NOTE: These rules are not the rules taken from the first inception of the game. They are the earliest rules found, originating from 2001. The game was conceived in the mid- to late-1990s. 2001 rules were once available, but since 2006 the website has been removed.

What you need:

• 3-6 players
• A pen for each of them, preferably black. Don't use felt-tips - they soak right through the cards. Pilot Roller-Balls are great.
• A bunch of... blank white cards.  We use unlined index cards cut in half.  You will need 40, 60, or 90 of them, depending on how many players you have and whether you've played before.  It's also good to have some extras on hand.
• If you have played before, you will need the stockpile of cards you had left over from the last game.

The Pre-Game Phase:

First, you need to set up the deck.  If you have 3 or 4 players, put a stack of 20 blank cards in the middle of the table.  (If you have 5 or 6 players, use 30.)  Then, if you have played before, add 20 (or 30) random cards from the stockpile of previously-made cards.  (If you haven't played before, add 20 or 30 more blanks instead.)

Then, pass some blanks out to the players. If there are 3 or 5 players, everyone gets 6; if 4 or 6, they get 5. Everyone will now take a few minutes to turn their blanks into actual cards (this will be explained later on).  When everyone's finished, gather up their cards and add them to the deck.  You now have either a 60 or 90 card deck, depending on the number of players.  (Actually, if you're doing a 3-player game, you only have 58 cards in the deck.  Anal-retentive gamers should feel free to add two more blanks.)

Shuffle the deck thoroughly.  (Don't bother trying to actually shuffle them - they're too flimsy.  Just spread them out on the table and push them around 'till they're well-mixed.)  Deal out five cards to each player.  Game on!

Playing the Game:

Play begins with the player to the dealer's left, and generally goes clockwise.  On your turn, take the top card from the deck (assuming there are cards left in the deck), and then play a card from your hand.  You can play a card either on yourself, on another player, or to the center of the table (in which case it affects all the players, including yourself).  If the card has a point value or some other sort of lasting effect, it stays in front of the player it was played on (or in the middle of the table) until it is somehow nullified, discarded, or removed by another card.  Otherwise, it is simply placed in the discard pile.

If you have a blank card in your hand, grasp your pen firmly and turn the blank into a playable card (we're getting to that). It's best to do this during the other players' turns, so as to hold up the game as little as possible.

If you cannot play a card (meaning you have no blanks, and none of the cards in your hand can be played in the current situation), then draw a second card from the deck and pass your turn.  If you can't do this because there are no cards left in the deck, the game is over. Anyone with cards left in their hands can show them around before discarding them, and then the winner is determined.

Winning:

Total up the point value of the cards in front of you, and add the point values of any cards played to the center of the table. This is your score (and yes, it can be a negative number).  The player with the highest score wins!  Woo!

Epilogue:

After the game is over, you will have a large pile of cards.  The next time you play, you'll be using a random selection of cards from this pile, so naturally you'll be wanting to whittle it down a bit so that only the best cards get re-used.  This is what the Epilogue phase of the game is for.

Take all the cards from the game you just finished, as well as any previous cards that didn't get used, and spread them all out on the table, face-up.  Then decide how large a stockpile you wish to keep.  If this is only your first or second game, start with 30.  If you've played several games, go to 60, and once you've played a whole lot of games and have lots of excellent cards, you can advance to a 90-card stockpile. Divide this number by the number of players you've got - we'll call the result "X".  So for example, if you want to keep a 60-card stockpile, and there are five players at the table, X equals 12.

Each player then examines the collection of cards and selects their favorite X cards out of all of them.  You now have a stockpile, consisting of the best cards that the players have made so far.  Whoever is given the task of storing them can snap a rubber band around the deck, and put it on a shelf in preparation for next time. The remaining cards can be thrown away, carefully archived in a huge library of three-ring binders, or baked into a tasty casserole - your choice.

Anatomy of a Card:

The anatomy of a card is more or less universally accepted. At least 3 elements should be present on a card, although exceptions have been made:

• Title: Cards should bear a title, which can either be related to the card itself or completely random.
• Picture: Some graphic should be on a card, while artistic quality is not necessary.
• Point Value: Similar to games like "Whose Line is it Anyway?" the points do not matter. They are presented as the determination of winners and losers, but it only creates uniformity. Points can be positive or negative, and do not have to be integers.

Sample Card:


(first card ever made by Collin for 1kbwc)