Office Craze

Objective

An absurd workplace struggle to dodge undesirable tasks, claim unearned credit, and survive until 6:00 PM on Friday — a quick-fire deduction and dueling card game. Score the most points before the 16-card deck of office drama runs dry.

How to play

1. The Gossip (five in the deck) lets you guess a target's card value, 2 to 8. Guess right and the rumor catches up with them — you score a point and they discard their whole hand and draw two fresh assignments.
2. The Clock-In (two in the deck) lets you secretly peek at a target's hand — only you see what's on their desk.
3. Emergency Meeting (two in the deck) calls out a rival: compare your card to theirs. Whoever holds the lower company rank takes the blame, losing their hand and a point to the other; a tie changes nothing.
4. 'Do Not Disturb' Mode (two in the deck) shields you from every attack or card effect until your own next turn begins.
5. Delegate Work (two in the deck) forces any player — even yourself — to dump their current assignment and draw a replacement.
6. Chair Steal (the only one in the deck) swaps your card with a target's, sight unseen on both sides.
7. Pending Report is a ticking deadline: if you're ever forced to draw a Delegate Work or a Chair Steal while holding it, it's overdue and gets discarded for nothing.
8. The Boss's Report is your star document. If you're forced to discard it because of someone else's play, you blow it at the company and they score a bonus point while you discard your hand and draw two fresh — though an Emergency Meeting alone can never take it, since it's always the highest card in the game.

Scoring

Score a point for a winning guess or a won Emergency Meeting, plus a bonus point any time you strip a rival of The Boss's Report. Whoever holds the most points when the deck runs out wins the round.

Example round

1. Ben plays a Gossip on Cleo and guesses her hand value is 6.
2. The guess is correct — Cleo discards her whole hand and draws two fresh cards, and Ben scores a point.
3. A round later, Ana holds The Boss's Report, the highest card in the deck, and plays a Delegate Work on Dan.
4. Dan is forced to discard and redraw, but Ana still holds The Boss's Report safely since Delegate Work only ever targets its recipient's hand, not hers.
5. Later, Cleo triggers an Emergency Meeting against Ana — but since The Boss's Report can never be lost to an Emergency Meeting, Ana's high card holds and Cleo loses the comparison, discarding her hand and handing Ana a point.

Strategy tips

• Save Gossip guesses for players who've been visibly cautious rather than random targets — cautious play is itself a tell about a high card worth protecting.
• Use Clock-In to peek before committing to a Gossip guess on the same target, since a wrong guess wastes the card with nothing to show for it.
• Hold onto The Boss's Report as long as you can — it's immune to an Emergency Meeting loss, so the only real danger is being forced to discard it via Delegate Work or Chair Steal.
• Watch for Pending Report in your own hand — if forced into a Delegate Work or Chair Steal while holding it, it's discarded for nothing.

Best with

Works with as few as 2 players for a tight duel and holds up in larger groups where more targets means more bluffing opportunities — a good fit for a table that enjoys light deduction over pure luck.

Variations

• Agree to play a fixed number of decks per session and total the score across all of them to smooth out one unlucky round.
• For a bluffier variant, let players verbally claim a false card value before a Gossip guess is made against them, as a table agreement.
• Keep a running tally of who's lost The Boss's Report the most across a session, since it's the biggest swing card in the deck.

FAQ