• Created by Thomas Gale, © 2003 - 2009
• All copyrights belong to the attributed creators. All rights reserved.
• Please do not redistribute in any form without permission.
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STATS

• Number of Players: 1 (+?)
• Duration: <5 min
• Atmosphere: light card challenge
• Theme: psychic powers

COMPONENTS

• deck of 52 cards (+1 joker)

INTRODUCTION

This is a solitaire game that tests your psychic powers (and possibly your memory and reasoning). Try to gain the highest ranking of psychic. You could take turns playing the game with a friend.

HOW TO WIN AND SCORING

During the game you are parsing through the deck, and when the joker turns up the game has ended. A score is determined by counting the face down cards.

• >48 - Cheater (at least 4 cards (1 for each ascending phase) must be turned face up)
• Exactly 48 - Perfect Score - Psychic Genius
• >40 - Divine Uber-Augur
• >35 - Oracle of Probability
• >30 - Smarty-Pants Prophet
• >25 - Lucky Bastard
• >20 - Mystic Messenger
• >15 - Intermittent Prognosticator
• >10 - Seer of the Slightly Better than Average
• Exactly 10 - Even Steven
• <10 - Braindead Underling
• <2 - Freak of Nature

PLAY SETUP

SHUFFLE

Shuffle the deck thoroughly without peeking. Hold the deck in your hand face down as if you were about to deal. Place the Joker face up on the bottom of the deck. The joker is a marker to show that the game is over.

PLAY

You must ascend through the phases of psychic concentration in order. If you make a wrong prediction you must start over at the beginning (PHASE 1). Remember as soon as you reach the joker, the game is over even if in midcount of a bonus or penalty.

PHASE 1 - COLOR

To begin, concentrate and try to predict the color of the top card (black or red). It helps to say it aloud and with determination. Flip the card over.

• If you were correct then move the card to the bottom of the deck face up. Then move 1 bonus card from the top of the deck to the bottom of the deck, but keep this one face-down. You must now move onto PHASE 2.
• If you were wrong then move the card to the bottom of the deck face up. Then move 1 penalty card from the top of the deck to the bottom of the deck, but turn this one face-up. Now you must start at the beginning of PHASE 1 and try another guess.

PHASE 2 - SUIT

Note: You can not advance to PHASE 2 until you have just successfully completed PHASE 1.

To begin phase 2, concentrate and try to predict the suit of the top card on the deck (clubs, spades, hearts, or diamonds). Once announced with gusto, flip the card over.

• If you were correct then move the card to the bottom of the deck face up. Then move 3 bonus cards from the top of the deck to the bottom of the deck, but keep these face-down. You must now move onto PHASE 3.
• If you were wrong then move the card to the bottom of the deck face up. Then move 3 penalty card from the top of the deck to the bottom of the deck, but turn these face-up. Now you must start at the beginning of PHASE 1.

PHASE 3 - KIND

Note: You can not advance to PHASE 3 until you have just successfully completed PHASE 2.

To begin, concentrate and boldly proclaim the kind of the top card on the deck (1-10,J,Q, or K). Once announced, flip the card over.

• If you were correct then move the card to the bottom of the deck face up. Then move 5 bonus cards from the top of the deck to the bottom of the deck, but keep these face-down. You must now move onto PHASE 4.
• If you were wrong then move the card to the bottom of the deck face up. Then move 5 penalty card from the top of the deck to the bottom of the deck, but turn these face-up. Now you must start at the beginning of PHASE 1 and try another guess.

PHASE 4 - KIND + SUIT

Note: You can not advance to PHASE 4 until you have just successfully completed PHASE 3.

To begin, concentrate very very hard. Then focus your mind until all of your mental juices are bubbly and frothy. Finally, when the moon is in perfect alignment shout out the kind and suit of the top card on the deck (for example: "4 of clubs"). Once announced, flip the card over.

• If you were correct then move the card to the bottom of the deck face up. Then move all of the remaining cards from the top of the deck to the bottom of the deck but keep these face-down. You should do this one at a time so as not to miss the JOKER that signals the end of the deck cycle. The game is now over, tally your score.
• If you were wrong then move the card to the bottom of the deck face up. Then move all of the remaining cards from the top of the deck to the bottom of the deck, but turn these face-up. You should do this one at a time so as not to miss the JOKER that signals the end of the deck cycle. The game is now over, tally your score.

If at any time you encounter the joker, the game is over. Tally your score.

OPTIONAL RULES

CHEATING - Optional rules might allow for cheating. That is reviewing the history of your cards to make a better guess, er...I mean foretelling.

NOTES AND DEVELOPMENT HISTORY

VERSION 1 - I wanted to make a "one-handed card game".... or a game that you could play without laying cards down on the table.... a game that you could play on anywhere (on a plane or perhaps a mine shaft?) with a deck of cards. At first I tried versions of counting back whatever card number you turned up with the goal of having no cards left after counting through the deck. But the face cards were a problem as I wanted the game to be very simple and I wanted something to do with flipping cards face up or face down. Then the idea of trying to guess what card was next seemed fun. And with a simple scoring system, Voila.

VERSION 2 - Minor semantics.

Please, please let me know if you actually played this game. Email: tomgale@)yahoo.com