Table Press

Free print-and-play card games and an open game-design curriculum.

Prompt Refinery · history.boredgames.site · PLY

Nonstop

Time only goes forward. 2–4 players · 25 min · ages 8+ · 52 events + 2 table cards. Play a card with the same number or a bigger number, or pass. Same kind, one step later: say And then.

Play / simulatePrint the 9-up sheetShare the introBack to Make
Thesis: This game is about who writes the next sentence of a shared story, felt as the click when one thing really leads to the next — or the jump when it does not, decided by whether you spend a later card to end the round or save it.

How to start

Put the 2 table cards out. Mix the other 52. Give 8 each. Put 4 face-up as Open. Play 6 rounds. Lowest score starts the next round.

A turn

Play one card whose big number is the same or bigger than the last card, or say pass. Once you pass, you are out of this round. The middle line holds at most 6 cards.

Once per round you may play an Open card instead. Fill Open from the pile right away.

And then

Same kind as the last card, and the number is the same or only one bigger: sayAnd then and score 1 point now. Any other legal card is a jump. You may still play it.

Planting seeds does not cause the web. The numbers have to sit next to each other.

End of a round

Last person to play: 1 point per card in the middle, plus 3 if one kind appears 3 times. Draw back up to 8. Time starts over.

Sample turn

Ana leads The Earth Is Born (Earth 1). Bo plays Plants Eat Light (Make 1) — a jump. Cam takes Open People Plant Seeds (Make 2) and says And then. Cam later plays the sixth card and scores 6 + 3.

2 people / young table

10 each, 4 Open, 8 rounds. When one passes, the other may play one more card or end the round. Young table: skip the 3-point bonus in round 1.

Live rules: https://game-design-pi.vercel.app/nonstop/rules/ · Shareable intro: https://game-design-pi.vercel.app/nonstop/