High Society

You are spending money on the trappings of a lavish life: cards worth 1 to 10 points, multipliers that double your total, and a few disgrace cards. The game ends when the fourth marked end-game card appears, and the player who spent the most money is thrown out before points are counted. Of the rest, the highest total wins. One card is auctioned each round. You bid by laying money cards in front of you, raising or passing to take back what you laid. The last bidder takes the card and loses the money. For a bad card the auction runs backwards: the first to pass takes it, and everyone else pays. A twenty-minute Reiner Knizia auction game with almost no rules and a real sting in that elimination. We would suggest it for four adults who enjoy reading each other and a good bridge to heavier auction games.