Give Me The Brain!
Give Me The Brain! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
What Comes With This Game
112 cards and this rule book.
What Else You Need
You need one 6-sided die, which represents the Brain. Steal it from a game you never play.
How To Win
Cards represent jobs you must do before you can leave for the day. To win, you must empty your hand.
To Begin
The dealer shuffles the cards and deals 7 cards to each player. Put the deck in the middle of the table, with space for a discard pile beside it. If the deck ever runs out, shuffle the discards and replace it. Do not reshuffle until you have to, because some cards let you take cards out of the discard pile.
The Brain starts on the floor, and the game starts with a bidding round.
Bidding
The Brain has two states in this game: It's either on the floor (in the middle of the table) or someone is holding it. If it's on the floor, players must bid to pick it up. When someone is holding the Brain, the game proceeds normally.
Bidding usually starts with the person who dropped the Brain. At the beginning of the game, it starts with a random player. Proceeding to the left, each player may play one bid card or pass. The bid goes just once around the table, so you only have one chance to grab for the Brain.
All the bids are discarded, whether they took the Brain or not, and the player who played the highest bid picks up the Brain and takes the next turn.
There are thirty bid cards, numbered 1 through 30. Cards 1 through 4 also say "31." These cards can be worth 31, but only when played by the person who just dropped the Brain.
You bid whatever you want, even less than the last bid, and you will often play low bid cards just to get them out of your hand. It's also perfectly legal to pass when you could play a bid card.
No Bids
If no one plays a bid card, the Brain stays on the floor and everyone draws one card, starting with the player in the first bidding position. Then the bidding starts again in the same place.
Turn Order
Whoever picks up the Brain takes the next turn. The turn will then proceed to the left from that player, until someone drops the Brain again.
Dropping the Brain interrupts the turn order, so the turn can skip around a little. Don't let that bother you. It's a short game, and if you get skipped a lot you were probably destined to lose anyway.
On Every Turn
When it's your turn, you must play at least one Job card, or take a Loafing turn. Loafing turns do nothing but fill your hand up, so in order to win the game you'll have to play Jobs.
When you drop the Brain, your turn ends immediately and a bidding round begins. Unless directed otherwise, this bidding begins with whoever dropped the Brain.
Playing Job Cards
Each Job requires one or two hands to play, shown on the card. You can use up to two hands each turn. This means you can perform just one two-handed job, or up to two one-handed jobs.
If you play an Extra Hand, you can use up to three hands each turn, and if you have them both you can use up to four!
Note: Please, please don't confuse the "hands" you get to spend each turn with your "hand" of cards. We know you're just doing that to be difficult.
Instructions
Whenever you play a Job card, you follow its instructions; some of them are good for you, and some of them are bad, but they all do something. Some Job cards sound terrible, but are really great in particular combinations. Others are just plain terrible all the time.
Loafing
If you don't play at least one Job card, either because you can't, or because you don't want to, you are taking a Loafing Turn. You have two options when you loaf: you can draw one card, or discard your entire hand and draw one more card than you discarded. Either way, your hand grows by one card.
Need The Brain?
Some Jobs require you to have the Brain. These Job cards are pink and have a Brain in the lower left-hand corner. If a Job requires the Brain, you can only play it if you are holding the Brain. (There are exceptions, but you'll discover them as you play.)
Skill Rolls
Every time you play a card that requires the Brain, you must roll the die and compare it to the number under the Brain, which is the "Skill Level" of the Job. This roll happens after you finish the instructions on the card. If you roll equal to or higher than the number under the Brain, you keep the Brain and proceed. If not, you drop the Brain.
To Win
Empty your hand. You must complete card instructions before you can win, so if (for example) a card tells you to discard your hand and draw four cards, you don't win by forgetting to draw. Nice try, though.
Impossible Instructions
It's possible that you'll be given an instruction you can't follow, like taking a card from the discards when there are none, or passing a card when you (temporarily) have no cards in your hand. If so, you can just ignore the impossible instruction.
Draw and Discard Order
The order of the discard pile doesn't matter, but because the top card of the deck is sometimes known, you will be told a drawing order whenever everyone draws a card.
Objects
There are eight Job cards called "Objects" that stay in play. These cards have "Object" written on them, and they (usually) remain in play in front of whoever played them. Any effect written on an Object is only playable once that Object is on the table, not while it is in your hand.
There are three other cards that are not Objects but remain in play temporarily. Cards on the table never count as part of your hand, which means you can win with these cards in front of you.
Other Questions
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