one card, in level 2 two cards, and so on.
Clear the last level and you win. Lose all your lives and you lose.

You cannot talk about your cards

This is a rule of the game, not something the app checks. No hints, no signals, no counting out loud, nothing about what you are holding.
You look at each other, you feel the moment, and you play. That is the whole game.
The one thing you may do is raise the question of a shuriken.

Playing a card

There are no turns. Anybody holding cards can play at any moment.
You always play your lowest card — the app plays it for you, so there is nothing to choose but when.
If nobody else was holding anything lower, play carries on.

Getting it wrong

If somebody was holding a card lower than the one just played, every card below it goes face up in front of whoever held it.
That costs the team one life — one, however many cards were lost and however many players were caught.
Play then carries on from the card that was played.
You start with one life per player: 3 at this table.

Shurikens

You start with 1 shuriken.
Anybody can propose spending one. It is only spent if every other player agrees, and an answer cannot be taken back.
When it is spent, everybody still holding cards turns their lowest card face up and discards it. Suddenly everyone knows a lot more.
Nobody can play a card while a proposal is waiting for an answer.

Finishing a level

A level is over the moment nobody is holding a card — however they went: played, lost to a mistake, or given up to a shuriken.
Then you take the reward for that level, everybody confirms they are ready, and the next level is dealt from a full shuffle.
Nothing carries between levels except your lives, your shurikens, and how far you have got.

What each level gives you (3 players, 10 levels)

Level 1: nothing.
Level 2: a shuriken.
Level 3: an extra life.
Level 4: nothing.
Level 5: a shuriken.
Level 6: an extra life.
Level 7: nothing.
Level 8: a shuriken.
Level 9: an extra life.
Level 10: nothing.

The table

The Mind is for 2 to 4 players, and everybody needs their own phone — your cards have to stay yours, and there are no turns to pass a phone between.
Two players get 12 levels, three get 10, four get 8.
You can always see how many cards everybody is holding, everything that has been played, and everything that has been turned face up. What is still in somebody's hand is theirs alone.