Like: The Social Game
Like: The Social Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the Game
In this game you play as a User of Status, the most popular social network in the world. Challenge the other Users by tagging them in embarrassing posts. Try to get the highest consensus from your Fans to win the Discussion. Then you can spend your reputation to make your Profile the most popular on the web, and have the greatest number of Friends. The winner of the game is the player who owns the most Friends.
Components
- 1 Keyboard Wall
- 1 Tag Wall
- 19 Profiles
- 65 Posts
- 30 Fans (Like side in green, Loser side in orange)
- 25 Friends
- 1 Deck
Setting Up the Game
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Pick from the deck a random Profile card for each player (except the "Double Profile" cards) and deal one to each player randomly. Place your Profile card face up in front of you. One by one, each player reads out loud the Title and Superpower of his/her Profile card.
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Place the box in the middle of the table and put the Fan tokens in it. This is called the "Web".
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Set the Friend cards near the Web. Shuffle the rest of the game cards (including the rest of the Profile cards) and place the deck face down next to the Friend cards. Leave enough space for the History pile (where cards that are played or discarded will go).
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Each player draws 2 cards from the deck, forming his/her starting hand. Keep cards in your hand secret from the other players.
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Each player Launches 4 Fans, taken from the Web. When you Launch a Fan, you can either flip it (like a coin) or hold it between your hands and let it fall. Any Fan with a Loser result (orange) must be put back in the Web. Any Fan with a Like result (green) is kept in front of you. If all the Fans you Launch come up Loser, re-Launch all 4 Fans again. If playing a game with 7 or 8 players, each player only Launches 3 Fans (instead of 4).
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The player with the least Fans becomes the "Troll". The Troll takes the Keyboard and Tag Walls and places them in front of him/her. If there is a tie, you must break the tie (with a quick "heads or tails", for example).
Playing Cards
You may play cards from your hand at any time by saying out loud the name of the card. There are two kinds of cards in the deck:
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Profiles: These cards are always played face up in front of you. Each Profile grants a special Superpower, which you can activate by declaring its name out loud. Once played, a Profile stays until the end of the game (unless discarded by another card). You may only have one Profile card in play at a time. If you play a new Profile card, you must discard the old one to the top of the History.
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Posts: These cards take effect the moment they are played. Then the card is placed on top of the History.
You cannot give, trade, or loan cards to the other players.
Starting the Game
Round Phases
At the beginning of each phase of the game, the Troll must declare which phase is about to be played. The Troll can begin the following phase only after all players have spent all of their actions for the current phase. The phases (and the order they are played) are the following:
Update
The Troll draws 2 cards from the deck. Each of the other players, in turn, draws 1 card. You may have a maximum of 4 cards in your hand. If you already have 4 cards, you do not draw any during this phase. But, you may immediately play or discard any number of cards from your hand before drawing. If the last card in the deck is drawn, the Troll must immediately shuffle the History and make a new deck.
Discussion
This is the main phase of the round. During this phase, the Troll may Challenge another player to try to win his/her Fans (see the "Discussion" paragraph for the complete rules).
If the Troll does not want to Challenge another player, skip the Discussion phase and proceed to the New Friends phase.
New Friends
Any player who Launched at least 1 Fan in the Discussion phase may now buy one or more Friend cards. Each Friend costs 3 Fans, paid to the Web. Important: no player may play any card during this phase (except the "Supermodel" Profile card).
At this point, if one or more players have bought their fourth Friend card (only the third Friend in a seven- or eight-player game), the game immediately ends. The player who owns the most Friends wins the game! If there is a tie, the victory is shared.
Help from the Web
If you have no more Fans in your possession, you may take one from the Web.
Note: the Web is infinite. In the unlikely event that you run out of Fan tokens, use any suitable substitute.
The Keyboard Goes To...
The Troll must give the Keyboard and Tag Walls to the player on his/her left (going clockwise). That player becomes the Troll for the next round.
The round is now over. A new round begins with the Update phase.
Discussion
I Tag You!
Once each round, the Troll can Challenge another player. When you Challenge someone, give that player the Tag Wall and Launch at least one Fan. The Tagged User must accept the Challenge, taking the Tag Wall and Launching at least one Fan.
Launching Fans means declaring the number of Fans you want to use from your supply, then flipping them. Once you determine the results (Like or Loser), place them on the Keyboard or the Tag Wall, depending on which side of the Discussion you are on. Any Fan on the Walls cannot be removed or used for any other purpose until the end of the Discussion.
The Troll and the Tagged User are the main players during the Discussion phase. They both have the right to make a higher bid at any time by Launching more Fans. You may Launch one or more Fans at the same time.
The Troll wins the Discussion if there are more Like on the Keyboard than the Tag Wall. The Troll also wins if there is a tie. Otherwise, the Tagged User wins the Discussion (Losers have no effect).
During the Discussion phase, if you have no Fans, you cannot make a Challenge, be Challenged by the Troll, or make an Alliance with any player. However, you cannot be prevented from participating in a Discussion if you already Declared your action (see the "Declarations" paragraph).
You may never give, trade, or loan Fans to the other players.
Alliances
Sometimes, it can be helpful to create a temporary Alliance to win a Discussion. In exchange for a reward, players who are not participating in the Discussion might be willing to spend their Fans to help the main players, and affect the outcome of the Discussion.
To create an Alliance, one of the main players in the Discussion can negotiate two things with a potential helper:
- The total number of Fans that the helper will Launch for the Discussion; and
- The number of Fans that the main player will give the helper as a reward if his/her side wins the Discussion.
When two players form an Alliance, the main player must speak the agreement out loud, place his/her hand on the History, and declare: "Now we are Allies!". This gives them priority over any other Declarations. The helper must then Launch his/her Fans and place them on the appropriate Wall.
Helpers can only participate on one side during a Discussion, simultaneously Launching one or more Fans. As a helper, you cannot later increase your bid! So, it's very important that you declare how many Fans you are going to Launch. Of course, helpers may still play any number of cards from their hands. A main player in a Discussion may ally with any number of helpers.
As a main player, when you offer a reward, you may not offer any Fans on your own Wall (even Fans you placed yourself). You may only offer Fans that are on your opponent's Wall that you have not yet promised to your other Allies.
You may offer rewards with conditions, anyway. For example: "If my opponents play more Fans, I'll give you one of those".
When you join an Alliance, the Fans you Launch remain under your control, even when they are on the Wall with any Fans Launched by the main player or any other Allies. To help keep them apart, each player should make his/her own small group of tokens.
At the end of the Discussion, each Ally on the winning side takes his/her own Fans back, and receives the reward promised by the main player. The losing side doesn't get any Fans back.
The main players must honor all reward agreements!
Advanced Rule for Expert Players: Gentlemen's Agreements
To gain mutual benefits, or to simply trick another player, some players may choose to make a Gentlemen's Agreement. These Agreements are not restricted to the Launching of Fans during a Discussion. The players may freely discuss the terms of their Agreement. For example, you may offer to help by playing certain cards, or just to stay out of the Discussion.
If you make a Gentlemen's Agreement, there is no Alliance formed. You can promise rewards and dictate terms, but there is no obligation to keep your word. You still can't give, trade, or loan Fans to the other players, and you can only promise the other side's Fans as a reward. You also cannot give, trade, or loan cards from your hand, but you may offer them as a reward. As usual, all rewards are paid at the End of the Discussion.
Example: The Troll tells a potential helper: "I'm losing here, I need your help. But you don't have any Fans, so we can't make an Alliance. You know what? Let's make an Agreement instead: if you help me win this Discussion using your cards, I promise to give you 1 Fan and a card as a reward". A player Allied with the Tagged User responds: "This isn't your Discussion. Stay out of it. Don't you dare help that Troll or you'll regret it! First I'll erase your Profile, then steal all your Fans. Do we have an Agreement?"
Result of the Discussion
The Troll (and any Allies) wins the Discussion if the number of Fans with the Like showing on the Keyboard is more than the number on the Tag Wall. The Troll also wins if there is a tie. Otherwise, the Tagged User (and Allies) wins.
What's Up?
Obviously, the side that's winning will want to end the Discussion as quickly as possible to share the pool of won Fans. To convince your rivals to yield, or just put them under pressure, you can yell "What's up?". If your adversaries don't want to (or can't) take any more actions to help them, they must answer "Nothin". If they do, the Discussion ends immediately.
Slow or Undecided Users? Here's the Countdown!
Each main player in a Discussion has one ten second Countdown. If the count gets to "zero", the Discussion ends immediately. Any card played breaks the Countdown. But, the Countdown is not stopped by activating a Superpower, Launching Fans, or creating Alliances.
End of the Discussion
When the Discussion ends, the players on the winning side take back all of their Fans and the main player must pay from the remaining pool the rewards due to the Allies, if any. The winning main player (Troll or Tagged User) takes any Fans left on his/her opponent's Wall (that were not promised as rewards).
Then, the Troll must ask "New Friends phase?". If everybody answers "Yes!", proceed to the New Friends phase. This is your last chance to play cards from your hand, since you cannot play any cards during the New Friends phase!
Declarations
When you play a card, activate a Superpower, or perform any game action, you must say out loud the name of the card, Superpower, or action you are using. This declaration must be made at the same time as the action you are taking.
Declarations always follow the "First come, first served" rule: the first action declared takes effect before the second declared action, which takes effect before the third, and so on. Declarations made after do not counter the effects of declarations made before. Instead, they add their effects to the new situation that has been created.
Example: A player who declares that he wants to Launch 3 Fans cannot be interrupted by a "Game Over" card after he Launches the first one. The "Game Over" card can be declared, but it won't take effect until after all three Fans are Launched.
The main actions you must declare include:
- Announcing the round phases (only for the Troll)
- Launching Fans
- Playing cards
- Activating the Superpower of your Profile
- Creating Alliances
- Buying Friend cards
Panic: We don't know who played the winning card first! Before you start a brawl, try to answer the question: "Who declared first?"
Alternative Game Mode
Mom's favorite strategy: Pull the plug!
If you don't have a lot of time, and want to have a quick game, pull out your new, fashionable smartphone and open your Timer app.
For a game with five players or less, set the Timer to 30 minutes. For a game with six players or more, set the Timer to 45 minutes.
When the Timer ends, it means that the current round will be the last round of the game. The game ends at the end of the current round.
As usual, the player with the most Friends wins the game. If there's a tie, you share the victory!