GeoPower Twist – 2 To 6 Players

What You Should Know Before You Play

The object of the game is to be the first player or team to get 50 points, and your success depends on your card playing skills, and the rankings of the states (from 1^st to 50^th) in size, statehood and population of the GeoPlunge cards you play. The Alaska card has the best (i.e., 1^st) size ranking, Delaware has the best statehood ranking, and California has the best population ranking. 

To do well, you must also strategically decide when to play the GeoPower cards you’re dealt.  Each GeoPower card says either “Size”, “Statehood”, or “Population.”  Deciding when to play your GeoPower cards can make the difference between winning – and losing – the game.

You can play individually or with teams. Play one round at a time until someone wins the game.  Use the GeoPlunge and GeoPower cards, and shuffle both decks after every round. 

How to Play

§         To start each round, deal each player 7 GeoPlunge cards and 3 GeoPower cards.  With 5 or more players, everyone gets only 2 GeoPower cards.

§         Play 7 “tricks” during a round, one at a time. On each trick, every player plays 1 of his or her GeoPlunge cards. 

§         To begin a trick, one player plays a GeoPlunge card first (this is called “leading” on the trick). From there, play proceeds in clockwise order around the table until each player has played one GeoPlunge card face-up. At that point, the trick is over.  You’re now ready to begin the next trick.  This continues until all the tricks are played.

§         The dealer leads on the first trick played during a round.  For the rest of the round, the player who wins a trick leads a card to start the next trick. 

§         On the first trick of the round, the dealer plays face-up a GeoPower card at the same time he or she leads a GeoPlunge card.  This is the only time a person must play a GeoPower card.

§         Whenever it’s your turn to play a GeoPlunge card, with one exception described below, you can also play face-up 1 of your GeoPower cards if you wish.

Determining Who Wins Each Trick 

To win a trick, you must play the best ranked GeoPlunge card played on that trick. To determine which is the best ranked card played, you need to know which ranking counts for that trick:  size, statehood or population.  Here’s how you know:

o             For tricks in which at least 1 player plays a GeoPower card, the rankings of the GeoPlunge cards played are based on the last GeoPower card played on the trick. (So if the last GeoPower card played on a trick says Size, the GeoPlunge cards played are ranked based on Size).

o             For tricks in which nobody plays a GeoPower card, the rankings of the GeoPlunge cards played are based on the most recently played GeoPower card (which must have been played on an earlier trick).

§         In one situation, you’re not allowed to play just 1 GeoPower card when it’s your turn.  If your opponent plays a GeoPlunge card with a top 10 ranking (in the category of the most recent GeoPower card played), you can only play a GeoPower card later on that trick if (1) you play two GeoPower cards when it’s your turn, AND (2) they both say the same category, for example, they both say  “Size”.

§         Whenever you win a trick, put the GeoPlunge and GeoPower cards played during that trick face-down in a separate pile next to you.

Keeping Score

The player or team that wins the most tricks during a round wins 10 points.  If 2 or more players or teams tie, they each win 5 points.  The players or teams that win the 3^rd and 6^th tricks played each round win 5 bonus points each (or 10 bonus points total if it’s the same player or team). 

With teams, add up the tricks won by each teammate to determine how many tricks the team won during that round.