Mindreading

The Mind is a short cooperative card game for 2 to 4 players, and the concept is quite simple:

• You have a deck of cards ranging from 1 to 100
• Each player gets a number of these cards, and keeps them hidden from the other players
• Finally, the cards are played in ascending order (but players cannot give any signals to each other!)

For example:

• Both players have 2 cards
• The first player shows number ‘3’
• The second player then plays a ’34’ and a ’51’
• And finally the first player puts down his ’94’

Sounds quite impossible to do this correctly, right? Especially with a larger number of cards, and given the fact that you cannot show any signals.

It turns out it is possible after all!

I’ve played this several times with my wife and kids (9 & 7 years old), in the quiet moments when visiting Stockholm. During the first few plays, it went completely wrong. But after a few tries, we noticed that we were developing a kind of common internal clock. So without talking, you start to know when sufficient time has passed to play your card. A ‘5’ can be played quite early, but for an ’87’ you have to wait quite some time. Our minds were connected!

Once we got the hang of it, we started playing and playing. The first level is easy (just a single card each), but the further you progress, the more cards you get. Luckily, you can get some extra lifes or powerups that help you further.

I really suggest you try it once, and experience the mindreading yourself!