Silent Sequence

A cooperative game about placing cards in order. How hard could that be?

Objective: The goal of the game is to put all of the cards in order without talking.

Players: 2-12

Playing time: 1-2 minutes per round

1. Start with a full deck of playing cards.
2. Place the ace of spades face up on the table, and then shuffle the rest.
3. Deal an equal number to each player, but leave some of the deck remaining. An easy round leaves no cards behind, while a hard round leaves many.
4. Players keep their hands private and can organize the cards by suit and number.
5. Once everyone is ready, someone says "Go" to start the game. From that point, no one may speak (except to ask questions about the rules).
6. Players add cards to the center pile in sequence.
7. If a player places a card out of sequence, then everyone loses the round. E.g. Player A places an eight of spades but Player B has a seven of spades in their hand. Collect the cards, shuffle, and deal again. Players can talk in between rounds.
8. There is no sequence for suits: once you reach the end of one, advance to any other.
9. The players win when everyone's hand is empty and all the cards are in sequence.

I first learned a version of this game using the deck from 6 nimmt!. Silent Sequence has been adapted from those rules to use a standard deck of playing cards. I've heard that this is similar to The Mind, but I haven't played it.

Sean McPherson works as a software engineer at Khan Academy, and enjoys playing games and watching soccer. He lives with family in Pittsburgh, PA.