The Infinite Game

"What we play is life."

—Louis Armstrong

Rules of Engagement

The foundation of social gaming is respect. These rules are provided to ensure fair play and a positive experience for all members of the Collectif, regardless of skill level.

Respect the Flow: Be present at the table and ready when it is your turn. Please refrain from distracting activities (e.g., phones) that may slow down the game or disrupt the experience. [General Gaming Etiquette 4.4]

The Touch-Move Rule: If you touch a piece with the intent to move it, you must move it. Once you let go of a piece, your move is complete. This applies particularly to Chess and Checkers. [Chess/Checkers Standard Rule]

Sportsmanship: Maintain a positive attitude. Be a graceful winner and a dignified loser. Do not take poor rolls or misfortune personally. [Social Gaming Etiquette 4.4]

Conflict Resolution: Conflict between players must be resolved civilly and away from the game table. Remember that everyone is here to relax and have a good time. [Social Gaming Etiquette 4.4]

The Collectif's Game Library: Rules

Chess: The Royal Game

Objective: Checkmate the opponent's King (place it under direct attack from which it cannot escape).

King

One square in any direction. Cannot move into or remain in check.

Queen

Any number of squares along a rank, file, or diagonal. Most powerful piece.

Rook

Any number of squares along a rank (horizontally) or file (vertically). Can participate in Castling (with the King).

Bishop

Any number of squares diagonally. Remains on its starting color square.

Knight

The "L" shape: two squares in one direction (rank/file) then one square perpendicular. Can jump over other pieces.

Pawn

One square forward (never backward). Captures one square diagonally forward. Moves two squares on its first move. Promotion applies when reaching the back rank.

Standard Rules of Chess

Checkers (Draughts)

Objective: Capture all of the opponent's pieces or block all of their legal moves.

Movement

Pieces can only move one square diagonally forward on dark squares.

Jumping/Capture

A jump is achieved by moving over an opponent's piece to an empty square immediately beyond it. All available jumps are mandatory.

The King

When a piece reaches the opponent's back row (the King Row), it is crowned (by stacking a second piece on top). Kings can move diagonally both forward and backward .

Standard Rules of Checkers

Dominoes: The Draw Game

Objective: Be the first player to empty your hand of tiles. (2-4 players using a double-six set).

Setup

Shuffle all 28 tiles face-down (the boneyard). Players draw a hand (7 tiles for 2 players; 5 tiles for 3-4 players).

Start

The player with the highest double (e.g., 6-6) plays it first. Play proceeds clockwise.

Turn Play

Players take turns matching the number of dots on one of their tiles to an open end of the chain.

The Boneyard

If a player cannot play a tile, they must draw tiles from the boneyard until a playable tile is drawn, or the boneyard is nearly empty (usually leaving two tiles).

Winning

The round ends when a player successfully plays their last tile. If the game is blocked, the player with the lowest remaining dot count wins the round.

Basic Dominoes Draw Game Rules [1.3]

Cards: Black Jack

Objective: Be the first player to empty your hand by matching the rank or suit of the top card on the discard pile.

Setup

Deal 7 cards to each player. Place the remaining deck face-down as the stock pile and flip the top card to start the discard pile.

Basic Play

Players take turns playing a card that matches the rank (e.g., 5 on 5) or suit (e.g., Heart on Heart) of the top card. If unable to play, the player must draw one card from the stock pile.

Aces

Playing an Ace allows the player to nominate ( change ) the required suit for the next player, regardless of the Ace's suit.

Black Jacks (Clubs/Spades)

Playing a Jack of Clubs or Spades forces the next player to miss their turn .

Red Jacks (Hearts/Diamonds)

Playing a Jack of Hearts or Diamonds forces all players to miss their turn (except the person who played it) and the player plays again.

Twos and Threes (Penalty)

Playing a 2 or a 3 forces the next player to pick up 2 or 3 cards, respectively, unless they can counter with their own 2 or 3.

Winning

The first player to play their last card wins the round. If the stock pile runs out, play continues until the game blocks or a winner is found.

Standard Switch Card Game Rules (UK Variant)

Straight Rummy

Objective: Be the first player to empty their hand by forming valid sets (3 or 4 cards of the same rank) or runs (3 or more cards of the same suit in sequence).

Setup

Use a single 52-card deck (Aces low). Deal 7 cards to each player (2-4 players). The rest is the stock pile. Turn the top card face-up to start the discard pile.

Turn Flow

A turn consists of three actions: (1) Draw (take the top card from either the stock or discard pile), (2) Meld (place any complete sets or runs face-up on the table), and (3) Discard (place one card face-up onto the discard pile).

Sets (Groups)

Three or four cards of the same rank , but different suits (e.g., Three 7s).

Runs (Sequences)

Three or more cards of the same suit in consecutive rank (e.g., 4, 5, 6 of Diamonds).

Laying Off (Optional)

After melding, a player may optionally add cards to existing sets or runs already on the table (either their own or an opponent's).

Winning

A player wins the hand by emptying their hand of cards either through melding the entire hand at once ( Going Rummy ) or by melding all but one card and discarding the final card.

Standard Straight Rummy Rules

Cards: Go Fish

Objective: Collect the most sets of four cards of the same rank (e.g., all four Queens).

Setup

Deal 7 cards to 2-3 players (5 cards to 4+ players). The rest of the deck forms the face-down fish pile .

The Ask

On your turn, ask any player for a specific rank (e.g., "Do you have any Kings?") that you already hold in your hand.

Response

If the player has the card(s) requested, they must give them all to you, and you get to go again.

Go Fish

If the player does not have the card, they say "Go Fish" . The requester draws the top card from the pile. The turn passes to the player who said "Go Fish".

Winning

When a set of four is complete, place it face-down. The game ends when the fish pile is empty or one player runs out of cards. The player with the most sets wins.

Standard Go Fish Rules [2.1]

Dice: Six Dice

Objective: Be the first player to reach a target score (e.g., 10,000 points). Use six standard dice.

Scoring Dice

1s = 100 points. 5s = 50 points.

Three of a Kind

Three 1s = 1000 points. Three of any other number (2-6) = Face value x 100 (e.g., three 4s = 400).

Turn Flow

Roll all 6 dice. Set aside at least one scoring die. You may re-roll the remaining non-scoring dice to increase your score or bank your points.

Hot Dice

If you score with all 6 dice in one turn, you bank the points and may choose to roll all 6 dice again to continue your turn.

Farkle!

If you roll the remaining dice and none of them score , you have Farkled. You lose all points accumulated during that turn, and the dice pass to the next player.

Basic Farkle Rules [3.1]

"I've had an opportunity to do a lot of things. And my personal feeling is that I'm just a normal kind of person."

—Guion Bluford

Engage with the Collective

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