Materials
3 Standard Card Decks - Shuffled together
White and Black Markers (Chess Pawns)
1 Prophet Marker (Another Chess piece)
Objective
To figure out the "RULE" governing the ordering of the Universe,
which consists of a linear sequence of cards.
God
In ordinary play, one player at a time plays God (or they may
select an alternative name, e.g., Oracle, Delphi, Seer, Almighty,
etc.). God's first task is to devise a rule that will define
the ordering of their Universe (defining what sequence of cards
may be legally played). Example: Each card played must differ in
color from the preceeding card (a too simplistic rule resulting
in an alternating pattern of red and black cards). The rule must
concern intrinsic features of the cards themselves. The scoring
is such that God's score is optimized by choosing a rule which is
neither too hard or too easy.
Circumstances beyond the cards, e.g., the time, the sex of the
player, which hand of God is touching their nose, are not
allowed. If God deems it necessary, a truthful hint may be
given, e.g., "Suits are irrelevant in this Universe", or "The
rule depends on the 2 previously played cards".
In real play, a game would consist of one round wherein each
player would play God once. Scoring (described below) can be
adjusted in a partial round to compensate players not having the
opportunity to be God.
The rule must be written down on a card or piece of paper in
unambiguous language.
The Play
God starts play by dealing 14 cards to every other player. God
does not get a hand and plays the remaining deck. A single
starter card is taken from the top of the deck (or selected if
necessary) and placed upon the playing surface, which ideally
will be large and flat. If the rule depends on more than one
starter card, e.g., 2 or 3, the correct number would be placed on
the playing surface (with an explanation, i.e., a hint from God,
as mentioned above).
Face cards have the numerical values of Jack = 11, Queen = 12,
King = 13; Aces are one.
To determine which player starts, God starts counting with the
player to the immediate left and continues CW around the circle
until reaching the count on the starter card.
A play consists of placing one or more cards upon the playing
surface in a linear sequence from the starter card(s) or the last
legally played card. God will then indicate whether the card or
cards are in accord with their rule of the Universe. If
correctly played, the cards become part of the Main Sequence, and
the play rotates CW to the next player. If incorrect, the card
or cards are placed in a vertical column perpendicular to the
last correctly played card in the main line, forming a side line.
Thus consecutive correct plays constitute the main line, and
consecutive incorrect plays constitute the side lines. A white
Pawn (or other marker) is placed upon every tenth card played.
For each card incorrectly played, God gives the player a 2 card
penalty. Since in the scoring it is advantageous to get rid of
your cards first, playing strings of cards is advantageous, but
only if you are quite certain of the "rule". Strings are
initially played by displaying them in a slightly overlapping
spread. If one card in a string is incorrect, the entire string
is invalidated and God does not indicate what in particular is
wrong. The string is placed on the sideline overlapping so other
players can see they were played as a string.
If a player thinks they have no cards in their hand which may be
legally played, they may declare "No Play". The hand is placed
upon the table and examined by God. All other players get to
look as well. If the player is correct and has 4 or fewer
cards, the cards are returned to the deck, since this player has
no cards left, the round ends. If the player is correct and has
5 or more cards, the hand is returned to the deck and God deals
the player a new hand less 4 cards, and the play continues. So a
valid No Play hand of 8 cards results in a new hand of three. If
God declares that there is a play (i.e., the player is wrong),
God selects one correct card and places it upon the main
sequence. The player receives a 5 card penalty and play
continues. Note: If you do not know the rule, it is much better
to play a single card at random than declaring "No Play".
After 30 cards have been played (in both the main sequence and
sidelines combined), if there is no Prophet (see below), players
are expelled from the round when they make an incorrect play and
receive their penalty cards. The round ends when a player plays
their last card, or the last player is expelled.
The Prophet
When a player decides they know and understand the Rule of the
Universe, they can greatly increase their score by declaring
themselves a Prophet and proving their understanding to all. The
Prophet stops playing their hand and immediately takes over the
role of God judging the correct order of cards played by the
remaining players. A player may declare themselves a Prophet
only if (1) the player has just played (correctly or
incorrectly), and the next player has not played; (2) there is
no other Prophet; (3) at least 2 other players in addition to God
and the Prophet remain in the round; (4) they have not been a
Prophet before in this round.
If a Prophet is declared, the main sequence is marked with a
Prophet marker, and every 10 cards played subsequently with a
black marker. Expulsions are delayed until after 20 cards have
been played following the Prophet's marker. Thus if on the 15th
card a Prophet is declared, no expulsions take place until after
the 35th card is played. If expulsions have begun when a Prophet
is declared, they are suspended for 20 more cards, but previously
expelled players remain out.
Following declaration, play continues with the Prophet deciding
which cards are correct and incorrect. If the Prophet is
successful the play continues until a player is out of cards or
all other players are expelled. However, God verifies the
Prophet's every decision, and if judged incorrect by God, the
Prophet is instantly cast down as a False Prophet, and God
resumes their original role. The False Prophet gets 5 penalty
cards and resumes play of their hand in correct turn. The
Prophet's marker and black pawns are removed from the cards, and
the white markers are brought up to date. If more than 30 cards
have been played, with their next wrong play, the player is
expelled. After a Prophet is cast down, any remaining player
satisfying the necessary conditions may declare themselves a
Prophet. The Prophet marker is placed on the last legally played
card, and expulsions are suspended for another 20 cards.
The play that results in the downfall of a Prophet is completed
by God. If correct cards were ruled incorrect by the Prophet,
they are moved to the main sequence, there is no penalty, and
play resumes. If incorrect cards were ruled correct by the
Prophet, they are moved to the sideline, but the player IS NOT
PENALIZED because their play resulted in the discovery of a False
Prophet. Thus players are encouraged to make plays that may
potentially cast down the Prophet.
If a player declares No Play, and the Prophet correctly agrees,
play continues as described above. But if the Prophet says
correct, and God disagrees, the Prophet is cast down, God takes
over and handles everything as above, EXCEPT the player receives
no penalty. If the Prophet says No Play is incorrect (thinking
there is a legal play), and God disagrees (there isn't a legal
play, so the player was correct), the Prophet is cast
down and God deals the player the appropriate number of new
cards. If the Prophet declares the No Play incorrect, and God
agrees, the Prophet must now select a correct card and play it.
If the Prophet does this correctly, the player receives their
penalty cards and play continues. If the Prophet makes a mistake
and selects an incorrect card to play, they are cast down, the
card goes back into the player's hand, God selects a correct
card, and play continues. The player is not penalized because
their play resulted in the downfall of the Prophet.
Scoring
1. At the end of a round, the largest hand remaining including
the Prophet is the high count. Each player receives a score
which is the number of cards in their hand subtracted from the
high count. So if the largest hand is 11, and you hold 8, your
score is 3. If one player has played all their cards, the score
is the high count plus a bonus of 4. In the example above they
would get 11 (11 - 0) + 4 = 15.
2. If there is a successful Prophet, they score a bonus also,
which is calculated at 1 point for every main sequence card that
follows the Prophet marker until the end of the game, and 2
points for every sideline card played after the Prophet marker (1
pt for every correct and 2 pts for every incorrect card played
while they were Prophet).
3. God's score equals the highest score of any player, unless
there was a Prophet. If there is a Prophet, count the cards
(right and wrong) played up to and including the card with the
Prophet marker and double this number. If this number is smaller
than the highest score (including the Prophet), God's score is
the smaller number. This is designed to place a premium on being
a Prophet, and helps optimize God's score when the rule is
neither too hard or too easy.
4. If the game ends before everyone gets to be God, the winner is
determined by the total of all rounds, and every player who has
not been God get 10 more pts in compensation.
The Logic
Just like discovering the rules governing our own Universe, the
rules of this Universe are discovered by a combination of
inductive reasoning to form tentative hypotheses based upon
whatever evidence is available. Initially, with no information
to go on, hypotheses are little more than guesses. But, whatever
hypothesis is chosen tentatively, a correct play is predicted and
the appropriate card selected. Both correct and incorrect plays
are informative, and like real science, hypotheses cannot be
proven true, but they can be falsified with certainty. So as
more cards are played, a pattern emerges that allows you to
correctly hypothesize the Rule of the Universe based upon both
correct and incorrect cards. Many possible hypotheses can be
rejected upon the basis of previously played cards.
This can best be illustrated with an example. Suppose the play
starts with the 3H, and the next player's guess is the 9S, the
play is correct. But several rules might give this result, for
example, if the number is higher, change color or suit, and if
lower, keep it the same. If you decided this was a possible
hypothesis you could test it by selecting the JD (an increase,
therefore change color or suit). But God says this is incorrect,
so your hypothesis is falsified, it cannot possibly be true. The
next player decides the rule says to simply alternate colors, so
they select the 5D, and it also is incorrect, thus falsifying
this hypothesis also. The next player decides the rule is play a
pattern of odd, odd, even, even, and so on without regard for
color or suit. So they select the 4C, which is correct, but this
does not prove the hypothesis is true. In fact, this hypothesis
is immediately falsified when the next player selects the JD.
After several more plays, the mainline and sideline sequences
look like the card layout that follows.
*(10)
3H - 9S - 4C - JD - 2C - 10D - 8H - 7H - 2C - 5H - ?
| | | |
JD AH AS 10H
| | | | *(20)
5D 8H 10S 10S-9H-4S-2S
|
QD
There is an incorrect four card side line sequence under the
7H, but remember, only one wrong card makes the entire string
wrong. 22 cards have been played; asteriks mark the 10th and
20th cards played. Consider the pattern carefully and try and
figure out the Rule before you read on. Pick a card (any card)
to play.
If told any black card would be correct, and any red card
incorrect can you explain the Rule?
The rule is "If the last legally played card is odd, play a black
card; if the card is even, play a red card".
Bibliography
Abbott, Robert. 1963. Abbott's New Card Games. Stein & Day,
New York.
Gardiner, Martin. 197?. Mathematical Games. Scientific
American
Gardiner, Martin. 1961. The 2nd Scientific American Book of
Mathematical Puzzles. Simon & Schuster, N.Y.
Kruskal, Martin D. 1962. Delphi: A game of Inductive Reasoning.